Too Much Protein Will Make You Bulky

The Myth: Eating too much protein and drinking protein shakes will make me look manly and bulky.

False. Totally, completely, and utterly false. It drives me crazy that this misconception with women is even out there. Where did this false rumor even start? The Truth: Eating adequate amounts of protein (whether male or female) will help your body recover after tough workouts, keep you feeling full, lead to changes in body composition, help keep cravings out of sight, and ultimately help your body burn more fat! Where are all my ladies at?! Rest assured that increasing your daily protein intake will not make you big and bulky like a man. Women don’t contain NEARLY as much testosterone as men do so it’s going to take a lot more than protein to make you look like a one. Even by consuming your body weight in grams of protein every day, you’re not going to pack on quite as much muscle as your boyfriend, husband, dad, brother, or friend might. Genetically, that’s just the way it is! So what will increased daily protein intake do for you? 1. Burn fat 2. Increase satiety 3. Help you recover after workouts 4. Grow long luscious hair and promote stronger nails I'll take all four of those. Please and thank you!

BURN FAT Protein helps build lean muscle, which in turn burns more calories and fat even while at rest. As your lean muscle mass increases so does your overall metabolic rate. The best way to go about converting some of that unwanted fat into muscle is to increase your protein intake. Having a higher protein intake will promote protein synthesis and help rebuild those broken down muscles to promote lean muscle growth and an overall decrease in body fat percentage. Another bonus: by replacing some of the calories you consume from carbs and fat (which is probably in excess) you’re going to be consuming more calories from protein which in turn will result in the next bonus below.

INCREASE SATIETY Satiety=feeling full. No one wants or likes to feel hungry all the time! If you find that you get extremely hungry between meals, one of the reasons for this might be that you don’t get enough protein. Increased protein is going to release satiety hormones in your body to help keep you feeling fuller for longer and therefore also help reduce those urges to reach for something unhealthy. HELP YOU RECOVER AFTER WORKOUTS During exercise we essentially damage our muscle fibers. After this exercise, our bodies work to repair the damage by synthesizing new proteins to make the muscle stronger than it was before. Consuming adequate amounts of protein will help aid this process and ensure proper body function, immune support, synthesize hormones, and promote lean muscle growth. And remember, more lean muscle=lowered body fat percentage! GROW LONG LUSCIOUS HAIR AND PROMOTE NAIL STRENGTH In order for hair to grow healthy and strong you need all of the necessary macro and micronutrients. Seeing that hair is made up primarily of PROTEIN, you’re going to need a lot of it for your hair to be silky smoothe. Lack of protein in your diet can cause loss of hair and make it brittle and dull. The hard part of our nails that we paint is also made of protein! By eating a diet rich in protein we are promoting healthy nail growth underneath this hard bed. SO HOW MUCH PROTEIN DO YOU NEED? Depending on current weight, activity level, and specific goals, I would recommend consuming .8-1.3g of protein per pound of body weight every day! Example: a female who weighs 150 lbs, works out consistently, and is focused on increasing lean muscle would consume about 160g of protein every day. It can be difficult to get this amount of protein in each day through whole foods which is why I would highly recommend using a protein supplement. When looking for a protein supplement, I personally like to use whey protein isolate as it is the fastest absorbed protein by the body, making it super efficient for pre/post workout meals and snacks! I also like to choose options that are lower in carbs and fat to help make it easier to meet my macronutrient goals. To recap what we just covered; EAT MORE PROTEIN!