Rutha Berhane: Hi everyone.
Arabella: Hello, welcome back to another Consistency Code episode. Today we're gonna be diving into everything to do with protein. How much do you actually need? Is the anabolic window a legitimate thing or not? And are you eating enough protein to support your body, fuel your goals, be your healthiest, happiest self? Because there's a lot of controversy.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. A little too much, a little too much. And it's never that complicated. Just like we like to say, nothing is ever that deep when it comes to what you're eating, what you're training. But there's a lot of things that will pull you to different directions. But today we're gonna give it to you straight, straight.
Arabella: Yeah. Protein is probably the most talked about macronutrient in fitness too, but also the most misunderstood at the same time. and it's like everybody it's so talked about to the point where people forget about the other two macronutrients, carbs and fats, and like literally everybody is so concerned about protein and like it's getting overwhelming and it's getting out of control at this point, honestly. Why is everything labeled protein? Like I've never seen so
Rutha Berhane: Protein lipstick. Protein lipstick.
Arabella: You say protein lipstick.
Rutha Berhane: It's that meme that goes Protein lipstick, protein makeup, protein car.
Arabella: Protein dish soap.
Rutha Berhane: No, literally, I'm sorry. It's true. It's a fad now.
Arabella: my god. It's so beyond out of control. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: I'm just gonna clear that one up right away. If you see like protein granola as an example, the granola does not have any added protein to it. It if you look at the ingredients like
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: there's no like extra protein powder or anything in there. so I don't even know how legally they're allowed to make the claim that it's protein and granola, but everything is just a mark.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: At this point, so make sure you're doing your due diligence when you're grocery shopping because I promise you most of these protein foods are not actually high in protein relative to the amount of calories per serving. It is it.
Rutha Berhane: It's a scam. It's a scam. But yeah.
Arabella: But anyway, we digress. So
Rutha Berhane: Sorry, I just started packing it up.
Arabella: to open up this episode, how much protein are both of us eating daily right now and how has that number changed over the years?
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. I'm currently sitting at like the range of like one fifty to one sixty. And that's like my comfortable zone. I used to I come from a background of eating literally no protein before I started to eating two hundred and ten to now just finding like a good balance that works for me, which actually does go with the rule that we're gonna talk about it about how much protein one should consume with their body weight. But yeah.
Arabella: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm around a similar mark right now. 150. I also did not consume like any protein whatsoever before bodybuilding. I remember in my early, early gym days pre-bodybuilding, I I was not consuming nearly
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: enough protein, like barely any to be honest. Like definitely holding back. But yeah,
Rutha Berhane: Which is like typical, you know. Yeah.
Arabella: yeah. It's not until you start tracking that you really get your eyes open to how much protein you're actually eating and what you need to consume. But yeah, I've gotten as
Rutha Berhane: Exactly.
Arabella: high as like one ninety when I first started bodybuilding and as low as like one twenty in prep. So yeah. One
Rutha Berhane: yeah. Yeah.
Arabella: fifty is like my ideal. Anything higher, it's like a little bit too much. But anything lower I'm like, no, give me more protein. But I'm just a huge fan of
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: like high protein meals. So yeah. Yeah. It does. It
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. It varies, right? It varies for everybody else.
Arabella: does. It's kind of personal preference and like depends on what meals you enjoy eating. I personally love my ninja creamies. I love my Greek yogurt bowls. I love having like a good amount of meat in my meals too. So it's pretty easy for me to get my protein in. But
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. There you go.
Arabella: As bodybuilders we eat more frequently than most people. So literally we're on a clock. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. Like every two to three hours, guys. So we're we need to consume a little more on the literally meal timing. but yeah, this is very relevant that we tell you this because there is a recommended amount that you know society in general that's not in the fitness space, I would say, uses to go by as a rule of thumb, I guess, and what's promoted. so it's
Arabella: And it is so far off.
Rutha Berhane: So far off to the point where I'm gonna say it and you're gonna be like, hmm and it's like exactly it's a little it's a little concerning. the current recommended daily allowance is point eight grams per kilogram or pound of body weight, which comes out to fifty two grams for a woman who's a hundred and forty pounds.
Arabella: Put it into perspective, that is one third of the amount that is actually optimal. Like
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: a one hundred and forty-pound woman should be eating around 150 grams of protein. Like just over that one gram per pound of body weight mark. So 52 grams
Rutha Berhane: Let's take wait, let's take
Arabella: of protein? I don't even know how people only eat 52 grams of protein a day. Are you having like one meal a day? To put it into perspective, that is one third of the amount of protein that a 140-pound woman should be eating. Like a 140-pound woman should be eating around 150 grams of protein per day. Like just over that one gram of protein per pound of body weight mark. And I genuinely have no idea how anybody
Rutha Berhane: just
Arabella: only eats fifty grams of protein a day. Like, are you eating one meal? I guess like Two meals a day, like that is crazy.
Rutha Berhane: Okay.
Arabella: I would be on the struggle bus trying to only eat 50 grams of protein a day.
Rutha Berhane: Hundred percent, 'cause all we know is when we make our meals, our meals all have protein in them, so it's like we purposely have to take it out, which is crazy.
Arabella: They're always protein anchor. Yeah. But like it's not a meal to me if it doesn't have
Rutha Berhane: No, it
Arabella: like I can't have a bowl of rice without protein. Like what do you mean?
Rutha Berhane: That's what I was gonna say, like a dry bowl of rice with what, like veg? Like this that that's awful. But yeah, like our yogurt bowls
Arabella: Mm yeah.
Rutha Berhane: that we make, our yogurt bowls or or Bella's mud bowls, actually just carry the 50 grams at that point. Like if you wanna get like, you know, if you
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: add a little bit more protein, so it's like it's very it's it's very jarring, okay? So and this is this comes just from like the baseline bare minimum for the general public, which I understand where they were coming from to kind of let them know that hey you do need a certain amount still for like the the bare min minimum to avoid muscle wasting, but at the same time I think you need a little more than fifty grams of protein a day to avoid muscle w wasting, especially
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: at an older age.
Arabella: See, this is the issue with like bare minimum, like general requirements. Like it's the bare minimum for a reason. It is not like the optimal target. Not even not even close to like the optimal f like efficient serving size. Like even like when you look at supplement dosage recommendations, like it's always the bare minimum. It's not actually the like optimal dose most of the time. So
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: yeah, it's like it's mind boggling that the recommended daily allowance Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And obviously
Rutha Berhane: It's it's that baffling. Like it's it's it's horrible, right? but yeah, ever
Arabella: if you're exercising regularly, like in any shape or form, then your protein minimum protein requirements should be like much much much higher. Like that fifty
Rutha Berhane: Much more yeah.
Arabella: grams is probably if you're like extremely sedentary, like not doing any s any form of movement or exercise whatsoever. And at that point, I mean you really don't need that much that many calories total anyways, if you're not moving whatsoever. So yeah. Yeah. Insane. Mm-hmm.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. So that's why I was moved for like research has moved for when people are active, especially women, to move that number up higher, which then also puts us at such a gap of fifty two to like a hundred and fifty, that's more than double. So I think a lot of a lot of women are living in between that number, but at the same time I think even the bare minimum needs to be moved up to even a hundred, I would say, just to get people the knowledge of hey, if you're already at a hundred, you can move up to the hundred and fifty if you weigh that you know, if you weigh that much. Yeah.
Arabella: Yeah. It's misleading. It's misleading for sure. Because then say when like women do start working with me and I give them this like a hundred and fifty, even higher protein goal, they're like, my god, that's so much protein, like how how am I supposed to eat that? Are you sure that's not too much? Because in comparison to that fifty gram mark, like yes, it's a lot, but the reality is that fifty gram was just not nearly enough to begin with. So yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Is it?
Arabella: On that note, let's talk about what the actual recommended or optimal ranges should be.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: So the general rule of thumb is typically like 0.7 to one gram of protein
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: per pound of body weight. I just like to go with the one gram mark because it makes life easy. Take your body weight, and that is the number of grams of protein that you should be eating for optimal muscle growth, muscle retention, energy, fueling. Everything, all of the benefits.
Rutha Berhane: All the above. Yeah.
Arabella: If you're not, yeah. If you're not strength training, then you can probably get away with a little bit less. But honestly, everybody should be strength training.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: There's so many benefits. strength training is like one of the best things that you can do for your long-term health. So
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: yeah. I would that's why I generally say always like at least one gram per pound of body weight, if not a little bit more, especially If you are in a fat loss phase doing a cut in a prep, it is very beneficial to increase your protein to around the like 1.2, 1.3 gram per pound of body weight just to help preserve lean mass while losing fat. And protein
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: is also the most filling macronutrient. So it's if you're eating more protein, then you're gonna feel more full and not feel that increase in hunger so much when you drop your calories 'cause it's way more satiating than carbs. So increasing it can help
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's the one macro
Arabella: to manage hunger for sure.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, that's the one macro that I literally recommend nobody touching in the sense of lowering in a deficit because obviously. When you think of like dropping calories, people want to drop things that they won't really miss, but they want to keep like certain things in, which is understandable. But in a fat loss phase, what's gonna keep you the most satiated as you're dropping calories that come from your fats and from your carbs? It's just the one thing that you should always keep high or just leave as is from the beginning, because you're going to start feeling it way worse. Way worse if you drop that one too.
