Protein is an essential part of a balanced diet, but it can come with more fat than you want. Of course, more fat, equals more calories. It tastes good, but it has a few downsides.

Individual calorie and protein needs are based on your age, weight, height, sex and the levels of exercise that you get on regular basis.

Beyond protein’s essential roles in building and maintaining muscle and tissues in your body and helping regulate many body processes, it can also help you to maintain a healthy weight.

  • White Fish
  • Skinless White Meat
  • Lean Beef (Lean cuts are those with less than 10 grams of total fat and 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat)
  • Pork Loin

Are You on a Low Carb Diet?

If you are on a low carb diet you’ll need to include a source of protein with each meal. Meat contains many important nutrients, including iron, zinc and magnesium. Select cuts with no visible fat and only a few grams of fat per serving. This will significantly reduce your saturated fat intake, which will in turn, support your healthy weight loss efforts.

You should steam, grill, poach or bake meats to keep the fat content low. Frying lean meats in oil will inevitably increase the fat content. Any oil will do this, even an olive oil.

Avoid creamed sauces too. Lightly season your lean meats or coat them in a spicy mix to give them a bit of oomph. Maintaining a low carb diet comes with its challenges. It’s not often sustainable long-term, so eventually you may want to think about adding minimal carbs. Maybe one roast potato with your Sunday dinner!