Red meat. Is it really as evil as some people say it is? Why or why not?
Depends on your perspective. I'm against labelling any food as "evil" though. It's a slippery slope there to an eating disorder. One should never assign moral terms to food.
When cooked at high temperatures, there's a cancer-causing compound that is formed in red meat, which is the reason why it was put in the same class as cigarettes by the WHO. It also tends to contain higher % of fat, which is why many people who are trying to lose weight cut red meat out of their diet.
However. Red meat is also a good source of iron - you can get your full nutritional needs being a vegetarian (leafy greens such a spinach also contain iron) and as a vegan (provided you supplement B12) but the form of iron in greens is nowhere as bio-available (able to be absorbed by the body) as that in animal sources such as red meat and liver. Vegetarians with low iron can increase by 4x the body's absorption by eating high iron vegetables together with citrus, or taking iron supplements, but generally speaking, it's not very efficient. This is generally a problem with pre-menopausal women who are vegetarians/vegans.
I'm on the anaemic side of the scale so I eat red meat or liver 1-2 times a week - and even so, I control the portion because there's no need to eat a steak-sized portion for my iron needs.
The main reason why most people are asked to reduce their intake of red meat is simply because they eat far too much of it. There are also environmental reasons to reduce consumption - which I won't go into here. But suffice to say, it's not the most energy/water/financially efficient way to generate a food source, and a lot of the farms that produce red meat are heavily subsidised by taxpayers.
This turned out longer than I intended.
I've mentioned before that I don't care about losing weight. I know eating is 75% of weight loss, and I already eat pretty well IMO, so that hasn't been a priority. I don't own a scale. I'm not calorie counting. But I HAVE been working out more. 2x a week minimum, 3-4x max.
So... I'm redistributing. All my clothing still fits, but it fits differently. I'm gaining muscle and probably losing some fat.
Which is where we get to the tragic part of this story.
My curves are flattening out.
Hello muscular thighs. Hello defined shoulders and biceps/triceps. Goodbye boobs and butt.
Welcome to my world when I was running.
You can build perky boobs by working your chest though - bench press/push ups are good for that, it tightens your pectoral muscles and prevents sagging.
For a great butt, I recommend squats (particularly heavy barbell squats) and deadlifts - they work the entire back and posterior chain. I can't fit most pants now because my butt got big but waist stayed small.
In other news, that soup came out amazing.. way better than I thought it would, and especially with queso fresco crumbled in it.
