START WITH THE STEAK

Under the Hood is a weekly look at what's really driving your health, fixed 1% at a time.

Today: how much protein you need, why most guys are way under, what protein actually does, and a simple way to hit your number.

Last weekend, I took my son Edyn camping for the first time. And man, it was an absolute blast.

On a night hike, the instructor told us something that stuck with me. A great horned owl weighs about three pounds, but its grip measures almost 30 pounds of force. For a 200-pound man, that'd be a 2,000-pound grip. And once it grabs its prey, it doesn't let go.

It was cold that night, so we cuddled up together, and he was the happiest kid in the world.

Growing up, I never went camping with my dad. So I want to do some things a little differently.

Dads, if you've got young ones, take them camping. Or do anything that gets you out of your comfort zone together. The days are long, but the years are short.

This week we start a new series, the Fuel System, starting with the most important one: protein. If food is fuel, protein is the parts.

THE DEEP DIVE

How much you actually need.

You’ve probably heard the official number: 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. That’s the RDA. For a 200-pound guy, it works out to about 73 grams a day.

The RDA is the minimum to avoid deficiency, not the target. Even the lead researcher on the biggest study on this has said it’s probably too low.

In 2018, his team pulled together 49 studies with almost 1,900 people who lifted weights. Muscle gains kept climbing until about 0.7 grams per pound a day, then leveled off. Some guys may benefit from more, up to about 1 gram per pound.

So here’s the range I use with clients: 0.7 to 1 gram per pound of your goal body weight.

Say you’re 200 pounds and want to get to 180. I’ll tell you to shoot for 180 grams a day. Then we check in. Was it easy? Was it hard?

If it was a struggle, we back off to 0.8 grams per pound and reverse engineer from there.

The easiest way to get there: 30 to 40 grams, three or four times a day. And the older you get, the more you should lean toward 40. Muscle gets less responsive to protein with age. In one study, older men needed more protein per meal than younger men to get the same muscle-building response.

Most guys are way under.

When I ask clients how much protein they eat, they usually say “a lot.” So I ask them to walk me through it.

A piece of beef jerky. A cup of yogurt. A chicken breast. Maybe a protein shake.

That’s around 85 grams. For the guy shooting for 180, that’s less than half. And when we look at the rest of his day, the carbs are through the roof.

Calories 101.

Most people will tell you there are three macronutrients: protein, carbs, and fat. But there’s a fourth source of calories people miss: alcohol.

Here’s what each one gives you per gram:

Whether you want to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain, you have to understand this. It comes down to how many calories you eat versus how many you burn. And remember, energy doesn’t disappear. It gets used, released as heat, or stored.

Not all calories are the same. Not all protein, carbs, or fats are the same either. And alcohol is empty calories: almost double the calories of protein, with nothing your body can build with. We’ll talk about alcohol in a future issue.

Protein is the one to understand first. Once you do, making wiser choices gets a lot easier.

What protein actually does.

When you eat protein, your body breaks it down into amino acids. Think of them as the parts your body uses to rebuild the engine.

There are 20 of them. Your body can make 11 on its own. The other 9 are called essential, because you can only get them from food.

The most important one for muscle is leucine. It’s the switch that tells your body to start building. But leucine can’t do the job alone. Your body needs all nine essential amino acids to actually build muscle.

That’s why I say strength is the principal, and everything else is interest. And you can’t build strength or muscle without protein.

Carbs are your body’s fastest fuel. Fat lasts longer. Protein is the last thing your body wants to burn for energy. But if you’re eating less to lose weight and you’re short on protein, your body starts pulling from your muscle. Enough protein is how you lose the fat and keep the muscle.

Protein first.

When you’re trying to lose fat, protein gives you the most bang for your buck. It keeps you fuller, and higher-protein diets help people lose more fat and hold on to more muscle while they’re eating less.

So here’s the simplest fat-loss advice I have: start your plate with protein first. Then add your fruits, vegetables, carbs, and fats.

The 14-day experiment.

One of my clients was curious. What would happen if he just ate protein for 14 days?

This isn’t something I’d recommend for everybody. Everybody’s different. But I’m big on experimenting, with a coach in your corner. You see what works, what sticks, and what doesn’t.

He doesn’t like eating breakfast. So I told him: for lunch, eat one pound of meat. For dinner, eat one pound of meat. Add veggies if you want. That’s it.

We kept it lean: lean beef, ground turkey, and some venison. A pound of lean meat gets you close to 100 grams of protein. So he was hitting around 200 grams a day from just two meals.

