Hi, I have recently lost some weight as I am nearing my first goal of 170 pounds, currently about 185. I am male with my height at 5'7. It occurred to me recently that in losing some weight, about 10-15 pounds, I have lost some my upper body strength. In particular its noticeably more difficult to perform my pushup exercise routine. My ab routine is still seeing steady progress but my pull up exercise is also taking a hit.

I need to loose weight but I do not want to sacrifice my strength in these routines. I need to become even stronger to reach my goal of performing well in the military. So how could I still loose weight but not only keep my strength, but increase it? I had a co-worker of mine suggest a higher protein diet which I was not doing before. I just now started become conscious of how much protein I should consume but is there any other advice to tips for my situation? Would my co-worker be wrong?

More protein will certainly help you gain more muscle mass. You should start by taking in about .5-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight to start. While protein shakes and bars are nice and easy, the best sources are whole foods. Red meat (in moderation), chicken, and fish are the best to start with. If you can't get all the daily protein from those sources, supplement with a shake or two.