Protein: How much is enough?

Woman using protein powder

I recently discovered some huge benefits of protein and I’ve been spreading the word with my patients.  Many of them are hitting the gym, using weights, and are not either seeing the physical changes that they’d like or are constantly sore and not recovering from their workouts.  Obviously, there are many reasons for these problems, but one very important reason is amount of protein. 

As a vegetarian, I have never had enough protein in my diet and recently decided to turn up the volume to see what happens.  I was surprised to note that I feel fuller for longer (I always turned to fat in my diet for feeling “satiated”).  And I was shocked to see how my physique changed.  All of a sudden, I started to look like a person who lifted weights.  Let’s be honest, I’m by no means “ripped”.  I’m not nearly disciplined in my diet to do that.  But the tone that I always longed for was finally showing.  And the only change was the amount of protein. 

I was finally “recovering” from my workouts.  I had started lifting heavier and noticed that my body was sore ALL of the time.  Literally, within a few days of upping my protein, that soreness was gone. 

And a last interesting note, my hair is growing/growing faster!  There were even parts of my hair that had kind of stopped growing and those have re-started.  It makes sense when you think about it…hair is protein.  But until it happened to me, I never thought about that as the issue. 

I recently read this article about the importance of protein, in general, but especially in women as we age.  It talks about amounts of protein to aim for.  It’s a lot more than most of us think and more than most of us are getting.  And remember – these are basic numbers.  So if you’re trying to build a bit of muscle, you’ll need even more. 

Protein has been a game changer for me…hopefully you’ll find the same for you!!