I Had High Protein Meals for 3 Months. Here’s What Happened.

I didn’t see the results that I wanted, until now

I’ve always had fitness goals.

When I was playing Volleyball on the National Team, it was about jumping as high as I could while maintaining my leanness. When I left the national team, I wanted to bulk up while maintaining my leanness. It was through body re-composition, the idea sounded enticing but it wasn’t easy.

It’s the idea of building muscle while losing fat at the same time. This approach is different from the typical sequence of bulking up for a period of time and then cutting right after to achieve the same goal.

When I started my fitness journey, I realized that 2 things were very important to achieve my goal:

• Progressive overload
• Dieting

People always say abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym, but I never ever understood what it actually meant. I’ve always been pretty skinny but not to the point where I’m lean enough to see the definition of my abs.

I’ve experimented with a couple of dieting methods but I never was able to achieve my goals.

Ad now, I think I’ve got it.

The Asian Diet

I never really understood what getting abs in the kitchen really meant.

I don’t binge or crave sweet things. I eat pretty healthy meals. An average Asian meal would consist of some form of carbohydrate, usually loads of rice or noodles, mixed vegetables, and some small pieces of chicken. But as you’ve noticed, the bulk of my meals would come in the form of carbohydrates.

I always worked out but I never manage to get to see my abs pop out. Sure there would be some minor definition if I were to flex my abdominal muscles but it wasn’t popping out much. I didn’t know what the problem was.

I was progressively overloading every few weeks but I would always reach a plateau. It was as if I could not progress any further and I didn’t know what the problem was. Then after a few sessions of not progressing, I would eventually take a break when examinations were around the corner.

I never really thought that my diet was a problem since I was eating relatively clean. I thought perhaps maybe I wasn’t having enough protein for myself. Maybe I missed out on a progression during my training in the gym.

It was only in the States that I realized the problem.

Discovery in the US

I was lucky to be able to do an internship in the States.

Since my workouts were probably not the limiting factor, I decided to change my diet. Instead of eating ‘clean’, I would try to measure my diet and be in a caloric surplus.

As I was in charge of most of my meals, I decided to prepare my own meals for the week and track my progress along the way. This is when I realized the portions I was eating in Singapore were far too small and insufficient for the goals that I wanted to achieve.

Then I realize something important.

For comparison, in Singapore, a chicken breast that weighs 150g could be split into 3 person’s worth for a meal. But in the States, I would have an entire chicken breast for myself for a meal.

That was the missing link.

My focus was simple, I wanted to be in a slight caloric surplus at around 2400kcal while taking in 160g of protein per day. If I were to have 3 meals and a snack, each meal should comprise about 40–50g of protein. I used rough measurements to get a sensing of my macronutrients.

Usually, a chicken breast that weighs about 150g would contain about 46g of protein should be more than enough for a meal. Since my meals were largely optimized for protein, I could see changes in my body.

I was bulking up.

I became big but without much muscle definitions still. I thought I was doing everything right. I was eating well but I did not have a gym membership to progressively overload my muscles. I tried doing calisthenics with gymnastic rings but it wasn’t easy to overload my muscles further without additional weights.

I thought I was hitting the right numbers in the kitchen but I wasn’t getting lean.

After a while, I gave up.

During going back to Singapore, I found 2 problems:

• I was eating way too much protein as I did not have a food weighing scale to measure my food so I ate as much as I thought I needed and it was excessive
• The second problem was clear, I wasn’t overloading my muscles progressively

The golden rule

With the newfound knowledge, I started to give it a try again.

I committed for the next 3 months. I bought a weighing scale to meaning my food intake. I measured everything as close as I could. Clearly, my protein count was definitely much higher in the states which explains the increase in size.

I started doing cardio consistently as well in the form of running since I found a liking for it. Started to do progressive training as well while keeping my workouts simple. I didn’t overcomplicate things.

My main focus was to optimize my meals for protein by hitting my goal of 140–160g of protein per day.

2 months flew by and finally, I saw the results that I wanted.

I was ahead of schedule.

I was slowly getting bigger every week and I was leaner than ever. I succeeded. I manage to do some form of body recomposition, by reducing my body fat while increasing muscle mass. My body had more definition and I was progressing well in the gym.

The most important thing I learned was from a quote mentioned by my National Team Volleyball Coach:

“if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it”

Takeaways

I realized the main thing was to measure my meals properly.

All this while, I did not have a proper diet plan. I knew that I needed to eat clean, have high-protein meals, and progressively overload in the gym. But I never knew what all of that truly meant. Sure, high-protein meals could be a whole chicken breast to me, but it could be 3/4 of a chicken breast to someone else.

It was only through proper measurement that I realized its importance.

Next, I needed a proper system with a feedback loop for me to adjust my meals. It was clear to me that my weight can change dramatically over the course of the week. As my meals were pretty controlled for the 5 weekdays since I was preparing my meals, if I was trying to gain weight, I should see my weight increasing slightly by about 0.5kg — 1kg every week.

And if it’s not increasing, it could be a sign that I wasn’t eating enough. So, I should increase my caloric intake slightly by about 200kcal. Likewise, if I was increasing too much, I should lower my caloric intake slightly as well. It was a balancing act and I only realized this after experimenting.

The truth is everyone is different. You just need to experiment with your own body to see what works for you. Now, I keep my workouts simple but I’d track my workouts in the gym while having high-protein meals. It helps me to feel satiated throughout the day and it's a great feeling.

I’m never hungry again and I have more energy than I need for the day. I feel less tired as well and it seems like my body likes it.

Find what works for you and experiment along the way. It might feel troublesome at the beginning but it will be worth it.

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