ideal protein intake for people over 40

I don’t blame you if you’re really not sure on the ideal protein intake for people over 40 years old.

There’s so much nutrition info out there it can make your head spin.

Once you read a few articles, you then have to sort through the content to find what’s relevant for you – your age, size, goal weight, health history, and so on.

We’re gonna try and bring you some REAL, USEFUL, RELEVANT info today.

First, let’s assume a few things about you

You’re a regular person who works a full-time job,

has a family,

decent amount of stress,

and are carrying a few extra pounds and some aches and pains to go with it.

And you’d like to change that.

If you are someone who wants to shed some (fat) weight, or improve the definition and “tone” of your body, then read on.

Now, depending on how long you’ve followed our stuff at LIFT, you may or may not be aware that we are NOT all-or-nothing.

We don’t believe in living life with nutrition/diet extremes, and we feel most people don’t need to either.

Now, magic meal plans can work (short-term) miracles.

That chicken and broccoli, tilapia and kale, salmon and green beans, meal combos can be just fine and dandy if you like that stuff and want to drop 10 pounds real fast.

But we’ve learned that if you try to eat that way, and you don’t naturally like to eat that way, those pounds can come back with a vengeance.

So we believe in preaching to our members that you you want to be able to eat right for your health most of the time, so you can get strong, get trim, and have good bloodwork.

And also enjoy an occasional night out, or junk food day, like the rest of us.

Now, there are many pieces to the fat loss/muscle tone puzzle (overall calories, step count, sleep) that we can cover later.

protein intake for people over 40

Today, I told you I want to bring the PROTEIN talk, so that’s the 1 THING you need to focus on right now.

Let’s dive in.

If you can nail this part down, the rest (mentioned above) is much easier, and has compounding effects.

Because before we talk about this fruit vs that fruit, or whether you should eat after 7 PM, or if skipping breakfast is good for fat loss, I want you to start with managing your protein intake.

Your goal should be to take in your TARGET BODYWEIGHT in grams of protein per day.

If you weigh 170 lbs and you want to weigh 150 lbs, aim to eat 150 grams of protein each and every day.

I know what you’re thinking.

“Wow, that’s a TON of food…”

And you’re right. No one said it was easy.

I’d take a guess and say if you are struggling with getting to your ideal body shape and size, and if you calculated your daily protein intake, you’d probably fall somewhere between 50-70 grams per day.

That’s where many people (especially women!) fall.

So again, not easy to hit that number…

…but it is crucial.

Not only will this kick-start the muscle-building process, and allow you to burn a few extra calories at rest,

but it also has a satiety effect that means you will feel fuller, longer.

And that’s perfect if you’re trying to slim down.

Sources can be:
– Chicken BREAST
– Chicken THIGH
– GROUND chicken
– Ground BEEF
– STEAK
– Any FISH you want/like
– Greek YOGURT
– CHEESE
– Cottage cheese
– High quality protein BARS or WHEY POWDERS

I guarantee you, if you have one of these foods above at each meal, you will lose weight.

Generally, portion sizes of those foods above should weigh about 100-150 grams (of food weight), or roughly be the size of your palm.

That would be about ~30ish grams of protein per serving, and would be a tremendous start. Note: The elderly, those over 65, can get away with slightly less, according to this study on pubmed.

Don’t really care HOW you cook it either. Grilled, pan-fried, slow-cooked, whatevs.

Because I know, if I can get you to start eating protein at each and every meal, you WILL have SUCCESS.

Everybody likes to sweat the smallest of minute details that don’t move the needle as much as protein does.

This is especially important for people over 40, as our sedentary lifestyle, hormonal changes, and general lack of strength can contribute to muscle loss and increasing weakness.

Having this high amount of protein will allow you to preserve as much of that vital lean muscle as long as possible.

Get started with it today, this week, this weekend.

Organize a menu, go buy the food, and prep it how you like it.

Let’s start today.

-Brad @ LIFT