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Protein for fat loss for dummies. Here's you with your weirdass haircut and your extremely uncomfortable gaze. You're on a mission to lose fat, tone up. You want to see some little arm muscles, some leg muscles, maybe some little abs, but you don't know how much protein to eat. Is it 1 g per pound body weight? 1 g per pound goal body weight? 7 g per pound body weight? Holy, it's so confusing. But don't worry, we're going to nut this out together.
But first of all, why is protein so freaking important? Boom. You stay full while losing fat. Did you know in a study when people doubled their protein intake, they didn't just eat fewer calories, they ate around 440 less calories per day without even trying. And you are still wondering why you're so damn snacky, Darlene, and you're eating 50 g. Protein literally switches off the keep eating signal in your brain. That is why it feels like a cheat code in a calorie deficit. You want to prioritize protein.
Next, building and protecting muscle. You don't want to just be skinny. You want to have some abs. You want to have some shoulders, some defined legs. Definition, that is muscle. More muscle equals higher metabolism equals burning more fat while you just purely exist, bro. And lastly, you burn more calories by just digesting protein compared to carbs and fats. So, what's that? What do I hear? Oh, I hear all signs lead to you putting protein in your mouth.
All right, let's talk some numbers. For fat loss, the sweet spot is 0.8 to 1 g per pound of your current body weight. However, if you've got, say, 30 plus pounds to lose, you're going to take these numbers and times it by your goal body weight. For example, if you're currently 200 lb and your goal is 150, you're going to use that 150. That's just so you're not overshooting protein for weight that's going to come off anyway.
Now, can you go over protein? Yes, totally fine. In fact, I kind of do every day. That's just because it's my favorite thing that's on the plate. It makes me feel the best. What if you can't hit that every single day? Also totally fine. It's a bit of a learning curve in the beginning, but you do get better as you practice. Remember, when it comes to fat loss, your top priority is calories, and number two would be protein.
Now, how do we make this easy? Well, number one, you will follow me obviously because my high protein recipes rock. Number two, you're going to stock up on a bunch of foods like this that contain a ton of protein without a ton of calories. This can also be ground chicken or turkey breast for some variety. Extra lean ground beef or top sirloin, white fish like cod, egg whites, cottage cheese, non-fat Greek yogurt, eggs. While they do contain some fat, it's still one of the most bioavailable proteins that we can eat. Use them. And for the busy gals, sometimes hitting the easy button means having a good quality whey protein isolate on hand.