Want to feel better, eat more protein!

[yick]

We don't eat enough protein in the western world which is why men look flabby and not only that - they are mentally flabby, overly emotional and weak and they also lack energy - it is because they are what they eat.

People blame carbs but they aren't the problem - it is the type of carbs they are eating - usually too much bread, pizza, pies and microwaved foods as well as sugar - full of bad carbs - good carbs such as bulgur, buckwheat, lentils, oats etc aren't bad at all and are in fact - good!

Here in China - proteins are cheap - you can buy a ten pack of tuna or mackerel for a fiver - really good value, also, beef jerky, whey protein powder (and contrary to popular belief, the Chinese produce some really good whey protein powders...) chicken, pork, eggs and fresh fish are all cheap here and since consuming 1.6 grams per kg - my energy has gone through the roof.

I thought I would put more weight on with the increased amount of protein but no, my body has recompositioned itself! The transformation has been amazing! I now eat snacks of beef jerky (also a bargain compared to back home) and the difference to my energy and strength levels has been amazing - could I follow the same diet in the UK? I could but it would cost me three or four times more which is why men there are going through this emotional, mental and physical slump.

[Pixel--Dude]

We don't eat enough protein in the western world which is why men look flabby and not only that - they are mentally flabby, overly emotional and weak and they also lack energy - it is because they are what they eat.

People blame carbs but they aren't the problem - it is the type of carbs they are eating - usually too much bread, pizza, pies and microwaved foods as well as sugar - full of bad carbs - good carbs such as bulgur, buckwheat, lentils, oats etc aren't bad at all and are in fact - good!

Here in China - proteins are cheap - you can buy a ten pack of tuna or mackerel for a fiver - really good value, also, beef jerky, whey protein powder (and contrary to popular belief, the Chinese produce some really good whey protein powders...) chicken, pork, eggs and fresh fish are all cheap here and since consuming 1.6 grams per kg - my energy has gone through the roof.

I thought I would put more weight on with the increased amount of protein but no, my body has recompositioned itself! The transformation has been amazing! I now eat snacks of beef jerky (also a bargain compared to back home) and the difference to my energy and strength levels has been amazing - could I follow the same diet in the UK? I could but it would cost me three or four times more which is why men there are going through this emotional, mental and physical slump.

Hi Yick. I've started going to the gym more and working out to try and build more muscle. However, I'm pescetarian so I don't eat meat chicken or beef. What foods or meals do you recommend to have or to cut out?

I know you already said to cut out pizza, which is a given. If you think about it logically pizza is just bread with tomato sauce and cheese. It's a rip off as well as shit nutritionally. I tend to eat a lot of eggs, but the way I eat them (fried) is probably shit for weight loss and muscle gain.

Can you recommend a few examples of meals you would eat throughout the week for weight loss and muscle gain to give me some pointers please. That would be much appreciated. This has been the hardest part of deciding to improve myself physically. It's easy to decide to go to the gym etc but the hardest part for me is trying to determine what I should eat for as cheap as possible. Everything in the UK is expensive as f**k and overpriced.

Unfortunately for me moving abroad isn't an option until my child is old enough not to depend on me so I'll have to do the best I can with what I have available in the local area.

[yick]

Hi @Pixel--Dude I am glad you ask because no-one asks me! I am full of great advice regards nutrition but what I want you to promise me is that you will do this for a month because you are going to get stellar results! No two ways about it! But first you need to invest in.

At least two good massive (5lbs) tubs of whey protein powder!

A rice cooker

Badia all purpose seasoning AND Tropical Sun seasoning.

Depending on what you weigh will determine how much protein you want to eat in a day - which is between 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilo - so an easy ballpark figure is if you weigh 100 kgs you want to be eating 120 to 160 grams a day - now if you have two whey protein shakes a day - that covers you with at around 88 grams of protein so if you weigh 90 kilos (14 stone) then you will need to get enough protein to make sure you build muscle - which would be for a 90 kgs male 108 grams and 146 grams - doable with good meals and good protein snacks.