Arabella: Mm-hmm. One hundred percent. Like I remember in my prep last year, it was when I was like my s I think very close to the leanest point of my prep and I was around a hundred and twenty pounds and my protein got dropped to around a hundred and twenty pounds. But I'm so used to eating more than one gram per pound of body weight.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: And so when I'm like already like peak depletion. And I'm only getting a gram of pro protein per body weight. I'm like, why? Like normally I'm eating so much more than this. Like I
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: was so much hungrier. And it really does make a big difference. So
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: yeah, because you can literally eat a bowl of chicken, like eighty to a hundred grams of chicken, and feel super full after. Versus if you
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Exactly.
Arabella: eat like eighty to a hundred grams of rice, like you're gonna be even hungrier after you finish that than before.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. And when people do like when they're in a prep, let's say I'll use that as an example because it's a good marker for anybody. When people are going like carbless or they have like carbless meals, or they have to go zero carb for like a few days or a week, whatever the case might be, that just means they're keeping in their protein and their veg. So that should tell you how important your protein is because we're not going proteinless and we're just keeping our carbs. In because that would at the end of the day, like, what is that gonna do for us if you're just on carbs and zero protein? So I think that's also like a really eye-opening thing for people is when bodybuilders majority keep their protein in when they're going carbless because that's gonna keep you the the best the most full, what's it called, preserve muscle loss too. And that's a really big thing, is because when people I see a lot of people either not consuming enough protein or just not having it at all, and they train. Right, and they wanna get leaner and less bulky. And I've seen the whole research shows that you don't need any more than a hundred and it's propaganda. The propaganda is a granola in your yogurt in the morning. That's a propaganda. Sorry.
Arabella: That is why you're not making progress. G like, my god, I know. It
Rutha Berhane: Put the damn granola down.
Arabella: put the damn granola down and add some protein powder to your yogurt instead because my god, like
Rutha Berhane: Me something. Give me something to work with Fuck.
Arabella: your 90 grams of protein a day, even a hundred is not enough. And there's a reason you're so hungry and end up snacking. It's because you're not getting enough protein and your meals are not balanced enough. Yeah. We could go off about that.
Rutha Berhane: We can go s on and on.
Arabella: Yeah. And then there's also like the opposite end of the spectrum where people are like, I just need more protein, more protein, more protein, like I can't get enough protein
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: and the more is always better myth is a myth for a reason.
Rutha Berhane: It is. Yeah.
Arabella: Because more does not always does not equal more. Just because you're eating more protein, it doesn't mean that you're getting more muscle growth out of it. It's not like that protein gets directly converted to muscle. It literally just gets oxidized in the body and if anything like over consuming protein, it can probably cause some digestive discomfort and upset. So yes, like there is a a time and a place to increase your protein, such as in a deficit, as we just mentioned, but it's not like that like higher protein intake continues to pay off for muscle preservation. Like there's there's a threshold. So yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. My question for you is. In in your off season, do you adjust protein based on the phase that you're in either offseason or prep, or does it relatively stay the same?
Arabella: typically I mean that's up to my coach, but typically my I would say my protein
Rutha Berhane: What have you seen so far?
Arabella: my protein typically stays the same. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Arabella: And if anything, like I'm losing weight, so my body weight is going is dropping, but my protein is staying consistent.
Rutha Berhane: So it's basically higher if you really want if if you guys think about it like in a deficit way, yeah. Yeah. Yeah,
Arabella: Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: same. So that's that's a real a little inside look for you guys because things don't really change. like certain things don't change no matter the phase you're in. It's more about just like keeping it consistent, especially with what you're consuming. But obviously
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: there's a lot of information out there, so I don't even blame people after a certain extent.
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Bringing us to our next discussion of why most women are under eating protein.
Arabella: I don't wanna eat too much protein 'cause it'll make me bulky. my god, just kidding.
Rutha Berhane: She got it to the quote, which is crazy. But that's the exact thing that's always constantly said.
Arabella: Yeah. honestly I would say most women are just like unaware of how much protein they actually need to be eating and what foods are actually high in protein. most women are under the have the understanding that things like nuts, like almonds or Pistachios are a good source of protein. You know, they're thinking that they're eating healthy and getting all this protein in but in reality
Rutha Berhane: those almonds.
Arabella: like nuts are like the worst source of protein ever in terms of protein to calorie ratio.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, yeah.
Arabella: and then I would say most women also are not eating like proper balanced breakfast. So they're starting off their day like on the wrong foot already, you know, if you're having like a pastry for breakfast, like a croissant or like a muffin or even like a piece of toast or like a bowl of cereal, or you're just having like some fruit on your way out the door in the morning with a coffee, like there is very, very little protein in A meal like that, like say like five to fifteen grams, even if you're having two eggs. I got a lot of hate on one of my videos one time. I was like, if you're having two eggs for breakfast, like that is not a high protein breakfast, and that's what's holding you back. And it's true because two eggs is what, like 11 grams of protein. And
Rutha Berhane: Not that much at all.
Arabella: yeah, and again, calorie to protein ratio with two eggs is is not ideal. So if you add some egg whites or even some turkey bacon or or chicken or turkey sausage to that, then that's a much higher protein breakfast and that's actually gonna fuel you properly. But the two eggs alone is not actually a whole lot of protein.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Exactly. My my baseline that I like to do if I had if it was like death row and I have a coach is literally minimum rule of thumb for me at least is 20 grams of protein per meal. And if you eat
Arabella: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: multiple meals, it adds up very quickly. But at the same time, obviously like higher if you can. But nothing less than 20 is my sweet spot because it the math masses at the at the at the end there. But with Bella mentioning how a lot of women don't know how much protein they need to consume, it's because of what we watch, right? The people who are spinning the facts that are true about hey, you need more protein and you need to train and this and that, they all look a certain way. And realistically, not every woman that looks like that looks at a muscular body is gonna say, I wanna look like that, right? So when they see somebody with muscle and let's say like they're lean or whatever, or they just have body fat on them and they're Just not lean yet, whatever. They correlate protein and training with that person's look. And it's, I don't want to look like that because in my head that looks bulky. So why would they take information in from somebody who has muscle to their frame? And that's why under eating in certain macros comes in, which is so bad because even if you try, and I hate saying this, but even if you tried day and night to look like some of these people, it is hard. I'm still trying, okay? And it's not there yet. It's not gonna happen overnight.
Arabella: We are still trying. It is extremely hard. Yeah, yeah. And on that note as well, I would say that protein powder has like is very taboo for anybody outside of like the bodybuilding s or a lot of people outside of the bodybuilding space. It is becoming more and more Common nowadays, but I feel like for a while there it was like, if I have protein powder, it's like a steroid and it's gonna make me bulky and huge. And guys, I wish it was that easy. I seriously wish it was that easy. protein powder is one of the best hacks for getting your protein in. Like It's so versatile. It's so easy to get down. Like, I personally hate drinking my protein because I like eating it. It's more satiating. I enjoy eating my protein. But like if you struggle to eat, you know, five meals a day or three meals a day plus two snacks all with twenty grams of protein each, like protein powder is a great option. Just throw it into your coffee, throw it into a glass of water. Bob's your uncle. Literally the easiest way to get protein in. Like smoothie.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Wage up connoisseur. Like anything, I will take that over nothing, genuinely. Yeah.
Arabella: Heck, like make some weight drip and put it on a cinnamon bun. Just kidding. But yeah. Yeah. and I am like glad to see the protein powder is increasingly being used by people outside of the bodybuilding space because yeah, it's so good for healthy aging, muscle maintenance, recovery, weight management. busy schedules, like it is so quick and convenient. So yeah, I'm glad to see it's becoming a little more mainstream, but I think for a while there it was like definitely more taboo and people would steer away from it. That said, protein powder has come a long way too. Like it used to be this like super chalky gross thing and now it there's so many different options. Like you can get clear protein powder now where it's like basically just like fruit juice.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: Like there's so many different options. Like it's it's not chalky like it used to be, it actually tastes good. There's so many things you can do with it. So yeah.
Rutha Berhane: And it's very, very reported that like when women do increase Their protein intake because again, like we said, it helps with the satiating portion of it. You're gonna see a decrease in cravings in the afternoon. Like, you know what I like to say is when the sun goes down, sud so does my discipline. Right? So you
Arabella: Yeah, literally.
Rutha Berhane: have to take matter into your own hands that if you're it's just common sense at the end of the day, like genuinely, I'm gonna be blunt about it. If you're full during the day and you go onto your night and you're still full and you feel well fed. Why would you have the extra strong craving? So I'm not talking about the hmm, like I could really go for a cookie right now. No, like the I need a cookie now and I'm gonna go get it. So you need to understand that balancing that portion out is gonna help take care of everything else, right? But since we were talking about breakfast and stuff like that, like give me like a typical Bella approved breakfast that you would do that's like high protein, easy and good to go.
