3 Easy Ways to Increase Daily Protein
Protein is one of the essential building blocks of our nutrition, it aids in recovery, building lean muscle mass, helps keep us satisfied & keeps away cravings. As a general rule of thumb being in the range of 0.7g per lb of bodyweight, up to 1g per pound is a healthy intake. If you are someone with 20+ lbs of weight to lose, I would go on the lower end or if you track your food and find that you are way under this target, start low and work your way up!
Over the years, coaching hundreds of women, one of the main challenges I find women have is getting enough protein. If you find yourself in this category, here are a few hacks I have used for years, that help increase daily protein without feeling like you’re just eating mass amount of chicken breast and protein powder all day long!!
Know Your Main Go-To Protein Sources. Being educated on your food is key, in order to take ownership of our health, getting educated is so important, the more we know, the better we can do! A common mistake I see people make is considering food like nuts or chickpeas as main protein sources and while they DO contain some protein, they are actually much higher in fats and carbs! When looking for key protein sources, we want them to be high in protein and have more trace amounts of carbs and fats in comparison. Here are some of my go-tos:
-Chicken: Breast, thighs, ground, canned, deli style
-Turkey: deli style, ground or baked and shredded
-Eggs: Whole, whites, boiled
-Beef: Ground (usually 90+% lean), steak
-Seafood: shrimp, white fish, salmon, tuna
-Beef Jerky/Sticks: My go-to’s- Nicks Sticks, Chomps, Archer Farms
-Pork: Bacon, Ham, Pork Chops
-Protein Powder: Swolverine
-Dairy: Cottage Cheese, Greek Yogurt
2. Center each meal around Protein. Choose which main protein source you’ll have at each meal and then build the rest of your meal around it. If you make this your main focus it will make it much easier to hit your target! If you’re doing this and still under your target, try to take the protein sources you’re already having and slightly increase your portion at each meal. This way you aren’t re-inventing the wheel every time, you’re just bumping up the portions of what you’re already having!
3. Prep in bulk & have snacks on hand. Protein can often take the longest to cook so making sure you have it prepped and readily available will make it so much easier! Pre-making a big batch of chicken thighs or shredded chicken, ground beef or boiled eggs is a great way to be able to ‘grab-n-go"‘. Making a big chicken or tuna salad, having meat stick, jerky or to-go size greek yogurt or cottage cheese are all easy ways to have it on hand. Protein is super filling so if you have this on hand, it will help a ton with cravings and getting to that ‘hangry’ stage!
These 3 Tips will easily have you eating more protein, seeing more results and feeling fantastic!!
