Protein: The #1 Tool for Getting Lean and Muscular, Plus a Comprehensive List of the Best Sources of Protein (for Vegetarians Too)

I'm a HUGE proponent of getting a lot of protein in the diet, and it's not all about building huge, beefy muscles (although it helps a lot if that's what you're going for). Put plain and simply, protein is the "leanness" nutrient. It helps pack on toned-up, rock hard new muscle, preserves the muscle that the body (and you) busted its ass to build up, and elevates the body's metabolism, burning extra calories than normal and shredding off nasty body fat/cellulite. 

I'll be blunt--becoming lean, toned, and ripped up (I'd call it sexy) requires two simple steps: 1. building muscle tone & 2. shredding body fat. Eating protein constantly throughout the day does both simultaneously. Here's how:

• Building muscle tone. In the world of sports nutrition there's a critical concept called nitrogen balance (NB). Whenever you eat protein throughout the day it increases the amount of nitrogen in the body. Building new muscle, maintaining muscle, and losing muscle is, for the most part, determined by the amount of nitrogen present in the body. NB is a running tally that directly compares the amount of nitrogen that's taken in through the protein you eat to the amount of nitrogen that's excreted through urine/feces. 
• When that balance is positive the body is able to pack on new muscle, when it's negative the body starts breaking down muscle and using it as fuel. Eating a steady stream of protein throughout the day, at every meal, ensures that you'll always be in the positive. All the cool kids have a positive NB...just saying.

• Shredding body fat. Protein is able to put the body's metabolism into hyperdrive because it's thermogenic. Most people have heard, at some point or another, that eating celery actually has "negative calories" because the body burns off more calories digesting the celery than it does eating it (it's true by the way, if you were curious). That's thermogenics. It's basically a term used to describe the amount of calories that the body burns by biting, chewing, digesting, swallowing, metabolizing, and storing food. It also raises the body's metabolism and core temperature. 
• Protein is extremely thermogenic (along with ice cold water, green tea, coffee, and hot sauce/spicy food) and has been shown to burn up to 30% of its cals through thermogenesis alone. You know I'm insane when one of my hobbies is maximizing thermogenesis... 

Now that you know why protein can get you ripped up, you gotta pump that protein into your diet. The chart below lists the amount of protein in a ton of high-protein foods on a 100 calorie basis--that way you can compare foods directly, calorie-by-calorie. Vegetarian sources of protein are highlighted in green, fish is highlighted in blue.

And yeah...that says beluga whale. Whaddup...start whaling. 

Source: http://fatsecret.com/, http://disantosfitlife.com/

Protein...EpicMealTime Style

Protein, protein, and some more protein. 2,530 grams worth...this might just be the most epic post-workout meal ever created.

Build Muscle and Blast Fat with Protein Powder

Ph721 asked, "What are your thoughts on protein powder?"


Protein powder's pretty much a must-use if you're at all concerned with building muscle or maintaining the muscle you already have. Honestly, I even recommend drinking protein shakes if building muscle isn't your concern. Assuming you choose a protein powder that's low in artificial additives, fat, carbs, and sugar (I love Optimum Nutrition's Chocolate Whey Protein), a protein shake makes a phenomenal low-cal snack. Not only are shakes low-cal, but the high protein content reduces hunger levels and creates a powerful thermogenic effect--protein burns about 30% of its calories simply through digestion!

Drinking a protein shake right before bed is also a great way to elevate your metabolism and prevent muscle catabolism (muscle breakdown) while you're sleeping. Woo...more calories burned! Oh by the way...shakes with milk taste pretty freaking delicious and you can customize them in realistically any way you want, try adding a banana, fresh fruit, or some natural peanut butter...mmmm heavenly and healthy.