Arabella: Well I have a couple of go to options.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: for my clients specifically. I'll normally plan like overnight oats, overnight protein oats because they're super easy to prep in bulk. Like you can prep your overnight oats for the entire week. and then just super easy grab and go on your way out the door in the morning and it's like a a sweet treat first thing in the morning too. Just oats, almond milk, protein powder, some chia seeds, whatever fruit you want. you can there's so many different options. You can change up the flavors easily to give yourself more variety so you don't get bored of them. That's
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: a really great option. Eggs with egg whites, turkey bacon, like a little egg white scramble or omelet in the morning, with some sourdough is a great option too if you have time to cook that. I mean it literally takes five minutes to cook up some eggs and egg whites. Like you if you're already having eggs with toast for breakfast, then just throw some egg whites in there. And there you go, another fifteen grams of protein, super easy. Greek yogurt bowl, also a really easy option that you can bulk prep. Just make sure you're not free pouring the granola because those calories add up really quickly. And if you need even more protein than what the Greek yogurt is giving you alone. So gr I mean a serving of Greek yogurt seventeen grams of protein. So then add half a scoop of protein powder to that. That's over thirty grams of protein. Super easy. what else? Honestly my go to's is typically like a sourdough English muffin with one egg or two eggs and some egg whites. sometimes with some avocado too, or Greek yogurt bowl is normally my go to.
Rutha Berhane: I like that. I've been
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: spamming those are all easy and good, and you'd be s surprised how long those all take. Like a few minutes. Eggs are not gonna take an hour to cook,
Arabella: Not really.
Rutha Berhane: right? I have been spamming the same breakfast for the last year, literally to date the exact year. since oats were not agreeing with me, because I always did eggs and oats. So now I literally do three eggs, egg whites, and rice cakes and fruit. That's literally what I've been eating for the last year.
Arabella: Low key that I did that in prep and like the eggs on the rice cakes is so good.
Rutha Berhane: it's so good. I don't know what it is. It's so good.
Arabella: I know. I well I love eggs on rice too. Like it's it's like fried rice kind of vibes. So so, so good. But
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. So good. So good. Yeah.
Arabella: yeah, guys, like Ruth was saying too, the reason that your cravings are so high is probably 'cause you're under eating protein. Like protein is gonna stabilize your blood sugar, which is why also pre workout it's so important to have protein alongside your fast digesting carbohydrate source because Protein is gonna avoid that glucose spike, that blood sugar spike is gonna help to stabilize your blood sugar. and yeah, that's gonna keep cravings at bay, versus if you have more carbs, that's gonna stimulate your blood sugar, it's gonna stimulate glucose production, and your hunger's just gonna go through the roof as a result. And that's when you end up wanting to eat more and more and more.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: But if you're keeping yourself satiated with protein throughout the day, then you're gonna avoid that afternoon hunger spike.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly.
Arabella: It's not a placebo effect, I can promise you that. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: It's real and we're the we're the fact we're the prime examples because me, I could go for a sweet treat anytime. Literally six AM I could. Six PM I could, ten PM.
Arabella: Okay. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: So the fact that we're not going three times a day is because we do use these tools and we're very consistent with what we eat and so it's easier.
Arabella: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I also often have high days, high carb days in my plan, and on my high carb days, protein is always lower. And it's like this love hate relationship with the high day because my protein is so much lower. So I'm like and carbs simulate hunger. So I'm like, I love that I get all of these carbs, but at the same time I'm not nearly satiated and I just wanna eat more and more because my carbs are so high and I don't have the protein to help stabilize stabilize my blood sugar and satiate me.
Rutha Berhane: And satiate you, yeah. And the next day you're gonna feel that hunger. You're gonna feel the hunger the next day. So don't worry about it. yeah, which then another angle to this is to our competitor audiences, I would say the competitor specific angle and conversation to this that's very important and why our coaches make such educated decisions when it comes to our like aggressive cuts when it when it comes to prep and protein and hunger. Protein is the easiest macro to combat hunger when in when you're in such a deep cut, aggressive cut, deep prep, whatever, higher protein intake. is one of the most used tools to manage hunger. And we see that done with a lot of people's nutrition while in that phase. It's not taboo, it's not, you know. Bella might have it, the other person might not. It's very reused across the board.
Arabella: Mm. Yeah. I would say protein intake is literally like your your go to, your best friend in prep or honestly year round for managing hunger. Like it's one of the reasons high protein, flexible dieting consistently outperforms low protein approaches for body composition for sure.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I'm gonna trigger something I think. Question Question
Arabella: Mm.
Rutha Berhane: What do you think about vegans in prop?
Arabella: Guys, there's a reason that like every single plant based bodybuilder has freaking gut problems. And it's because animal protein sources digest so much easier than plant based protein sources. Like if if you're eating beans and lentils and tofu Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: I'll shit myself. Sorry, I just have to s I'll shit myself.
Arabella: All of these foods are so highly ferment like for they they ferment in your gut and
Rutha Berhane: Mm.
Arabella: they are so hard to digest. So yeah.
Rutha Berhane: the the saying of it's gonna sound like boots in a dryer in there. They they they mean it. 'Cause if you're eating
Arabella: Yeah literally, literally.
Rutha Berhane: beans all day and also like I think we do see like a few competitors who do preach the v it's very rare the vegan, and I still look this good, which is good for you, but at the same time it's plant based protein intake compared to meat. Meat ha elicits more anabolic responses compared to plant based, right? I don't want to say I've never had beans in my diet. I don't want I I don't I never want it.
Arabella: No, me neither. But I actually did not know that for the longest time when I started bodybuilding and I was at one point hooked on the Beyond Yourself vegan protein powder. The n
Rutha Berhane: That should taste like grass.
Arabella: have you tried the vanilla cupcake batter though? Or the cookie dough one? That because the
Rutha Berhane: I don't plan on it. I literally had one that gave me trauma.
Arabella: that protein powder, like I haven't had it in a while, so I can't speak on it now, but years ago it actually was so so good like way way way better than any other vegan protein powder I've ever tried because most of them do taste like grass. And so I was having that instead of whey because I thought I also was like whey intolerant at the time.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: and then I learned that plant based protein yeah is not as anabolic as whey protein and I like I wanted to
Rutha Berhane: No way.
Arabella: shoot myself. It was like the most disappointing news I'd ever heard in my life, but
Rutha Berhane: And it's it's like I I don't care about the
Arabella: I I d
Rutha Berhane: sorry.
Arabella: Sorry, I was just gonna say I will say though, like if you are vegan or vegetarian, like if you are consuming plant based protein like in sufficient quantities with other whole protein sources, like you're still you're still gonna listen anabolic response. Like there are ways to work around it for sure. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, we're only talking about the p the plant eaters currently. Don't worry guys. Yeah. I think I'm not a fan of the vegan train and especially when people try and shove it down my throat, like you're not gonna actually talk to me about nonsense because I think it's just it's too much. And also if you if if you think about it, people who do prep on a vegan diet, it's so much more difficult and taxing because the balancing of the macros is so much more difficult. So much more difficult.
Arabella: Yeah, because beat and protein sources are so much higher in cal like c the calorie to protect ratio is
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, it's crazy.
Arabella: is so bad. So it's like if you're relying on beans as a protein source, okay, well there goes like half of your
Rutha Berhane: You said beans in the most
Arabella: carb allowance for the day.
Rutha Berhane: You said beans in the most derogatory sets. You want beans? No, seriously, like that's true. Mm-hmm.
Arabella: Beans I do love me some baked beans, but yeah, no, they're like they're not really a good source of protein because they're so high in carbs and also have fats versus like you could eat white fish for like no carbs, no fat. Straight protein.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. That's what I was gonna say. Like if you're going carbless, do vegan athletes go carbless, you think, sometimes if they need to?
Arabella: Yeah, I I mean you would have to, but then
Rutha Berhane: How though? Hm, see?
Arabella: I don't know, there's one tofu brand, Big Mountain, I think it's called. I
Rutha Berhane: Dude, tofu tastes like I'm biting concrete.
Arabella: I do love some Agadashi tofu.
Rutha Berhane: Bella, you see what we're heated about right now? Don't say that. Don't say that. We're trying to get them away. Yeah. that's
Arabella: Because it's deep brad. But yeah.
Rutha Berhane: that was just my little round. Sorry, just because we need to separate we we need to be realistic as to what is more beneficial on paper, and that is an animal di animal-based diet. And sorry to the vegans who are vegans because they care about animal cruelty. I do like beef. Moving on.
Arabella: we love beef. Love me some steak. But yeah. Moving on to wrap up this episode, we're gonna debunk some myths because it's our favorite topic on anything.
Rutha Berhane: Our favorite. Our favorite. Yeah.
Arabella: We just love myth debunking, and I my god, these literally grab my ears every single time I hear them. So starting off strong with too much protein is gonna damage my kidneys.
Rutha Berhane: We give it a negative two out of ten. Yeah.
Arabella: That's being generous. Guys, there is no evidence to support that, among healthy individuals, obviously. If you have kidney issues, then be mindful. But for the general population here, don't don't be worrying about your kidneys. There's honestly n actually no known harmful upper limit for protein. So have at
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: her.
