Mmm, protein.

Doing better? Yeah maybe a little better. I lost three pounds in the last few days and I haven't felt the least bit hungry. I've been eating lots of fiber and drinking only water, tea (a mix of green tea and black tea), and milk. Tanner and I had a conversation about weight loss (this time it was productive, not him trying to get me to lose weight by guilting me into it, but he's always just trying to be helpful), we talked about milk and it's role in weight loss.

We drink only skim cow's milk and unsweetened almond milk. Both are great options for an after workout drink. It's been show that drinking something high in protein, like milk, after a workout helps to increase muscle building. Which in turn increases weight loss because muscle burns calories. It all makes sense right? I mean why not, milk is indeed high in protein and protein is indeed needed to build muscle, plus it just tastes so darn good. Couple the milk with a high fiber fiber bar, and it's a great after workout snack.

I love the taste of cow's milk, but I must admit, it makes me a bit poopy and gassy. Enter almond milk. Almond milk (even the unsweetened) is pretty sweet, and is nicely smooth. Way better than soy milk. The greatest thing about almond milk is the nutritional facts. An 8 oz. glass has 40 calories, with 3g fat (no saturated or trans fat), 2g carbs (no sugar), 1g dietary fiber, and 1g protein. It's pretty much a perfect "snack," as it has a great combo of fat, protein, and carbs. Skim cow's milk is pretty good too, an 8 oz. glass has 90 calories, with 0g fat, 13g carbs (12g sugar), and 9g protein. So, for a great after workout drink either go with a glass of skim milk or a glass of almond milk with protein powder.

Anyway though, Tanner has discovered that milk really is the key to his success. As a kid and a teenager (he's 21 now as well), he drank milk all the time, never soda. He was always fairly active as well. And he was always skinny. That is until he moved in with my family after we started dating. He stopped being so active and he started drinking soda. When he decided to start losing weight (3 months ago) he was 190 pounds. He is now 157 pounds. He exercises everyday, at least 10 minutes everyday in his morning workout, and then he adds a second 30 minute workout every other day. These workouts are a combo of muscle work and cardio. And after every workout he refuels with milk. Natural, protein rich skim cow's milk.

Oh milk milk the magical drink, you need it more that you ever would think!