The Best High Protein and Low Carb Diet Plan for Beginners
As a beginner in the world of dieting, you need the information to make the right choices. But it can be hard to figure out what's worth your time and what isn't. On top of that, you need to determine how much protein vs. carbs and fat you should actually be eating per day in order to lose weight. This is where things can get difficult fast. Even professionals in the nutrition industry disagree on this topic almost as much as they disagree on what causes heart disease (i.e., too many carbs or not enough fat).
1. What are your personal goals with the diet?
What's your goal with the diet? Do you want to lose weight for a
special occasion? Is this just temporary or do you plan to keep it off? Think
about what you want to get out of this and how you're going to measure your
progress with the diet.
The first step is to figure out WHY you want to lose weight.
What are your eating habits like now and what makes you want to get fitter? As
important as it is to let go of the past (i.e., bad habits), it’s equally
important to get clear about why you want to lose or gain weight in the first
place.
No two diets are the same, and some of them will be more
sustainable than others. What you’ll also want to consider is what your goals
are. What do you want to achieve physically? Think about your goals in relation
to your age and general health. Do you want to be stronger and faster? Or do
you want to maintain your current strength and improve your endurance? What
effects do unhealthy habits have on your body fat percentage? We’ll get to some
real answers in a moment.
The second step is to figure out how much you’ll need in order
to achieve your goals. This will depend on your age and physical condition.
Projections can be a great way to start off because you’ll hopefully have
access to unlimited amounts of information. The biggest mistake most people
(even dieters) make is increases in calorie intake over time. Increased
calories don’t necessarily equate to improved health, especially when it comes
to hormones and recovery. If you want to make the necessary changes, consistent
measurements will help you see how much progress you’ve made.
Are you planning on tracking calories and nutrition in addition
to how many you’re eating? Measuring nutrition will help you understand your
true adherence to your diet. Also, it will allow you to know how many cheat
days (i.e., not enough calories consumed) you’ll have.
2. Are you looking to lose weight or build muscle?
You should be specific in your goals. If you want to lose
weight, then you’re going to have to eat healthier and exercise. If you want to
build muscle, you’re going to have to eat a lot more protein and lift weights.
If you want to build muscle and lose weight, you’ll have to do both.
People don’t realize the discrepancies in objective information
on diet and health. Your “experts” aren’t always right, and sometimes, even
diets that hold promise often have hidden costs that don’t meet the hype. I
always ask myself: “Would I be better off if I did X?” When I know the answer
to this question, I can then make a decision on whether it’s more important for
my goals and my current situation.
Now that we know what information we’re looking for, let’s
quickly run through a few sources.
1 | Muscle and strength trainers often claim that protein
contributes 25–30% to your body composition. That’s based on the fact that men
“need” more protein in order to gain muscle, growth hormones are increased, and
maintenance of muscle takes longer. That’s all true.
The problem with protein is that it’s also the most expensive
macronutrient (Carbohydrates are more expensive too, but we don’t care about
that when we’re trying to lose weight). Therefore, to build muscle or strength,
you’re going to have to eat a LOT of protein. If that’s too complicated, I’ll
simplify it by answering the second question I posed above. You want
high-quality protein in order to build strong, powerful muscles.
Strength and muscle gains occur because your body can store and
retain more protein (2). This retention leads to increased muscle protein
synthesis. Protein also increases levels of “energy” (i.e., muscle) in your
body.
Therefore, if you’re trying to gain muscle, taking in more
protein is a good idea. However, you have to choose what quality of protein(s)
you want to intake.
Protein from animal sources such as meat, fish, and beans is the the best quality for muscle building because they have the most amino acids per
gram.
3. How much protein should you be eating per day?
How much protein you need depends on your weight, age, gender,
height, and activity level. The recommended daily allowance is about 0.8 grams
of protein per kilogram of body weight. For example, if you weigh 60 kilograms,
you’d need about 48 grams of protein per day.
The problem is that the majority of us (even ideal, healthy
people) aren’t overly concerned with exactly how much protein we’re eating.
Instead, we struggle to find a set point based on our goal and weight-loss
results. Instead of forcing yourself to eat a certain amount, you can shift
your focus to finding the balance of protein you’re craving, consuming more
proportionally to that, and then tracking your food in an app like MyFitnessPal
to get a sense of exactly how much you’re consuming.
