It Really Works

Just like many other women, I knew about the importance of protein. Of course, as a health and fitness expert, I knew what foods are high in protein, but I never tracked it. I simply thought that I'm probably "pretty good" at eating enough protein.

Years ago when I was dieting, my strategy had been keeping the calories low, saying no to fats, trying to avoid my favorite, "bad" foods like chocolate and cheese, and running more. The less I ate the more proud I was of myself - but I never saw better muscle tone, I was always tired, and I was binging hard couple of times a month because I was just so hungry.

In my dieting days, I was never focused on protein...

But in spring of 2020, I finally decided to really double down on making protein a priority.

It was eye opening, to say the least.

I learned how much of it I should eat, and I have to admit -- it was quite a bit more than what I had intuitively eaten! I was definitely not getting enough for my size and activity level.

It changed the way I put together my meals. The question became: What is going to be my protein at this meal? Then, I added the rest. I made an effort to cook a lot of protein at once. When eating out, I became more aware and was always looking for options that were high in protein.

I also continued to lift weights and even increased my weights.

It didn't take very long to see the results. In a month, I was looking leaner.

I was feeling more satiated and less snacky.

I stayed fuller longer.

As few more months went by, I outgrew my adjustable dumbbells as I got stronger and recovered better.

My clothes started to fit better and I was feeling healthier overall.

All that with no added cardio, fasting, going to bed hungry, or doing unreasonable diets. They key was to focus on my diet and particularly protein.