Get Enough Protein
What does it mean to "eat enough protein"?
This practice is about:
finding external guidelines that are right for you, as a starting point.
About how many palm-sized portions of protein are you already eating each day?
tuning in to internal self-regulation signals to figure out what's "enough" for you.
adjusting your routines to make "enough" happen consistently.
Why protein?
Protein is the body's primary source of building muscle and lean mass. The effects of too little or too much protein will be majorly felt in muscle strength, recovery, and feeling satisfied from meals.
Too little protein and you might not:
- feel satisfied or full after your meal
- recover well
- build lean mass and muscle
Too much protein and you might:
- feel overfull after your meal
When you eat the right amount of protein, aka the Goldilocks amount, you:
- feel satisfied from meals
- can build lean mass and muscle
- more easily maintain a healthy weight
It's impossible to know how different individuals uniquely feel the effects of protein. It's different for everyone. You can use the list above as a guide for yourself.
What are your signals that you're eating enough protein?
Why and how to practice
"Enough" is personal.
Only you can know.
What's enough for you? How will you know when you hit it?
There are two main ways to measure:
External guidelines
Internal signals
Find your external guidelines.
Hand portion guides can help you get started in determining how much is right for you and your goals.
If you're eating 3-4 meals per day, most people do best with about 1-2 palms per meal.
To compare the hand portion measures to other measurement systems:
These external guidelines can be highly variable depending on a person's unique body, lifestyle, and goals. Appropriate intakes can range from 3-10 palms per day, depending on the person.
For example, one simple action to start might be to take what you’re doing right now, and add one more palm-sized portion of protein daily.
Based on what you already know about yourself and your routines, choose a starting point that feels right to you.
Pay attention and adjust.
How does a particular amount of protein affect your physical, emotional, and mental performance throughout the day?
What patterns do you notice?
How much do you like to eat?
And how much do you need to eat?
Follow your internal signals.
Internal signals tell you how hungry you feel, biologically vs. psychologically.
Being able to read those signals accurately is what allows you to self-regulate your hunger: to be able to competently satisfy your needs in the moment.
What are your internal signals that you're eating enough protein?
You can use the guide at the top of this card for pointers. Or, create your own matrix of what protein feels like. What does too little, too much, and just enough feel like for you?
Then, calibrate that to external hand portions. If you can match that goldilocks feeling of just right to the number of hand portions that gets you there, you'll be able to practice hitting it consistently.
That's your personal, experimentally-tested "enough".
Tune in to internal signals by going slow.
Keep paying attention.
If you're eating slowly, you'll be more likely to notice the fullness cues.
No matter how much protein you put on your plate to start, you can always listen to body signals along the way, and adapt in the moment.
Whenever you're unsure, you always have this guideline to anchor to: eat to just satisfied.