Sunday Gym and Soy Protein

Hey fluffies,

Today's workout wasn't much :/

No cardio today because I felt quite full from breakfast. :/ 

1. Shoulder and arm raises with resistance tubes:

• 3 sets of 15 reps

2. Squats with 10kg weights each side with 10kg barbell:

• 4 sets of 12 reps

A lot less than what I would usually do. This is because today, I chose to concentrate on having a proper form. With the help of a friend at the gym, I managed to achieve a proper neutral form for squatting and to also squat lower. It felt a lot harder than usual.

3. Stiff leg deadlift with 10kg weights each side with 10kg barbell:

• 4 sets of 12 reps

4. Walking lunges with 2.5kg weights each side with 10kg barbell:

• 4 sets of 12 steps

5. Hamstring extensions with 3kg weights each side with 10kg barbell:

• 4 sets of 12 steps

That was it! But I did break out a sweat and am feeling really tired right now. 

During my gym session, I was listening in on my friends' conversation. 2 of them are currently taking classes to train to be fitness instructors while one of them is a certified fitness instructor. The 2 of them were talking about protein powders, especially Casein. However it didn't sound like they really knew what were the stuffs doing for their bodies. I have personally never drank a full serving of protein shake before. The most I had was sip of chocolate whey protein shake from my friend's cup. I wasn't a fan of it and have always been quite a staunch believer in natural whole foods. 

Which brings to mind what Cassey Ho posted recently about protein:

It's still not going to make me take protein powder because I just prefer to chow down on my proteins like eggs, meat, or maybe protein bars? Which I only take once in a blue moon. 

My friend told me that he's been taking Soy protein for over a year now. It got me thinking because I've been trying to cut down on obvious soy products such as soy milk, tofu, etc as much as possible after reading about how soy beans are genetically modified crops with not much advantages to sing about. 

Soy beans are so widely used around the world as it is the key ingredient in much of the processed foods available. In order to ensure a consistant supply of the crop, the beans are genetically modified and laden with chemicals to ensure 'healthy' crop growth. Soy is also one of the riches sources phytoestrogen, a plant based compound similar to estrogen.

Regarding estrogen,
'The estrogenic hormones are uniquely responsible for the growth and development of female sexual characteristics and reproduction in both humans and animals.'

I wouldn't say that this chart's indication of body fat percentage is accurate but it's a good general depiction of the human bodies at different stages of fat accumulation.

Because of this hormone, women carry more fat deposits in their bodies (which is also why women have curves) 
The reason for this difference is that women at some point in their lives may nourish a fetus and then a baby from their own reserves, so women have to stock energy in the form of fat in anticipation of future pregnancies (and must stock even more energy during the last two trimesters of pregnancy).
So logically speaking, consuming too much soy based products would inhibit fat loss because this hormone would bind onto our fats.

When you consume products like unfermented or non-organic soy base products on a regular basis, you are more than likely consuming toxic estrogen in excess. 

In men and premenopausal women, too much estrogen — a condition called estrogen dominance — causes toxic fat gain, water retention, bloating, and a host of other health and wellness issues.

You must be thinking, its hard to avoid it when you are vegan or simply just love tofu and soy milk.

Good news for vegans who aren't so picky, you get to choose from other legumes such as green beans, lentils, etc. If you have to have milk with your cereal, there's almond milk. Trust me, it is a better pairing for cereals.

For the ones who simply love the taste of soy beans, make sure you go for organic soy beans. Nowadays, organic foods are in abundance so it is really not that hard to find. In fact, I get my organic seeds and beans from my neighbourhood supermarket (NTUC Fairprice).

It is really important to know what you eat, what it does to your body and where it comes from. We worry about diseases and sicknesses and how to fix them after getting diagnosed. But if we could just take a step back and look at the causes of our modern day illnesses, we would realise that most of the problems could have been prevented.