What Protein Is Best For Weight Loss?

Transcript:

BRITNI: Hello and welcome to another episode of Dishing Up Nutrition. Have you been stuck on your dieting merry go round for years and years? Well, we meet with a lot of people with weight loss goals, and we understand that losing and keeping weight off is really hard work.

But with the right plan and good caring support, long lasting change can occur. We have seen that for sure. And we know that staying healthy and losing weight, it's not just about counting calories or following the latest fad diet or spending hours in the gym every week. There's more to it than just that.

There are some downsides to weight loss medications 

And if you've been struggling with carrying extra weight, the weight loss medications may seem pretty magical, but there are some downsides. Yes, a lot of people have side effects, but another major issue is that many people don't eat enough and specifically they don't eat enough protein and then they lose muscle mass.

Rapid weight loss that occurs is going to lead to a significant amount of muscle loss. And we know that the best foods for weight loss and to feel full are real foods, high in nutrients, but specifically, protein. That's a huge part of it, which is why protein for weight loss is our topic of discussion today.

So, before we go any further, let me introduce myself. I am Britni Vincent, a Registered and Licensed Dietitian. And joining me today is my cohost, Brandy Buro, also a Registered and Licensed Dietitian. Thanks for joining me today, Brandy.

BRITNI: Really happy to be here, Britni. Thank you. And I really love this topic today, not just because we're talking about protein, but also, weight loss is something that I had struggled with quite a bit when I was younger. I was really overweight as a teen, really, you know, as a young child and into my teen years and I learned I had to make some changes, and one of the first things I discovered to help manage my weight was that I really needed to cut out the sugar, but also add in more protein and more vegetables. You know, that's what was something that worked for me.

BRITNI: That's awesome that you realized that as a teenager.

BRANDY: I'm so grateful that I came upon that information when I did, because it was life changing.

BRITNI: Yeah.

Mixed messages associated with sustainable weight loss

BRANDY: And I'm not surprised that so many people are confused about what the right thing to do is for weight loss, sustainable weight loss, because there's so many mixed messages out there and people come to us all the time so frustrated that they're not able to lose weight or keep their weight loss off.

So, there's so many mixed messages and I'm sure all of you have heard lots of different methods of losing weight, keeping weight off. And my bet is most of you have heard that the secret is eating less and exercising more. I know people are still getting that message because people come to me all the time saying that's the prescription their doctor gave them for weight loss: eat less, move more.

BRITNI: Same.

BRANDY: Yeah. So I'm sure that sounds familiar to you, but think back to when maybe you were trying to lose weight or maintain weight loss. How did you approach that? Maybe your diet consisted of a premade low calorie weight loss shake. I know those were frequent in my household for a while in the nineties.

BRITNI: I remember those.

BRANDY: There were even some like premade fat free frozen meals, those TV dinners that promised weight loss and then throw in a couple hours on the treadmill every day, and that was the popular message for weight loss. Exercise, eat less, low fat, lots of cardio. I still remember, you know, having a variety of cardio workout VHS tapes in the house.

Seems like every celebrity had their own brand of like a fitness video. And now, we have those treadmills, all those cardio machines that actually estimate how many calories you're burning while you're on them. And that's definitely a game that I used to play with myself, just watching the calorie count go up and up and up the longer you're on that treadmill. And I wouldn't get off that until I reached a certain amount of calories.

BRITNI: Yeah. Or you hear like, okay, I'm going to eat this, but then I'm just going to run all those calories off.

BRANDY: Exactly. Like an even exchange. Like I can have this donut, but all I have to do is be on the treadmill for 90 minutes and it's fine.

BRITNI: Yeah. But it doesn't quite work like that.

What does modern science tell us about sustainable weight loss?

BRANDY: Not really. Not really. It's not a calories in calories out game as it turns out. Because what we're seeing now in the modern science of weight loss is that we actually need to eat enough, eating enough of the right foods and focusing on really simple exercises that help us maintain our muscle mass.

That's more important to supporting our metabolism and supporting sustainable weight loss than over exercising or starving ourselves. And we know that protein is actually one of the best foods we have to keep our muscles strong along with, you know, some, weight bearing exercises. We do have to challenge our muscles to build muscle.

BRITNI: Definitely. And then I would I'm sure that what Brandy just said probably resonated with a lot of you listeners. So thinking back to when you followed those type of diets or ways of eating, how did you feel? We're not going to feel good eating low calorie, low fat. And so that's also the beauty of eating real food and eating more protein is you're going to feel a whole lot better.

