Protein for Weight Loss

Not all calories are created equal (and how to use this to your advantage)

If you could choose any type of food, it would be protein for weight loss.  There are three types of food or food sources that we eat in a day: protein, carbohydrate and fat. If you could choose just one of these to help you achieve your goals, it would be protein for weight loss.

Weight loss is a simple equation: total energy eaten needs to be less than total energy expended. Meeting that weight loss criteria is a must.

But what also counts in weight loss is not just the total sum of these foods in total calories, but what foods you actually eat to get these calories. 2000 calories from carbohydrate is different to 2000 calories from protein, for weight loss.

Why protein is useful for weight loss

Protein is best for weight loss because of the low number of calories it contains per volume, the slow and stable way it supplies energy to your bloodstream, and its usefulness in building and toning muscle. Plus, it makes you feel full (which might mean that you want to eat even less).

Take advantage of protein for weight loss based on these 3 definite scientific facts:

1.   Digestion of protein occurs relatively slowly which keeps blood sugar levels constant, and so keeps energy levels constant.

If you are aiming for weight loss, you want to create the best environment in your body to tap into your fat stores for energy. The best environment is one where everything is nice and stable, no periods of being really hungry, no periods where you have over-eaten, no periods of big ‘sugar highs’, just a nice constant flow of energy during the day. Slow-release energy from protein sources helps achieve this. It’s a really good way to reduce or eliminate sugar cravings and temptation eating that can ruin weight loss efforts.

2.   Protein is used for muscle and bodily growth and repair. Protein is composed of amino acids – essentially the ‘building-blocks’ of your entire body. You cannot develop, tone or grow your muscles effectively without protein. Why do you want toned muscles? One very effective way to facilitate weight loss is to tone or grow your muscles – this speeds up your metabolism which helps you to burn more calories even at rest. Only protein can tone and grow muscles, and assist weight loss in this way.

3.   If you over-eat on protein, your body is more likely to excrete the excess food from your body, rather than hold onto it and potentially store the energy as fat. Isn’t that good news? Over-eat on carbohydrates and there is a good chance your body will store the excess energy as body fat. Over-eat with protein, and there is a chance that your body will get rid of the extra food rather than hold onto it (unless you over-do it or go protein-only with your diet – not a good idea).

The second consideration when using protein for weight loss is how much protein to eat each day.

This varies between men and women, and levels of activities. As a general rule, active women will want around 90g of protein a day, and active men around 130g. Getting this amount right for your own body is essential when eating protein each day for weight loss (and did you know you should eat exactly the same amount of carbohydrate?).

Eating Right Made Easy provides the Eating Right Guide, which includes exactly the grams of protein you should have for your body and exercise levels.

Importantly, the Eating Right Guide shows you how to get the right amount of protein at each meal from everyday foods. (It also shows how to get the right amount of carbohydrates and fats every meal). Learn more.