High Protein Diet For Weight Loss

If you want to lose weight, you must intake more protein - this is something that a lot of gym trainers, fitness freaks, and workout enthusiasts will tell you.

We need to understand exactly why that is the case and go one step further to see which high protein low calorie foods are good, and how to put together low calorie high protein meals consistently so that preparing healthy meals is not a headache for you ever again.

Why Protein Is So Important for Weight Loss

When it comes to weight loss, Protein helps on 3 fronts:

1. Keeps you full for long
2. Burns more calories while digesting
3. Preserve muscle mass

You know you need to eat less if you want to lose weight. But more important is losing fat and not muscle. This can only be achieved by eating more protein.

Losing muscle also lowers your metabolism, which again acts as a hindrance in losing weight.

Eating a good amount of protein prevents all of this from happening.

The Best High Protein Low Calorie Foods

Weight loss demands that you choose foods with high protein and low calories. We have listed some of the high-protein food items below:

Eggs

100 grams of eggs give about 8 grams of protein, making it a high-protein content food item.

Eggs can be eaten for breakfast, and you can have them in the form of boiled eggs or scrambled eggs or even an omelette if you don't want any added calories from complementary food items like bread.

Chicken Breast

Chicken breast gives you the most amount of protein you can get in a meal. A serving will give you 31 grams of protein for just about 170 calories.

The cooking method matters, though. Frying it in oil adds unnecessary calories that quietly undermine the point. Also, be sure to keep a check on the amount of rice or bread you are having with it.

Greek Yoghurt

Plain Greek yoghurt certainly comes under foods that are low in calories and high in protein. 100 grams of Greek yoghurt will give you roughly 9 to 10 grams of protein and will only be around 60 calories.

Greek Yoghurt can be eaten simply as a snack, or you can make it a part of your daily breakfast; the choice is up to you. Go for the plain variety. The flavoured versions tend to carry a surprising amount of added sugar.

Lentils and Legumes

If you are looking for a plant based high protein - low calorie meal, then look no further. Lentils will roughly give you a gram of protein for every 15 calories. On top of that, it keeps your blood sugar in check and keeps you from snacking as well.

Cottage Cheese

Another non-meat-based option is Cottage cheese. It has a better protein-to-calorie ratio than lentils, with one gram of protein for every 8 to 10 calories.

Cottage cheese is normally cooked as a separate dish rather than being eaten raw. And if you're a fan of Indian food, you won't be disappointed with the number of delicious recipes you can get that include cottage cheese.

Fish

Tuna, cod, salmon… the list can go on. Under the fish category, you will never run out of meals high in protein and low in calories.

Some of the top fish options are:
1. Tuna - 1 gram of protein for 4 calories.
2. Salmon - lower protein to calorie ratio, but has the all-important omega-3 fats.
3. Cod - high in protein and amino acids

If you eat fish two to three times a week, you will have to worry about protein consumption a lot less.

How to Build Low Calorie High Protein Meals

The above list gives you a list of different food items that you have on offer if you are looking to eat high-protein food. But combining them into low calorie high protein meals is important and that is what we are going to talk about here.

In general, you should plan every single meal in the following manner:
Step 1: Choose your protein first
Step 2: Serve a good amount of vegetables along with it
Step 3: Only use complex carbohydrates like brown rice or quinoa

Also, what is helpful is prepping your meal a week in advance so that you don't end up moving away from your plan of eating healthy mid-week.

The Problem Most People Run Into

The hardest part of a high protein diet is not knowing what to eat. It is staying consistent.

Around 94% of people who enrolled in SheMed's Weight Loss Programme had previously tried lifestyle changes to lose weight. Most of them knew roughly what they should be eating. The knowledge was there. What was missing was a structure that helped them actually follow through on it.

Once patients start the programme, the behavioural changes show up quickly. Before starting, close to 45% described eating large portions regularly. At their first refill, that figure had dropped to under 5%. Eating unhealthy snacks multiple times a day also fell by a third to 10% in the same time.

How Much Protein Do You Actually Need?

What your body needs is around 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. So, for example, if you weigh 75kg, you will need between 90 and 120 grams daily.

Keep in mind, you can't have all of your day's protein needs in one meal. You need to spread it out across your meals and snacks for the day. Decide which foods with high protein and low calories you would like to eat and make a diet plan on the basis of that.

High Protein Diet means Guaranteed Weight Loss?

Guarantee? No. No one thing can ever guarantee weight loss. You have to do a lot of things together in tandem to lose weight properly. Exercise 3-4 times a week, Sleep 7-8 hours a day etc. all of these things also play a part.

For some people, managing all of these things can be tough. This is where weight loss programmes come into the picture. Ex. SheMed's programme assists you in being on track and not just adopting healthy habits, but also being persistent with them. More than 60k people have tried it, and you can too if you are unable to keep yourself on track.

Eating more protein is extremely important, and any weight loss plan is incomplete without it. However, it is also not the only thing you need to do if you are serious about losing weight.

‍