HOW TO USE PROTEIN TO LOSE WEIGHT (YOU’LL WISH YOU STARTED YESTERDAY!)

It’s pretty easy to let your protein intake fall if you’re not careful. A slip-up that can impact your waistline (and health) without the proper course correction.

“A few years ago, most of the nutritional problems that I saw were caused by physicians, by refined convenience foods, and by poverty. Recently, most of the problems seem to be caused by badly designed vegetarian diets, or by acceptance of the idea that 40 grams of protein per day is sufficient. The liver and other organs deteriorate rapidly on low-protein diets. Observe the faces of the wheat-grass promoters, the millet-eaters, and the ‘anti-mucus’ dieters, and other low-protein people. Do they look old for their age?” -Dr. Ray Peat, PhD

Use these 5 tips in 2015 to help shape a healthier you by eating enough (but not too much protein)!

1) FIND OUT HOW MUCH PROTEIN YOU REALLY NEED.

Roughly 20-25% of daily calories should come from protein, that’s about 90-125 grams for the average woman. Of course protein needs change with activity level, pregnancy, illness and other circumstances, so always check with your personal healthcare provider for specific guidelines for you.

While I’m usually not a big fan of counting grams or calories, sometimes it can be extremely helpful for a day or two to make sure you are eating ENOUGH. That way you can get used to what adequate protein intake looks and feels like.

Credit:butternutrition.com

Here’s two simple ways to get a ball-park range of how much protein you need:

General protein requirements based on weight:

100-130 pounds: 75-90 grams/daily

130-160 pounds: 90-105 grams/daily

160 pounds and more: 105-120 grams/daily

Based it on the average number of calories (20-25% of total calories):

1800 calories/day: 87.5-112.5 grams/daily

2000 calories/day: 100-125 grams/daily

2200 calories/day: 112.5-137.5 grams/daily

2) USE YOUR PROTEIN INTAKE TO SHAPE YOUR OVERALL CALORIE INTAKE. THIS HELPS TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE EATING ENOUGH TO SUPPORT YOUR WEIGHT LOSS GOALS AND GET ENOUGH NUTRIENTS TO SUPPORT YOUR HEALTH.

So now that you’ve got a ballpark idea of how much protein you need, it’s time to think about how you’re going to meet that goal every day. If you need 90 grams per day; will you eat 3 larger meals with 30 grams at each meal or many smaller meals to meet your goal? How will you divide it up? This step is very individual and will largely depend on your lifestyle, appetite, blood sugar balance and other variables specific to you.

Also, whenever you have protein, it should be accompanied by ample carbohydrate and fat to help your body process the protein, balance blood sugar, support the metabolism, and round out your healthy diet. Eating enough protein can also help guide you to eat enough food during the day to support your weight loss and/or health goals! When it really comes down to it, your health goals are going to be a whole lot easier to reach when you’re eating not only enough protein, but also enough nutrient rich calories to support every inch of your body!

Source: butternutrition.com