My Number One Protein Rule

This simple rule benefits anyone with a daily protein goal.

In this article:

1. My simple rule for streamlining your protein intake.

2. Benefits of this rule and how it improves your quality of life.

Why Won’t They Just Die?!

There are plenty of debunked nutrition myths and rules floating around out there; anyone in the fitness industry knows this. We see them repeated over and over and are perplexed at how they simply won’t die. It’s crazy! Here’s a handful off the top of my head:

• Carbs are bad for you.

• Fats are bad for you.

• Eating after 6pm is bad for you.

• If eating certain foods, you can eat as much as you want and not gain weight.

• ‘Starvation mode’ stops you from losing weight.

As I said, this is just a handful of the classics. There are many more and they all have something in common…they’re bullshit. Not only are they bullshit, they’ve been proven wrong by science, repeatedly.

Regardless, I’m convinced we’ll see these rules and myths touted as truths until the end of time, as some people just can’t be reached and some people don’t want to be reached.

Honestly, this article isn’t for people with closed minds. It’s for people, like you, who are open to learning new things and practicing those things in your life.

I’m writing this article to tell you about my simple number one protein rule, which has helped me so much through every type of nutrition phase (muscle gain, fat loss, maintenance) over the past 25 years.

I can’t to wait to break this down for you. Here goes!

The Rule

Protein is a hugely important part of life. Huge portions of our bodies are composed of it, it’s required for countless necessary bodily functions, and it provides us with energy. Without it, we don’t exist.

Protein is especially important for active individuals who want to perform optimally and gain/maintain muscle levels. We need adequate protein intake every day to perform, feel, and look our best as we work towards our athletic, bodybuilding, and strength goals.

At the same time, one of the biggest problems I hear from people is that they struggle with meeting higher protein intakes associated with performance nutrition.

By ensuring they’re constantly consuming complete protein with each meal, my protein rule helps them solve this problem.

The Value of Primary Protein Sources

Let’s go over a common scenario that illustrates the value of the ‘primarily’ stipulation of this rule. Say Derrick has a protein need of 200g per day. His daily schedule allows him to eat four meals per day, and he wants to keep things simple, so he spreads his intake out evenly and always plans to consume 50g of protein per meal.

Derrick makes the smart decision to include a complete protein source with each of his meals. His main choices include:

• Chicken Breast

• Turkey Breast

• Lean Beef

• White Fish

• Whey

• Low Fat Cottage Cheese

• Low Fat Greek Yogurt.

He’s made great choices because all of them contain complete protein and protein is the primary macronutrient they provide.

His choices of chicken breast, turkey breast, lean beef, white fish, and whey give him protein, along with trace amounts of carbs and/or fats. His choices of low fat cottage cheese and Greek yogurt also provide him with plenty of quality protein, but contain notable amounts of fats and/or carbs along for the ride.

Even so, the primary nutrient being supplied by each of his choices is protein, which is important. He’s following the rule: A food, primarily providing complete protein, must be part of every meal.

For Derrick, this allows him to reach his protein intake goal of 200g per day, all while not having to consume large amounts of protein-light foods to beef up that protein intake (pun intended).

Is it possible for him to reach 200g per day on foods with smaller amounts of protein per serving, where protein is not the primary nutrient being supplied? Technically, yes it is. Is it practical? No, no it’s not. Does it allow for easy calorie management? No, no it doesn’t.

Let’s look at why some commonly recommended protein sources aren’t practical and how their extra calories add up quickly. There are plenty of foods that provide protein (complete and incomplete), but bring significant amounts of fat and/or carbs along with that protein. Those fats and carbs come with substantial calorie counts, which aren’t found, or are found in significantly lesser degrees, in foods primarily delivering protein. Here are several examples of the protein sources I’m talking about:

• Fatty Meats (dark meat poultry, non-lean beef cuts, oily fish, non-lean pork cuts)

• Cheese and Milk

• Whole Eggs

• Nuts and Nut Butters

• Lentils

• Beans

• Quinoa

• Oats

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing bad about the foods on the above list, and I recommend considering all of them as food options in your diet. However, be very aware that if you’re consuming them as your primary sources of protein each day, you’ll need to eat large amounts of them and problems will arise, especially if your goal is fat loss.

That need for big portions is going to jack up your total calorie intake, substantially. You’re creating a problem for yourself by choosing inefficient, or I suppose I could say, diluted, protein sources.

I want to take you through two examples to illustrate my point:

Example 1: The Peanut Butter Fat Bomb

This is probably the most common inefficient protein source of all. Not only does it come with plenty of fat and carb calories, it’s also somehow gained the reputation of being a ‘great protein source.’ Yes, it provides protein, but so does broccoli, and nobody sees broccoli the same way.

Let’s say Derrick chooses peanut butter as his protein source for breakfast. As we know, he’s aiming for 50g per meal. Just because it’s a popular choice, I’m going to use JIF creamy peanut butter. See the nutrition label below:

It’s time for the breakdown! Derrick needs 50g of protein and each serving of PB gives him 7g. This means he needs just over seven servings to reach 50g.

