Eleven things to add to your life if you want a better body

It’s not just diet and exercise

Yesterday, a friend and I were discussing our plans to get fit in 2022. We have starkly different approaches.

She’s jumpstarting the year with a diet program consisting of less than five hundred calories a day, supposedly to restart her metabolism. The company calls it fasting without fasting, and in her words, she will suffer five long days of horrid soup packets, dry wafers, and a special drink mix to keep her from passing out. Hmm.

I’m taking another route. I’m creating a better body by going for more — a lot more.

1. More protein

Protein blunts cravings by keeping you satiated and leveling your blood sugar. Good sources of protein include meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, beans, pulses, nuts, and tofu.

The recommended daily intake in a healthy adult is 0.8 to 1.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. We will do the math in a minute.

If you are healing from surgery or an accident, you need a higher protein intake of 1.25 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight. This is according to Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols, which are evidence-based care pathways aimed to enhance recovery.