So a whey protein shake in the morning and have another meal of eggs and cheese with some lovely veggies in there - chop up some nice tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and add that in with some lovely mature cheddar and I scramble them up and use this trick for amazing scrambled eggs - add a dash of water - let me tell you they turn out the greatest scrambled eggs you will ever have the other trick is to cook them until they set and take them off the heat and put as much black pepper on them as you can handle - eat them with pita bread or tortilla wraps or if you can't do without bread - toast some sourdough or go to the Polish shop and get their wholemeal bread -try and wean yourself off Tesco white bread because you can eat that stuff forever or I can anyway. with eggs, minimum of four but go for six if you can - protein content of such a meal - about 60 to 70 grams.

So you want to start eating more bulgur wheat and buckwheat, easy to cook in a rice cooker which are cheap to buy, great protein sources and go well with fish dishes, veggies - bulgur is especially amazing - a better nutritional profile than brown rice but cooks easier and tastes better!

I love sardines with onions and bell peppers cooked in a pan with bulgur wheat and a fried egg - again, that is about 70 grams worth of protein if you put in two small cans of sardines in there - works well with tuna or mackerel.

Oatmeal with powdered milk, a neutral protein powder and with chia seeds and other types of seeds makes a great breakfast and will give you 40-50 grams of protein if you have a nice big bowl of it with a lot of natural honey or maple syrup - those instant packets are shite though so just buy a big bag of Quaker rolled oats for this and it cooks up in a couple of minutes, buy a big tub of peanut butter from amazon and put as much of it as you want on it - tastes amazing even if you didn't like the porridge mum made for you as a kid - I mean, who does?

If you have two whey protein shakes a day and two meals then you should get to your protein quota on a daily basis, protein bars are a good idea and you want to buy them where you get 20 grams a bar - they're expensive but the ones you want are the amfit ones you can get on Amazon because they're good value - if you add one of those a day for a snack then it goes towards your quota - so, a shopping list for you would be

Whey protein powder (get two different flavours if you can...)
Eggs
sardines
mackerel
tuna
bulgur wheat
Buckwheat
Oats
honey
wholewheat pasta
wholemeal pita bread and tortilla wraps
peanut butter or almond butter
red lentils
olive oil or avocado oil
butter
cheese (which is a great protein source in moderation - you don't want to be eating tons of it on pizza)
various seeds and nuts
Amfit protein bars
vegetables (frozen or fresh or in tins, it's all good)
milk powder (never goes off and good for putting in oats or your whey protein)
Tropical Sun seasoning
Badia (green) all purpose seasoning
Kippers - they taste great and they're cheap - for a quid you get a load of them with a knob of butter in tesco and you can have them with two rounds of buttered toast or put them over some bulgur - lovely! You might stink the kitchen out though!
Mackerel/salmon pates
Skyr, quark or Greek Yoghurt which you can eat with berries and a bit of honey - you can buy frozen berries which you can defrost over an hour or two and then have it for tea - add some seeds and you have a great protein meal - about 40 grams of protein right there.
Salmon

So, I think that would be a decent list for you, like I say, just go head first into it for a month and you will see yourself changing or your body, depending on what you weigh - get a minimum of 1.2 grams a day and try and get to 1.6 grams a day and you will see the difference within a month, good luck and let me know how it goes!

[yick]

Two great protein sources I forgot are red lentils - take about ten minutes to cook, one rice cooker cup of lentils and three water, badia seasoning or curry powder put a lid on it and cook it gently until all the water has been absorbed, fry an egg or cook up some salmon and serve it with pita bread or flour tortillas - loads in protein in that and it is mega easy to cook and tastes delicious.

Wholewheat pasta and tuna is always a good standby, cook some onions and bell peppers in a frying pan, add a can and tuna WITH the oil (more protein, always get the oil versions...) and let it cook for a bit, boil up some pasta, once it is cooked and drained, add the pasta, put a good amount of badia seasoning in it and parmesan cheese - try and get the flakes - mix it all together and it's heavenly!

[Pixel--Dude]

Thank you @yick I appreciate that a lot. Both myself and my partner are trying to get in better shape and improve muscle mass. It's our shopping day tomorrow so I'll invest in some of the things you recommend.

What do you think to intermittent fasting for weight loss? I was recommended something called 5-2 diet where 2 days of the week you only have an intake of 500 calories or less. Is this something you recommend or just stick to high protein intake?

[yick]

Thank you @yick I appreciate that a lot. Both myself and my partner are trying to get in better shape and improve muscle mass. It's our shopping day tomorrow so I'll invest in some of the things you recommend.

What do you think to intermittent fasting for weight loss? I was recommended something called 5-2 diet where 2 days of the week you only have an intake of 500 calories or less. Is this something you recommend or just stick to high protein intake?

