Protein Q&A with Coach Ashley
Today, we quickly chat protein with 3x Certified Nutrition Coach and Head Become More Nutrition Systems Coach, Ashley Pritz. Getting more protein in your diet is one of the fastest and most effective ways to change your body and Coach Ashley tells us why.
1. Why is protein so important to my physique goals? What if I am only interested in burning fat?
Protein is used to build and repair muscle tissue and the more muscle we have, the more calories that we burn! Eating adequate amounts of protein daily also helps your body to recover well so that you can continue to train hard, meaning you perform better and have stronger workouts.
Protein is filling so eating more of it consistently may help you to have more stable feelings around hunger throughout the day. So for those only interested in burning fat, this will help you to feel more satisfied and experience less inhibitions while also helping you to prevent you from losing lean mass. This keeps your body running like a well oiled, calorie burning, performing, recovering, machine. This high functioning machine will burn through body fat much faster than starving it of vital protein.
2. I am having trouble getting more protein in my diet. How can I get more in?
I can relate. One of the things I’ve found helpful is to attach an action to an action. For example, when I exercise I will follow it with a protein rich meal. Other ways to go about this would be to add a protein rich snack every day. This could be a scoop of protein, a hard boiled egg or two, cottage cheese, edamame, seeds, etc. You could also look at the balance of your meals, making sure to get an adequate portion of protein with every single meal that you eat. A little bit added throughout the day can add up fast.
3. Do you think I need to weigh my food and track my macros in order to get enough protein?
My opinion is that no, you do not need to weigh and track your macros to get enough protein. However, I do believe that collecting data about what you are already doing is super beneficial. Tracking doesn’t need to be complicated. Simply keeping a good log to make sure you see protein with every meal can be an effective starting point. A good idea might be to track a couple days worth to see where you are at, then stop tracking and make the necessary adjustments based on what you learned.
Leaving too many factors up to “I think I’m doing that” is an uninformed way to go about achieving your goals. Knowing what you are doing can help give you insight into what you can be doing BETTER.
If you feel like you’re ready for advanced tracking, shoot for .75 – 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight. For example, if you weigh 175 pounds you would aim to consume 130 – 175g of protein per day.
