Olivia Hartland Robbins, Healthista, joins Lift Studios Fulham for Operation Weight Loss. Here is the fourth rule of five non-negotiable rules for a healthy lifestyle: protein and vegetables

‘Mark I’m miserable. I was crying and begging for help to lose weight.

Why? Why? Why?

Mark Stanton is the co-founder at LIFT Studio in Fulham and he agreed to help me shed weight and regain my confidence.

LIFT Studios, like a growing number boutique gyms of high quality, offers a one-to-one training service.

Mark and his team use a framework based on lifestyle medicine to structure the guidance and support they provide you.

Lifestyle medicine is a scientifically-based method of achieving optimal health by replacing negative behaviours with positive ones.

Mark believes that the closer you get to achieving ‘optimal fitness’, the better your training results will be.

These results are more durable and will last longer if you develop healthy habits along the way.

Lift stands by the following key pillars to achieve optimal health:

• Physical Activity
• Diet and nutrition
• Sleep
• Stress and Substances
• Social Connection

Mark 5 rules that I will try to follow from now on. These rules are not only a starting point but should be a goal for your daily life.

Every day, I will reveal five new rules.

Rule #4: Eat at least two vegetables and one portion of protein at each meal

The human body cannot make amino acids on its own. Protein contains these building blocks.

It also gives your body shape and helps build lean muscle tissue. This is important when you are training hard, as you won’t lose muscle mass, but will instead be fueling your muscles constantly to grow and shape.

Every meal should contain protein

A protein-rich meal will keep you feeling fuller longer. This means that having protein with each meal or snack will result in fewer calories consumed between meals.

In fact, a randomlyised crossover study involved 40 men and women who consumed diets that contained 5%, 15 %, or 30 % of protein. Participants who consumed 30 percent of their calories as protein consumed an average of 575 calories less per day.

What does this mean in terms of real food? You’re likely familiar with the protein-rich foods that include meat, poultry and eggs, as well as vegetarian sources like tofu, tempeh and lentils, pulses, beans, and nuts.

What was my protein target? Here’s how Mark did it…

Equation: Bodyweight in KGS x 1.4 at a starting point = daily protein goal For me, who weighs 79.6kgs the equation would be: 79.6×1.4 = 111.4g protein per day.

You can divide this up according to your schedule. You can have up to 35g of proteins per meal if you eat three meals a day.

Choose your protein and two vegetables first for each meal.

One serving of meat (usually a hand-sized portion) will contain between 20 and 25g of proteins. Watch out for the upcoming article on how protein helps with weight loss.

All of us need to consume more vegetables or plants. They are nutritional powerhouses, providing all the vitamins and mineral our bodies require to function properly.

You don’t have to hate carbohydrates. But if your first choice of meal is a protein and two vegetables, and then only carbs are added if necessary, you will get more nutrients and stay fuller longer.