No worries, I think IF is great but you are going to be eating four meals a day of around 30 grams minimum of protein so I would incorporate a 14 hour fasting window and take your first meal/whey protein shake at around 8 am and then try and eat every three hours until 6 pm then that would work.

It all depends on how overweight you are - if you are not massively overweight, you are going to get big noticeable changes just eating high protein in a month - if you are three or four stone overweight then you will get noticeable changes on a high protein diet - don't weigh yourself - just check the mirror and take selfies, keep training, keep eating 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilo of bodyweight and you WILL see the changes - you'll be like 'f***ing hell, this is the game changer'

[Felsen]

Eating more protein than recommended can cause digestive, renal, or vascular problems.

[gsjackson]

I had the same experience last summer -- got in better shape simply from upping the protein intake. All the dramatic testimony you can find online these days about the benefits of a carnivore diet are probably down to two things: They don't eat processed crap and they presumably get enough protein, which the vast majority of Americans don't.

[yick]

@Felsen

Wrong, spambot!

The recommended daily amount of protein for adults is a minimum of I think 50 grams which is nowhere near enough, the reasons we are having all these problems today is because people don't eat enough protein - in fact, nowhere near enough.

Try binge eating when you eat your quota of protein, near enough impossible and rids yourself of most cravings.

[yick]

I had the same experience last summer -- got in better shape simply from upping the protein intake. All the dramatic testimony you can find online these days about the benefits of a carnivore diet are probably down to two things: They don't eat processed crap and they presumably get enough protein, which the vast majority of Americans don't.

True and also, I found that eating the required protein acts as an excellent appetite suppressant. I never wanted to eat junk food or have any cravings for it once my protein requirements had been met.

[Felsen]

@Felsen

Wrong, spambot!

The recommended daily amount of protein for adults is a minimum of I think 50 grams which is nowhere near enough, the reasons we are having all these problems today is because people don't eat enough protein - in fact, nowhere near enough.

Try binge eating when you eat your quota of protein, near enough impossible and rids yourself of most cravings.

I'm not a robot!

You're wrong, Yick. Are you a nutritionist?

Most people in the U.S. eat twice the protein than they need, which can lead to health problems such as heart disease and kidney stress.

[yick]

I'm not a robot!

OK AI spambot.

You're wrong, Yick. Are you a nutritionist?

Yeah, I am, are you a nutritionist?

Most people in the U.S. eat twice the protein than they need, which can lead to health problems such as heart disease and kidney stress.

Do you have any papers to back up your ridiculous claims? I look forward to reading them.

Most people in the US are in poor health because they eat too much sugar and too many refined carbohydrates. If you want to build muscle like Pixel Dude wants to - you need to eat 1.2 to 1.6 grams per KG of bodyweight. The miniumum recommended protein intake guideline is ridiculously low and you won't build muscle on it. I look forward to your links to prove your argument.

[Pixel--Dude]

@yick I would say I've become slightly overweight since stopping Thai boxing and kick boxing training. I've had issues with depression which have inhibited my motivation to train and keep in shape. So I do want to lose a couple of pounds and build some muscle as well.

I'd say my kryptonite is sugar and cheese. I do love cheese and they are my downfall. I've tried reducing cheese from my diet or exchanging my usual brands of cheese for low fat variants like feta for example. I also went from white sugar to brown sugar. Know why I prefer brown sugars to white sugars? Because demerara.

[Taco]

Beef and pork are full of vitamins that's why hospitals never serve patients steak. They don't want you to recover because they'll lose money if you get discharged early. Death care at its finest...

[Lucas88]

@yick This is a very useful thread. Thank you for making it.

To tell you the truth, I'm in a bit of a rut after a long layoff from training due to chronic health problems and I've been eating a lot of crap in the form of pizzas, pasta and even sugar.

But lately I've been wanting to make a good meal plan.

I see that you recommend 1.6 grams of protein per kg of bodyweight for building muscle and enjoying a good level of energy.

I consulted ChatGPT about the ideal quantity of protein intake for a male athlete and the reply was between 1.2 and 2.0 grams per kg of bodyweight. So your recommendation was exactly midway of that range.

If we take your recommendation of 1.6 grams per kg of bodyweight, then a guy like me at 85 kg would need 136 grams of protein per day.