No, protein is not going to make you fat. It's going to make you fit.

Over the past six months so many people have asked me to either help them out with a meal plan for whatever their goals are or they ask what I eat on a regular basis. I actually don't eat anything outrageous or go on any super intense diets...I just make healthy, common sense choices, which I will elaborate on in future posts. However, the most important part of my diet is protein. From what I have observed over the years, a lot of women are afraid of intaking too much protein beause they are leary about gaining weight and/or bulking up. The fact of the matter is though, that regardless of how much protein you are consuming, a woman's body isn't capable of gaining the same muscle mass as a man's due to lack of testosterone levels. The only way you can gain weight from consuming a lot of protein is if you consume a very high level of protein and don't exercise, in which case it would just turn into fat.

Regardless, if you've graduated middle school, you should know that protein is essentially the building blocks of life. It is essential to helping your body repair muscle, grow tissues, control metabolism and regulate hormones.

Particularly in muscle development, it is absolutely a vital component of your diet. So all of those squats that you just spent 40 minutes doing? They are more or less a complete waste of time if you aren't giving your body enough protein. Without the amino acids of protein, it is impossible for your muslces to grow no matter how hard or often you train them. If you train hard, and you all should be, then you should be consuming approximately one gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. I weigh 120lbs, so I should be consuming 120 grams of protein per day. You're probably thinking to yourself, "Holy fuck, that's a shit load of protein", because I know I did at first when I began increasing my daily protein intake. It's not as outrageous as you may think though because there are an unbelievable amount of protein rich foods that you should be eating anyways.

What are the best sources of protein you ask? Below are a full range of foods that contain high levels of protein which should be a staple in your diet.

• Poultry: Chicken, turkey
• Red Meat: Steak
• Fish: Tuna, salmon, etc. 
• Dairy: Milk, Cottage cheese, greek  yogurt and milk
• Eggs: Whole or whites. (Although I recommend egg whites to avoid the saturated fats in the yolks)
• Nuts: Walnuts, cashews, almonds, pistachios, peanuts
• Beans: Kidney, gorbanzo, pinto, black, etc. 
• Quinoa

Now that you know where to find protein, I'm sure you're curious when is the best time to have protein. Your body can only consume so much at one time, so having 60 grams of protein at once really isn't going to do much good considering you'll most likely absorb only half...if that. So the best time...is every time you eat. Virtually every meal or snack you have throughout the day should have some type of protein source. Even so, there are certain times throughou the day where it is more critical to have protein than others.

• Within an hour of waking, you should be consuming between 25-30 grams of protein. It jump starts your metabolism and will give you energy for the rest of the day. More importantly though, after a complete night's sleep, your body is seriously deprived of any nutrients and you need to replenish quickly.
• Before you hit the gym is absolutely essential. Eating quick to digest protein (such as whey) before your workout will promote muscle growth since as you are training your muscles are being fed.
• After your workout is even more critical as both protein and carbohydrates are necessary to repairing your muscle cells after you have damaged them during your workout. Just think; you've spent an hour breaking down your muscles...wouldn't you want to feed them so they can build up?
• Before bed is the one time of day that most people forego due to that pesky myth that you shouldn't eat within 3 hours before you sleep. Get that nonsense out of your head. In an ideal world, you'll be going without food or any nutrient source for several hours. Considering the most optimal time for muscle growth is while you sleep, you must consume some type of protein source before you sleep. I'm not advising to eat a full steak dinner; but some greek yogurt, a handful of nuts or a couple spoon fulls of peanut butter is sufficient.

Now that I've rambled about the in's and out's of protein - turn off the computer, eat some protein, and hit the weights.