The “P” Word
If you don’t know this by now you will soon find out that I am obsessed with PROTEIN. When it comes to protein it is a non-negotiable in my nutrition coaching. The main questions is “Why?”
In case you haven’t watched the educational course on Macros and specifically protein then you may not understand yet just how important protein is. Protein is 1 of the 3 macronutrients and I would argue the most important when it comes to overall health. Protein is the building block of all of our tissues in our body. Everything from muscles to organs to skin, protein matters…a lot. Ensuring that you are getting enough protein in on a daily basis is going to help your body to build upon those tissues making them stronger and healthier. Stronger and healthier tissues equals a healthier more able body. So, how much protein is required to ensure that my tissues remain healthy and can rebuild themselves?
I start all of my clients out at 1 gram of protein per lb of goal body weight. So, if you have a goal to be 145 lbs then I will recommend that you eat at least 145 grams of protein a day. This is going to ensure that we are maintaining and building upon the lean muscle on your body and also help to rebuild the other tissues in your body.
Most of the clients I work with are wanting to either lose weight, tone up or gain some muscle. A KEY component to all of these goals is ensuring you are getting enough protein. Let’s use the weight loss client as an example. Most of the time these clients come to me and they say “I know I probably need to be eating less and moving more in order to get toned up and lose weight”. I always educate them that we do need to be in the right calorie range for their goals but we NEED to put an emphasis on lifting weights and EATING ENOUGH PROTEIN. When we only focus on calories and not protein then our body is going to lose both muscle and fat but the main goal would be to lose primarily FAT. That is going to leave them with the more toned and lean physic that they want. By eating enough protein you are essentially giving your muscles the protection it needs to sustain itself and build upon it so the body has no option but to go after the fat.
This is hard for people to grasp as first. It can take some time to get used to but once my clients start seeing results that they have been looking for, for years and feel good doing it then the protein become a non-negotiable for them as well.
The “P” word is not going anywhere anytime soon so buckle up for more tips and tricks on how we can make sure you are hitting your protein goal on a daily basis. Utilizing recipes from the Create Your Plate section will help you hit your protein much easier!
Until next time, eat that protein!
-Logan Eck-