4 Ways to Add More Protein to Your Diet
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If your goal is to lose weight, you need to eat in a calorie deficit.
If your goal is to ensure most of the weight you lose is body fat, you’ve got to keep your protein high.
Of the three macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate and fat), protein is the most important for building muscle definition and staying or getting lean. It helps build and repair damaged muscle tissue following strength training. From a fat loss standpoint, protein keeps you fuller when dieting and helps you preserve muscle mass, which keeps your metabolic rate high.
If you’re lean, you need to aim for 0.8-1.2 grams per pound of body weight.
If you’re not lean (over 25% body fat for men and 32% body fat for women), you need to aim for 1-1.2 grams per pound of lean body mass. To make it simpler, you can aim for 1-1.2 grams per pound of your target body weight.
However, protein also tends to be challenging to consume in adequate amounts. So what can you do to boost your intake?
Make sure you’re having enough protein each meal. If you normally don’t have much for breakfast, increase your intake earlier in the day. If you don’t have much of an appetite early in the day, supplement with protein powder. Better yet, have a protein shake blended with other ingredients.
Let’s say you need 130 grams of protein per day. If you’re having only five grams for breakfast, you’ll need 125 grams for lunch and dinner if you eat three meals per day. Getting in that much protein in two meals would be tough.
Instead, if you divided 130 grams of protein up over four meals, you would need just 32.5 grams per meal, which is much more doable for most people.
If you’re struggling to get enough protein in just two or three meals, have another meal or two throughout the day. Have a protein snack between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner.
For your snacks, you can have things like protein bars, protein powder, protein chips, protein bagels or turkey jerky. Yes, protein chips and bagels exist. You can also have another full meal or two. It’s entirely up to you.
Consuming heavy protein sources like chicken breast, ground beef and steak can be pretty darn filling. However, you can also find high-protein foods that aren’t as filling. For example, items like Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, protein powder, eggs and egg whites won’t fill you up as much as certain meats and fish.
Pick carbohydrate sources that are also high in protein such as quinoa, oats, protein pancakes, Ezekiel bread and buckwheat. Having staples like these can add a few grams of protein at each meal.
