Free guide

The Protein Guide

Almost every woman I assess is under-eating protein. Not by a little, by half. It's the most common reason training hard produces soft results, and it's also the easiest fix in your whole diet.

By Ashton Alderson  ·  Personal Trainer, Durham & Newcastle

01How much you actually need

If you're training and want to change your body composition, aim for roughly 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilo of bodyweight per day. For most women that lands somewhere between 100g and 140g a day. If you're in a fat-loss phase, sit at the higher end: protein is what protects your muscle while the fat comes off, so you lose the right kind of weight.

02Why it matters this much

Three reasons. Muscle: protein is the raw material, and without enough, training is sending the order with nothing in the warehouse. Fat loss: protein is the most filling thing you can eat, so a high-protein diet makes a calorie deficit feel dramatically easier. Recovery: you train, you break tissue down, protein rebuilds it. Skimp and you stay sore and stay the same.

03How to hit it without living on chicken

The trick is 25 to 40 grams per meal rather than one heroic dinner.

Protein shakes aren't magic and they aren't cheating. They're just a convenient way to fill the gap, especially around busy shifts.

04The usual mistakes

A carb-only breakfast (toast, cereal, fruit) that leaves you starving by eleven. "I had yoghurt" when it was a 60g fruit corner with 3g of protein. Saving it all for dinner. And believing protein is somehow bad for you: for healthy people, the intakes above are entirely safe and thoroughly studied.

05Start this week