Wanna know our biggest pet peeve? We’ll tell you… Nothing grinds our gears more than when we hear the sentiment, “Lifting weights will make you bulky!” We’re here to tell you that’s far from the truth and want to debunk this myth once and for all. Lifting weights and eating a high protein diet provides you with numerous health benefits.

 

You’ll actually burn more calories

Did you know that you burn more calories lifting weights than you do performing cardio? While you may burn more calories performing cardio, you will continue to burn calories after lifting weights. Your metabolism increases after weight training for up to 48 hours compared to 30 to 60 minutes after performing cardio. You can literally burn calories just by sitting on the couch after a strength training workout! This is due to the release of testosterone and human growth hormone, both of which help boost your metabolism. 

 

Women don’t have as much testosterone as men 

Ever wonder why your husband or significant other seems to see results faster than you? Men typically produce much more testosterone compared to women. Testosterone is a huge factor in your ability to put on muscle mass. 

 

You may not be lifting heavy enough or eating enough

In order to gain muscle in general, you must challenge yourself in the gym, e.g., challenge your muscles with heavy lifts. If you’re not progressively overloading your strength training sessions (e.g., increasing more weight, doing more sets), then you will not be encouraging your muscles to grow. This is why you often see quick results from lifting in the beginning of your fitness journey, but then feel like you’ve hit a plateau a few months later. 

You must also be eating enough calories to put on muscle mass. Many women unintentionally eat at a deficit (eating less calories than what your body naturally burns off) or maintenance (eating the same amount of calories of what your body naturally burns off). In order to build muscle, you must eat more calories than you burn (e.g., be eating in a surplus). Long story short, building muscle requires a lot more calories, protein, and testosterone than what you might expect.

 

Benefits of Lifting Weights

Not only are there aesthetic benefits of lifting weights, but there are a number of serious health benefits including but not limited to:

- Improves your bone density and helps prevent osteoporosis

- Aids in weight loss

- Improves your body composition (increases lean mass and reduces fat mass)

- Reduces your risk of chronic diseases

- Benefits your mental health and releases all the feel good endorphins

- Promotes stronger muscles, tendons and ligaments leading to more stable joints and overall movement

 

Okay, but what does having a high protein  diet have to do with any of this?

The most important aspect of building muscle comes down to your diet. Many women don’t eat enough calories or enough protein to support muscle growth. So why is eating protein so important? Protein is simply the building block of your muscles. 

A number of studies have shown that eating adequate amounts of protein can help increase your muscle mass, increase your strength, and help you recover faster. Similar to strength training, eating a high protein diet also helps boost your metabolism and increases fat burning.  Put simply, if you’re trying to put on muscle, you need to make sure you’re getting enough protein in your diet. 

Lucky for you, over 50% of the Nourish’d Menu contains high protein meals and has between 34 - 54g of protein in each large high protein meal. We believe that what’s inside matters. We are truly passionate about making delicious and nourishing food easy to access. It doesn’t have to be difficult to fuel your body with high protein food that is great for you. Get gourmet, pre-prepared healthy meals delivered straight to your door. Click here to discover our high protein meals.