Five Ways to Get More Protein Into Your Diet

If you feel like belly fat is the last place your body wants to let go of weight, even when you're eating well and you're exercising right, then this video is for you. Most people think that they need to eat less to drop the belly fat, when in reality, most people just need to eat more of the right thing. And that right thing is eating enough protein. Today, I'm breaking down exactly how eating enough protein helps to reduce belly fat faster. And I'm going to provide you five simple, realistic ways you can get protein in your diet without dieting harder. If you've not met me yet, I'm Dr. Ashley Lucas. I am a PhD nutritionist and a registered dietitian. I'm the owner and founder of PhD Weight Loss and Nutrition, where to date, we've helped over 11600 people collectively drop more than £480,000 nationwide. And my goal with this channel is to give you the information you need to create the same positive impact in your own life. So. So let's dive in. Eating adequate protein is critical for belly fat loss. The reason why is because it's not just a muscle nutrient. It's not just for your muscles. Protein directly impacts your blood sugar levels, your insulin levels, and therefore your energy throughout the day. When you consume adequate protein at the right timing throughout the day, you're going to have a much different experience. Physiologically, when protein intake is too low, you're going to find that your body is more likely to store fat around the belly area. It's going to be more likely to break down muscle instead of fat, which we do not want, it will trigger cravings later in the day, and it's going to slow your metabolic output over time. So as you continue to age, it's going to be much more easy to put on fat, specifically around the belly area. If you're not consuming adequate protein, when protein intake is adequate, especially earlier in the day, when you set your body up for success, you're going to find that your body becomes more efficient at burning stored fat, which we all want. Including. Including, and specifically that visceral belly fat. Now, if you're already feeling totally confused around how much protein you need, especially when your goal is to drop fat and not muscle, then you should check out Ph.D. weight loss. This is exactly what we do at Ph.D. weight loss. We will create for you a customized personalized meal plan guiding you on exactly what, when, and how much to eat throughout the day. And not only do we focus on the nutrition aspects, we focus on resetting your metabolism and looking at the mental and emotional aspects associated with creating sustainable change. That's why we have helped over 11,600 people drop massive weight and most importantly, keep it off. If you feel like a customized and personalized approach, a holistic approach that treats you as a whole person would be beneficial in your wellness journey, then definitely come check us out. Just head on over into the description. Click the link for my PhD weight loss to learn more. All right, let's talk about the five ways to five simple ways that you can get more protein into your day. So number one is you want to anchor every meal with a protein first mindset. What I mean by this is instead of asking yourself what am I eating? You want to ask yourself what is my primary protein source? And you know, I'm a PhD nutritionist and a registered dietitian and I have to do this every day, pretty much at every meal because carbohydrates are so convenient. They are everywhere and they're addictive. And our body body craves carbohydrates when we're eating out of our unique carbohydrate tolerance level. Now, I've talked a lot about carbohydrate tolerance level and how to find yours specifically. So if you hear me say carbohydrate tolerance level and you think what is she talking about? Then you definitely want to check out the video where I talk about this and I'll link this in the description as well. So your mindset is going to be focused around how to get adequate protein into every meal and every snack. So you want to build your meals and your snacks starting with high quality animal protein. This could be like beef or chicken or turkey eggs, full fat plain Greek yogurt, maybe low fat but never fat free yogurt. So a plain Greek yogurt is going to have much more higher quality protein in it than say like a yoplait yogurt or even the organic versions of different yogurts. If it's not a Greek yogurt, then you're not going to be getting adequate proteins. So if you are going to go the yogurt route, make sure that you look at the food label. It has about 20 grams of protein per serving. That's the ultimate goal. Now if you are super confused about yogurts because when you go into the grocery store there are hundreds of different varieties, you are not alone. And I've done a video ranking my favorite brands of yogurt for this reason. So again, head on over to the description. Click the link to learn more if you are a yogurt fan, a cottage cheese can also be a good source of protein. Again, animal proteins are going to be your best option. You could also do fish or seafood. Those are going help you get all of the essential amino acids that you need to support muscle building. Remember that when protein is chosen first, your blood sugar is going to stay more stable and your belly fat loss is going to improve. Number two, increase protein at breakfast. I have talked a lot about breakfast and if you feel like breakfast is the main culprit for you for the stubborn weight gain, if you just really struggle in creating healthy breakfast, or if you feel like your breakfast is already super healthy, but you're not seeing any changes in your body composition or any changes on the scale, then you should definitely check out my video where I talk about exactly what to eat for breakfast to lose weight and I'll link that in the description for you as well. In general, most people under eat protein in the morning and they overeat it at night. So what we want to do instead is we want to find balance in our protein consumption throughout the day. Now, the exact amount of protein that you want to consume at your different meals at breakfast, lunch or dinner really is going to depend upon your specific goals and your unique body. But I want to provide some value here for you today in this video and give you a decent range. So if you are consuming a different amount than this, or if you are currently a PhD client, listen to your coach on the amount of protein that you need because that is customized for you. But a good goal is about 25 to 35 grams of protein at breakfast. Again, if you are a bigger individual, you have more muscle mass. If you're a big strong man with a lot of muscle mass, you could go up to 50 grams. But this is just a good range. 