The current rage in healthy living is to eat protein and gain muscle. Mainstream publications and esoteric health writings alike concur that to lose weight you need to reduce how many simple carbohydrates you eat; cut back on sugar; drink less alcohol; and exercise. Consumers are just starting to understand why, but how is also a challenging factor.

Relationship Between Protein and Muscle

Firstly, protein is the foundation of muscle. Without it, you would not have any at all. Protein-rich foods often carry nutrients of value to one’s entire system including blood, the brain, and bones too. Meat and chicken are not complete foods, you still need vitamins and minerals from vegetables and fruits, but they certainly support growth in a way apples and carrots cannot.

Muscle and Weightloss

We have been taught to give fat a wide berth, but that was a bad idea. Countless North Americans have been avoiding healthy fats for years, and that hasn’t done their brains any good. Nor did the fat-free phase help people lose weight. That is because avocado, fatty fish, dairy, and nuts contain both cholesterol-fighting fat and protein. As we saw above, muscles need protein. The metabolic system also loves muscle. It is forced to work harder the more muscle a person possesses, thus leading to fat loss at rest. It’s true: if you had to choose between doing sit-ups and doing push-ups, the latter exercise would definitely be better for fighting the flab. The reason being is, push-ups are a compound exercise (using more than one muscle group at once, so it  is more effective). Body weight exercises are the most efficient, this review will explain more.

The Paleo Diet, Protein, Muscle, and Weightloss

Diets aren’t good for you; not if you’re talking about a fad diet that is supposed to help you lose ten pounds in two weeks and can’t be sustained. For example, calorie quality is more important than the number of calories you consume. Pack too much sugar and flour into the day and stay within your calorie limit, but those carbs will become fat if you aren’t active enough. You will get sick from lack of nutrients and the interference refined carbs cause. A diet of liquids will leave you so ravenous it’s common to overeat in response.

A diet that is low in refined carbohydrates, contains adequate protein and fat, and which promotes vegetables and fruits is better than one which prohibits anything; people crave that thing more when it’s prohibited. Nutrition is critical to weight loss, especially good gut health. Foods low in refined carbs are relatively easy to digest, and they don’t offend the GI system of someone with wheat intolerance. Dairy allergies and difficulty digesting dairy also plague a lot of people, causing gas and bloating. It’s hard to digest food, so it doesn’t go anywhere but sits in the GI tract for a long time.

The Paleo diet has become popular because it promotes a dairy-free, grain-free, high-protein, veg/fruit-rich way of eating. It is flavorful, manageable, but not super strict. No one cares if a donut slips in there once in a while. There are no Paleo police. This is not about deciding whether it’s right or wrong to eat animals or if grains have feelings; the Paleo diet is said to be more natural than other ways of eating, better for weight loss than other diets, but also easier to stick to. It is a way of eating for life, not a weight-loss plan, though lots of people say they have lost weight and have not felt restricted. Avoiding dairy can be difficult, but a lot of people do that for health reasons anyway. Check out our other article on the Paleohacks Cookbook for more information.

Exercises Which Promote Muscle

Muscle-building and body building are not synonyms for the same thing. You can build muscle doing almost any kind of exercise. Swimming is excellent for the upper body. Holding challenging yoga poses promotes lean muscle all over. Although body builders definitely put on a lot of muscle, they do not get the cardio people need for good all around health. In an ideal world, one would combine stretching, weight lifting, and cardio into a daily workout in some way whether by playing sports and stretching afterwards or by going to a workout program which incorporates them all. It is more likely for individuals to do one or combine two at a time such as muscle building with cardio or stretching with muscular endurance.

Ball sports generally combine the latter two. You end up becoming stronger in your legs playing soccer by running and kicking. Tennis promotes upper and lower body strength. With both sports, you run around a lot. Basketball is a whole-body sport, but jumping really works the largest muscles: hamstrings, quads, and glutes, (jumping can actually be taught and improved, read more at our Vert Shock information article). There is a lot of running, of course, plus the emotionally beneficial component of being part of a team. Even playing one-on-one in a game of “first to 21” is good for you and for building camaraderie. It doesn’t take much to put up a hoop outside the house, and there are lots of public courts out there. As sports go, it is one of the easiest to get involved with even when you don’t have much space. If there are public facilities, all you need is a ball and a partner.

Putting It All Together

So, what you need to lose weight effectively and lead a healthy lifestyle is a balance of exercise which is both social and builds muscle, plus healthy eating that doesn’t feel like a hardship. You could choose the Paleo diet as your way of eating. Joining a sports team could lead to lean, defined muscles. It’s never too late to start, but if you plan to make any major changes to your lifestyle, talk to a healthcare provider first. Never start a serious exercise program without building up to it. If your usual day is completely sedentary, start with gentler exercise like brisk walks; slowly stretch them out and make them faster; even add weights to arms and legs if you want. Don’t pick up a football, basketball, or soccer ball until you can climb stairs without getting out of breath.

Listen to your body. If a diet rich in red meat isn’t working for you, try something with more plants or switch to chicken instead of steak. Research is not as valuable as what you know about your own body.