BRANDY: Right. That's a great point. When you're not starving yourself, you actually have energy to get through the day.

Preserving muscle mass is important for weight loss, health & longevity

BRITNI: Imagine that. Preserving your muscle mass is definitely a hot topic lately when it comes to maintaining a good metabolism and healthy weight. And I'm also hearing from a lot of clients that they want to change their body composition.

So it's not necessarily about a specific number on the scale, but more about being stronger. Maybe they want their clothes to fit differently. And if you resonate with that, this topic is also for you because protein is so crucial to changing body composition as well. And when you're losing weight, ideally, you want to lose fat and not muscle, and if you go to the gym and you're on a low protein, starvation restrictive plan, you're not going to build muscle.

BRITNI: I mean, it's just not possible.

BRANDY: Right.

BRITNI: In fact, you're going to be losing muscle mass and possibly bone density. Eating protein is necessary to keep and grow your muscles, and having good muscle mass is crucial for your metabolism. The more muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate is.

And what that means is that's the number of calories your body burns just functioning. It's just your body doing what it needs to do, breathing. So if we can increase our muscle mass, increase our resting metabolic rate, then in theory it makes it easier for weight loss and maintaining weight loss. And we see in rapid weight loss diets with these weight loss medications, too much of the weight loss comes from muscle mass, which really is just dangerous for your health.

We do not want to be losing muscle mass. In fact, muscle mass has been correlated to longevity, meaning in a very generalized sense, the more muscle mass you preserve, the longer you live. One study of 3,600 seniors found that muscle mass was a better predictor of survival than BMI was.

BRANDY: Amazing.

BRITNI: Yeah. Yeah. And there's other, and I saw other studies stating similar things. And I think that that part gets really overlooked because with weight, a lot of times people are focused on that BMI and not necessarily body fat versus muscle mass.

On the flip side, we know muscle wasting has been correlated to a shorter lifespan. So it's really no wonder why eating protein and building muscle is so popular in health trends these days.

BRANDY: Yeah, that's a good point. I think a lot of people know what their BMI is. Not many people know what their body composition is. And I think it's great that we're starting to focus more on that.

BRITNI: Absolutely.

BRANDY: Well, I just wanted to share something with you. I read an article earlier this week about what the Olympic athletes are eating in Paris right now. So speaking of like, being strong, maintaining muscle. What better example than an Olympian?

So France is hosting of course, and they wanted to give this eco-friendly message with their accommodations. So when it came to food, they provided mostly plant based or vegan meal options for all of their athletes. And I don't know if maybe they had watched this documentary on Netflix. Maybe you've seen it.

It's called Game Changers. But a takeaway from that documentary was athletes prefer a vegan diet. So that's what they did. They kind of planned for most of their athletes, about 60 percent of their food to be vegan or vegetarian. And the day before the opening ceremony, the games haven't even started yet, they ran out of meat and dairy.

I guess they didn't expect that so many athletes would be choosing those animal based meat or dairy options over the vegan friendly ones. So basically what happened, this article explained that the caterer basically was frantically recalculating, redoing the menu and trying to bring in more of those meat and dairy products because, surprise, a world class athlete does not prefer a vegan diet.

So the organizers of the Olympics decided, while they had intentions of providing more of an eco-friendly diet with mostly vegan foods, the athletes wanted that animal protein. That's what they need to perform their best. You know, we're trying to break a world record here. I think that just goes to show you that the top athletes in the world are eating high quality animal based proteins.

They know that that's what gives them energy. That's what they need to maintain their strength, build muscles, maintain good focus. You know, it's a mental game too. And plus it just kind of maintains that healthy metabolism.

BRITNI: That is so interesting.

BRANDY: Yeah. Yeah. I loved reading that.

BRITNI: Yeah. What a good example. By now we've been mentioning the weight loss medications and you've probably heard of the GLP-1 hormone because it is the target of these popular weight loss drugs and these weight loss drugs suppress your hunger hormone, so you're naturally, you, your appetite reduces. You just don't want to eat very much, which is going to lead to weight loss. And if you are on a weight loss medication, it is really important to try to eat enough protein to maintain your muscles. And while losing weight with these medications, unfortunately it is so common to lose muscle along with body fat, it's important that when and if you stop taking these medications, you're still going to have good muscle mass and a well working metabolism to prevent gaining all the weight loss just back.

BRANDY: Exactly.