Rutha Berhane: Thank you.
Arabella: Like we talked about like there there's a threshold when it comes to like how much more protein is gonna be beneficial, but in terms of upper limit harmfulness, no such thing. So yeah, if you have
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. Yeah.
Arabella: well functioning kidneys, then go for it.
Rutha Berhane: get to it. then we have second one. Protein makes women bulky. Protein actually supports lean muscle tissue. and the reason that you're talking about the bulky look is because you are fat.
Arabella: Say it louder, yu.
Rutha Berhane: It's because you're fat as protein does not make you bulky. But yeah, that's the second one.
Arabella: Protein is not making you bulky. Lifting weights is not making you bulky. You just have body fat on you. If you want to get lean and channeled, eat your damn protein. Protein really does support lean muscle growth, and you're not gonna gain any of that if you're not eating your protein. So yeah. Next one. You can only absorb 30 grams of protein per meal. Maximum 30 grams. False. False. Yeah. Your body you're eating 30
Rutha Berhane: 'Cause your body knows what thirty grams is. J 'cause your body knows.
Arabella: grams. You hit that 30 gram mark. Your body's like, nope, we're done. No more absorbing any more protein right now. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: You have a scale in your gut.
Arabella: my gosh. W okay, on that would I recommend eating like fifty, sixty grams of protein per meal as a hundred and forty pound female? Like probably not ideal just because it's gonna be harder to digest. But in terms of what your body can absorb There is there's no such thing as as a limit, honestly. yeah. It yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. I like to say go on. I like to say my body will absorb what I give it. So that's there's no there's no realistic cap. It's just about what you can handle, right? Yeah.
Arabella: No. Like basically what research has shown is that around that 25 to 40 gram of protein meal is what's gonna stimulate muscle protein synthesis. so like additional protein beyond that in a single meal, like it's still being absorbed, it's just not giving you that additional muscle protein synthesis during that one meal time. So like we said, there's no upper limit with how much protein total you can consume, but in terms of what's gonna be effective, typically like, yeah, thirty grams of protein, thirty five grams of protein per meal is gonna be your your sweet spot.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. next one. You sorry, plant protein is basically useless for muscle building. Not true. what we just said earlier is true when you're on an only plant diet. Only you're just a vegan straight up. But
Arabella: Because you're not getting any whole protein
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: sources. You're only getting you're not sorry, you're not getting complete protein sources.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, so when it's consumed in sufficient quantities and making smart combinations, soy, pea rice blends, and mixed legumes with grains that can support muscle growth when paired up again with meat. Meat. So a balance. There's a balance there. Yeah.
Arabella: It's your best friend. Yeah. And if you're telling me that you don't like meat, I swear you're just not cooking it well. I swear.
Rutha Berhane: It's the same vibe as I don't like veggies.
Arabella: Yeah. Well you're probably eating raw green beans though.
Rutha Berhane: Like cook your shit, steam it. I love steamed broccoli with a little bit of seasoning. So good.
Arabella: my gosh guys, yeah, season it. Like put some sauce on there. Like make it yummy.
Rutha Berhane: Okay.
Arabella: Like yeah, we don't need to be eating bland boring meals out here. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: You're not in prison, babe. I promise you, you're free now. You can you can season your food. Yeah.
Arabella: Literally, literally. Okay. Next one. You need protein immediately after your workout or the gains are gone. I need to get my protein in immediately right now, stat. Or you probably heard of like the anabolic window. I have to get it in within thirty minutes or else the gains are gone. My workouts wasted. Guys thing, in no such thing, don't worry. Don't worry. Your workout is not going out the window. If you miss that thirty minutes, I guess.
Rutha Berhane: can I just Can I Sorry Can I mention Can I mention something? Cause it just clocks it like when you s when you said this. When I first ever heard of this thing, because like I was it this wasn't like recent, it was years ago, cause this myth has been there for so long, right? I used to have an ex-boyfriend years and years ago where we would we would break out and I was like fresh the gym, so like I'm very like impressionable, right? He's driving home like 80 out of 60 talking about I need to meet my anabolic window for my protein intake. And that's when I first heard it. Grown
Arabella: No
Rutha Berhane: mad, mind you.
Arabella: my god, juice monkey for sure.
Rutha Berhane: Like d I was just like what are you t no, he was actually a petite man. Sorry. Sorry. Anyways, even worse. Yeah. Anyways.
Arabella: That's even worse. That's even worse. Yeah. No, such a myth. Guys, like what matters is your overall daily protein intake and distribution throughout the day, not whether you had a shake within five minutes of your last set. Like it it's not that deep at all. Like eating consuming protein
Rutha Berhane: It's just to feed the brain.
Arabella: yeah. Consuming protein within like one to two hours pre and post training is more than sufficient. You just need to focus on fueling your body adequately pre and post workout within that like one to two hour mark. The strict like I have to get my protein in within thirty minutes is is so unnecessary, so untrue. Yeah. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Bullshit. Yeah. Zones away. Zones away. But yeah. just to recap on everything that we did talk about, the general recommendation is a floor and not a target. So if you train and have goals and want to make a change in your lifestyle or or anything and age well. If you want to age well, age like fine wine, you know, you have to take the step to significantly increase your protein intake, especially if you're eating next to nothing currently, being intentional with what you are putting in your body is going to be the best outcome for you.
Arabella: Yeah. Protein they say protein's the building block of muscle, which it is, but like also like bone density, like overall health, longevity, and life. If you are recovering from like a surgery or an injury, keep up your protein intake, like that will help so much with your recovery. It literally is a building block to everything. if you're eating a high protein diet, like you are just gonna feel and look so much better. So, yeah, it's it's so important.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Yeah. But
Arabella: Even if you even if you don't go to the gym, even if you're not strength training, eat your protein.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. You just still eat a sufficient amount, but please
Arabella: Yeah, yeah. You don't have to, you know, slamming protein back like protein shakes
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: like six times a day. You don't have to can we can we also
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: stop with like drinking egg whites out of the carton like sorry, what is like
Rutha Berhane: Sorry, I can't I I I literally I can't say too much because I know people who do do that, so I can't be too much of an hater. But like whatever she said, let's do that please. It's disgusting. It's just it's vile. Because apparently,
Arabella: It's actually it's so vile. There is no
Rutha Berhane: isn't it, they do it because it absorbs better or s or something. I that's what I heard.
Arabella: I have no I have not heard n not never heard that. Definitely untrue.
Rutha Berhane: I'm not that desperate for gross to be drinking my egg whites.
Arabella: No. No. And there's so many easy ways to get your protein in. Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, protein powder. be mindful of protein bars because the sugar alcohols can be hard on your digestion. but like once in a while if you're if you need a quick source of protein, like have a protein bar. be all is a personal favorite.
Rutha Berhane: Those are bombs in my gut now.
Arabella: What?
Rutha Berhane: Those are like bombs in my gut. Now I literally can never have them. It hurts. Those are the best tasting ones. Yeah. But I just have PTSD in her. But please
Arabella: Bearbells are like the only ones that don't really Yeah. And they're the best tasting ones for sure. Yeah. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: do sorry.
Arabella: I was just gonna say also one piece of advice that I have if you struggle to get your protein in and like eating a hundred and fifty grams in a day seems super daunting and overwhelming to you, then pre plan out your meals and split it up because if you're having twenty grams, twenty five grams of protein per meal, it becomes a lot easier to manage versus aiming for like that big one fifty number. Like one fifty seems like a lot, but if you break it up into twenty, twenty five grams, like Per meal per snack, then it's a lot more easier to manage mentally and physically. So yeah, the best tip I have is pre-plan out your meals. Pre-plan out your full day of eating so that you know exactly what you're what you're gonna be eating, how you're gonna be getting your protein in. And once you do this for a couple of weeks, it really will become a lifestyle and very habitual and it's not it will become second nature. You won't be thinking about and stressing about how you're gonna get your protein in every day. Like for us, it just we just do it.
Rutha Berhane: It's a wake up and go thing. Yeah.
Arabella: Yeah, yeah.
Rutha Berhane: But please do let us know how much protein is on your plan right now and what you're aiming for even and what you are at or if you are having trouble reaching your protein intake, let us know and we can give you some tips and tricks because especially that one.
Arabella: Hit up my Instagram. That's literally my entire feed.
Rutha Berhane: Especially that one can tell you with her you know what? I'm not gonna tell you her combos. She can say it himself her herself later. Yeah.
Arabella: Yeah, yeah. And let us know your your favorite myths as well. 'Cause we'll be hear if we miss any. But hopefully you got some value.
Rutha Berhane: yeah, I'm ready to hear it. But honestly it rises yeah, I n I might not want to hear them, like my blood pressure's gonna rise up. Yeah.
Arabella: Yeah. But speaking of which I need to go get some protein in. I am hungry. So we're gonna wrap
Rutha Berhane: Me too. But yeah.
Arabella: things up here, but thanks so much for tuning in to another episode and we'll chat to you next week.
Rutha Berhane: Bye guys!
Arabella: Peace.
