Getting Enough Protein to Keep Your Muscle and Strength

This week in building health 👇

Why I Stopped Eating Meat… and Then Started Again

My family is full of meat lovers.

If you ask them what their favorite foods our, you’ll for sure get answers like “steak, burgers, or roast chicken.”

So 3 years ago, after I got married and moved out— I tried eating much less meat. Almost to the point of being a vegetarian.

While it really helped to clean up my diet, I noticed something else

I was losing strength, and getting a lot smaller. Even though I was working out all the time

What’s Wrong With Getting Small and Losing Weight?

The issue is that I was losing muscle and not the fats.

I’ve always been a lean guy, but I could really see the difference when I stopped eating meat.

Eventually, I understood that if I want to stay strong and healthy, especially as I get older, keeping my muscle mass up 👉 and thus getting enough protein is non-negotiable

Finding the Balance: Eating Enough of the Right Protein

So I’m eating meat again…

But I’m also looking for other ways to get more protein in my diet. Right now, I feel like it’s impossible for to eat TOO MUCH protein anyway.

I’d have to really go out of my way to overeat protein

Here’s what is working for me right now

• 1 meal with meat each day

• 2 eggs in the morning + some Greek Yoghurt

• a snack of nuts (usually almonds)

• a snack of cottage cheese

Based on rough estimates— this puts me at about 60g of protein each day. Which might still not be enough.

The point is: It’s hard to get enough of the right protein in your diet. So don’t worry about overeating here

→ Read the Essay here (14 mins)

My favorite health things for the week

// one

Decoding Meat and Diary Product Lables

17 minutes | Environmental Working Group

What does it mean when it says ‘Organic Meat’?
What about if your meat is ‘Free Range’?
What about ‘Natural, Lean Meat’?

All these labels can get really confusing (I think on purpose- to make you less informed)

So here’s a handy resource to understand what those labels actually mean- in the USA at least.

I’d like to find similar resources for other areas around the world too

→ Visit the site to Learn more

// two

How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?

9 minutes | Jeanette Kimszal, RDN

I am a big fan of my morning coffee.

I love the ritual, the smells, the sounds of preparing a nice hot cup in the morning.

Of course, there is no one-size fits all recommendation, but if you’re having more than 400mg of caffeine a day, that’s way too much

(That’s like 5 cups of coffee btw!)

→ Read the Post Here

// three

It’s Still a Long Game

3 minutes | Nat Eliason

Nat is still one of my favorite writers when it comes to life and business mindsets.

This essays is on being a creator and entrepreneur, but I think it applies to fitness and health just as much.

Here’s the money quote:

If you’re not willing to go for years with people you know watching you publicly perform to crickets, you shouldn’t even start.

90% of your health journey is going to be a slog- and it will feel like you’re making progress, failing, going back to square one and trying again.

If you’re not into the long term game, you’re going to have a hard time

→ Read the Essay Here

Until next time

14 days ago BOTH my hiking shoes and running shoes gave up on me at the same time. 😢

I tried to hold out on getting new ones right away— But I noticed a BIG difference in how much I moved these last 2 weeks.

Yesterday I ran out to grab new pairs, so I’m still bathing in that ✨New Shoes✨ feeling. Plus I have a hike this weekend so it was time! ⛰

What about you? Any movement planned for the weekend?

Thanks and Have a healthy weekend,
Javier Gomez