How a High Protein Diet can Help You Lose Weight

I think we’ve all been there, at some point. Starving ourselves and working out perfusely to lose a few pounds and tone up. Or how about those diets, there are a thousand of them. Guess what? It doesn’t work that way. The human body is a complex and amazing chemical factory that is constantly working. We need food to build muscle, repair skin, make blood and even burn fat. So many things come into play when it comes to losing weight, but the good news is that all you need to know is where to start and your body will do the rest.

That is where I can help you, my friend! Studies have repeatedly shown that a high protein diet helps you lose weight and there are a couple different reasons for that. In this blog post, I’m going to tell you why a high protein diet can help you lose weight, how much protein you should be eating every day and which foods you can eat that contain the most protein.

It’s always best to put nonprocessed food into your body because it breaks down easier and turns into macronutrients that can be used by your cells. Macronutrients are protein, carbs and fat. Fat is stored and carbs get broken down too fast, turning to sugar in your blood. Protein molecules do the most work in our cells and we need a lot of them to function properly. Proteins take the most energy to break down so they keep you feeling full longer and increase your metabolism to burn more calories. You don’t need to cut out carbs or only eat vegetables, just limit carbs and fat and eat more protein.

Calculating Your Protein Goals

How much protein we need depends on many factors including body size, activity and age but current RDA for an average adult is 0.36g per pound (0.8g per kg) at minimum. I weigh 145lb. and that would be 52.2g or protein per day at minimum. That is roughly 20-30g of protein per meal. Plug your numbers in here to find your baseline recommended protein intake:

________lbs. x 0.36g = ________g protein per day

________kg x 0.8g = ________g protein per day

Remember that this is only an average. If you are working out regularly your body will require extra calories and you should work with a fitness professional to decide the caloric intake that will meet your fitness goals.

Foods Rich in Protein

The foods highest in protein are lean beef (22g), chicken (27g), salmon (19g) and eggs (6g). These are always going to give you the biggest protein boost but there are many other foods to help youn reach those protein goals. Snack on these foods or add them to recipes to add a protein boost.

• Cheese

• Almonds

• Greek yogurt

• Peanut butter

• Cottage cheese

• Canned fish

• Whole grains (quinoa, wild rice)

• Edamame

• Beans

• Chickpeas

• Lentils

Protein Supplements

No doubt about it, hitting your protein goals every day is not easy. It is surprisingly a lot of food because clean foods have such low calories. It is almost impossible for me to reach my recommended daily goals without taking a supplement every day. Protein bars and snacks are fun treats and add a boost to your numbers as well as protein shakes. I prefer whey protein but there are some excellent vegan protein powders on the market.

I like to make shakes as a snack or right after a workout. You can add fruit, peanut butter or even yogurt to your shakes. Protein bars and ready-made snacks are good but also very processed. Most of your protein should come from natural food sources. Sometimes I add protein powder to my favorite muffin mix for a healthier treat.

Tracking Your ProtEIn Intake

The key to being successful with this is tracking your intake. You can easily track your protein intake on the free app MyFitnessPal.

MyFitnessPal has a database of millions of foods and their nutritional information. Simply search up your food and click on it. You can adjust the servings to match your intake and easily find that food again. The app has a general macro setting already programmed for you but you can change your macros anytime in the Nutrition settings. Mine are set at Carbs 50%: Fat 15%: Protein 35%. This app can do so many things that I don’t even know about and there is the option to Go Premium for even more features. I just use it to track my food and hit my protein goals. When I use it consistently, it also helps me cut down on eating to much fat and sugar.

It's amazing, when you focus on your diet and eating clean, other areas of your life just fall into place. When you eat well, your mind and body will feel better. You will be more energetic and more focused. You will naturally want to exercise and all of this is a path to making consistent healthy choices. I’m so excited to announce that I just signed up with a personal trainer for a two-month program! I can’t wait to see my results. If you are overwhelmed by all of this or just want to take your health and fitness to the next level, I encourage you to find a professional trainer.

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What do you think of this method? Have you tried it before? Comment your fitness stories below!!