Arabella: Hello, welcome back to another Consistency Code episode. Today we're gonna be diving into everything to do with protein. How much do you actually need? Is the anabolic window a legitimate thing or not? And are you eating enough protein to support your body, fuel your goals, be your healthiest, happiest self? Because there's a lot of controversy.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. A little too much, a little too much. And it's never that complicated. Just like we like to say, nothing is ever that deep when it comes to what you're eating, what you're training. But there's a lot of things that will pull you to different directions. But today we're gonna give it to you straight, straight.
Arabella: Yeah. Protein is probably the most talked about macronutrient in fitness too, but also the most misunderstood at the same time. and it's like everybody it's so talked about to the point where people forget about the other two macronutrients, carbs and fats, and like literally everybody is so concerned about protein and like it's getting overwhelming and it's getting out of control at this point, honestly. Why is everything labeled protein? Like I've never seen so
Rutha Berhane: Protein lipstick. Protein lipstick.
Arabella: You say protein lipstick.
Rutha Berhane: It's that meme that goes Protein lipstick, protein makeup, protein car.
Arabella: Protein dish soap.
Rutha Berhane: No, literally, I'm sorry. It's true. It's a fad now.
Arabella: my god. It's so beyond out of control. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: I'm just gonna clear that one up right away. If you see like protein granola as an example, the granola does not have any added protein to it. It if you look at the ingredients like
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: there's no like extra protein powder or anything in there. so I don't even know how legally they're allowed to make the claim that it's protein and granola, but everything is just a mark.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: At this point, so make sure you're doing your due diligence when you're grocery shopping because I promise you most of these protein foods are not actually high in protein relative to the amount of calories per serving. It is it.
Rutha Berhane: It's a scam. It's a scam. But yeah.
Arabella: But anyway, we digress. So
Rutha Berhane: Sorry, I just started packing it up.
Arabella: to open up this episode, how much protein are both of us eating daily right now and how has that number changed over the years?
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. I'm currently sitting at like the range of like one fifty to one sixty. And that's like my comfortable zone. I used to I come from a background of eating literally no protein before I started to eating two hundred and ten to now just finding like a good balance that works for me, which actually does go with the rule that we're gonna talk about it about how much protein one should consume with their body weight. But yeah.
Arabella: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm around a similar mark right now. 150. I also did not consume like any protein whatsoever before bodybuilding. I remember in my early, early gym days pre-bodybuilding, I I was not consuming nearly
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: enough protein, like barely any to be honest. Like definitely holding back. But yeah,
Rutha Berhane: Which is like typical, you know. Yeah.
Arabella: yeah. It's not until you start tracking that you really get your eyes open to how much protein you're actually eating and what you need to consume. But yeah, I've gotten as
Rutha Berhane: Exactly.
Arabella: high as like one ninety when I first started bodybuilding and as low as like one twenty in prep. So yeah. One
Rutha Berhane: yeah. Yeah.
Arabella: fifty is like my ideal. Anything higher, it's like a little bit too much. But anything lower I'm like, no, give me more protein. But I'm just a huge fan of
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: like high protein meals. So yeah. Yeah. It does. It
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. It varies, right? It varies for everybody else.
Arabella: does. It's kind of personal preference and like depends on what meals you enjoy eating. I personally love my ninja creamies. I love my Greek yogurt bowls. I love having like a good amount of meat in my meals too. So it's pretty easy for me to get my protein in. But
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. There you go.
Arabella: As bodybuilders we eat more frequently than most people. So literally we're on a clock. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. Like every two to three hours, guys. So we're we need to consume a little more on the literally meal timing. but yeah, this is very relevant that we tell you this because there is a recommended amount that you know society in general that's not in the fitness space, I would say, uses to go by as a rule of thumb, I guess, and what's promoted. so it's
Arabella: And it is so far off.
Rutha Berhane: So far off to the point where I'm gonna say it and you're gonna be like, hmm and it's like exactly it's a little it's a little concerning. the current recommended daily allowance is point eight grams per kilogram or pound of body weight, which comes out to fifty two grams for a woman who's a hundred and forty pounds.
Arabella: Put it into perspective, that is one third of the amount that is actually optimal. Like
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: a one hundred and forty-pound woman should be eating around 150 grams of protein. Like just over that one gram per pound of body weight mark. So 52 grams
Rutha Berhane: Let's take wait, let's take
Arabella: of protein? I don't even know how people only eat 52 grams of protein a day. Are you having like one meal a day? To put it into perspective, that is one third of the amount of protein that a 140-pound woman should be eating. Like a 140-pound woman should be eating around 150 grams of protein per day. Like just over that one gram of protein per pound of body weight mark. And I genuinely have no idea how anybody
Rutha Berhane: just
Arabella: only eats fifty grams of protein a day. Like, are you eating one meal? I guess like Two meals a day, like that is crazy.
Rutha Berhane: Okay.
Arabella: I would be on the struggle bus trying to only eat 50 grams of protein a day.
Rutha Berhane: Hundred percent, 'cause all we know is when we make our meals, our meals all have protein in them, so it's like we purposely have to take it out, which is crazy.
Arabella: They're always protein anchor. Yeah. But like it's not a meal to me if it doesn't have
Rutha Berhane: No, it
Arabella: like I can't have a bowl of rice without protein. Like what do you mean?
Rutha Berhane: That's what I was gonna say, like a dry bowl of rice with what, like veg? Like this that that's awful. But yeah, like our yogurt bowls
Arabella: Mm yeah.
Rutha Berhane: that we make, our yogurt bowls or or Bella's mud bowls, actually just carry the 50 grams at that point. Like if you wanna get like, you know, if you
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: add a little bit more protein, so it's like it's very it's it's very jarring, okay? So and this is this comes just from like the baseline bare minimum for the general public, which I understand where they were coming from to kind of let them know that hey you do need a certain amount still for like the the bare min minimum to avoid muscle wasting, but at the same time I think you need a little more than fifty grams of protein a day to avoid muscle w wasting, especially
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: at an older age.
Arabella: See, this is the issue with like bare minimum, like general requirements. Like it's the bare minimum for a reason. It is not like the optimal target. Not even not even close to like the optimal f like efficient serving size. Like even like when you look at supplement dosage recommendations, like it's always the bare minimum. It's not actually the like optimal dose most of the time. So
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: yeah, it's like it's mind boggling that the recommended daily allowance Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And obviously
Rutha Berhane: It's it's that baffling. Like it's it's it's horrible, right? but yeah, ever
Arabella: if you're exercising regularly, like in any shape or form, then your protein minimum protein requirements should be like much much much higher. Like that fifty
Rutha Berhane: Much more yeah.
Arabella: grams is probably if you're like extremely sedentary, like not doing any s any form of movement or exercise whatsoever. And at that point, I mean you really don't need that much that many calories total anyways, if you're not moving whatsoever. So yeah. Yeah. Insane. Mm-hmm.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. So that's why I was moved for like research has moved for when people are active, especially women, to move that number up higher, which then also puts us at such a gap of fifty two to like a hundred and fifty, that's more than double. So I think a lot of a lot of women are living in between that number, but at the same time I think even the bare minimum needs to be moved up to even a hundred, I would say, just to get people the knowledge of hey, if you're already at a hundred, you can move up to the hundred and fifty if you weigh that you know, if you weigh that much. Yeah.
Arabella: Yeah. It's misleading. It's misleading for sure. Because then say when like women do start working with me and I give them this like a hundred and fifty, even higher protein goal, they're like, my god, that's so much protein, like how how am I supposed to eat that? Are you sure that's not too much? Because in comparison to that fifty gram mark, like yes, it's a lot, but the reality is that fifty gram was just not nearly enough to begin with. So yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Is it?
Arabella: On that note, let's talk about what the actual recommended or optimal ranges should be.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: So the general rule of thumb is typically like 0.7 to one gram of protein
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: per pound of body weight. I just like to go with the one gram mark because it makes life easy. Take your body weight, and that is the number of grams of protein that you should be eating for optimal muscle growth, muscle retention, energy, fueling. Everything, all of the benefits.
Rutha Berhane: All the above. Yeah.
Arabella: If you're not, yeah. If you're not strength training, then you can probably get away with a little bit less. But honestly, everybody should be strength training.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: There's so many benefits. strength training is like one of the best things that you can do for your long-term health. So
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: yeah. I would that's why I generally say always like at least one gram per pound of body weight, if not a little bit more, especially If you are in a fat loss phase doing a cut in a prep, it is very beneficial to increase your protein to around the like 1.2, 1.3 gram per pound of body weight just to help preserve lean mass while losing fat. And protein
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: is also the most filling macronutrient. So it's if you're eating more protein, then you're gonna feel more full and not feel that increase in hunger so much when you drop your calories 'cause it's way more satiating than carbs. So increasing it can help
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's the one macro
Arabella: to manage hunger for sure.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, that's the one macro that I literally recommend nobody touching in the sense of lowering in a deficit because obviously. When you think of like dropping calories, people want to drop things that they won't really miss, but they want to keep like certain things in, which is understandable. But in a fat loss phase, what's gonna keep you the most satiated as you're dropping calories that come from your fats and from your carbs? It's just the one thing that you should always keep high or just leave as is from the beginning, because you're going to start feeling it way worse. Way worse if you drop that one too.