25 to 35 grams of high quality protein for breakfast. This is going to help to regulate your hunger hormones all day. It's going to reduce evening snacking. That often contributes to that. That belly fat storage Number three is to use protein to reduce snacking. Protein is the most satiating macronutrient. What I mean by that is eating protein is going to fill you up the most. It's going to fill you up more than eating carbohydrates for sure, and even more than eating dietary fat. If you are snacking, you want to make sure that protein is the base. So again, it could be a Greek yogurt. I say Greek yogurt because it has the highest density of protein per Serving hard boiled eggs with sal is a delicious snack. You could do cottage cheese with berries. You could do some smoked salmon or lox if you like that with cream cheese, you could do some leftovers or a protein smoothie with some added berries, maybe some spinach if your body tolerates those green leafies. The fiber is going to help encourage fullness as well. When you make protein the base, it's going to reduce blood glucose spikes and insulin spikes that drive fat storage, specifically in the belly. Number four is to pair protein with fiber for better fat loss. And I just alluded to this earlier, that when you add protein and fiber together in the gut, it slows gastric emptying, meaning that the food stays in the gut longer. Therefore you're going to be fuller longer and it's going to tell the gut to secrete more GLP1, which again is that full hormone that all of us are hearing so much about recently. So you can encourage the gut to secrete its own GLP1 secretions naturally. If you want to learn specifically how to do that, what foods to eat, what combination of foods to consume. I have done a video on this topic, GLP1 hacks. So head on into the description and click the link for that video if you want to learn more. Examples around these foods would be chicken with vegetables, eggs with berries, fish with green leafy veggies. Again, the protein and the fiber combo is going to tell the body to these full hormones to secrete more GLP1 and keep you feeling full longer. Now, if you feel like you're already focused on consuming protein and fiber combos and you want to elevate your body even more, then you should definitely check out this new product that I've created. It's called GLP1 Gut Longevity Plus. I'm super excited about it because I created it specifically for people who are on a quest to support their body naturally, who want to drop the belly fat and want to support their blood sugar insulin levels in a natural way. So with this product, I included this next generation keystone probiotic called Akkermansia, what research has shown significantly increases the body's natural ability to secrete GLP1 levels. In addition, I included resveratrol and grapeseed extract, which are two potent antioxidants both supportive of the gut and Akkermansia. They work together to support the body in secreting GLP1 levels and to enhance longevity. Super excited. Definitely check it out. Head over into the description, click on that link for Dr. Ashley Wellness and you will have a special Discount code to support you as well. And tip number five is do not fear eating more protein than you're used to. A lot of people, I would say, especially women, are nervous about consuming more protein. They either think it's not healthy for the body or maybe it will make them bulky or stall their weight loss, which is is so far from the truth. You need protein to burn fat. You need protein, especially during the weight loss process, so that you can maintain as much muscle mass as possible. Remember that muscle is your organ of longevity. It's your metabolic currency. The more muscle you have, likely the longer you'll live in a stronger state. You'll support your bone density. Like all of these great things go hand in hand with having adequate muscle mass. Now, in order to support the body, to have this adequate muscle, you have to feed it and you have to overload it. So what I mean by that is you have to feed it high quality protein and you've got to overload the muscles by doing some type of movement, specifically something like resistance training. Now if you are watching this and you don't do any kind of resistance training, it could be body weight exercises, it could be Pilates, yoga. Unfortunately, you guys, isn't enough to overload the muscles. But if you are not doing something like this currently, then I encourage you to check out my video where I talk about the specific forms of exercise you need to do to support fat loss and muscle mass. So again, head on over into the description. I'll include the link right there for you. Now, if you have a belief that consuming this good, high quality protein could stall your weight loss, I urge you to let go of that sabotaging thought. Because in reality, adequate protein helps to preserve lean muscle, helps to increase metabolic rate, improve your body composition, position overall, and specifically targets that dangerous visceral belly fat. Eating too little protein is actually one of the biggest reasons why belly fat does not respond to your actions. Now remember you guys, that belly fat is not a willpower problem. It is a metabolic signal. Your body is telling you that something's off. And when you nourish your body correctly, especially with adequate protein, it responds by releasing fat and not by storing it. Now, if you want to take this even further, I want you to watch this next video right here. It's called eat this for 30 days to drop weight. No hunger, no dieting. This video walks you through exactly how to structure your meals over a month to accelerate fat loss without deprivation. All right, click it now and I'll see you there.