Plus, not all protein sources issue the same warning. Here’s
what you need to know.
NATURAL VERSUS ADDED PROTEIN
There’s a big difference between what you eat naturally while on
a juice cleanse versus a typical low-carb eating plan. Having a drink can cause
you to believe there’s not enough food in your diet and take in copious amounts
of sugar and other foods that are unhealthy. Focus on getting the nutrients you
need without stressing over what you’re eating. Or, don’t stress over it.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Healthy fats are an absolute must. Not only are they essential
for normal cell metabolism, but they are packed with long-lasting benefits such
as lowering the risk of heart disease, LDL, and triglycerides. Protein is also
an important macronutrient, but too much can cause adverse health effects such
as muscle loss and joint pain. If you aren’t sure how much protein you’re
currently eating, try keeping a food journal. A good way to do this is to add
protein powder to your coffee or tea to see how much you consume. This turns it
from a guessing game into a more accurate number.
4. How many carbs should you consume per day?
The amount of carbohydrates you should eat per day depends on
your gender, age, and physical activity level. According to the Academy of Nutrition
and Dietetics, you should eat 45 to 65 percent of your daily calories from
carbohydrates. If you’re sedentary, then you should eat about 130 grams of
carbohydrates per day (about 45 percent of your daily calories). Women of any
age should aim to eat between 70 to 90 grams of carbohydrates per day. Men need
slightly less at about 75 grams per day.
Protein should contribute at least 30 percent of your daily
calories to ensure your body has enough energy to do everything it needs to do.
About 50 grams is a good place to start, and you can get more protein if you:
Fat is a somewhat essential nutrient that helps your body burn
fat for energy and is essential for hormone balance and tissue repair. Ideally,
we want about 30 to 50 percent of your calories from dietary fat.
In the next 2, 3 weeks, start with maintenance calories. Drink
as much water as you need, but no more.
You won’t fully lose weight in 3 weeks. It will take time.
You’re not feeding babies. If I do this to lose weight, should I
be concerned about eating babies?
While you might think that babies don’t mind eating a lot of
food, they do. According to The Journal of Pediatrics, babies “are sensitive to
the taste of solid food. Solid foods should not taste salty or sweet and should
not be pleasant or agreeable for humans to consume.”
Here are the exercises that can help get you to the place where
most people get to. Take a picture of your ideal body using a piece of paper.
Then determine how many pounds you need to lose using the inches and pounds scale.
Then graph all of your current information against your target weight.
Practically…you’ve spent a lot of time reading. You know
calories are important. Protein is important. Carbs are important. Fat is 51
percent of calories, with 18 percent coming from fat.
5. How much fat should you eat per day, and which types of fat?
Most people need about 20-30% of their calories from fat and
should eat more unsaturated fats than saturated fats. Unsaturated fats should
come from plant and fish sources, and saturated fats should come from animal
sources. Saturated fats are found in fatty meats, cheeses, and foods with palm
oil. Both types of fats should be preferred over the other, but the question for
a beginner is — do I need to be worried about my cholesterol?
Hardly! Following a diet is a lot like buying a car. When you’ve
got experience in any area, you know which parts you like and which ones matter
less. I’ll tell you what matters, and what matters very little (I’ll explain
more below).
Fatty meats are bad for you for a few reasons. Firstly, they’re
high in calories and cause severe inflammation in the body. All that extra fat
around your gut can clog up the stomach lining, preventing your gut from
functioning properly. Also, as mentioned above, they cause a lot of cholesterol
issues (bad for your heart).
Fish are a good source of unsaturated fats. Also, omega-3 fats
from fish help reduce inflammation and raise your HDL (good cholesterol).
However, fatty fish like salmon and herring can cause problems because of the
bacteria that live in their tissues. Cooking these types of fish destroys B.
fragilis, a bacteria that causes crabs, crab meat, and some types of glaucoma.
I tend to stick with animal products when it comes to fats.
Animal products are much lower in saturated fat and cholesterol than dairy
products are. You can even get them from plant sources. If you choose to try to
follow a plant-based diet, you can take omega-3s from your morning green tea or
from the seeds and nuts you eat. However, if you want food with cholesterol in
it, ask yourself if you want to eat it.
Some food sources that are high in fat content (find more on
that post) include:
Remember that not all fats are created equal.