Arabella: Mm-hmm. One hundred percent. Like I remember in my prep last year, it was when I was like my s I think very close to the leanest point of my prep and I was around a hundred and twenty pounds and my protein got dropped to around a hundred and twenty pounds. But I'm so used to eating more than one gram per pound of body weight.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: And so when I'm like already like peak depletion. And I'm only getting a gram of pro protein per body weight. I'm like, why? Like normally I'm eating so much more than this. Like I
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: was so much hungrier. And it really does make a big difference. So
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: yeah, because you can literally eat a bowl of chicken, like eighty to a hundred grams of chicken, and feel super full after. Versus if you
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Exactly.
Arabella: eat like eighty to a hundred grams of rice, like you're gonna be even hungrier after you finish that than before.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. And when people do like when they're in a prep, let's say I'll use that as an example because it's a good marker for anybody. When people are going like carbless or they have like carbless meals, or they have to go zero carb for like a few days or a week, whatever the case might be, that just means they're keeping in their protein and their veg. So that should tell you how important your protein is because we're not going proteinless and we're just keeping our carbs. In because that would at the end of the day, like, what is that gonna do for us if you're just on carbs and zero protein? So I think that's also like a really eye-opening thing for people is when bodybuilders majority keep their protein in when they're going carbless because that's gonna keep you the the best the most full, what's it called, preserve muscle loss too. And that's a really big thing, is because when people I see a lot of people either not consuming enough protein or just not having it at all, and they train. Right, and they wanna get leaner and less bulky. And I've seen the whole research shows that you don't need any more than a hundred and it's propaganda. The propaganda is a granola in your yogurt in the morning. That's a propaganda. Sorry.
Arabella: That is why you're not making progress. G like, my god, I know. It
Rutha Berhane: Put the damn granola down.
Arabella: put the damn granola down and add some protein powder to your yogurt instead because my god, like
Rutha Berhane: Me something. Give me something to work with Fuck.
Arabella: your 90 grams of protein a day, even a hundred is not enough. And there's a reason you're so hungry and end up snacking. It's because you're not getting enough protein and your meals are not balanced enough. Yeah. We could go off about that.
Rutha Berhane: We can go s on and on.
Arabella: Yeah. And then there's also like the opposite end of the spectrum where people are like, I just need more protein, more protein, more protein, like I can't get enough protein
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: and the more is always better myth is a myth for a reason.
Rutha Berhane: It is. Yeah.
Arabella: Because more does not always does not equal more. Just because you're eating more protein, it doesn't mean that you're getting more muscle growth out of it. It's not like that protein gets directly converted to muscle. It literally just gets oxidized in the body and if anything like over consuming protein, it can probably cause some digestive discomfort and upset. So yes, like there is a a time and a place to increase your protein, such as in a deficit, as we just mentioned, but it's not like that like higher protein intake continues to pay off for muscle preservation. Like there's there's a threshold. So yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. My question for you is. In in your off season, do you adjust protein based on the phase that you're in either offseason or prep, or does it relatively stay the same?
Arabella: typically I mean that's up to my coach, but typically my I would say my protein
Rutha Berhane: What have you seen so far?
Arabella: my protein typically stays the same. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Arabella: And if anything, like I'm losing weight, so my body weight is going is dropping, but my protein is staying consistent.
Rutha Berhane: So it's basically higher if you really want if if you guys think about it like in a deficit way, yeah. Yeah. Yeah,
Arabella: Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: same. So that's that's a real a little inside look for you guys because things don't really change. like certain things don't change no matter the phase you're in. It's more about just like keeping it consistent, especially with what you're consuming. But obviously
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: there's a lot of information out there, so I don't even blame people after a certain extent.
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Bringing us to our next discussion of why most women are under eating protein.
Arabella: I don't wanna eat too much protein 'cause it'll make me bulky. my god, just kidding.
Rutha Berhane: She got it to the quote, which is crazy. But that's the exact thing that's always constantly said.
Arabella: Yeah. honestly I would say most women are just like unaware of how much protein they actually need to be eating and what foods are actually high in protein. most women are under the have the understanding that things like nuts, like almonds or Pistachios are a good source of protein. You know, they're thinking that they're eating healthy and getting all this protein in but in reality
Rutha Berhane: those almonds.
Arabella: like nuts are like the worst source of protein ever in terms of protein to calorie ratio.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, yeah.
Arabella: and then I would say most women also are not eating like proper balanced breakfast. So they're starting off their day like on the wrong foot already, you know, if you're having like a pastry for breakfast, like a croissant or like a muffin or even like a piece of toast or like a bowl of cereal, or you're just having like some fruit on your way out the door in the morning with a coffee, like there is very, very little protein in A meal like that, like say like five to fifteen grams, even if you're having two eggs. I got a lot of hate on one of my videos one time. I was like, if you're having two eggs for breakfast, like that is not a high protein breakfast, and that's what's holding you back. And it's true because two eggs is what, like 11 grams of protein. And
Rutha Berhane: Not that much at all.
Arabella: yeah, and again, calorie to protein ratio with two eggs is is not ideal. So if you add some egg whites or even some turkey bacon or or chicken or turkey sausage to that, then that's a much higher protein breakfast and that's actually gonna fuel you properly. But the two eggs alone is not actually a whole lot of protein.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Exactly. My my baseline that I like to do if I had if it was like death row and I have a coach is literally minimum rule of thumb for me at least is 20 grams of protein per meal. And if you eat
Arabella: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: multiple meals, it adds up very quickly. But at the same time, obviously like higher if you can. But nothing less than 20 is my sweet spot because it the math masses at the at the at the end there. But with Bella mentioning how a lot of women don't know how much protein they need to consume, it's because of what we watch, right? The people who are spinning the facts that are true about hey, you need more protein and you need to train and this and that, they all look a certain way. And realistically, not every woman that looks like that looks at a muscular body is gonna say, I wanna look like that, right? So when they see somebody with muscle and let's say like they're lean or whatever, or they just have body fat on them and they're Just not lean yet, whatever. They correlate protein and training with that person's look. And it's, I don't want to look like that because in my head that looks bulky. So why would they take information in from somebody who has muscle to their frame? And that's why under eating in certain macros comes in, which is so bad because even if you try, and I hate saying this, but even if you tried day and night to look like some of these people, it is hard. I'm still trying, okay? And it's not there yet. It's not gonna happen overnight.
Arabella: We are still trying. It is extremely hard. Yeah, yeah. And on that note as well, I would say that protein powder has like is very taboo for anybody outside of like the bodybuilding s or a lot of people outside of the bodybuilding space. It is becoming more and more Common nowadays, but I feel like for a while there it was like, if I have protein powder, it's like a steroid and it's gonna make me bulky and huge. And guys, I wish it was that easy. I seriously wish it was that easy. protein powder is one of the best hacks for getting your protein in. Like It's so versatile. It's so easy to get down. Like, I personally hate drinking my protein because I like eating it. It's more satiating. I enjoy eating my protein. But like if you struggle to eat, you know, five meals a day or three meals a day plus two snacks all with twenty grams of protein each, like protein powder is a great option. Just throw it into your coffee, throw it into a glass of water. Bob's your uncle. Literally the easiest way to get protein in. Like smoothie.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Wage up connoisseur. Like anything, I will take that over nothing, genuinely. Yeah.
Arabella: Heck, like make some weight drip and put it on a cinnamon bun. Just kidding. But yeah. Yeah. and I am like glad to see the protein powder is increasingly being used by people outside of the bodybuilding space because yeah, it's so good for healthy aging, muscle maintenance, recovery, weight management. busy schedules, like it is so quick and convenient. So yeah, I'm glad to see it's becoming a little more mainstream, but I think for a while there it was like definitely more taboo and people would steer away from it. That said, protein powder has come a long way too. Like it used to be this like super chalky gross thing and now it there's so many different options. Like you can get clear protein powder now where it's like basically just like fruit juice.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: Like there's so many different options. Like it's it's not chalky like it used to be, it actually tastes good. There's so many things you can do with it. So yeah.
Rutha Berhane: And it's very, very reported that like when women do increase Their protein intake because again, like we said, it helps with the satiating portion of it. You're gonna see a decrease in cravings in the afternoon. Like, you know what I like to say is when the sun goes down, sud so does my discipline. Right? So you
Arabella: Yeah, literally.
Rutha Berhane: have to take matter into your own hands that if you're it's just common sense at the end of the day, like genuinely, I'm gonna be blunt about it. If you're full during the day and you go onto your night and you're still full and you feel well fed. Why would you have the extra strong craving? So I'm not talking about the hmm, like I could really go for a cookie right now. No, like the I need a cookie now and I'm gonna go get it. So you need to understand that balancing that portion out is gonna help take care of everything else, right? But since we were talking about breakfast and stuff like that, like give me like a typical Bella approved breakfast that you would do that's like high protein, easy and good to go.