BRITNI: And if that happens, you know, if you do lose a lot of muscle and you regain the weight, you're actually at a higher body fat percentage than when you started.

BRANDY: And that means it's even more difficult to lose weight if you were to try to do that again because your metabolism has reduced.

How can you naturally increase the hormone, GLP-1?

BRITNI: Yep. You can actually increase your own GLP-1 hormone naturally through eating real whole foods and especially protein. So eating enough protein naturally increases the GLP-1 hormone and works similarly to these weight loss medications. It's not going to increase GLP-1 as much as these weight loss medications, but it's doing it through real food naturally. And then you don't have all these icky side effects to worry about.

BRANDY: Exactly.

BRITNI: So protein is going to naturally increase the hormones that signal fullness and reduce the hunger hormones. So the increase of protein leads to a natural reduction in the desire to overeat. I see that all the time with clients who are really focusing on getting enough protein. It does curb their appetite.

BRANDY: Absolutely. That's one of the first things that I've noticed with clients is so satiating. They almost can't eat the recommended amounts of protein because they're just not used to that yet.

BRITNI: Yeah.

BRANDY: But while these GLP-1 medications, I don't think they're going anywhere anytime soon; it's kind of the hot topic in the news right now, but I wanted to share like a related topic that I read about in the news recently.

So there's a major food company that is coming out with a line of prepared frozen meals specifically intended for those that are taking these GLP-1 weight loss medications. I was floored to hear this, but these food companies have probably seen a decrease in their sales because the rise of these weight loss drugs, I don't know that people are buying as many of their processed food products anymore.

BRITNI: That's a good point. They're just not hungry.

BRANDY: They're not as hungry. They're not eating as much of what they used to eat. You know, I think also what's going on is that consumers might just be more aware that these frozen “weight loss” dinners are really just not that great for their health.

And I think that's just a diet trend that is starting to fade out naturally. So in order to kind of stay relevant, these food companies have created a brand new brand of prepared meals that are targeted towards those people taking those weight loss drugs. But what I'm curious to know is what's in these frozen dinners, you know, what's the quality like?

I'm sure that they are marketing themselves as like a high protein option, but what are the actual ingredients? My guess is that it's probably not close to a home cooked meal. I doubt that they're using real food ingredients. My guess is there's going to be a very long list of ultra processed ingredients on that ingredients list.

So anytime you see one of these prepackaged products, I encourage you to flip the package over. Look past the marketing, look past the front of the package, and check out the ingredients list. If you're starting to see ingredients that are more like a chemistry experiment you have to ask yourself, is this real food? Is it really that good for my metabolism? Because real food is always the best answer.

BRITNI: I think it's so important as consumers, we need to understand that the front of a package is there simply to sell the product to you. And so they're going to make it sound fabulous, even if it's not. The back of the package is where the ingredients are listed.

And that's where you're going to get the information to inform you, is this a good product for you or is it just full of processed ingredients? And as you walk through the grocery store these days, you're going to see tons of packages saying good source of protein, proudly marketed on the front. And food marketers know that consumers are looking for high protein foods for weight loss.

Protein boosts metabolism

Why is this? It's because protein actually revs up your metabolism more than fats and carbohydrates. In fact, protein boosts metabolism by up to 30 percent for a few hours after you eat. And this is part of the reason why we always encourage you to start your day with protein. Your brain also loves protein the amino acids that protein is made up of, and that's going to give you energy and good moods.

In his book, Good Foods, Good Moods, Dr. Daniel Amen encourages people to start their day with protein. To have good energy and good moods, we also understand that protein charges up your metabolism for good weight loss. So it's win win all around with the protein. And we talk about eating protein. We want the majority of that to be coming from animal sources.

And it is time for our break, but we're going to talk more about that when we get back. You are listening to Dishing Up Nutrition brought to you by Nutritional Weight & Wellness. I am Britni Vincent along with Brandy Buro, and we are the hosts for this episode about the best protein options for weight loss. We'll be right back.

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BRANDY: And we are back with your weekly Dishing Up Nutrition episode. Before we get back into today's discussion, if weight loss is a goal that you've had for yourself, and you'd like more support on making protein and balanced food options a priority, we are planning to host a new round of our popular 12-week Nutrition for Weight Loss series this fall.

We'll be hosting in person options at all of our Twin Cities locations, as well as a few virtual options. The series will start right after the Labor Day holiday, the week of September 2nd. So it's a good time to start looking at your calendar now. Classes will be offered in the evening with one option held over the noon hour in the virtual series.

