BSP Nutrition Tip # 3

By Brian St. Pierre

http://brianstpierretraining.com/

Eat protein with every meal and most snacks

• This will build more lean muscle mass and improve recovery from exercise
• Maintains lean muscle mass when trying to lose body fat
• Is the most satiating macronutrient, keeping you fuller for longer

Whether your goal is to improve health, body composition or performance (or ideally all three) getting adequate protein will help you to reach your goals faster. Adequate protein intake is especially important for athlete’s and people who exercise on a consistent basis, as these populations have higher protein needs.

Protein is necessary for not only building new muscle, but also for proper recovery, enzymes, and the strength of your immune system. Undereating protein will decrease the results of your efforts in the gym to improve your health, body composition and performance.

A simple rule of thumb for adequate protein is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. Now this doesn’t have to be exact, as long as you are within ± 10% on average, you should be just fine. It is ok if you undereat some protein one day, as you can make up for it the next. The real key is your average intake over time.

Let’s put this in perspective a little bit. Let’s take a 180lb man and a 150lb woman. The protein needs of these two people would be roughly 160-200 for the man, and 135-165 for the woman. As long as you average somewhere in that ballpark on a daily basis, you are helping to maximize your ability to build new muscle, or retain the muscle you already have.

Great Protein Sources

– whole omega-3 or pasture-raised eggs
– whole-fat organic yogurt and cheeses
– whole-fat or 2% Greek yogurt
– grass-fed or at least “naturally” raised beef/bison/game meats
– pasture-raised or at least “naturally” raised chicken/pork/turkey
– wild caught seafood: salmon, haddock, tuna, lobster, scallops, etc