Arabella: Well I have a couple of go to options.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: for my clients specifically. I'll normally plan like overnight oats, overnight protein oats because they're super easy to prep in bulk. Like you can prep your overnight oats for the entire week. and then just super easy grab and go on your way out the door in the morning and it's like a a sweet treat first thing in the morning too. Just oats, almond milk, protein powder, some chia seeds, whatever fruit you want. you can there's so many different options. You can change up the flavors easily to give yourself more variety so you don't get bored of them. That's
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: a really great option. Eggs with egg whites, turkey bacon, like a little egg white scramble or omelet in the morning, with some sourdough is a great option too if you have time to cook that. I mean it literally takes five minutes to cook up some eggs and egg whites. Like you if you're already having eggs with toast for breakfast, then just throw some egg whites in there. And there you go, another fifteen grams of protein, super easy. Greek yogurt bowl, also a really easy option that you can bulk prep. Just make sure you're not free pouring the granola because those calories add up really quickly. And if you need even more protein than what the Greek yogurt is giving you alone. So gr I mean a serving of Greek yogurt seventeen grams of protein. So then add half a scoop of protein powder to that. That's over thirty grams of protein. Super easy. what else? Honestly my go to's is typically like a sourdough English muffin with one egg or two eggs and some egg whites. sometimes with some avocado too, or Greek yogurt bowl is normally my go to.
Rutha Berhane: I like that. I've been
Arabella: Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: spamming those are all easy and good, and you'd be s surprised how long those all take. Like a few minutes. Eggs are not gonna take an hour to cook,
Arabella: Not really.
Rutha Berhane: right? I have been spamming the same breakfast for the last year, literally to date the exact year. since oats were not agreeing with me, because I always did eggs and oats. So now I literally do three eggs, egg whites, and rice cakes and fruit. That's literally what I've been eating for the last year.
Arabella: Low key that I did that in prep and like the eggs on the rice cakes is so good.
Rutha Berhane: it's so good. I don't know what it is. It's so good.
Arabella: I know. I well I love eggs on rice too. Like it's it's like fried rice kind of vibes. So so, so good. But
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. So good. So good. Yeah.
Arabella: yeah, guys, like Ruth was saying too, the reason that your cravings are so high is probably 'cause you're under eating protein. Like protein is gonna stabilize your blood sugar, which is why also pre workout it's so important to have protein alongside your fast digesting carbohydrate source because Protein is gonna avoid that glucose spike, that blood sugar spike is gonna help to stabilize your blood sugar. and yeah, that's gonna keep cravings at bay, versus if you have more carbs, that's gonna stimulate your blood sugar, it's gonna stimulate glucose production, and your hunger's just gonna go through the roof as a result. And that's when you end up wanting to eat more and more and more.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: But if you're keeping yourself satiated with protein throughout the day, then you're gonna avoid that afternoon hunger spike.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly.
Arabella: It's not a placebo effect, I can promise you that. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: It's real and we're the we're the fact we're the prime examples because me, I could go for a sweet treat anytime. Literally six AM I could. Six PM I could, ten PM.
Arabella: Okay. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: So the fact that we're not going three times a day is because we do use these tools and we're very consistent with what we eat and so it's easier.
Arabella: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I also often have high days, high carb days in my plan, and on my high carb days, protein is always lower. And it's like this love hate relationship with the high day because my protein is so much lower. So I'm like and carbs simulate hunger. So I'm like, I love that I get all of these carbs, but at the same time I'm not nearly satiated and I just wanna eat more and more because my carbs are so high and I don't have the protein to help stabilize stabilize my blood sugar and satiate me.
Rutha Berhane: And satiate you, yeah. And the next day you're gonna feel that hunger. You're gonna feel the hunger the next day. So don't worry about it. yeah, which then another angle to this is to our competitor audiences, I would say the competitor specific angle and conversation to this that's very important and why our coaches make such educated decisions when it comes to our like aggressive cuts when it when it comes to prep and protein and hunger. Protein is the easiest macro to combat hunger when in when you're in such a deep cut, aggressive cut, deep prep, whatever, higher protein intake. is one of the most used tools to manage hunger. And we see that done with a lot of people's nutrition while in that phase. It's not taboo, it's not, you know. Bella might have it, the other person might not. It's very reused across the board.
Arabella: Mm. Yeah. I would say protein intake is literally like your your go to, your best friend in prep or honestly year round for managing hunger. Like it's one of the reasons high protein, flexible dieting consistently outperforms low protein approaches for body composition for sure.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I'm gonna trigger something I think. Question Question
Arabella: Mm.
Rutha Berhane: What do you think about vegans in prop?
Arabella: Guys, there's a reason that like every single plant based bodybuilder has freaking gut problems. And it's because animal protein sources digest so much easier than plant based protein sources. Like if if you're eating beans and lentils and tofu Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: I'll shit myself. Sorry, I just have to s I'll shit myself.
Arabella: All of these foods are so highly ferment like for they they ferment in your gut and
Rutha Berhane: Mm.
Arabella: they are so hard to digest. So yeah.
Rutha Berhane: the the saying of it's gonna sound like boots in a dryer in there. They they they mean it. 'Cause if you're eating
Arabella: Yeah literally, literally.
Rutha Berhane: beans all day and also like I think we do see like a few competitors who do preach the v it's very rare the vegan, and I still look this good, which is good for you, but at the same time it's plant based protein intake compared to meat. Meat ha elicits more anabolic responses compared to plant based, right? I don't want to say I've never had beans in my diet. I don't want I I don't I never want it.
Arabella: No, me neither. But I actually did not know that for the longest time when I started bodybuilding and I was at one point hooked on the Beyond Yourself vegan protein powder. The n
Rutha Berhane: That should taste like grass.
Arabella: have you tried the vanilla cupcake batter though? Or the cookie dough one? That because the
Rutha Berhane: I don't plan on it. I literally had one that gave me trauma.
Arabella: that protein powder, like I haven't had it in a while, so I can't speak on it now, but years ago it actually was so so good like way way way better than any other vegan protein powder I've ever tried because most of them do taste like grass. And so I was having that instead of whey because I thought I also was like whey intolerant at the time.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: and then I learned that plant based protein yeah is not as anabolic as whey protein and I like I wanted to
Rutha Berhane: No way.
Arabella: shoot myself. It was like the most disappointing news I'd ever heard in my life, but
Rutha Berhane: And it's it's like I I don't care about the
Arabella: I I d
Rutha Berhane: sorry.
Arabella: Sorry, I was just gonna say I will say though, like if you are vegan or vegetarian, like if you are consuming plant based protein like in sufficient quantities with other whole protein sources, like you're still you're still gonna listen anabolic response. Like there are ways to work around it for sure. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, we're only talking about the p the plant eaters currently. Don't worry guys. Yeah. I think I'm not a fan of the vegan train and especially when people try and shove it down my throat, like you're not gonna actually talk to me about nonsense because I think it's just it's too much. And also if you if if you think about it, people who do prep on a vegan diet, it's so much more difficult and taxing because the balancing of the macros is so much more difficult. So much more difficult.
Arabella: Yeah, because beat and protein sources are so much higher in cal like c the calorie to protect ratio is
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, it's crazy.
Arabella: is so bad. So it's like if you're relying on beans as a protein source, okay, well there goes like half of your
Rutha Berhane: You said beans in the most
Arabella: carb allowance for the day.
Rutha Berhane: You said beans in the most derogatory sets. You want beans? No, seriously, like that's true. Mm-hmm.
Arabella: Beans I do love me some baked beans, but yeah, no, they're like they're not really a good source of protein because they're so high in carbs and also have fats versus like you could eat white fish for like no carbs, no fat. Straight protein.
Rutha Berhane: Exactly. That's what I was gonna say. Like if you're going carbless, do vegan athletes go carbless, you think, sometimes if they need to?
Arabella: Yeah, I I mean you would have to, but then
Rutha Berhane: How though? Hm, see?
Arabella: I don't know, there's one tofu brand, Big Mountain, I think it's called. I
Rutha Berhane: Dude, tofu tastes like I'm biting concrete.
Arabella: I do love some Agadashi tofu.
Rutha Berhane: Bella, you see what we're heated about right now? Don't say that. Don't say that. We're trying to get them away. Yeah. that's
Arabella: Because it's deep brad. But yeah.
Rutha Berhane: that was just my little round. Sorry, just because we need to separate we we need to be realistic as to what is more beneficial on paper, and that is an animal di animal-based diet. And sorry to the vegans who are vegans because they care about animal cruelty. I do like beef. Moving on.
Arabella: we love beef. Love me some steak. But yeah. Moving on to wrap up this episode, we're gonna debunk some myths because it's our favorite topic on anything.
Rutha Berhane: Our favorite. Our favorite. Yeah.
Arabella: We just love myth debunking, and I my god, these literally grab my ears every single time I hear them. So starting off strong with too much protein is gonna damage my kidneys.
Rutha Berhane: We give it a negative two out of ten. Yeah.
Arabella: That's being generous. Guys, there is no evidence to support that, among healthy individuals, obviously. If you have kidney issues, then be mindful. But for the general population here, don't don't be worrying about your kidneys. There's honestly n actually no known harmful upper limit for protein. So have at
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: her.
Rutha Berhane: Thank you.
