You ask anyone who is involved in fitness in any way about protein and they will tell you how important it is for building lean muscle, but one thing that often gets neglected is how protein helps you lose weight easier.
How does it help you lose weight easier?
Well, scroll below and discover how protein helps you lose weight easier, how much protein you should be having, some high protein foods to include into your diet for optimal fat loss and muscle building and much much more!
Check it out below!
How Does Consuming More Protein Help You Lose Weight Easier?
When you are looking to lose weight, eating in a calorie deficit is the key to fat loss and weight loss.
However, when you do begin eating in a caloric deficit, naturally you will start to feel hungrier.
Why?
Because you are consuming fewer calories then you are used to eating.
And when you get hungry what do you want to do?
Eat.
This is why it is vital to consume a high protein diet when you cut calories and want to lose weight because it helps with satiety aka keeping you fuller for a prolonged period!
Now, when you stay full not only do you eat fewer calories but there is no urge to do so either!
Consuming More Protein Also Helps You Burn More Calories!
No, you did not read that wrong.
Simply by consuming more protein, you will burn calories.
How?
Because protein is thermogenic!
Thermogenic meaning that your body expends a lot of energy trying to break the food down and trying to get the nutrients out of the food you consumed.
Essentially 25-35% of the calories consumed from a protein-rich meal get burned just through the process of thermogenesis.
For example, let’s say you ate 1000 calories from protein during your day, at least 250 of those calories get burned from trying to break the food down.
That is a lot of calories burned and ultimately it will help you lose weight a lot easier!
How Much Protein Should You Be Consuming?
Now, this varies from individual to individual and is unique to how long you have been training for, how much you weigh, how much lean body mass you have and so on.
However, there are general guidelines on how much protein you should be consuming depending on your goal!
Let’s take a quick look below here and see how you need for your goal!
General Exercise & Fitness
Recommendation
- You should be consuming about .82 grams of protein per body weight for general exercise and fitness.
- For example, if you weigh 150lbs, you should be consuming about 123 grams of protein per day!
Benefits
- Supports leaner body composition
- Increase in strength and endurance!
- Reductions in body fat loss promoted by a calorie deficit created through exercise and not over restriction
Healthier Weight Loss
Recommendation
- You should be consuming about .73 grams of protein per lb of bodyweight for healthier weight loss.
- For example, if you weigh 150lbs, you should be consuming 110 grams of protein a day total
- 35% of your total caloric intake should come from protein!
Benefits
- Supports Hunger Management
- Supports Metabolism Retention
- Minimizes muscle loss during a caloric deficit
Advanced Sports Performance & Muscle Building
Recommendation
- You should be consuming about 1 gram per lb of bodyweight
- If you weigh 150lbs then you should consume 150 grams of protein
Benefits
- Muscle Mass and Strength Development
- Overall Endurance enhancement
You can take look at the full chart of the International Protein Boards Recommendations by looking at the graph below as it breaks down how much you need protein wise depending on your health and fitness goal!
Does How Much Protein You Consume Per Meal Matter?
I wrote an article about how many meals you eat in a day does not matter when it comes to weight loss and fat loss.
BUT, there was one caveat and that was for protein distribution.
Studies have found that when you consume protein in a spread-out manner throughout your day, it is a lot more beneficial in terms of helping you build muscle then it is to eat a large amount of protein in one meal.
For example, let’s say you weigh 140 lbs and you like eating 4 meals a day.
Eating close to 35 grams per meal would be optimal for you when it comes to getting the full benefits from protein.
I say 35 grams based on if you eat 1 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight.
However, as I say that, do not worry about being absolutely perfect and hitting 35 grams every single time. There is no need to obsess about being perfect because that does not exist. You just want to get close to that number as possible.
Obsessing about being perfect is a waste of your energy and is counter-intuitive so do not worry about that at all.
You can check out the graph below from Layne Norton’s book Fat Loss Forever.
List of High Protein Foods For Weight Loss & Muscle Building
Below are some of the best protein foods for weight loss and muscle building.
What makes these particular foods the best protein wise?
Well, these foods have some of the highest amounts of leucine in them.
What is leucine you may ask?
Leucine is an amino acid that helps stimulate muscle protein synthesis and is one of the main amino acids that helps you with building muscle!
With that being said, check out the high protein foods below. I have included how much protein is in each food for you so you do not have to go searching for it!
1. Eggs (6 grams of protein per 1 Egg)
2. Chicken Breast (31 grams of protein per 100 grams)
3. Salmon (18 grams of protein per 100 grams)
4. Extra Lean Ground Turkey (27 grams of protein per 85 grams)
5. Extra Lean Ground Beef (21.6 grams of protein per 100 grams)
6. Shrimp (24 grams of protein per 100 grams)
7. Lamb (21 grams of protein per 3oz lamb)
8. Greek Yogurt (17 grams of protein per 175 grams)
9. 1% Milk (8 grams of protein per 1 cup)
10. Cottage Cheese (16.5 grams of protein per 150 grams)
11. Lentils (13.5 grams of protein per 150 grams)
12. Edamame (17 grams of protein per 155 grams)
Are Protein Powders Helpful?
Protein powders are definitely helpful when it comes to consuming more protein.
Sometimes it can be challenging to get all your protein from food.
This is why getting a great protein powder can be helpful for you.
It is easy to consume and you can really have it at any given time.
However, going with the whey protein option would be your best bet.
Whey protein has a high level of leucine in it and leucine (as mentioned before) is essentially an amino acid that helps you build lean muscle easier!
The Gold Standard Whey Protein is an amazing protein powder and you can get it from Amazon by clicking here.
Another alternative is the muscle pharm protein powder. This is the one I use and you can also get this from Amazon as well by clicking here.
Furthermore, depending on the protein powder you get, you can get anywhere from 24-32 grams of protein per scoop!
And the great part is that you can make it however you like by adding various things you enjoy into your protein shake.
All in all, consuming protein powder can make it easier for you to lose weight and build muscle!
What Are Some Other Benefits of Protein?
Protein is so versatile that it goes beyond just helping you lose weight and build muscle.
Below are some of the other amazing benefits of eating a high protein diet:
- Helps With Recovery after a Workout
- Can Speed Up Metabolism
- Builds and Repairs Tissues
- Your body uses Protein to Make Enzymes, Hormones and other body chemicals
- Helps with Satiety
- Decreases Body Fat (As mentioned)
Last Words
Simply based on observing my clients when they first start training with me, I see that they don’t consume enough protein.
Whether that be because they do not know how important it is or just based on how certain cultures eat.
Simply by you adding more protein into your diet you can start losing weight easier, build more lean muscle and feel fuller for longer.
These are vital when it comes to losing weight.
Therefore, do not neglect to consume a high protein diet because protein helps you lose weight that much easier!
Lastly, here is Layne Norton talking about protein in even further detail if you would like to learn more about how protein helps you lose weight easier and much much more!
Personal Trainer
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