For everyone else whose primary concern is building new slabs of muscle, protein powder offers a ton of awesome benefits:

• Convenience. Throw one scoop in a shaker bottle, mix it with water and you've got all the protein you need to refuel post-workout.
• Affordable. Most standard protein powders offer about 72 scoops @ 24g of protein per scoop for about $40, canned tuna and eggs are the next cheapest forms of protein, while chicken and beef are the most expensive. That's about 2 cents per gram...
• Complete. Protein powder offers the full spectrum of amino acids, which is critical for muscle growth, muscle recovery, and a variety of other important bodily functions. Other sources of protein, typically veggies, are incomplete protein sources and contain only a few of the amino acids.
• High-quality. I think the coolest thing about whey protein powder is that it's higher in quality than any other protein source. Compared to every other protein source, whey protein is the best absorbed and utilized by your body...perfect for building new tissue, bone, and muscle. If you're curious about numbers and ratings (the biological value) of specific types of proteins check out http://www.bodybuildingpro.com/proteinrating.html.
• There are different types for different purposes. The two major types of protein powders you'll see marketed are whey and casein, or some blend of the two. Put simply: whey is fast digesting/absorbing, casein is slow digesting/absorbing. Whey is the way to go right after a crazy intense workout as a way of shuttling protein to your hungry muscles as fast as possible. Casein is ideal as a snack or before bed--casein clumps up in your stomach and provides a slow release of amino acids over a couple of hours. That slow release of amino acids is ridiculously powerful at suppressing appetite and keeping your muscles nourished for a few hours. 

With all of that said there are two really important things to remember about protein:

1. Protein powder is still a supplement, it's not a substitute for real food. Try to make at least half of the protein you eat every day come from whole food sources. 
2. You only need 1 scoop at a time. Your body can only biosynthesize about 30g of protein at any one time...there's no need to drink a shake with 2 or 3 scoops. Using any more than one scoop is overkill and the excess protein will just be converted into fat 

I personally use and love Optimum Nutrition's Whey Protein. It's high-quality, low on carbs/fat/sugar, inexpensive, has no artificial flavors, and has very few additives...it's pretty much as natural as you're gonna get when it comes to protein powder. It tastes really good too. Cytosport's 100% Whey is also another great option. Happy protein-ing and packing on muscle soooooooooo much more easily than you ever knew you could!

Protein Shake Recipe: The Peanut Butter Power Protein Shake

One of my favorite things about homemade protein shakes is that you can customize them in pretty much any way you want. Chocolate/vanilla whey protein powder can serve as a base for thousands of different smoothie combinations, all with a nice shot of muscle-building protein and amino acids. Oh yeaaaaaaaah.


I recently came up with one of the most ridiculously phenomenal shakes I've ever made. It's freaking delicious and healthy as hell (what's better than delicious and healthy??). It's loaded with high quality protein, fiber and complex carbs, antioxidants, potassium, vitamin B6 + C, and heart-healthy mono/polyunsaturated fats. Bam, look at all that health! That's a pretty complete shake. If you love peanut butter and chocolate, you're definitely gonna go nuts for this shake. It tastes better than a liquified Reese's cup, only 1000x healthier. 


It takes all of...I don't know...two minutes to make and all you need are a few simple ingredients that you probably have lying around the house:

• 1 scoop Chocolate Whey -- I use Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey or Cytosport 100% Whey, both have nice amino acid profiles and are low in fat. In my opinion they're the highest quality, best tasting wheys I've tried. Plus they're really good values. I got a 6lb bag of Cytosport whey at Costco for $23!! I haven't been able to find that price anywhere else though. Optimum usually runs about $38-$43 for a 5lb tub. Well worth the price.
• 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter -- I use Naturally More PB. It's the best tasting peanut butter I've ever tried and it has really high omega-3 content from flaxseeds (4.1g!). It also packs 10g's of protein per serving, it's lower in calories than other PB brands (~170 cals per 2 tbsp. as opposed to ~200 cals per 2tbsp), and it has a nice dosage of fiber.
• 1/2 banana
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup quaker oats
• 2 ice cubes

Nutrition Facts
Calories: 510
Total Fat: 11g (healthy fat)
Omega-3: 4.1g
Omega-6: 1.2g 
Carbs: 38g
Fiber: 8g
Net Carbs: 30g
Protein: 48g

Enjoy!

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