This one is about how I’ve increased my protein intake.
Hi! Here I am talking about protein again! To me, it’s the most important macronutrient to get right in your diet, and I’ve been on a quest to find the perfect amount of protein for myself for quite some time.
It was right around this time last year that I declared I was going to increase my protein intake from 100 grams of protein a day to 120 grams of protein a day. Well, I did that for a while, and then I decided to up it even more. These days, I try to eat about 145 grams of protein a day (which is approximately my bodyweight in grams). And eating my bodyweight in grams of protein will likely remain my goal, because that’s pretty much the standard for an active woman looking to build and maintain muscle. And yes, that’s a lot of protein!
Side note: I don’t use an app to track my protein intake, nor do I weigh my food. I eyeball it and check labels. And I don’t track overall calories, carbohydrates or fat. I’m not a huge fan of tracking everything you put in your mouth. But I am a fan of eating enough protein, so that’s why I keep a loose approximation of that one macro each day.
Today, I’m going to share exactly how I’ve increased my protein intake over the last few months. And the thing is, I did it gradually.
About two years ago, I was hardly getting 100 grams of protein a day. I was always eating healthy and staying really active by teaching my group fitness classes, but my body composition and overall strength were both pretty stagnant. So I decided to consistently hit 100 grams, and that felt okay and was pretty doable for a while. But still, I knew I could/should do more to match my activity levels. Months later (starting early last year), I decided to hit 120 grams of protein a day as a goal. Then, during the early fall of last year, I finally started to shoot for 145 grams of protein a day. This gradual increase was very helpful, because almost everything is more doable when you break it off into little chunks (except pulling off a Band-aid, of course).
Now, let’s talk about exactly how I’ve done it …
Drinking one protein shake a day of at least 30 grams of protein.
I’ve always loved having a protein shake after a workout, and that’s something I’ve done for a very long time. However, oftentimes, I would have a protein shake with only 15 to 20 grams of protein in it.
And when I was looking at ways to increase my protein intake, I decided to either double the protein serving or find a protein powder that has at least 30 grams per serving. This was step number one for me, and it was incredibly simple.
Also, I used to only have protein shakes right after my workouts, and I wouldn’t have them on rest days or on weekends when I wasn’t as active. But now, I have one protein shake every single day, so I meet my protein intake on the weekends as well as the weekdays. I never recommend getting a ton of your protein from a processed source like protein powder, but it’s totally fine to have one a day, which is what has worked for me.
I’ve used and enjoyed a lot of protein powders over the years (Organifi, NOW Foods, OWYN, etc.), and right now, I’m really into the Life Time Health Vegan All-in-One Protein, which has 30 grams of protein per serving, mixes up well and tastes great.
Also, I have a discount code for you: 273605 is my special code for you to save on your order from the Life Time Health site or even in Life Time Cafes at Life Time locations. (You don’t have to be a Life Time member to order Life Time supplements, by the way. And I’m using quite a few of them right now, and I love them all.)
Adding more eggs to my lunch each day.
For the longest time, I would eat two eggs along with some veggies and grains for lunch. And well, that was not enough protein for lunch, even though it filled me up. The average egg only has six grams of protein, so two eggs, at 12 grams of protein, is not sufficient for a meal.
Now, I have three or four eggs, usually four. And when I mentioned this to someone once before, that person expressed concern about the amount of cholesterol in eggs. Well, yes, eggs are high in cholesterol. But, eggs are also high in a bunch of other valuable nutrients. And I choose pasture-raised eggs, which have less cholesterol than other eggs. I’m not at all concerned about my cholesterol levels, so eggs work well for me. And if they didn’t, I could always do egg whites, but I prefer the whole egg.
Once again, this is what has worked for me, and it’s absolutely not a blue-print for anyone else. We all have different wants, needs, likes and concerns.
Eating more meat each week, especially at dinner.
I liked being mostly plant-based, and I did that for a very long time. I didn’t crave meat, and I didn’t cook meat. But I did eat it occasionally, mostly during dinners out or if Dave wanted to cook us steaks for some special reason. But now, I eat meat multiple times a week, and this has drastically increased my protein intake. We have a lot of chicken during the week, burgers on the weekends, and meatballs on our usual Sunday home-made pizza, etc.
Meat has a lot of protein, and eating more meat has helped me take my dinners from about 20 grams of protein a night to 30 or 40 grams of protein a night. By the way, our favorite easy-chicken dinner option to buy is Kevin’s Natural Foods chicken, which is pre-flavored and cooks up so easily on the stove-top. I love it. I also love to get rotisserie chickens to keep things simple.