He felt full. He felt good. And he dropped weight.

But the biggest thing was what he learned. He wasn’t short on food. He was short on protein. He’d been filling up on carbs, fats, and snacks, and never realized how little protein he was getting.

He’s many pounds down now, and he’s kept it off. He eats vegetables, fruits, all of it. But protein comes first on every plate.

If you’ve never tried something, you don’t know how it feels. So run your own experiment. Just start with protein.

Not all protein is the same.

Plant-based, keto, Mediterranean, carnivore, pescatarian. Whatever way you eat, almost everyone in health and wellness agrees on one thing: we all need enough protein.

But 10 grams of protein from lentils isn’t the same as 10 grams from chicken or whey. Animal protein is packed with essential amino acids. Many plant proteins have about half as much per gram, and they’re usually lower in a couple of key ones.

I’m not knocking plant-based eating. It just means you’ll need a bit more protein to get the same effect, and that usually brings more carbs and calories with it.

If you eat plant-based, mix it up. Soy is your best bet. Rice and beans work because each covers what the other is missing.

The best diet is the one you’ll do.

Whatever your style is, understand this part: it’s about consistency. You have to stick with it long enough to see results.

There’s science behind this. In a year-long study, people on a healthy low-carb diet and people on a healthy low-fat diet lost about the same amount of weight. What mattered was sticking with it.

I’ve tried most eating styles. None of them is the best. The best one is the one you’ll actually do.

For me, eating all three macros works well: protein, carbs, and fat. But whatever your style is, prioritize protein.

Know your numbers.

In business, we say know your numbers. Same if you’re trying to get out of debt: you check your bank account first.

Same thing here. You can’t reach your goal if you don’t know where you’re starting. Track it for a little while, and once you get into a rhythm, you’ll be able to eyeball it.

A quick way to eyeball it: a palm-sized piece of chicken, steak, or fish is about 20 to 30 grams. Most guys need about two palms per meal.

Food first.

Supplements are great. But they’re exactly that: supplements. They’re not the main driver.

Get most of your protein from whole foods. Meat, fish, eggs, dairy. Real food gives you all nine essential amino acids, plus everything else your body needs.

Use a shake when life gets busy, like I do in the morning. Just don’t build your day around them.

What I eat.

My days start early and end late. So right now, my eating is built around what’s quick and on the go. And it changes, because I’m always experimenting.

Morning: a shake with whey protein, greens, and creatine, plus my morning supplements. Then coffee and electrolytes. Some days I fast in the morning instead.

Lunch: about two palms of protein, so 50 to 70 grams, with greens. If I’m training legs that day, I’ll add potatoes, either red or sweet.

Dinner: whatever my wife makes. She’s a great cook, and it’s usually a protein, a veggie, and maybe a carb.

That puts me somewhere around 180 to 220 grams a day. Sometimes a little less.

On weekends, I’ll have breakfast: eggs and sourdough, with some fruit mixed in.

With three kids, I’m in a season where I can’t control every meal. So I protect the ones I can. Get the first two right, and dinner takes care of itself.

Simple is better.

QUICK HITS

FUEL — Eating out? Pick your protein first, then build the rest of the plate around it. Steak, chicken, or fish, with a side of veggies, and you’re halfway to your number.

TRAINING — You don’t need to chug a shake right after your workout. I promise the workout still counts if you eat your protein several hours later. The 2018 study found the time of day you take protein didn’t change the results. Your daily total matters most.

FAMILY — Your kids are watching your plate. My son Edyn does great with protein. My daughter is a picky eater. Some days she wants to eat, and some days not so much. How we know she’s getting her daily protein is through her milk. She drinks it three times a day, and that alone covers what a toddler needs, about 13 grams. Lead by example, and don’t stress the small meals.

MIND — You won’t hit your number every day. That’s fine. Five days out of seven still counts.

Next week, Part 2: fat. It’s got the most calories per gram, and it’s been blamed for everything for decades. But your body can’t run without it. We’ll talk about which fats to build around and which ones to cut back.

If you know a guy who thinks a protein bar and a shake count as a high-protein diet, send him this one. When he signs up here, he’ll get my free Lean in 90 guide, a simple fat-loss plan built around everything in this issue.

Your body is worth stewarding.

1% BETTER

— Coach Joshua

Educational content, not medical advice. Partner with your physician, ideally one who believes in proactive care. If you have kidney disease, talk to your doctor before raising your protein.

New here? Every issue lives in the archive. Last week I covered the only 4 sleep supplements worth your money.