How to Eat More Protein: 21 Tips, Tricks, and Recipes
To figure out how to eat for weight loss, there are really only three things to focus on:
1. Eat at a calorie deficit.
This is a non-negotiable: you MUST consume fewer calories than you use. You can figure out how many calories you should eat to be in a deficit using my free weight loss calorie calculator.
2. Get 80% of calories from nutritious food and 20% from less nutritious food.
If you’re not sure whether a food is nutritious or less nutritious, ask a grandmother born before 1950. The nutritious food makes you feel healthy and energized, and all those micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) contribute toward helping you recover from exercise. The less nutritious food keeps you sane, lets you be social, and helps you maintain a healthy relationship with food.
3. Eat a ton of protein. Around 1g protein per lb target weight (so if you want to drop down to 150 lbs, eat 150g protein per day). And that’s what this post is about.
From a weight loss perspective, there are three reasons why you should eat a ton of protein...
First, eating protein is AWESOME for bringing hunger levels down to manageable levels. Your body responds to a high protein intake by releasing a hormone called cholecystokinin (CCK). And it’s this hormone that brings hunger levels down (if you’re interested, here’s a study demonstrating this).
Second, it helps you recover from exercise.
And third, it helps preserve your lean muscle mass while losing weight. Losing lean muscle leads to a lower metabolism - which won’t make weight loss sustainable long term because you’ll have to consume fewer and fewer calories over time. Which won’t last very long. And you’ll end up with very little definition (if you’re interested, here’s a study that demonstrates how protein helps you preserve lean muscle while losing weight).
Use these 21 tips, tricks, and recipes to figure out how you can eat more protein.
Oh - before we move on, enter your details below and I’ll email you a summary of all 21 tips to keep handy on your phone or laptop AND a few free gifts. You’ll also start receiving my weekly newsletter every Monday (along with 6,000+ other readers) and I’ll also send you a quick email if I have exciting news or a new blog post I think you’ll enjoy reading. In short, we’ll be friends - and I love sharing good news with friends.
21 Ways to Eat More Protein
1. Mindset switch: base meals around protein
Instead of thinking about using this post for general tips and “hacks”, I want you to try to switch your mindset.
Because if you’re finding it hard to eat enough protein, it’s because you treat it as an afterthought.
You know: breakfast is cereal or toast. Lunch is a sandwich. Dinner is a rice or pasta dish.
In other words, you base meals around carbs, not protein. This needs to change.
Start thinking about the protein part of the meal first and then build the rest of the meal around it. I’ll give tips for substitutions throughout this blog post.
2. Fill 25% of your plate with protein
If you’re not sure about what “enough” protein looks like, it should fill around 25% of your plate at each meal.
3. Eat 1-2 palms of protein per meal
This is another way of thinking about the above 25% rule, and it’s a little easier to picture if you’re not eating from a plate.
We’re going to use the palm of your hand to figure out how much protein you should be eating per meal.
Look at the palm of your hand - from the front, back, and sides.
For example, we usually put yogurt in a bowl instead of on a plate, and so using the palm of your hand to think about the portion size might be more useful.
However, weighing/measuring your protein source will be more accurate for determining portion size.
4. Pre-track protein
If you track your calories in an app (which I recommend you do), try pre-tracking your protein.
Tonight, plan what you’ll eat tomorrow for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Now pre-track your protein sources in the app, adjusting the portion sizes as needed to get closer to your goals.
5. Keep protein powder and a shaker bottle at home
When you first start out increasing your protein intake, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with relying on protein powder at first. It’s a very easy way of doubling your protein intake if you’re currently struggling.
Also, I want you to find out immediately how effective protein is at keeping hunger away. If you’ve never experienced it, you’ll be shocked.
I recommend Legion Athletics, specifically their Cinnamon Cereal whey protein, which is the BEST I’ve ever tasted. And if you use the code ROSENTRAIN you’ll save 20% on your first order (full disclosure: I’m sponsored by Legion, but I legitimately love their products and they’re a very transparent company - which is why I accepted their offer of a sponsorship).
6. Keep protein powder and a shaker bottle at work
Because it makes an excellent snack. Also, you’ll be able to follow the below tip at work…
7. Drink a protein shake before each meal
I think this is a tip from Dan John, and it's so simple: mix 1 scoop of protein powder with water and drink it directly before a meal.
