Hey everyone!

We have made it through January and the freezing cold temperatures it brought with it. Today, it’s 50 degrees in Lansing, and I feel like we are getting teased by spring. I know that my cabin fever had increased incrementally. And so, with warmer weather coming, we want to keep working towards better nutrition so that we can feel comfortable in our summer clothing.

Now that you’ve hopefully got your nutrition tracking down from January, we can start to add on to our healthy habits. This month’s focus is going to be on protein intake. As most of you are probably aware, protein is the building block of our body, allowing our muscles to recover and strengthen after our workouts. Having adequate protein in the diet is important for all stages of nutrition, whether you are looking to lose weight, gain mass, or maintain.

To survive, humans actually don’t need that much protein, the average woman needs 46 grams and the average man needs 56 grams or .8 grams per kilogram of bodyweight. However, eating such little protein is not sufficient for people who exercise or for people who are looking to lean out and build muscle.

If you want to get the most out of your workouts and to improve your body composition, you you should instead aim for .8 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. This will ensure adequate muscle repair and growth.

So now, make sure you calculate the appropriate amount of protein for yourself, and then change your protein goal in MyFitnessPal to reflect it. Good luck and happy tracking!