Why Eating More Protein Will Help You Lose Weight

When you don't eat protein in a meal, you'll probably end up eating more carbs than you would have because your stomach wants to feel satisfied. Refined carbs are empty calories so your body will want nutrients soon after eating them.

When people think about eating healthy they usually go for a salad. It's light, refreshing and you feel good after eating it. However, you might be hungry an hour later if the salad lacked protein or complex carbs. While a salad is a great option, it can get boring fast. Maybe you'll find a spot that serves a few good salads and then you get sick of them. I can never find enough places that are easy to get to that have great salads.

Sure, we all think of fruits and vegetables as eating healthy and this is true. But because the body REQUIRES amino acids (the building blocks of protein), you will generally not be satiated at a meal that lacks protein.

Every cell, tissue and organ has protein in it so if your body is lacking protein throughout the day, you will lack energy. Neurotransmitters are the brain chemicals that communicate information throughout our brain and body and the main source of energy that neurotransmitters use is protein.

Tip #1: Use your salad plate as your dinner plate.

If you're hungry and you only eat vegetables, you'll probably still be hungry. This is often why its easier for men to lose weight than it is for women. Because, unfortunately for women, men don't feel bad about eating a hamburger. And neither should you -- if its grass-fed.

So if you love eating salads, throw some protein in and you will end up feeling not overly full, but satisfied. Typically people don't feel satisfied unless they have a refined carbohydrate with their meal because, point blank, women just do not eat enough protein.  This has been my experience of talking to dozens of women about their food choices.

Tip #2: Don't eat any carbohydrates (breads, pastas) for dinner. Opt for the protein and the vegetables only at this meal. 

So what you want to do is this:
When you think about what you want to eat at each meal, think about what the protein is for that meal.

Every meal that I have has protein in it, otherwise I consider it a snack. But sometimes my snack (like today at Baby Bootcamp) is a protein shake. I was wondering why it tasted like weed until I remembered that I put hemp protein in it along with the whey protein ;)

Here's a protein powder brand I recommend Whey Cool by Designs For Health. It uses stevia instead of aspartame (kind of a funny taste, but worth it) and its 120 calories. I drink it with almond milk and usually add in a green powder like Vital Scoop (which I sell).

Here's a breakdown of my protein intake for yesterday to give an example:

• 6am -- whole wheat toast with almond butter (protein) and 1/2 banana + coffee
• 10am -- protein shake 
• 11am -- 2 eggs (protein), a little cheese, avocado (protein), rice, black beans (protein), tomato. All of this overflowed into a small tortilla. Handful of berries.
• 3pm -- greek yogurt (protein), nectarine, handful of nuts (protein)
• 6pm -- 3-4 turkey meatballs (protein) 1 cup black beans (protein) and rice
• 8pm -- berries, dark chocolate, mint tea

Here's a couple more healthy food options:

• quinoa salad (protein) with avocado (protein), tomato, cucumber, arugula, kidney beans (protein), 1 tbsp olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper
• salmon (protein) sauteed with white wine, lemon, 1 tsp butter, capers over steamed kale
• low-fat cottage cheese (protein) with fruit (great for slimming down)
• grass-fed lamb meatballs (protein) sauteed with onions, paprika, garlic salt, onion powder, cumin, chopped tomato and raisins over steamed chard (I had this the other night--soo good!)

Tip #3: Still hungry? Try drinking water. Sometimes thirst is masked by hunger.

So think about protein at every meal and you will have more energy and an easier time losing weight!

I just got these shoes. My feet pronate so this helps me not have knee and lower back pain:

Women's Brooks Ravenna 3 Running Shoe - Tourmaline/Tropic 7.5 (Google Affiliate d)