Upping your protein intake is strictly necessary if you want to grow muscle, increase strength, and diet healthily. Protein is an essential ingredient in muscle repair and growth, and if you’re not eating enough protein, then you may find it difficult to put on weight.
If you lead a busy lifestyle and your job requires you to spend the majority of your day on your feet, then getting ample protein is a step you should make. As with any change in dietary habits, pay attention to how your body responds and watch out for any adverse symptoms of changing your diet. Rethink your diet if you’re experiencing fatigue, intestinal discomfort, or indigestion.
Try getting more protein to boost your energy levels and improve productivity with the help of this guide.
Get The Boost Your Need
It’s not always easy trying to eat more protein, especially if you’re always on-the-go, have a young family, or don’t have a burning desire to cook and prepare your meals. If this is the case, then consider high protein weight loss shakes that are easy to pack in your bag and travel with. Stick with low calorie shakes for the best results, as you want to get the high protein shot of energy you require without absentmindedly consuming too many calories.
Use shakes as a pick-me-up in-between lunch and dinner, or a post or pre-workout stimulant. It could even help those with type 2 diabetes in their battle of curing their chronic disease. If shakes aren’t for you, then instead prepare smoothies and pots of nuts, seeds, and a small number of dried fruits like raisins, apricot, figs, and apple.
The Power Of Protein
Below is a list of all the reasons why you should consider adding more protein to your daily diet:
- Eating more protein can help you lose weight and keep it off effectively.
- You’ll be far more likely to retain and grow muscle mass.
- You can boost your metabolism. A high protein intake can help you burn calories as it has a much higher thermic effect in comparison to fats or carbs.
- Studies have suggested a link between a higher protein intake and having lower blood pressure.
- Protein helps your body to repair – eating more of it after suffering an injury can help you to regain strength and mobility sooner.
Getting 15% of your calories from protein should be enough to keep you supple and to prevent deficiency, however, in some cases getting 30% of your calories can be safe and advised, especially if you’re rapidly gaining muscle or training with heavy weights.
Don’t Go Without
If you’re trying to get in better shape and improve your health, you should refrain from cutting out all the foods you believe to be bad for you and only eating the “clean” ones. Clean eating is a problematic concept, as it proposes the idea that some foods are good for you, and some are not. Being overly concerned over what is an “approved” food and what is not can lead to obsessive behavior, deficiencies, and eating disorders. Some foods are not good for you, and the reason for why can be backed up by science, however, eating only as part of a raw, gluten, legume, sugar, and oil-free diet can lead to serious health problems.
Try not to cut out the foods you enjoy completely, like cake, chocolate, and chips. In the future, you may be able to wean yourself off them, but for now, just try to eat less of them and more healthy foods, and more protein to keep you from snacking in-between meals.
How Shall I Plan My Day?
If you’re concerned about what to eat, when to eat it, and when to work out, then try and create a daily plan of what you’re eating and what you’re burning. Again, use this as a tool to get an idea of what you’re consuming. If you’re at all worried you’re becoming overly concerned with calorie counting, then try and stop and get help from mental health services if you believe you could benefit from them.
Start the day by eating Greek yogurt, topped with chopped nuts and milled linseed. Add a generous dollop of peanut butter for healthy fats and added protein and prepare a smoothie to take with you for in-between breakfast and lunch. Use frozen berries and oats to make this smoothie and add one banana to thicken it.
Lunches and dinners should be full of vegetables, so start by roasting a large tray of veg and adding chicken or Quorn pieces as well as halloumi cheese. Roast enough vegetables so that you have plenty for the rest of the week to have with wraps, with vegetarian sausages (to negate the high-fat content of meat ones), and to eat with a fresh watercress, avocado, and tomato salad, for example.
Eat the Protein First
When eating any meal, try and eat the protein components first. This way, if you become full, you can relax in the knowledge that you’ve eaten the most important part of the meal. With this said, however, you need to ensure that you’re eating as part of a balanced diet. You still need to eat enough fresh fruit and vegetables, carbohydrates, and fats if you want to continue nurturing your mind and body and giving it all of the nutrients and minerals it needs.
Feeling Fuller For Longer
When choosing a meal, think about how you can add extra protein to it. You might need to get creative, and even try out some slightly interesting combinations, but doing so will enable you to find out what you like. Good protein sources include the likes of chicken breast, salmon, eggs, nuts and seeds (sources of good fats too), broccoli, beans, legumes, tofu, Greek yogurt, and quinoa. There is, of course, many more sources, but beginning to eat more of the aforementioned is a great place to start. When preparing your lunch for the day, think about how you can add an egg to it, for example. Add hard-boiled eggs to curry, or bake eggs on top of shakshuka, and noodle dishes as well. Eat handfuls of almonds as snacks, and make sure you get enough protein before working out.
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