High Protein Diet to Gain or Lose Weight.
I’ve been on a bit of a mission since shoulder surgery last year after losing a few kilos of body weight and muscle mass. It’s been a slow but steady recovery although I have probably recovered more quickly than my surgeon expected and I would say that I am 100% back to were I was before surgery. Although my actual shoulder is only at around 90%. Im not sure my shoulder will ever be back to 100%, nor can i expect it too after watching the video of the operation. (I may post that online soon) :)
One of of my goals this year was to gain around 6 kilograms (approx 13lbs) over a 3 month period. This has involved some pretty uncomfortable days of eating for me as Im not a massive consumer. Ive gained approximately 5 kilograms since I set this target, then thought about trying to gain another 3kg so I would be an even 190lbs or 86kg. Needless to say I ran out of steam. Eating 3200 calories per day just became too much.
I had been of the mind set that now that I was in my 50’s that I couldn’t gain a lot of lean muscle mass, but I have to say that I was wrong. Basically, it came down to one thing. Protein. I was not consuming enough. When I started to track my macros I soon realised that I was not consuming anywhere near enough protein. The RDA (recommend daily allowance) would appear to be on the low side if you want to stay healthy and maintain lean muscle as you age. I doubled the RDA to a minimum of 160grams per day or 2grams per kg of bodyweight. Some days I was getting over 200grams.
The noticeable difference was that although I gained some body fat when I was purely calorie loading to hit my weight targets each week. The moment I increased my protein and decreased my calories, I lost body fat but maintained lean muscle.
One of the big benefits of eating high protein is that you tend to stay fuller for longer. So if you are trying to lose or gain weight I would recommend increasing your protein intake. One of the easiest ways to do this is by adding a high quality protein shake to your daily meals and tracking your macro’s.
Use a macro/calorie counter for a month to get an idea of the number of calories and macro’s you are consuming. Once you have done this for a month you will have a good idea on your numbers. My Fitness Pal or I use the Carbon app. These simple apps take a little time to set up but then are very easy to load your daily food intake into.
Here is a sample high-protein diet plan that provides approximately 3,000 calories per day:
Breakfast (450 calories, 45 grams protein):
3 egg omelette with vegetables (3 eggs = 18 grams protein)
1 slice of whole grain toast with almond butter (6 grams protein)
1 cup of berries
1 cup of unsweetened almond milk (1 gram protein)
Snack (200 calories, 20 grams protein):
1 protein smoothie made with 1 scoop of protein powder (20 grams protein), 1 banana, and 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk
Lunch (550 calories, 55 grams protein):
Grilled chicken breast (45 grams protein)
1 cup of quinoa (8 grams protein)
1 cup of roasted vegetables
Snack (150 calories, 15 grams protein):
1 cup of Greek yogurt (15 grams protein)
1 small apple
Dinner (700 calories, 70 grams protein):
6 oz salmon (42 grams protein)
1 cup of roasted asparagus
1 cup of brown rice (5 grams protein)
Dessert (100 calories, 10 grams protein):
2 scoops of natural low fat yoghurt with berries
Total: 3,000 calories, 210 grams protein