The most important thing to understand about overall health and wellness, especially weight loss and lean muscle-building, is that it depends on several critical factors. A common misconception is that diet and exercise alone is enough to reach a healthy weight. At Longevity Medical Clinic our goal is to approach acquiring a healthy weight from all angles, identifying issues contributing to weight gain including hormone balancing, an appropriate supplementation regimen, and an adequate water intake and amount of sleep. And of course, a healthy diet that includes an ideal amount of protein and a focused exercise program will combine for ultimate success. Read more...

The following is a response to one of our Longevity patients who is experiencing incredible results on the Longevity program. He has been on a balanced hormone regimen for 8-9 weeks. He works out with a personal trainer 4 days a week and does cardio every day. With this kind of attention, it’s no real surprise that his strength, energy, fat loss, and overall fitness levels have dramatically improved. His goal is to go from his current weight of 203 lbs and 18-19% body fat to 190 lbs and 15% body fat. The question then is how many grams of protein should he be consuming on a daily basis for optimal results?

Most of the literature seems to indicate that 2 grams of protein per kilogram of lean body mass is adequate for a person who is exercising vigorously. Using the weight and body fat of this LMC patient, the calculations would go like this:

1. Divide your weight in pounds by 2.2.This will give you your weight in kilograms (203 divided by 2.2 equals 92.2)

2. Subtract your current percentage of body fat from 100 (100% - 18% equals 82% lean body mass)

3. Multiply that as a percentage times your weight in kilograms for your lean body mass (0.82 times 92.2kg equals 75.6kg of lean body mass)

4. Multiply that by two and it will tell you how many grams of protein you need per day when exercising vigorously (2 times 75.6kg equals 151.2g of protein daily)

A sedentary lifestyle would require about one half of this amount of protein. And remember, protein is not synonymous with red meat. You can get high amounts of protein from fish, whey based protein supplements, beans, sprouts, and legumes of all types. Also, eggs and poultry are often preferable to red meat as animal sources.

Please note that simply obtaining the optimal dose of protein daily is not enough to improve weight loss and lean muscle-building. You must combine this approach with a balancing hormone regimen…otherwise it’s probable that you will be storing your protein as tummy fat! You want to use protein to build lean muscle. And you don’t want all that work to be for nothing!

J. N. Mixon M.D.