Hi Friends of Oompf! fitness,
This is Agnes. I hope you are having a great start to the week! Today I’d like to talk about eating protein. Why do we need protein? Remember why you started your fitness journey? To build muscles so you can be strong; to work out so you can have more energy; or you could be training to improve your athletic performance.
We need protein to achieve all of these goals. We need protein to help us maintain and build muscle mass and strength. If you are working out (includes other activities besides the gym) 3-5 times a week, you probably need a higher protein intake; similarly if you are on a weightloss diet, you should be eating more protein (cut the carbs and sugar) – you don’t want to lose muscle mass in either of these situations. Many people are fixated about their weight. Weight per se is not the most relevant measurement in my view; it is more important to measure body fat and muscle mass, therefore it is a common danger that when people diet without due consideration, they lose fat but they also lose muscle, which is a pity because we then regress in strength and defeat our training goals. Older people also need more protein and also absorption levels of protein from food sources may vary for each individual and age may also play a factor.
How much protein is enough?
There is quite a variance in opinion on what the right quantity but generally, for an active person working out regularly, to build muscles, we need as a guide, between 1.8 – 2.2x (grams of protein) per kg bodyweight.
Some common sources of protein per 100g (estimated guide)
Eggs – about 6-7g per egg; egg whites alone are about 4-5g of protein but far lower in calories if that is a concern
Fish – sardines : 20.9g /canned tuna : 23.6g /mackerel : 18.6g / salmon:21.3g
Chicken breast : 23.1g
Lean beef (eg skirt steak) : 26.7g
Lean pork :22.4g
Lamb chop :20.4g
Lentils :25.8g
Nuts ;almonds, walnuts, cashews. about 1oz or 23almonds =6g of protein. Same 1 oz of cashews, walnuts, peanuts = 4g of protein
I would like to share with you my typical daily diet of protein below. These are close approximate numbers as I do not measure every gram of food intake which of course will be more precise.
My Daily Protein Sources :
4 eggs : 28g
Protein shake ( 1 recommended daily scoop whey protein with almond milk and one avocado ) : 20g
MAP protein tablets : 5 or 5g
Grilled chicken or beef or fish for lunch and dinner and tofu : approx 45-50g
The above translates to about 100g or slightly more of protein intake; this is about 2x my bodyweight of 50kgs. I believe it is easy to get enough protein in our diet if we just become a little bit more conscious of what we eat and add some protein supplements to help us along.
Question for you : How are you eating ? Share with us how you are getting your daily dosage of protein! Send your responses to [email protected]
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