Try Protein for Weight Loss

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It’s almost the end of January. How’s the goal you set for weight loss coming along? Has it tanked already? If you’re feeling frustrated, not losing weight and wondering what to do next, listen to Steve’s story on the January 28, 2009 podcast. Steve is the Program Director at WDBO radio and recounts his many attempts at weight loss over the years. He’s lost weight only to gain it back and lose it many more times. Recently he was listening to one of my radio segments about the new research on protein and weight loss. He changed the both the timing and the amount of protein he consumes and is now losing weight and keeping it off.

As you age, your body composition starts to change and you have more body fat and less lean muscle. Muscle mass is the furnace of the body or the metabolically active tissue. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn. One pound of muscle burns around 30-50 calories per day compared to one pound of body fat which burns around 3-5 calories per day.

Current nutrition research suggests that modestly increasing the amount of protein in the diet may improve body composition, facilitate weight loss and improve weight maintenance after weight lost. The range for protein has traditionally been 5-35% of totally daily calories. Now the suggestion is to reach the higher end of that range….20-35% of total calories coming from protein. This additional protein enhances or helps with muscle development and maintenance and reduces the loss of muscle mass with age. Protein makes you feel full so you tend to eat less and feel more satisfied.

Let’s say you’ve been eating around 2000 calories per day and you want to consume about 25% of those calories from protein. 25% of 2000 is 500 calories per day from protein. To figure this as grams of protein, remember that there are 4 calories per gram so 500/4 = 125 grams of protein per day. This amount is probably more than most people consume daily.

What to do? Be sure to include a protein source at every meal and snack. Choose high quality protein such as eggs, low fat cheese, fish and poultry, yogurt, lean pork or beef or meat alternatives. Also include nuts, soy, dried beans and peas.

For more information on boosting your metabolism, listen to the 10/22/08 podcast on metabolism boosters. Go to WDBO.com, click on Nutrition & Health Center and then archives.