50g of protein provides him with 200 calories, but due to the fat and carb calories tagging along, just over seven servings of this PB gives him a whopping grand total of 1357 calories, not to mention a giant 114g of fat! That’s literally a quarter pound of fat.

Unless he’s aiming for massive calories per day and wants to feel like he’s taken a bite out of a stick of butter, peanut butter for his protein source is just not the move. Yes, it provides protein. No, it’s not practical and it comes with a shitload of added calories.

Example 2: Quinoa Got Carbs on Carbs on Carbs!!

Quinoa can’t go unmentioned here. You’ve heard someone say they get their protein from quinoa, I know it. And for a plant, quinoa can flex on it’s peers because it does supply complete protein. However, let’s see what else it supplies Derrick with. This is gonna be fun. The nutrition information for Bob’s Red Mill Organic Quinoa is below:

OK, Derrick wants to change up his lunch, so he picks quinoa as his protein source because his boss told him it’s a complete protein.

It’s time for the breakdown! He still needs 50g of protein, but quinoa only provides 6g per serving, along with 32g of carbs. A total of 170 calories come with every serving.

To reach 50g of protein, Derrick needs to dish up 8.3 servings of quinoa. His quinoa calorie total comes to a monstrous 1416! The macros divvy out to 50g protein, 266g carbs, and 12.5g fat.

Can we also just take a second and address the elephant in the room? He’s also getting hit with 41g of fiber in one shot! Let us pause for a moment of silence for his gassy bloated stomach, the people around him, and the toilet he’s eventually going to run to. Oh Mylanta…

I’ll say it again; yes, quinoa provides protein. No, it’s not practical and it comes with a shitload of added calories.

Are you starting to see why the ‘primarily’ portion of my rule is important and makes protein intake much more practical and efficient? Whether you’re working at achieving a calorie deficit or surplus by the end of your day, not having to worry about consuming several servings of inefficient protein sources is a relief for your mind and your body.

Nutritional success is directly related to the simplicity of an approach, as well as the ability of that approach to keep it’s user satiated and healthy.

Holding yourself to my protein rule provides you with all three (simplicity, satiation, health) of those tenants for success.

What is your favorite protein source?

The Value of Snack Reduction

Moving right along into another benefit, my protein rule will virtually eliminate random snacking. And if it doesn’t eliminate snacking altogether, it will force you to snack on high-protein foods versus manmade carb/fat concoctions like chips, crackers, and candy.

Imagine you’re sitting around the house and you’re between meals. You’re bored, there’s junk food in your cabinet, and you suddenly have a craving for it. Without my protein rule, nothing is stopping you from grabbing that bag of Doritos, sitting down with it, and crunching chip after chip.

The resistance between you and that bag of chips was the walk across the room to get it; that’s it.

Now consider what happens when you need to implement a primary protein source every time you eat. The resistance goes from walking across the room and grabbing the chips to deciding what protein you’re going to eat, preparing it, and plating it. In other words, there’s work involved and more time to re-consider your decision to snack on those chips. And do you know what passes with time? The answer is cravings; cravings pass with time.

While my protein rule isn’t a physical wall between you and those snacks, it is a mental barrier. Knowing that you need to include a protein every time you eat definitely results in a positive change to your snacking habits.

The Value of Healthy Habit Formation

The two previous sections outlined some very beneficial values you’ll see from following my protein rule, but there’s one more I’d like to talk about. My protein rule continually promotes the practice of, and keeps a healthy eating habit in your life.

Protein is one of three macronutrients. It’s also the one that people struggle to consume in adequate amounts and this hurts them in multiple ways.

Remember, a substantial portion of our physical makeup consists of protein. Also, protein is essential for muscle production and retention.

• If you want your body to have the materials it needs to do the things it’s supposed to be able to do, you need adequate complete protein.

• If you want to maximize the muscle-building and strength-gaining effects of your training sessions, you need adequate complete protein intake.

There is no debate about it, adequate complete protein intake has monumental benefits.

By following my protein rule, you’re going to form a habit of consuming complete protein sources throughout every day and that habit is going to result in you being able to meet your daily protein goal with ease.

Your body will have the resources it needs to thrive and the benefits of meeting your protein goal will naturally come your way and your quality of life will improve.

Improved Nutrition, Improved Life

The nutritional choices we make affect us so much; more than most people know. I truly believe that people who don’t take the time to educate themselves on nutritional basics are missing out on living their best life. It’s one of those things where they’re simply not aware of how much better they could feel.

If there was a button I could click to have them experience how great it feels to be smart with nutrition and be in control of their body, I’d click it for them. I’d let them feel it for awhile in hopes that when they snapped back to reality, it would motivate them to do what it takes to get that feeling back on their own.

My goal in writing this article is to move you, or someone else, closer to a better quality of life through increased nutritional knowledge.

I want you to be in control of your body. I want you to have structure to your diet. I want you to know the feeling of finishing up a day of quality meals and nutrition. It feels awesome. It feels like you’ve improved yourself. It’s rewarding.

Follow my protein rule and move yourself a step closer to feeling your best. It works, I promise.