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Did you know how important protein is to your body? I always associated eating more protein with people who are bodybuilders or the like. I’ve tried to eat healthy, but whenever I did, I would get hungry after a couple of hours. It always seemed confusing to look at labels to understand what I was looking at. Or even trying to calculate what I was eating.
Why do you need Protein
There are many benefits to eating more per day, more than just feeling fuller longer. It will help satisfy you longer, so you reduce the amount of snacking you do during the day.
It helps support your muscle mass, and for women, this is important as we age. There have been articles that show a higher intake will help our bone density as we age as well.
It allows our bodies to digest it slower which helps curb hunger but will also help balance blood sugar.
The nutrients, such as amino acids, help our body regulate itself with our hormones. Also, it helps produce skin, nails, hair, muscles, and tendons.
How to Calculate your Protein
The Harvard Medical School posted that the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) states that a sedentary person should be eating 0.36 grams per pound of protein per day. This means that a 50-year old woman weighing 140lbs, who is sedentary (doesn’t exercise), should be eating around 53g per day. This is calculated for keeping your body functioning to survive. This does not seem like a lot to me at all.
As we age, protein takes a bigger role in our lives. In this article by Dr. Stacy Sims, she goes into explaining why we need more as we age and the benefits as women get older. The better recommendation for women after the age of 30 is to calculate 0.7 g- 1.00 g per day. If you need help figuring out the number for you, then multiply your weight by 0.7. This will give a starting line for the amount of protein in grams per day. Example: 170lbs x 0.7 = 119g per day.
As long as your kidneys can handle it, then the benefits of getting more protein per day has many benefits.
How I get 130g of protein per day
I calculated my protein intake by 0.8, and it equaled 126. I rounded up to 130 g per day for myself. It has curbed my snacking so much since focusing on my protein intake. Below, I will outline a typical meal plan for my day and what I make to get 130 g of protein.
Breakfast: 44 g of Protein
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1/4 cup egg whites- scrambled, 1 small slice sourdough bread, 3/4 cup Plain Nonfat Greek Yogurt topped with blueberries and 1 strawberry with a drizzle of honey.
Lunch: 42 g or Protein
Lunch: Strawberry Farro Salad- 1 cup spinach, 3 oz chicken breast, chopped & air fried, 3/4 cup farro, sliced almonds, 2 chopped strawberries with an olive oil balsamic dressing
Dinner: 44 g of Protein
Dinner: 2 oz grilled chicken breast, chopped, 1 serving protein pasta, 3/4 cup vodka sauce blended with 1/4 cup cottage cheese.
Total: 130 g of Protein
Once you find your number of protein grams per day, do not get worried if you go over. Or don’t meet them. You are focusing on your health, and listening to your body is the best way for you to be healthy. You won’t meet the number every day. It’s a little hard to get the exact amount each day. I will either go over by a few grams or won’t meet it by some either. And that’s ok! Listen to your body, it’s there supporting you, and if you can’t eat any more protein that day, it’s ok. There are also a wide variety of snacks that can help you with your protein, like protein shakes, protein bars, yogurt, peanut butter, nuts, jerky, and cheese.
In conclusion, while eating healthy is a great place to start, understanding the benefits of your protein intake will help you achieve better health goals as you age. Don’t only focus on not snacking, but try to incorporate some resistance exercises to keep your muscles and bones strong as well.
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