Protein

I was EXTREMELY sore Wednesday through Friday, my legs just could not move the way I wanted them to. I knew I was working out hard for a week (at least 1.5-2.0 hours of cardio per day, and an hour of lifting three times per week), and I was getting a decent amount of sleep each night, ~7 hours per night (allows your body to heal). I didn't think much about the soreness until Saturday rolled around and my legs were in near perfect condition again - which lead to my best workout TO DATE. How strange?

I began to think about the foods I ate last week. I did the Farm to Work program to introduce new vegetables into my diet, and I was hoping it would "shock" my body so that I'd lose even more weight. What ended up happening, was that I replaced a lot of my meat proteins with vegetables, so I was not getting animal protein. Here was my protein schedule for the week:

Tuesday: soy based sausage, egg whites, and cheese
Wednesday: soy based sausage, egg whites, and cheese
Thursday: soy based sausage, egg whites, cheese, 4oz of grilled chicken
Friday: soy based sausage, egg whites, cheese, 4oz of grilled chicken, 8oz of 99% fat free turkey burger

I did a bit of research yesterday and found out that there are two different types of protein: complete and incomplete. Animal protein (includes dairy and eggs) and soy are complete proteins because they contain a balanced combination of all the amino acids, whereas vegetable proteins are incomplete and you have to mix and match to make sure you are getting the correct combination of amino acids. Some argue soy protein is still incomplete because it is deficient in methionine (an essential amino acid).

Overall, I believe I was not getting enough protein. When I increased my protein on Friday, my body finally had the resources it needed to heal my aching muscles. I did have the greatest workout ever on Saturday, and I will share what I accomplished Monday night because I don't want Matt to accidentally read what I did, but rather hear what I did first.

Sources used: Max Muscle Sports & Fitness, HighBeam Encyclopedia