How Much Protein Do I Need To Lose Weight?

Eating foods with protein may improve both short and long-term weight loss success. According to new research, dieters who eat more protein are able to increase lean muscle mass, improve metabolism and decrease body fat. But that leaves many dieters asking, how much protein do I need to lose weight?

How Much Protein is Best for Dieters?

Before you stock up on protein supplements and high protein snack bars, make sure you know your recommended daily allowance for protein. Eating too much of any nutrient isn't a good thing and you want to make sure you use protein properly for weight loss.

Some researchers believe that when dieters consume more foods with protein, they see greater weight loss results. How much protein is best? Three recent studies have found that dieters who consumed 25-30% of their calories from lean protein lost more body fat and substantially increased the number of calories that their bodies burned at rest.

In one study of overweight and obese women, researchers evaluated dieters who consumed a high protein (30%), high dairy diet to a lower protein (15%), lower dairy diet. The high protein group lost more body fat and gained more lean muscle mass than the women who consumed the low protein diet. The low protein group lost weight, but they also lost more lean muscle mass.

Study authors suggest that this loss of lean muscle may contribute to the long-term weight gain and frustrating weight loss plateaus that plague so  many dieters.   Lean muscle mass burns more calories than fat, even when the body is at rest.

When the low protein group lost lean muscle mass, they may have lost the ability to burn more calories throughout the day. On the other hand, the improved body composition of the high protein group may help them burn more calories in the short and long term.

So does that mean more protein is better? Not necessarily. If you eat too many calories, no matter what kind of calories they are, you will gain weight. Even though some studies suggest that weight gain from lean protein is better than weight gain from fat and carbohydrates, if weight loss is your goal, eating the right number of calories is still the key to success.

Should I Take a Protein Supplement?

The short answer is probably not. Most people consume too much protein already, so adding more in the form of a supplement is not necessary. There are still some people, though, who don't get enough. Should they invest in powders or pills? The answer is still probably not.

Foods with protein are also high in other vitamins and minerals that are essential to your diet. Lean meats, dairy and seafood contain iron, calcium, niacin and thiamin. Protein-rich lentils are a good source of fiber.

Many supplements are expensive and some may contain sugars and other ingredients that you don't need. Why waste the money and consume the extra calories? Try to include at least one lean meat or dairy product in each meal throughout the day and chances are good that you will reach the recommended intake of protein to keep your body lean and healthy.

Use Lean Protein Recipes to Lose Weight

Try to eat some protein at every meal. Stock up on lean dairy products, chicken, fish, lean ground turkey, lentils and green leafy vegetables. Use healthy cooking techniques that cut fat and calories. Before you know it, you'll be creating delicious meals that are low in fat but high in the nutrients that you really need.That said, I do use protein powder on days when I do a heavy workout. A long run or a workout with weighs that strain the muscles. You want to strain the muscle when you workout. That helps them to grow, but after the workout you want to eat some protein to help those muscles recover. 

70gm. or 80gm. of protein is good but don't raise the amount of animal meat. The trouble with animal meat is that you get animal fat along with it. Animal fat is the reason most of us add fat around the waist. You can increas your protein with "protein powder". All the grocery stores carry protein powder in a variety of brands. It's very popular today. Protein powder has plant and dairy protein. The shakes are simple to make, you can use a machine or a shaker. There great for a quick breakfast. Eat protein at every meal and use shakes between meals. I get about 30gms. of protein in one shake.

Losing body fat should be your goal. Read up on weight loss and losing body fat. It doesn’t cost money to lose weightier fat. The internet is full of free information. But the quickest way and cheapest way is to buy an ebook online and get everything you need in one short read. I have two ebooks on Amazon:

How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight

Getting To A Healthy Weight

Check out one of them, I think you can find all the info you need and plenty of tips on how I lost my body fat.