Tofu Vs Chicken

Hey guys,

Here's an interesting and contentious one for you.

Which is better for healthy weight loss- pursuing a vegetarian diet or pursuing a high meat diet?

The challenges in front of the vegetarian are many- not just in food choice, but in the inevitable increase in calories per gram protein.

Fish, Chicken and other Poultry, have a massive percentage of protein per 100g, but that is not the important value here, it is grams protein per 100g per calorie. This I will go into below.

Staple Protein in a Veg diet (or at least my version of that diet) comes from Mushrooms, Beans, and Tofu.

Having recently switched across to attempt vegetarianism, I thought I should apply a little bit of statistics to see what would be better for me, considering my high level of excercise, and desire to lose weight(fat). I've chosen to ignore fat, as the levels in all these foods is very low.

So Here Goes.

Representing Fish is Cod (raw)

Representing Poultry is Chicken (raw)

Regular Tofu (raw)

White Mushrooms (raw)

Beans and other sprouting seeds are amalgamated and raw.

All data comes from here

So Per 100g of Chicken Breast:

(with Skin)

20.8g of protein and 172 cal- making it

0.12 g protein per 100g per calorie.

(without skin)

16.4g of protein and 78.1 cal-

0.21 g protein per 100g per calorie

Cod:

17.9g of protein and 82 calories-

0.21 g protein per 100g per calorie

Tofu:

8.1g of protein and 76 calories

0.10 g protein per 100g per calorie

Mushrooms:

3.1g of protein and 22 calories!

0.14 g protein per 100g per calorie

Beans(etc):

4.2g protein and 29 calories-

0.14 g protein per 100g per calorie

Tofu, despite undeniably being very healthy and full of other essential oils would require twice as many calories to catch up with the protein equivalent of chicken (without skin) or fish.

Mushrooms and beans show a good showing, and so if you're a vegetarian or a vegan- use them, not tofu, I guess. Also for you meat eaters, turkey is leaner and has a higher level of protein AND is cheaper than chicken in my local Sainsbury's- so is well worth a shout.

It seems therefore that prior to my triathlon I should switch to chicken and fish, or maybe try whey protein, which is unappealing!

Anyway, hope that helps.

Henry

Labels/ Tags

To make the blog easier to read (thanks Spencer) we're going to use labels...

When writing your post there's a box at the bottom of the page which says 'labels for this post'.

Fill this in with:

1. your name

2. What category- Training, Recipe, General Blurb, Diary, Event, Ride

That way the blog is immediately searchable.

It also helps fill out the name for you, so its quick!

Thanks,

Henry

Quick Training Program.

So today I'm going to introduce a 45min to 1hour training session that works on the entire body, requires no specialized equipment, and won't completely destroy you.

Start by a gentle 5 minutes of Stretching- I find simple yoga works- and a really good emphasis on your lower back and legs.

Head out on a 10 minute jog, or a 15 minute cycle. Take it slow, but get the heart rate up- or until you find a football pitch- or equivalent greenspace.

Firstly- do 2 laps of the pitch, using the sidelines to do half jog, half sprint in that order. On the goal line, do a rotation-

1st sideline: Lunges

2nd sideline: face inwards sidesteps

3rd sideline: rotating sumo squats- Like a normal squat- keep your back straight, and bend to 90 degrees of the knees. Do your first one facing inwards to the pitch, then the second facing outwards, alternating the turning leg.

4th sideline: outward facing sidesteps.

Take a minute breather here.

Now onto the fun part.

In this- you'll be using the length of the pitch to sprint train.

So the idea is:

Sprint- and remember you'll be doing reps- which should not slow down as the excercise progresses- from end to end.

Take a 30 second breather

Sprint back.

Take a 30 second breather, then start the alternating training:

1st- 10 pressups/ a comfortable number

2nd- 20 situps/ a comfortable number

3rd- 50 cycling- lie on the ground in the sit up position, then raise your legs to 90 degrees, feet off the ground. To do the excercise, go elbow to opposite knee, making sure you really work the side stomach muscles.

4th- 30 back extensions- face down lying on ground, arms touching ears. Count your movement as follows: Up, 2, 3 Down, 2, 3....

5th- plank- 45 seconds- I've linked a picture for you-as I can't describe it effectively enough.

You can repeat as time allows, and then do a slow jog back and do a full stretch for a good while.

Henry

Hi Guys!

Hi and Welcome to your online food diary.

You should aim for no more than a 500 calorie deficit, otherwise you will begin to crash diet, which is unsustainable, and yields quick results that will be lost once you begin to eat normally again.

Standard- non active people have a calorie requirement of 2000kcal for women and 2500kcal for men.

However, this varies with age, and a fine tuned version can be seen here:

http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l/blcalcalc.htm

The idea of this space is not to just be a bland- today I ate- and number of calories, but full of training tips, healthy meal recipes, and of course a transparent place of what you eat.

I hope it works for all of us.

Also please let me know if you want it to be publically open, closed to a select few, or just closed to the authors.

Henry