There is a $50 early bird special going on right now through August 25th, which includes a counseling appointment for that personalized guidance. For more information, check out our website, www.weightandwellness.com, or call our offices at 651-699-3438.

Sign Up for Nutrition for Weight Loss Foundations!

So before we went off to break, we were discussing what are the best protein options. I think we've already emphasized that protein is essential for your weight loss plan, but what is the best choice when it comes to protein? So Britni was giving us a few examples of what to gravitate towards.

Why do we suggest getting most of our protein from animal sources?

BRITNI: Yeah, I think that's a great question because as you mentioned earlier, Brandy, people are so confused nowadays. And especially about protein sources. And as I mentioned before break, meat or animal sources are really going to be the best source of protein. So meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, full fat dairy products, you know, good quality protein powder, like whey from grass fed cows. That could be an option too. So let's explain why we suggest getting most of your protein from animal sources.

BRANDY: Great. Well, I'm sure some of you have heard the term you are what you eat, but something we like to say here is you are what you're able to digest and absorb, right? So animal proteins are simply more bioavailable, which means they are absorbed more efficiently than proteins that come from plant based sources.

Also, animal proteins are what are considered complete proteins. So that means they naturally contain the full spectrum of the amino acids human bodies need to survive and thrive. So every time you eat animal based protein, you can think, not only am I boosting my metabolism, but I am providing my muscles and my skeletons with everything that it needs.

So anytime you eat eggs for breakfast or you add a chicken breast to your salad for lunch, you can think, I am boosting my metabolism. Or maybe you make yourself some chili with some grass fed beef or bison. Or for dinner, you have a salmon filet; lovely. You can think, I am boosting my metabolism with protein.

So just practice saying that in your mind every time you eat animal based protein. You're boosting your metabolism.

BRITNI: I like it. Another valid reason to not focus solely on plant based proteins when it comes to weight loss is that many of them are higher in carbohydrates. So, if you want to get what we suggest as a target amount of protein from plant based foods, you would be consuming a lot of carbohydrates and that could backfire.

BRANDY: Yep.

BRITNI: I'll share an example. To get the same amount of protein as a four ounce steak, you would need to eat about two cups of cooked black beans, and that would give you about 80 grams of carbohydrates.

BRANDY: Oh, wow.

BRITNI: That's going to create a blood sugar spike, for sure.

BRANDY: Especially if you have that in all one sitting.

BRITNI: Yes. And then that's going to lead to not feeling well and possibly cravings and eating even more carbohydrates later in the day. So to put that into perspective, we generally don't want to be eating that much more than a hundred grams of carbohydrates in a day.

BRANDY: Right.

BRITNI: So you're getting the majority of that in just one meal.

BRANDY: Yeah. One meal. And that doesn't even come close to the amount of protein that you need for the entire day.

BRITNI: Yeah.

BRANDY: So I just want to put this in perspective again, give you another example. If you were to get the same amount of protein from something like a four ounce piece of chicken breast or salmon, you would need to consume three and a half cups of quinoa, and that equals about 140 grams worth of carbohydrates.

So we're exceeding that daily goal of 80 to a hundred grams of carbohydrates. Another example might be something from like nuts. If you were to get the same amount of protein from nut butter, you would need to consume about seven tablespoons of peanut butter. Wow!

BRITNI: That's a lot. I mean, that's almost a half a cup of peanut butter.

BRITNI: Yeah, I like peanut butter, but I cannot imagine eating that much of it.

BRANDY: And then at that point you have seven tablespoons of peanut butter. You're also consuming about 52 grams of added fat. And I don't want to give fat a bad name because fat is necessary, and we need that in our diet. But just in seven tablespoons of peanut butter, that's basically enough fat for an entire day's worth of meals and maybe a snack.

So, I think you're getting the idea. If you were to rely only on those plant based sources of protein, and in order to get an ideal amount of protein throughout the day, you are very quickly exceeding the recommended amounts for those other macronutrients, carbohydrates, and fat. And that is probably going to make weight loss very challenging for you.

If weight loss is your goal, or if weight maintenance is your goal, those plant based sources of protein make it very difficult to maintain good carbohydrate and fat.

BRITNI: Yeah, and I have seen that with people, then they don't have as good of energy.

BRANDY: Right. Because of the blood sugar issue, right?

