Protein and Good Snacks

You cant under-estimate the need for protein. Especially as we are all gym users. Protein and its building blocks of amino acids contribute to the rebuilding of muscles after we have trained in the gym. If we dont have enough protein in our diet then our body is going to find it hard to repair itself and this in turn will affect our performances the next time we train.

Getting enough protein will keep you strong, energised and feeling full, even when you are perhaps restricting your calories to lose weight. This is because our blood sugar levels are kept fairly balanced when we consume protein as opposed to fluctuating wildly when we have a carbohydrate meal or snack. This means we are not so prone to rampant eating when getting enough protein! And you can see the benefits this will have on weight loss.

The RDA of protein for an average adult is about 0.8g per kg of bodyweight.
If you are training in the gym you should be getting nearer 1 - 1.2g per kg of bodyweight
And if you are weight training heavily you should get nearer 1.4-1.6g per kg of bodyweight.

Write down what you eat over two typical days. Look at the labels (i know, i know....! Just this once!) and calculate how much protein is in your diet. Then compare this to your bodyweight and see how you come out according to the levels above. You may be surprised that its a lot lower than you think.

A lot of people have been asking me recently what they can eat as a 'good' snack. When you snack between meals ideally you want to be taking in some protein as this is going to help you feel full until the next meal. Ive listed below some ideal choices of things to snack on that are high in protein:

Cottage cheese (add fruit of choice to make it more interesting)
Chicken or turkey breast
Tuna
Nuts (these are excellent, a great source of protein and 'good' fats) (almonds, walnuts, cashews, brazil etc)
Peanut butter (again, excellent for protein and energy. Dont overdo this one though due to the high calorie content!)
Edamame (soy) beans
Chick peas
Lentils
Eggs (hard boiled would be easiest to snack on)
Seeds (pumpkin, sesame etc)
Hummus

If you really are bad at preparing food or taking food to work with you then the easiest way to get good protein in your diet would be through a whey protein shake. These shakes are super convienient, provide around 25g of quality protein and only about 100 calories. The website i have already listed on a post below (www.myprotein.co.uk) has a three months supply for about £25.

Take a look at your own diet and see how much protein you are getting.