Yo,
So you may have heard about how important your diet is when wanting to lose fat, build muscle or maintain. The truth is, it is very important. It’s going to be quite difficult for you to make any favourable progress if your body is not being fuelled, and even if you maintain the same workout routine, but make great changes to your diet, you will feel much better.
Your diet is the building block for your body and it is critical that this is not ignored this. Protein is very much essential, as it will enable you to repair, maintain and build muscle mass.
About 3 years ago (at the time of writing), I was struggling to consume around 100g of protein and my consumption was around 80g. Furthermore, my fats were well over 100g (which is not bad, but for my goals, this was not ideal) and my calories were around 2500.
Fast forward to today, and I can easily drop to 2400 calories, whilst eating over 150g of protein, 60g of fat and 300g of carbohydrates. Now this isn’t to say that your carbohydrates should be high or fats low, but it is about emphasising how you can make smarter decisions. (At the time of writing, I am 80kg, at 5’10 or 179cm and bulking to 86kg with 3700 calories).
I would like to emphasise three things: at the initial stage of this journey, I would recommend downloading a calorie counter app, such as ‘myfitnesspal’ or ‘mynetdiary’ for example. (I use mynetdiary). Moreover, the amount of protein you will need to consume depends on your personal goals and circumstances, such as your weight, height, activity levels and whether you are bulking, maintaining or cutting. Finally, a food scale would be very useful, and can be purchased from amazon (this is just one place where you can purchase one)
Typically, I aim for AT LEAST 2g of protein per kg of bodyweight. I know, it may seem like a lot, but this is what’s worked for me. However, it is defintely not impossible, and after reading this, the impossible should become possible.
At the end of this post, I hope this helped you learn how to smash your protein goals.
Smaller, but more meals
An effective method I used to consume more protein, and overall calories, was to eat smaller, but more meals that were very nutrient dense. At this stage when I started a few years ago, I honestly searched “high calorie foods” or “high protein foods” to come up with ideas. Here were, and still are, my favourites
- Canned tuna
- Protein Powder
- Chicken breast (when cutting) and chicken thighs (when bulking, although you can use whichever you prefer)
- Dried raisins
- Oats (smaller portion though, going high would make most people full)
- Greek Yoghurt
- Wholemeal bread
- Lean beef mince
- Whole fat Milk
- Eggs
I found that these foods were not too filling, for the most part, so I could consume them in a smaller portion, but at more times during the day. The foods I am about to list are not my favourites (but that does not mean they are not good!), but are very popular as well
- Salmon
- Nuts
- Lentils
- Quinoa
- Peanut butter
And many, many more. If I were to eat filling foods, in frequent quantities, then that would make the process of getting my protein in much harder, since I was feeling full. Additionally, another method to get more protein in, is to ensure that you have a protein source with every meal.
Small meals can consist of a tuna sandwich, protein shake, chicken breast salad, tuna salad, Greek yoghurt mixed with apple slices and many more.
Another thing to note is that if you are bulking and gradually increasing your calories over time, you will naturally become accustomed to eating more over time, thus making the process easier. Likewise, by cutting and aiming to lose fat, by decreasing your calories over time, you will naturally become used to eating less food (Remember your protein goals)
Sleep earlier and wake up earlier= more time to eat
One tip that I believe can be quite effective when wanting to consume more protein, and more food overall, is sleeping earlier. Think about it, sleeping earlier, and subsequently waking up earlier, will give you more time in a day to eat.
Let’s say you want to wake up at 6:30 am, if you sleep at 10:30 Pm (not get in bed at this time, as it can take around 20 mins to fall unconscious), that will provide you with the recommended 8 hours of sleep. By eating breakfast at around 7, in a few hours’ time, it is likely that you may be feeling slightly hungry, and it will still be the morning! This is just an example though.
I found that when I prioritised my sleep, always aiming to get 8 hours (although it often results in around 7-8 hours, I’m still working on it) and waking up on time, gave me more time throughout the day to not only eat more but carry out activities.
I’m not saying to make a drastic change straightway, but instead make gradual, slow changes to your sleeping routine. Instead of sleeping at 1 am, try to sleep at 12:30, then at 12. Don’t hate yourself for failing, it takes time. Furthermore, you should feel energised with the increase of hours in sleeping.
Physical activity= get hungrier
We know that food is a vital element to feeling energised throughout the day, and performing physical activity. Therefore, it should make sense that the more physical activity we perform, the more protein and overall calories we will need to replenish our bodies.
Therefore, by increasing our physical activity, it should be no surprise that we would need more protein and food to continue performing. If you are already weightlifting frequently throughout the week, then maybe add in some cardio (scary right?).
This could include walking on the treadmill, jogging and jumprope. Other fun forms of cardio may be playing a sport, such as soccer, basketball, martial arts and more. You get the idea, no need to ramble more about this. Simply move your body more so your body desires more protein and food
Macro necessities
Alright, so now you know how important protein is and how you can consume more. What should not be overlooked however are the other nutrients, such as your vitamins and minerals. For a healthy, strong body, it is still necessary that you consume sufficient protein and other nutrients.
Remember to consume vegetables with most meals, which have a variety of nutrients. This can be done by blending vegetables and fruits in your protein shakes, or topping your oats with vegetables. The point is that protein should not be your only goal, as consuming all other nutrients and macro-nutrients will enable you to perform at your very best.
Have some variety in your diet and don’t beat yourself up if you somehow miss your protein goal for the day.
Final Tip
Meal Prep. Plain and simple. If you are unsure about how much protein you’ll eat tomorrow, dedicating a day of the week to cooking high protein meals for the rest of the week is a good option. It ensures that you will have high protein meals available to you for most of the time.
Sure, it’s boring. Sure, it can be time consuming. Sure, you might look weird. However, we’re not here to be exciting, we’re not here to look cool for others, we are consuming this diet so that we can fuel our bodies and crush our goals. “How badly do I want it?”, is a question you should ask yourself frequently.
However, meal prep is not essential. You may be able to eat enough protein each day without planning ahead. I meal prep every now and again. There are times when I don’t meal prep at all. So use it whenever you want.
Conclusion
The desire of eating a high-protein diet shouldn’t consume your life. You may find yourself scanning a lot of barcodes, to look at the nutritional value and macros on the back. That is fine, I did the exact same thing and looked weird to my family members. However, as time goes on, it will become easier to portion your food out and you may no longer need to scan and weigh your food all the time.
Moreover, your mindset is very important to hitting your goals. You may need to sacrifice and eat some boring foods. It all comes down to how badly you want it. You have to push yourself, it may be hard, but you will never hate yourself for doing the right thing. I know you want those abs, I know you want those wide, defined shoulders. I know you have your body dreams, so go after it with relentless passion my friend.
Good luck and feel free to contact me if you have any questions or want to give your thoughts.
