Welcome to Back to My 5 Day Crash Course for Women - Fitness in Midlife and Beyond!
How did your SIT go yesterday? I hope it felt great!
Today, we’re tackling another common question, “I’m so confused. Should I be eating more protein? How much protein should I be having at this time in my life?”
A common reaction when people start gaining weight in midlife is to pull back on calories. But, what often surprises people is that they are actually NOT eating enough protein and carbohydrates to maintain their lean mass and energy. There is compelling research that consuming more dietary protein can help us to not only maintain our muscle mass but also maintain our weight and avoid the weight gain that people often experience in midlife and beyond.
Strong muscles are essential not only for our physical activity but also help to reduce our risk of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. They also help to maintain our bone mass. Basically, they help us live longer and live better!
Remember how we discussed yesterday how our lean body mass starts to decrease as our estrogen decreases? In terms of muscle mass, estrogen acts on a woman like testosterone acts on a man. Estrogen stimulates the muscle cell to grow and develop and is also involved in the strength of a muscle contraction. When estrogen begins to decrease, our lean muscle mass begins to decrease. This is one of the reasons that it is so important to keep resistance training and challenging our muscles as we get older. More on strength training tomorrow.
In addition to strength training to build muscle mass, we also need to consume the building blocks for muscle synthesis and repair. These building blocks come in the form of amino acid packed proteins. And, since estrogen isn’t doing all that it used to, we also need to increase our dietary protein when we’re in perimenopause and approaching menopause.
In fact, research suggests that the body actually craves more protein during perimenopause and menopause due to this hormonally induced muscle loss. If the protein needs aren’t met, our bodies will then go looking for other sources of energy in other foods and this can cause us to overconsume which can lead to weight gain. Yikes!
There is another added challenge as women and men get older which is called anabolic resistance. This is where our muscles actually become less sensitive to protein which means we need to consume more to get the same effect as our younger years.
So how much protein should we aim for to maintain and build lean mass?
The current recommendations are .8 - 1 g of protein per kg of body weight. But, the current research is suggesting this is too little for people in midlife and beyond.
As of right now, the research suggests consuming between 1 and 2 g of protein per kg of body weight.
For those approaching menopause, aim to be closer to 1.7 to 2 g of protein/kg. Athletes may want to consume even more.
If you’re wondering what your weight is in kg, 1 kg = 2.2 lbs. Simply divide your weight (lbs) by 2.2. To determine your protein range, multiply your weight in kg by the protein range.
If you don’t feel like doing math, 80 to 100 g/day is a good goal for most people in this age group.
Here are some tips to get the most out of your protein!
Aim to space your protein evenly throughout the day. This will help you build lean muscle mass.
Aim to have at least one meal with 30 to 40 g. This amount is necessary in at least one meal per day to stimulate muscle synthesis.
You may need to cut out a few other foods because of an increased protein intake. You can only eat so much after all. If you do, non-nutrient dense foods like ultra processed foods, sugary drinks and alcohol are always great places to start. You can also pay attention to the protein density of foods a.k.a. the biggest bang for your calorie buck. You can find more on that here.
If you have a hard strength training workout, aim to replenish your protein stores within 30 to 45 minutes with a meal containing 30 to 40 g of protein. This not only helps build muscle also reduces risk of injuries and muscle soreness.
If you’re wondering how you’re going to possibly consume this much, don’t worry! It adds up fast.
Here is an example of what 80 to 100 g of protein looks like in practice.
Meal: 5 oz salmon (28 g) + 1 cup Broccoli (4.4 g) + 1 cup quinoa (8 g) = 40.4 g of protein
Plant Based Meal: 1 cup quinoa (8 g) + 1/2 cup tofu (22 g) +1/2 cup edamame (6.5 g) = 36.5 g of protein
Meal/lunch: 1 cup of low fat Greek yogurt (20 g)
Meal: 2 Whole Grain Pieces of Bread (8 g bread) + 2 tbsp peanut butter (8 g) = 16 g
Here’s today’s challenge:
Determine how much protein you need to aim for each day. Or, simply go with the 80 to 100 g range.
Hit your protein needs for the day. Here is a chart of protein in foods for you to reference
Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions!
I’ll see you tomorrow for strength training!
Laurie