Prioritizing Protein: Next Step - Hit Your Protein Every Single Day : The Protein Struggle
After a week or so of tracking your daily protein intake, what have you learned from the data you’ve collected? Is your protein intake consistent on a daily basis or does it vary from day to day? Not that two days should be the same but typically speaking in order to reach your goals (whether it being performance, building muscle, etc.) it is always best to aim towards a consistent protein intake.
The question we all want answered is how much protein?
But before we answer this question there are a few questions I need you to ask yourself:
What are your goals?
What issues or concerns would you like to address?
What have you done in the past to reach your goals?
In determining how much protein you need it’s important to first understand more about yourself. For example, are you someone who has tried every type of diet from keto to intermittent fasting? This is important because there are consequences to restrictive dieting methods not just short term rewards. While there is no wrong or right way when it comes to nutrition, there is the best way that suits YOU. What’s best for you is what you want, what you need and most importantly what you can sustain. Ask yourself that and make that voice the loudest. If you eat foods higher in carbohydrates and don’t feel your best then listen to YOUR body. But that doesn’t mean you need to follow a keto diet. In other words, the decisions you make should be based on you and how you feel. Not based on listening to someone else telling you that the diet they follow is best for you and your body.
The Protein Struggle is Real
Getting adequate protein into one’s daily nutrition is a struggle for most for a variety of reasons. Not knowing how much protein is actually in your daily meals is one of them. Or sometimes it’s a fear of eating “too much” protein. Perhaps you heard that protein is bad for your kidneys when in reality there is no evidence that it is bad for someone with healthy kidneys. Or that you can only absorb a certain amount, that amount being 30g of protein max when there is virtually no limit to how much you can absorb in one sitting. [Click HERE to read more about how much protein the body can use in a single meal for muscle-building.]
But protein is not your enemy. Once you open your mind and approach your thoughts about protein and other nutrients differently, you will realize you can reach your goals without restriction and can live your best life without adhering to a “diet.”
Why it is important to nail your protein intake every single day
Now that we understand that protein isn’t the enemy or for that matter any other macronutrient, let’s talk about why it is important to nail your protein intake every single day. Protein plays many vital roles in helping to rebuild muscle tissues to keeping our body’s systems running optimally including overall metabolic balance. It’s the most satiating macronutrient, allowing you to feel fuller for longer and it has the highest thermic effect of food (Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)). This means your body burns even more calories to digest when compared to carbohydrates or fat.
Protein: 20-30% of calories consumed are burned via TEF
Carbs: 5-10% of calories consumed are burned via TEF
Fat: 0-3% of calories consumed are burned via TEF
Protein is essential to improving metabolism, enhancing performance, and weight management.
So how much protein does one need?
The answer depends on where you are starting from and is based upon your goals. Rather than using my recommendation and making it your goal or target to reach consistently on a daily basis, start from where you are currently at based on the data you collected about your current protein intake. If you are consuming 60-80g of protein a day, please don’t feel the need to jump to a higher range immediately. Jumping from 60g of protein to 160g is unrealistic and not a method I would recommend to a client. As I’ve said before small steps move you forward towards your goal as long as you are in constant pursuit. Same applies here: small increases over time will allowing you to reach your goal but more importantly allow you to take inventory on how you feel with any sort of change.
If your goal is to meet the RDA recommendation, your protein goal would be 0.8g per kilogram of body weight or 0.36 per pound
Given the research that I have read and my own application with clients, my protein recommendation is: 0.75 per pound to maintain muscle mass and for overall body composition including reductions in body fat up to 1g per pound, basing protein on current weight or in some instances on goal weight.
With a little strategy it can become very easy to hit your protein goals on a consistent basis which is what we will focus on next week.
JJ’s Savory Italian Toast
In the meantime, the below is another one of my recipes which is so savory and delicious you won’t believe it is packed with 44g of protein! Remember, life is meant to be enjoyed and we can still meet our protein goals while doing so!
Love all this information I do believe I’m not consistently getting my protein in I can start strong with morning protein but after not so much throughout the day.
I feel for the most part I’m pretty consistent. It’s definitely a range, but I feel I average around 100g daily. Somedays are a bit more and others maybe a bit less. I strive for 20-30g each meal and eat an average of 5 times per day. My breakfast falls around 25g, lunch tends to be more like 30 or more, snack 25g, dinner 30g. I am vegan so have been working on finding more ways to boost this a bit. Would love to be closer to 120g everyday! My goal is that toned, strong, but lean look. Weight lose isn’t a focus.