BRITNI: Yeah. They have more cravings. And so you're not you're not getting some of the other benefits of eating animal sources of protein too.

BRANDY: Good point.

BRITNI: And if you've ever worked with a nutritionist at Nutritional Weight & Wellness, or you've been through our Nutrition for Weight Loss classes, you will agree that we always ask about how much protein you're eating. We like to emphasize the importance of weighing your protein and making sure you weigh it after it's cooked because, of course, volume is going to reduce during the cooking process, and I find that when my clients take the time to weigh their protein and make sure they're getting enough, they are more successful at weight loss.

And, you don't have to do this every single time, but if you are trying to increase your protein, I think it's a good practice as you start out just to get a really good idea of how much does this actually look like?

How much animal protein do we recommend?

BRANDY: Exactly. Yeah. I always recommend when you first get started to measure it for a week or two, just so you can eyeball it more accurately moving on. So how much animal protein are we really talking about? So I do want to cover that before we move on. For women, I typically recommend about four ounces of cooked animal based protein for every main meal.

So breakfast, lunch, dinner, and for every snack, about two ounces. And just a little side note, statistically, the average American woman is eating only about half that per day. So they're probably only doing about two ounces of protein with each meal. So that's not going to cut it.

BRITNI: No.

BRANDY: For men, we recommend a little bit more: closer to about six ounces of protein for each meal and two to three ounces for a snack. And as Britni just mentioned, we do like to encourage that our clients weigh their protein after it's cooked, because raw protein weighs more than cooked protein. It does release some moisture throughout the cooking process. So be generous with yourself. Weigh it after it's cooked.

Because you might think you're getting enough just by throwing some chicken on a salad or frying up a couple eggs, but once you actually weigh that protein, I think almost everyone that I've worked with is very surprised to see how much protein is actually on their plate when they weigh that four, five, six ounce portion out.

BRITNI: I totally agree. I think most people naturally do consume that two to three ounces that you mentioned; statistically women are generally eating.

BRANDY: Exactly. So I see that all the time, which is why I really encourage you to get a really inexpensive food scale. See what that four ounces looks like. But this is something that we teach in our Nutrition for Weight Loss classes. And once our class participants take the time to weigh their protein, that's usually when they start seeing some weight come off. And I think that it has a lot to do with how satisfied they feel after a meal. You know, they're not needing that sweet treat after lunch, after dinner anymore.

What are some other benefits people notice when eating enough protein?

I think that when they're getting enough protein, you know, that midafternoon slump is no longer there. They're not looking at the vending machine for a treat. They're not looking for the pretzels or the popcorn after dinner. So I think that's a big reason that they're feeling like the weight loss is a little more successful when they're getting enough protein. But I also want to mention, like, they're just feeling so much better. They're not so tired.

BRITNI: Yeah.

BRANDY: They've got a big energy boost. They're not taking naps as soon as they get home from work anymore. They're actually maybe able to do some yard work or go on a bike ride or something.

BRITNI: Yeah. I hear that too. You know, when people first come in, it's like, oh, I get home from work. I'm exhausted. I don't have the energy to do anything.

BRANDY: Yeah.

BRITNI: And then even a month in, “I have so much energy”.

BRANDY: Yeah. I mean, that goes a long way.

BRITNI: It really does.

BRANDY: Quality of life and adding in some hobbies that also support your goals. One other thing I've noticed too, is that they're not hangry anymore. Their moods are so much better. They're not like snipping at the kids as much or at all. You know, they have a better relationship with their partner. It's transformative.

BRITNI: It really is. Truly is.

BRANDY: So take the time, weigh your protein. If you feel like some of those cravings are creeping back in, maybe it's time to measure for a few days again, just to kind of realign. And like I said, they're really inexpensive. I think I got my food scale for about $15. It just doesn't take up a lot of space on the counter. So good investment.

Practical ideas of how to get enough protein in

BRITNI: Yeah, absolutely. Let's go over some practical ideas of how to get enough protein in your diet. You know, when I plan my meals, I'm always making sure they include protein and I am always making extra protein sources just to have on hand.

Like a few days ago, our dinner had chicken breasts, so I made a bunch extra and then last night I repurposed that and made like a chicken pickle salad with mayonnaise and cut up dill pickles and some pickle juice, raw veggies and some cut up fruit. It took me maybe all of 15 minutes to put that dinner together because I already had that protein cooked.

