Nutrition Basics: Protein
Nutrition Basics
With the immense amount of information almost being forced down our throats it becomes a lot easier to do nothing rather than sift through it all. This is going to be a very short, complete starting guide to using nutrition as practice into picking one thing to work on from the list and get good at that. We don’t have to do it all right and we never will but we should all start doing something or even just one thing.
Protein
Whether we are an avid exerciser or just enjoy walks and talks in the sunshine, every high quality nutrition plan is going to start with protein. Getting around 0.8-1.0 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass is a good starting point.
LEVEL 1: Start adding protein to every meal that we have. That can come from lean meat, low fat dairy, fish, shrimp, and other plant based options. Get about fist full per meal.
LEVEL 2: Track the amount of protein by using a fitness tracker like MyFitnessPal or MacroFactor. These will help bring awareness to how much we are consuming and allow for us to make changes and set goals that are obtainable based on where we are.
LEVEL 3: Track Food and hit that specific gram per pound of LBM per day. Remember in some instances more or less can make sense the individual as well.
LEVEL 4: Getting 40-50 grams of protein per feeding. With a minimum of 3 feedings per day. Still keeping in mind that the grams per day are the main priority. Having a little extra grams per meal or more meals for the day if needed is okay too.
LEVEL 5: Doing all the previously mention levels while getting 7.5-9.0 hours of sleep per night. Protein is the building block of muscle and the recovery of muscle happens mostly while we rest and even more so while we are sleeping.
So whether your starting point is a teenager just beginning to understand what a protein is. Hint. It’s not peanut butter. Or an avid fitness influencer making anabolic strawberry keto yogurt there is always a place to start and improve. It won’t all be perfect or done in a day so be honest with your goals and find a starting point that is doable for you.
