If you want to build muscles after 55 eat protein, and lots of it, with every meal!

Your goal is to get between .7 and 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight every day. Now that recommendation isn’t the same one we’d make for someone who’s 25 and wants to put on 40 pounds of muscle; it’s the recommendation for those that want to live long, continually studily lives.

Likewise, avoid meals that are all carbohydrate or carbohydrate and fat. That means those days of a bagel with a schmear of cream cheese are gone. If you insist on a bagel, have it with lox, or turkey, or an egg sandwiched between the sides of the bagel.

If you have a salad at lunch, make sure it comes with plenty of chicken. Dinner should consist of steamed or grilled vegetables liberally doused with olive oil and accompanied by 4 to 6 ounces of meat (fish, beef, chicken, pork, etc.).

You’re likely going to need a quality protein supplement to augment your intake. Opt for a combination of casein and whey like Metabolic Drive®. And don’t skimp on the price. When it comes to protein powders, you often get what you pay for. By the same token, though, don’t bother to buy protein powders that come laced with dubious ancillary supplements. Just stick to basic protein.

Place a few scoops in water or milk and drink as needed to hit your protein goal. Have a serving or two mixed with milk at bedtime so that you build lean tissue all night long.

Eat lots of protein just before, during, and right after a workout.

Amino acids, including branched chain amino acids (BCAA), supply up to 15% of a muscle’s energy needs during a workout, but use of BCAA can increase by up to five times, depending on the intensity and the duration of exercise.

If you don’t supply the protein through diet, your body cannibalizes your muscles. You can halt the cannibalism, though, by ingesting the right type of protein before, during, and after a workout. And, if you spare muscle protein and negate protein degradation, you set the muscle up for regeneration and remodeling, otherwise known as growth. The best way to do this is to sip a high carb/high protein drink like Plazma™ before and during your workout.

And while most people know the value of consuming another high carb/high protein meal after a workout, it’s important that you do it within the first hour or two post-workout.

Get plenty of fiber

Get at least 20 grams a day, from sources like beans, vegetables, fruits, oatmeal, multi-grain bread, etc. If you can’t eat enough fiber through whole foods, consider a source of psyllium husk like Metamucil.

Avoid foods that come in a box.

Before the 18th century, very few people had diabetes. Then came the invention of the high-speed milling wheel. Prior to its advent, flour was coarse. The bread that was made from it looked like it was filled with wood chips (and it pretty much was). As such it was slow to digest. But after the milling wheel rolled into the picture, bread was made from fine flour. It was easy to digest. In fact, it caused a spike in insulin like you’d get from eating cotton candy. Diabetes eventually started to rear its ugly, serpent-riddled head.

It’s not much different today. A boxed food is generally made of highly-processed carbs and they’re what cause a good deal of the obesity in this country. Stay away from them. Buy whole, fresh foods if possible.