How important is protein for weight loss

MayMay

Been trying to lose weight for a while now...doing lots of excercise and eating small meals 6 times a day but not too impressed with the results...just wondering is the fact that I eat very little protein anything to do with that? I'm a vegetarian and I know that's no excuse not to have protein but the why thread there just reminded me of that....how often should I take it and how much? I eat maybe an egg a day and get some protein from Quorn etc but not much. Thanks for any information in advance.

tribulus

Protein with every meal. The amounts is always a source of debate but 1g/lb of bodyweight usually does the job.

MayMay

tribulus wrote:

Protein with every meal. The amounts is always a source of debate but 1g/lb of bodyweight usually does the job.

Thanks Tribulus, appreciate that...so it is very important then I take it?

Gavin "shels"

If you d any sort of weight lifting, jogging, etc.. its important.

You said your a vegetarian and hard to eat aload of protein, eat peanuts. Over 25% of a peanut is made up of protein:cool:

ali.c

Gavin shels wrote:

If you d any sort of weight lifting, jogging, etc.. its important.

You said your a vegetarian and hard to eat aload of protein, eat peanuts. Over 25% of a peanut is made up of protein:cool:

I think its still important even if you are not training, but anyhow as Gavin "shels" was saying peanuts are good (the unsalted unroasted kind) as are other types of nuts (natural of course). Seeds are also great too.

IMO a diet that is high in protein and high in good fats is the quickest way to lose weight.

cowzerp

its very important as your body has to have it-veggies who lose weight always lose lean mass-then are left with higher body fat%, cut down on starchy foods and replace with protein foods-chicken fish or eggs or cheese if you will eat these foods..

g'em

There's a couple of really important reasons why protein is vital for weight loss:

- it helps reduce your appetite. We're not entirely sure why, but protein is very satiating and helps keep you fuller, longer. A lot of that is probably due to protien being more difficult that carbs to break down so it stays in your tummy longer. People with high protein diets have been shown to eat less overall.

- your body needs to work harder to break down protein so it actually helps raise your metabolism slightly.

If you're a veggie admittedly it can be a little more awkward to get protein in your diet, but plenty of eggs (they *don't* raise your cholesterol so eat to your hearts' content, or even just use one whole to two whites), cheese, milk, nuts, beans and seeds will get your protein up. Try really hard to get one of those protein sources in at every meal.

MayMay

Thanks very much for your help everyone.

cavanmaniac

ali.c wrote:

IMO a diet that is high in protein and high in good fats is the quickest way to lose weight.

I pour Olive Oil over absolutely everything possible, eat a good handful of mixed nuts every day etc., but when you say high in good fats, do you mean a portion of good fats with every meal in the same way you should be getting a portion of protein in every meal? Should good fats be a part of every meal or would that be too much to the point where the 'fat' part is overpowering the 'good' part?

tribulus

When I'm being strict with my diet, I'll normally taper my carbs from the afternoon onwards. With fat I keep it in my evening meal e.g chicken with sesame oil, and veg. And my last meal will be protein entirely. I think once you're getting in adequate amounts of it in total I don't think it matters if it's not in every meal.