Getting lean with protein

Getting lean is not that easy for most of us, we all know that. There are, however, some easy measures that will help you on your way to getting lean. Such as drinking protein shakes. No, protein shakes aren’t only for bodybuilders or guys aspiring to resemble them, if you were thinking that (I was). After looking into it, I discovered that protein is actually very helpful if you’re trying to get fit, lose weight or be sexy as hell.

Protein handles all sorts of processes in your body - for example, it repares your muscles after a work out. And it is everywhere: in bread, nuts, meat, fish, dairy, and so on. However, the amount of protein in food is really small. Allow me to me illustrate: an egg contains 10 gram of protein and 100 gram of meat contains a mere 20-30 gram. If you are working out and on your way to getting lean, it’s recommended to take in about 1,5 gram protein per kilo bodyweight per day. That means that if you weigh 70 kilos, you would need 105 gram protein per day. It is quite the time consuming task to take this in solely through food, and you probably don’t have the time to stand in the kitchen all day. So you see, it can be pretty hard to ‘eat’ that 105 gram of protein!

A good complement is protein shakes. They come in many flavors: vanilla, banana, strawberry, even cookies & cream and red berries – and this is not even the entire assortment. There are plenty of flavors to choose from so you won’t get bored. You’d do good to drink them after your work out so it instantly starts repairing your muscles (and thereby strengthening them), but you can also drink them right before you go to sleep, or in the morning, like me. I drink a small banana protein shake (50g) at breakfast and I’m loving it! Together with a bowl of oatmeal, I’m starting the day super healthy and energized.

Attacking the fat

Besides, drinking a protein shake before or after your work out ensures that your muscles are being protected. Your body usually breaks down your muscles during your work out, instead of attacking the fat. Protein will protect your muscles from this and will cause your body to start burning fat instead. Sounds pretty good, right?

What do you think about protein shakes? Are there other benefits that you know of?