So anytime you can just cook extra when you're already taking the time, you know, your oven’s on, things are dirty, just, you know, make the most out of your time that you're cooking. Sometimes it helps to look at deals at the grocery store because let's face it, the good quality protein sources are not always cheap and you can plan meals around that.

So maybe grass fed beef is on special. So you make chili or you make pork burger patties. If chicken wings are on sale, you could bake up a batch of those and have them for snacks and served with cut up veggies. And we have some great vegetable dips on our website. And of course that could be part of a meal too.

Interchanging meals and snacks can make things a little bit easier I think. If canned wild caught salmon is on sale, stock up. You could make salmon cakes from our website. And I, and they freeze well or you could make salmon salad. Again, that's a super easy thing you could throw together in maybe 10 minutes.

BRANDY: Yeah. It's super quick.

BRITNI: And all of our recipes are at weightandwellness.com.

BRANDY: Yes. Love that one. One thing I like to do too, that's very quick is boil a dozen eggs. You know, it takes all of six minutes in the Instant Pot, maybe 15 if you do it the old fashioned way with a pot of boiling water, but 15 minutes you can spare that and you can throw a couple eggs in your lunch bag for a snack.

It's a really great grab and go breakfast option. And I would say right now it's probably one of the most affordable protein options that we have. So yeah, do some hard boiled eggs. And when I am planning meals, I do start with my protein first and then build around that.

And then once you, figure out your protein, you just have to add some real food carbohydrates, plenty of vegetables and then a little bit of natural fat. So I'm always thinking about those three simple groups, some meat or fish or eggs, vegetables, and a little fat. And I think that's what makes eating this way sustainable, just keeping it simple.

If you can remember what falls in each of those categories, it's pretty easy to put together a great meal and you know, some Brussels sprouts roasted in bacon fat or garden fresh green beans with a little butter. It's so easy, but just so good. But we really just want to help you feel satisfied. These foods are going to fill you up and. And reprogram your mind so that you are in charge of your food choices. You're in control.

BRITNI: Yeah, that's a really good point. I mean, it is, it can be a mindset shift for some people for sure. But you're going to feel differently. And your metabolism is going to change. And I think a lot of people are surprised by the amount of protein that we recommend for breakfast.

BRANDY: Yes.

BRITNI: Don't skimp on the protein at breakfast.

BRANDY: So important.

BRITNI: It makes a huge impact in your entire day. It really does set the tone for your day. So try to get that four ounces of protein at breakfast.

BRANDY: Good point.

BRITNI: And it could be a smoothie. Or sometimes I do both. Sometimes I do a protein shake and eat some food on the side.

BRANDY: Yeah.

BRITNI: There's lots of options. We have egg bake recipe, a sheet pan frittata recipe on our website, but trying to get that protein at breakfast is so important. You know, the same idea of trying to be build a meal, that applies to eating out too, you know, I'm, when I'm looking at a menu, I'm always looking for the options that are going to have a lot of protein.

And then I look at the vegetable sides after that. So you know, maybe the steak entree and then I pick a vegetable side to go with it. That way I'm eliminating the menu items that are really carb heavy and generally don't have much protein on top.

BRANDY: Right. I do the same thing. The pasta dishes, the rice dishes, it's all filler anyway.

BRITNI: It really is.

Take note of how you feel when eating enough protein

BRANDY: And I'm going to be hungry in a couple hours any way if I eat that. So I challenge you listeners at home for just one week try this. Try weighing your protein out four to six ounces of cooked meat, fish or eggs with every meal and then maybe two ounces with a snack. And then if you could, I challenge you to just write down how you feel when you do this.

Write down what you ate and how you felt and see what happens. Do you have fewer cravings? Do you feel more energized? What's your mood like? You might even lose a pound. So see for yourself what protein can do for you.

BRITNI: And just a side note, some people don't necessarily use the scale as a measurement for progress. Maybe you use a pair of pants or you take measurements too. So whatever works for you, there are definitely options.

BRANDY: Absolutely.

BRITNI: As we wrap up today, we want to thank you for listening. Incorporating more high quality animal protein foods into your diet with each meal can help to boost your metabolism and keep you away from the sugar and the processed carbs because you're going to be a lot more satiated and then it's going to be easier to meet your weight loss goals.

So let us help you with those goals. Learn more about our classes and counseling at weightandwellness.com or to talk to one of our knowledgeable staff members, give us a call at 651-699-3438. Thanks for listening.

 Schedule Nutrition Counseling or Enroll in Our Classes! 

BRANDY: Thank you.