Dr. Atkins left his mark on the world by making protein one of the most debated diet topics of our time. Thanks, doc, no we’re really confused. What is protein? And how much protein do we need?

Lauren, a personal trainer, tackles these questions and more in her post Protein: Why? How Much? When? Though aimed at strength trainers, her post easily applies to the rest of us normally-muscled folk (especially those of us who’d like to put a bit more Arnold in our biceps). She explains in simple terms what protein is and why we need it, and also has a good tip to help you figure out what’s best for you

Check what level of protein you are eating now. Just for one day, write down everything you eat, and then figure out how many grams of protein it was…

If you are strength training regularly and are aiming to build muscle and lose fat, build mass, lose fat and maintain muscle, or you are participating in heavy exercise and your protein intake is currently low, try to get between 1.5-2grams/ kg to start with. Up that intake to around 2.2 grams/kg. If you aren’t strength training…start. There are too many benefits for you to avoid this kind of exercise.

Another way to look at it to start, is to consume at least 30% of your daily calorie needs from protein. I prefer to look at grams/kg however this will also give you a decent number to aim for, and simply another way to look at it.

If you don’t want to count the amount of protein you eat, make a conscious effort to get some quality protein at every meal,

By the way, you don’t need supplements to get enough protein. And if she seems hell-bent on strength training, there’s lots of good reasons for this, but I’ll save that for another post!

Link to Protein: Why? How Much? When?