Another point: I always order meat at restaurants now too. We eat lunch out at least once on the weekend, and I make sure my lunch plate has an appropriate serving of meat on it, whereas I used to not worry about that and would usually just get grains and veggies and bread.
This gradual mindset shift to always be loosely looking at the protein on my plate didn’t happen overnight, but I’ve come to do it very easily now.
Switching up my daily breakfast from oats to high-protein yogurt.
This one change right here is the most significant. And that’s because my first meal of the day is now full of way more protein than it was before.
For so many, many years, I ate oatmeal for breakfast. Sometimes cold overnight oats, sometimes warm stove-top oats, sometimes instant oatmeal packets. And I’d also add some almond or peanut butter. Even though it always felt like I was eating a high-protein breakfast, it just wasn’t exactly “high” in protein.
My oatmeal and peanut butter combination was probably only ever about 15 grams of protein, unless I had two packets of oatmeal when I was doing the packets and then it was closer to 20 grams of protein. It was so tasty, and I loved eating oatmeal for so long. And there was nothing wrong with that delicious breakfast, but unless I added in protein powder, it wasn’t going to be enough protein for me to meet my new goal of 145 grams of protein a day. I knew I needed to switch up my breakfast, and because I already eat a lot of eggs at lunch, I landed on switching to yogurt.
For the last several months, I’ve been eating yogurt for breakfast every single morning. And not any yogurt, but a high-protein version. Now, my big bowl of yogurt with a banana every morning gives me 30-35 grams of protein in one shot. I tried a few different yogurts for a while and landed on this one that I absolutely love — called Ratio Food KETO Vanilla Yogurt. And I’ve mentioned it before. I can only find this version at the Publix near me, and it is absolutely the creamiest and tastiest yogurt I’ve ever had. I eat it every single morning.
It feels really good to have upped my protein intake first thing, because I think this jumpstarts my protein intake for the day.
Never skipping a protein-rich snack.
And finally, in order to meet my 145 grams (approximately, of course, because I never count the exact grams), I need to have three protein-rich meals a day and two protein-rich snacks. My protein shake is one of those protein-rich snacks, then I need one more.
It used to be that on days I was less active, if I wasn’t hungry for a snack, I would skip it. And that’s intuitive eating, and I fully support that way of life. But, it also wasn’t helping me meet my protein goals. These days, every single day, even if I’m not super hungry, I eat a protein-rich snack in the mid-afternoon. On weekdays, that afternoon snack happens in the car when I’m in line to pick up Brady from school.
I usually have a G2G Bar, which has 18 grams of protein and really good ingredients too. I’ve been relying on these bars for a long time, and I’m totally fine with having one most days of the week. (And if you’ve never tried them, they are quite tasty. My code ALADYGOESWEST, gets you 15 percent off on the G2G Bar site too.) Other days, I have another protein shake, or yogurt, or cottage cheese and nuts. Whatever it is, I try to have at least 18-20 grams of protein in my snack, and I never miss it.
And that concludes how I’ve increased my protein in take over the last few months. Now that we’ve covered the how, let’s talk a bit more about the why …
And now for the “why” I’ve increased my protein …
I’ve known for a long time how important protein is for overall health, muscle growth, strength, recovery, performance, immune function, cellular repair, and of course, body composition. And yet, I still struggled to eat enough for my activity levels. (You can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you don’t put it into action, it’s not going to do you any good.) I’ve always been more of a carbs and fat girl, and so eating a lot of protein hasn’t come easy to me.
Well, last summer, after my third (and final) miscarriage, I decided I didn’t want to coast along with doing the same things I was doing for so long anymore. It was time to make some changes. I made quite a few changes in my life, and I took a good hard look at my wellness too. My fitness was pretty good, my diet was healthy, but the one thing I knew I needed to address was my protein intake. I started adding more and more in, and since then, I feel like I’ve gotten stronger, recovered faster and even seen more muscle definition than I have in a very long time, so I know I’m on the right path with this adjustment.
While we’re always learning, changing and growing, I know that what I’m doing now will not be forever. But it’s what’s working for me right now, and I wanted to share that with you.
(Here are my leggings. I’m in a medium, and they are high-waisted, compressive and have a zip pocket on the leg too. Love them!)
As a reminder, my journey and plan is mine and mine alone, and you may have totally different goals and needs. But I’ve always enjoyed talking about my experiences, and this seemed like something worth covering on the ol’ blog.
Thank you for taking the time to read this one, friend. Be well!
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Questions of the day
Do you know how much protein you eat each day?
What’s one thing you want to change this year with your eating habits/nutrition?