Arabella: Like we talked about like there there's a threshold when it comes to like how much more protein is gonna be beneficial, but in terms of upper limit harmfulness, no such thing. So yeah, if you have
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. Yeah.
Arabella: well functioning kidneys, then go for it.
Rutha Berhane: get to it. then we have second one. Protein makes women bulky. Protein actually supports lean muscle tissue. and the reason that you're talking about the bulky look is because you are fat.
Arabella: Say it louder, yu.
Rutha Berhane: It's because you're fat as protein does not make you bulky. But yeah, that's the second one.
Arabella: Protein is not making you bulky. Lifting weights is not making you bulky. You just have body fat on you. If you want to get lean and channeled, eat your damn protein. Protein really does support lean muscle growth, and you're not gonna gain any of that if you're not eating your protein. So yeah. Next one. You can only absorb 30 grams of protein per meal. Maximum 30 grams. False. False. Yeah. Your body you're eating 30
Rutha Berhane: 'Cause your body knows what thirty grams is. J 'cause your body knows.
Arabella: grams. You hit that 30 gram mark. Your body's like, nope, we're done. No more absorbing any more protein right now. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: You have a scale in your gut.
Arabella: my gosh. W okay, on that would I recommend eating like fifty, sixty grams of protein per meal as a hundred and forty pound female? Like probably not ideal just because it's gonna be harder to digest. But in terms of what your body can absorb There is there's no such thing as as a limit, honestly. yeah. It yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. I like to say go on. I like to say my body will absorb what I give it. So that's there's no there's no realistic cap. It's just about what you can handle, right? Yeah.
Arabella: No. Like basically what research has shown is that around that 25 to 40 gram of protein meal is what's gonna stimulate muscle protein synthesis. so like additional protein beyond that in a single meal, like it's still being absorbed, it's just not giving you that additional muscle protein synthesis during that one meal time. So like we said, there's no upper limit with how much protein total you can consume, but in terms of what's gonna be effective, typically like, yeah, thirty grams of protein, thirty five grams of protein per meal is gonna be your your sweet spot.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. next one. You sorry, plant protein is basically useless for muscle building. Not true. what we just said earlier is true when you're on an only plant diet. Only you're just a vegan straight up. But
Arabella: Because you're not getting any whole protein
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: sources. You're only getting you're not sorry, you're not getting complete protein sources.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah, so when it's consumed in sufficient quantities and making smart combinations, soy, pea rice blends, and mixed legumes with grains that can support muscle growth when paired up again with meat. Meat. So a balance. There's a balance there. Yeah.
Arabella: It's your best friend. Yeah. And if you're telling me that you don't like meat, I swear you're just not cooking it well. I swear.
Rutha Berhane: It's the same vibe as I don't like veggies.
Arabella: Yeah. Well you're probably eating raw green beans though.
Rutha Berhane: Like cook your shit, steam it. I love steamed broccoli with a little bit of seasoning. So good.
Arabella: my gosh guys, yeah, season it. Like put some sauce on there. Like make it yummy.
Rutha Berhane: Okay.
Arabella: Like yeah, we don't need to be eating bland boring meals out here. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: You're not in prison, babe. I promise you, you're free now. You can you can season your food. Yeah.
Arabella: Literally, literally. Okay. Next one. You need protein immediately after your workout or the gains are gone. I need to get my protein in immediately right now, stat. Or you probably heard of like the anabolic window. I have to get it in within thirty minutes or else the gains are gone. My workouts wasted. Guys thing, in no such thing, don't worry. Don't worry. Your workout is not going out the window. If you miss that thirty minutes, I guess.
Rutha Berhane: can I just Can I Sorry Can I mention Can I mention something? Cause it just clocks it like when you s when you said this. When I first ever heard of this thing, because like I was it this wasn't like recent, it was years ago, cause this myth has been there for so long, right? I used to have an ex-boyfriend years and years ago where we would we would break out and I was like fresh the gym, so like I'm very like impressionable, right? He's driving home like 80 out of 60 talking about I need to meet my anabolic window for my protein intake. And that's when I first heard it. Grown
Arabella: No
Rutha Berhane: mad, mind you.
Arabella: my god, juice monkey for sure.
Rutha Berhane: Like d I was just like what are you t no, he was actually a petite man. Sorry. Sorry. Anyways, even worse. Yeah. Anyways.
Arabella: That's even worse. That's even worse. Yeah. No, such a myth. Guys, like what matters is your overall daily protein intake and distribution throughout the day, not whether you had a shake within five minutes of your last set. Like it it's not that deep at all. Like eating consuming protein
Rutha Berhane: It's just to feed the brain.
Arabella: yeah. Consuming protein within like one to two hours pre and post training is more than sufficient. You just need to focus on fueling your body adequately pre and post workout within that like one to two hour mark. The strict like I have to get my protein in within thirty minutes is is so unnecessary, so untrue. Yeah. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: Bullshit. Yeah. Zones away. Zones away. But yeah. just to recap on everything that we did talk about, the general recommendation is a floor and not a target. So if you train and have goals and want to make a change in your lifestyle or or anything and age well. If you want to age well, age like fine wine, you know, you have to take the step to significantly increase your protein intake, especially if you're eating next to nothing currently, being intentional with what you are putting in your body is going to be the best outcome for you.
Arabella: Yeah. Protein they say protein's the building block of muscle, which it is, but like also like bone density, like overall health, longevity, and life. If you are recovering from like a surgery or an injury, keep up your protein intake, like that will help so much with your recovery. It literally is a building block to everything. if you're eating a high protein diet, like you are just gonna feel and look so much better. So, yeah, it's it's so important.
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm. Yeah. But
Arabella: Even if you even if you don't go to the gym, even if you're not strength training, eat your protein.
Rutha Berhane: Yeah. You just still eat a sufficient amount, but please
Arabella: Yeah, yeah. You don't have to, you know, slamming protein back like protein shakes
Rutha Berhane: Mm-hmm.
Arabella: like six times a day. You don't have to can we can we also
Rutha Berhane: Yeah.
Arabella: stop with like drinking egg whites out of the carton like sorry, what is like
Rutha Berhane: Sorry, I can't I I I literally I can't say too much because I know people who do do that, so I can't be too much of an hater. But like whatever she said, let's do that please. It's disgusting. It's just it's vile. Because apparently,
Arabella: It's actually it's so vile. There is no
Rutha Berhane: isn't it, they do it because it absorbs better or s or something. I that's what I heard.
Arabella: I have no I have not heard n not never heard that. Definitely untrue.
Rutha Berhane: I'm not that desperate for gross to be drinking my egg whites.
Arabella: No. No. And there's so many easy ways to get your protein in. Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, protein powder. be mindful of protein bars because the sugar alcohols can be hard on your digestion. but like once in a while if you're if you need a quick source of protein, like have a protein bar. be all is a personal favorite.
Rutha Berhane: Those are bombs in my gut now.
Arabella: What?
Rutha Berhane: Those are like bombs in my gut. Now I literally can never have them. It hurts. Those are the best tasting ones. Yeah. But I just have PTSD in her. But please
Arabella: Bearbells are like the only ones that don't really Yeah. And they're the best tasting ones for sure. Yeah. Yeah.
Rutha Berhane: do sorry.
Arabella: I was just gonna say also one piece of advice that I have if you struggle to get your protein in and like eating a hundred and fifty grams in a day seems super daunting and overwhelming to you, then pre plan out your meals and split it up because if you're having twenty grams, twenty five grams of protein per meal, it becomes a lot easier to manage versus aiming for like that big one fifty number. Like one fifty seems like a lot, but if you break it up into twenty, twenty five grams, like Per meal per snack, then it's a lot more easier to manage mentally and physically. So yeah, the best tip I have is pre-plan out your meals. Pre-plan out your full day of eating so that you know exactly what you're what you're gonna be eating, how you're gonna be getting your protein in. And once you do this for a couple of weeks, it really will become a lifestyle and very habitual and it's not it will become second nature. You won't be thinking about and stressing about how you're gonna get your protein in every day. Like for us, it just we just do it.
Rutha Berhane: It's a wake up and go thing. Yeah.
Arabella: Yeah, yeah.
Rutha Berhane: But please do let us know how much protein is on your plan right now and what you're aiming for even and what you are at or if you are having trouble reaching your protein intake, let us know and we can give you some tips and tricks because especially that one.
Arabella: Hit up my Instagram. That's literally my entire feed.
Rutha Berhane: Especially that one can tell you with her you know what? I'm not gonna tell you her combos. She can say it himself her herself later. Yeah.
Arabella: Yeah, yeah. And let us know your your favorite myths as well. 'Cause we'll be hear if we miss any. But hopefully you got some value.
Rutha Berhane: yeah, I'm ready to hear it. But honestly it rises yeah, I n I might not want to hear them, like my blood pressure's gonna rise up. Yeah.
Arabella: Yeah. But speaking of which I need to go get some protein in. I am hungry. So we're gonna wrap
Rutha Berhane: Me too. But yeah.
Arabella: things up here, but thanks so much for tuning in to another episode and we'll chat to you next week.
Rutha Berhane: Bye guys!
Arabella: Peace.
