Protein Power

The Power of Protein

When fat loss is a goal, getting adequate protein in is huge. I bang on about this a lot and and most women who start working with me already know that protein is important. However, once they start actually tracking to see how many grams they’re currently getting in, they are usually shocked to find out it’s typically a LOT lower than they expected.

It’s quite common for clients to only be getting in 40-60 grams when ideally they should be aiming for closer to 100-120 grams (or more, depending).  It’s not that they’re not eating protein, they are! But most are assuming there’s a lot more in the foods that they’re eating than there actually is, or they’re not eating enough of them to reach their goals.

For example;  if you are 176lbs or 80kg and your goal is to get .8 grams per pound of body weight of protein in per day, that’s 140 grams. Divide that up by your 3-4 meals per day and you’re looking at around 30-40 grams per meal. The recommended range of protein intake is between 0.8 g/kg and 1.8 g/kg of body weight but seeing as how most of here are not body builders nor elite athletes we can work around the lower to middle range. ☺

Maybe you’re eating a couple of eggs for breakfast. That’s only 14 g or so of protein. If your goal is 120, you’re going to have a lot of making up to do. Not impossible, but challenging for most. I know you are trying to anchor your meals and snacks around protein but it’s likely not enough.

Getting adequate, quality protein will do wonders for your satiety, your carvings, your energy levels, your hair and your weight loss* (* when eating correctly for weight loss to occur)

If fat loss is a goal, it’s also the most thermogenic macro, meaning your body burns more calories digesting and absorbing protein compared to carbs and fats. Not only that, it will help reduce muscle loss when in a calorie deficit.

Brands used in the comparison

• Bega Simply Nuts Crunchy – 1 TB
• Woolworths gouda – 20 g slice
• Sss Foods Hommus – 25g
• Chobani low fat Greek yogurt

Do any of these foods surprise you? Are you eating enough protein?