The Power Of Protein

You have probably heard all you want to hear about the benefits of eating more protein, but I am going to talk about it even more.

Make note of the following: Eating more protein is essential to fat loss.

Why? The main reason is that protein repairs tissue, not just muscle tissue, but all tissue. That is it's job. You want to keep your muscle at all cost, because everyone knows that the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism. The higher your metabolism, the more calories you can consume. I am a big proponent in not cutting your calories. Once you have reduced your calories to, say, 1200 per day, your body will adjust down to that level. Sure, on the Biggest Loser they are eating very few calories AND working out 4 hours a day. That show is completely unrealistic. Do you want to spend the rest of your life working out 4 hours a day and starving? I don't think so. And, have they checked in with all the participants? Nope. But the one's that they have checked on have gain all or some of the weight back. They keep that part on the down-low.

I'm going to use myself as an example. When I started bodybuilding I went on a low-fat, high carb diet of around 1500 calories a day. I lifted weights twice a day and taught my regular load of group exercise classes, which was around 5 per week, and added in about 45 minutes of cardio on top of it. You usually start a bodybuilding diet 15 weeks out from the show. In 15 weeks I lost a total of 5 POUNDS!!! I am serious. How disappointed was I? I was devastated when I got on stage and look soft next to my opponents.

But I didn't give up. The next couple of times I experimented with diets. The best I ever looked was when I ate 3,000(!) calories a day, low carb/high protein/med fat. All the fats were good fats, and that's where I got my energy. My metabolism has never slowed down.

The other thing about protein is that it does not hold water. Carbs hold 4 gms of water to every 1 gm of carbohydrate. That's why your body weight can fluctuate 5 pounds over night. Mine did, until I changed the way I ate.

Even vegetarians can eat a diet higher in protein. I will say that vegetarians will almost never have a lot of lean muscle mass. It just is what it is. And I am not saying that if you eat a lot of protein you will get huge muscles. I tried to get more muscular when I was competing. It just doesn't work for women because we don't have enough testosterone in our system to build that much muscle. When you see a woman with a lot of muscle mass, she has probably taken performance enhancing drugs. I have seen it, even at 'natural' bodybuilding' shows. You have to trust me on that.

Try it. Eat a higher protein, lower carb diet for 3-4 weeks and see what happens. Obviously, you will have to continue to exercise, but see how your body changes. Then let me know.