Protein, protein, protein. You’ve heard all about it, right? If you haven’t yet had the conversation with your buddies, it will probably come soon. And it only makes sense. Think about, Bob lifts just as much as Jared (the guy across the gym). However, Jared’s muscle tone and physique is clearly better. Bob does everything the same though, how can this be!? Bob thinks, “Jared must be on the secret potion. That’s probably it…”

Heck NO! Jared only knows something that Bob has not yet learned.

When I began lifting, I started to track the foods that I put into my body. I did this because of something my lifting mentor mentioned to me. He said, “if you had a horse and you were to feed it prior to the big race, what would you give it? Ice cream and cake? Or special feed recommended by the doctors?” This was the kind of analogy that smacked me directly in face. It woke me up! I was like, “woah, I’m the horse.” I instantly knew it was time to cut out the items with high amounts of sugar. No more soda pop, candies, and other dessert type foods. In addition, I cut out the foods with insanely high fat percentages. Things like fried foods, meals with a large amounts of butter, and all the salty snacks. This was healthy eating 101. I was now getting the proper fuel to exceed in what I wanted to do. However, he deliberately kept it painfully simple so that I could figure the remainder of it out on my own. He knew I was young. I like to believe he was teaching patience. Mainly because there is simply no way to rush our bodies into physically changing overnight.

Fast forward a year or more and I was “Bob” (as mentioned above). I had gained a great amount of strength. However, my body was not changing. I thought the philosophy was, “the more I can lift, the bigger I will be”?  Well, after spending hours of reading numerous articles and watching many YouTube videos, I realized I was missing a crucial piece of my diet: adequate protein. This is a problem of so many lifters, even ones who have been at it for years. Our bodies need more protein than the average joe to recover from the muscle breakdown we bring upon ourselves.

This learning process can be different for many people. Usually, I believe it is important for people to find answers to their own questions through personal research. I believe in this approach because trial and error makes the process mean so much more. However, unless you know how to sift through false information, it can be a brutal road to find the right answers. This is why I want to be straight up with you and tell the answer!

The most important tip to avoid problems associated with protein intake is: Consume 1 gram of protein per pound of your bodyweight.

Therefore, if a man weighs 200 pounds, he should be consuming around 200 grams of protein per day. This is a general rule of thumb that many trainers, dieticians, and professional athletes agree with. Some people will always feel differently, but the majority of people lean towards this idea of increased amounts of protein. In addition, this protein intake is recommended for my audience, the ones who want to transform their physique through lifting heavy weights. If a man or woman is not regularly lifting weights, this high protein intake is not required.

Within weeks of increasing my protein intake, my muscles started to show a little more. Therefore, I began to advocate for high protein lifestyles for men and women who enjoy lifting heavy.

As many of you know, as your Health Cop, I like to give both sides to the story. Meaning, I have seen plenty of people who eat too much protein in their daily routine. Yes, the increased protein helped them as they converted from eating too little protein, but they took it too far. They began to believe the more protein they ate, the bigger they will be. Stay away from this thought process. Our bodies can only process so much protein within a given day. Doctors and other nutrition specialists have pointed to this 1 gram per 1 pound of bodyweight. If we eat over the recommended amount, nothing will really happen. The excess passes the next time we go to the bathroom. So, to be efficient while eating, it is important finish the remainder of calories with carbs and good fats.

Please share what high protein foods you enjoy in the comment section below. Sometimes finding enough protein in a day can be tough! We can help each other find more ways of getting it!

Remember, although lifting heavy is very important, it requires adequate protein intake for visible results!

Yours truly,

Health Cop