You'll get around 25g of protein, it's only 100-120 calories, and the liquid will make you feel physically fuller, limiting the risk of overeating if you’re trying to stay in a calorie deficit.
Note: if you’re able to implement any of the below breakfast ideas, just drink a shake before lunch and dinner.
8. Switch out some of your breakfast carbs for protein
There’s nothing inherently wrong with toast or cereal. But they’re super low in protein.
And even the cereals that claim to be high protein really are not: 5-10g protein per serving is low. If your goal is 120g protein per day and you eat one serving of the “high protein” cereal for breakfast, you still need to eat another 110g protein before the end of the day.
Popular high-protein sources of protein that my clients and I like to eat at breakfast include:
Cottage cheese. 3/4 cup of 1% cottage cheese contains 24g protein and 150 calories.
Greek yogurt. 1 cup of non-fat Greek yogurt contains 22g protein and 120 calories.
Eggs (6g protein per large egg) and egg whites (12g protein per 1/2 cup).
Protein powder
9. Breakfast idea 1: Greek yogurt berry bowl with protein powder
Here’s one of my go-to breakfasts:
3/4 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
1 scoop whey protein isolate
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 cup frozen blueberries
Mix the first 3 ingredients in a bowl until there’s no more visible protein powder, then stir in the berries. That’s 44g protein and 438 calories. Adjust your own portion size accordingly.
10. Breakfast idea 2: cottage cheese “ice cream”
I know, this sounds weird.
But it actually tastes really good.
Important note: you must use plant-based protein powder to get the best taste and texture. Do not use whey protein for this one. Trust me.
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 scoop plant-based protein
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 cup frozen blueberries
Mix the first 3 ingredients in a bowl until there’s no more visible protein powder, then stir in the berries. That’s 38g protein and 380 calories. Adjust your own portion size accordingly.
11. Breakfast idea 3: high protein scrambled eggs
I know what you’re thinking.
Aren’t eggs already high protein?
Well, not really.
You see, for some reason, most people seem to limit their egg intake to 2 eggs per meal.
And even if you’re using large eggs, that’s only 12g protein.
So here’s what you’re going to add to make it high-protein: liquid egg whites.
You can buy cartons of liquid egg whites from any grocery store, and they’re essentially pure protein.
Here’s how I do it:
1 tablespoon butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup liquid egg whites
1 cup frozen mixed veggies
Steam the veggies. While you’re doing that, scramble the eggs and egg whites in the butter. That’s 29g protein and 388 calories.
12. Breakfast idea 4: No-Excuse High Protein Breakfast
A few people tell me they’re “too busy” to make breakfast.
Cool.
Well, you really have no excuse with this one:
1 scoop protein powder
8-10oz water
Ice
Put it all through a blender, drink, then get on with your day.
If you don’t have a blender, just mix cold water and protein powder in a shaker.
You could also blend the protein powder with your coffee.
13. Always keep cooked chicken breast in the fridge
It makes an excellent snack.
You can also throw it into a salad for an easy high protein, low calorie lunch.
14. When buying/ordering a salad, ask for double protein
I find most salad places and restaurants skimp on the protein. So I always ask for “double protein”. And salad bars tend to have lean proteins, so it won’t affect the calorie count by that significant an amount.
15. Switch some of your usual carb sources for beans
Because beans contain protein AND carbs.
Let’s compare 1 cup cooked white rice vs 1 cup kidney beans. According to the USDA:
- 1 cup cooked kidney beans contains 15g protein, 40g carbs, and 225 calories
- 1 cup cooked white rice contains 4g protein, 45g carbs, and 206 calories
It might be a nice swap a few times per week.
16. Choose Greek yogurt over regular yogurt
You’ve noticed me mentioning Greek yogurt in this blog post, and not regular Greek yogurt. Here’s why:
- 1 cup of non-fat Greek yogurt contains 120 calories and 22g protein.
- 1 cup of nonfat regular yogurt contains 127 calories and 14g protein.
Greek yogurt contains over 50% more protein and has fewer calories than the regular stuff.
Go Greek.
17. Choose chicken breast over chicken thigh
I’ve already recommended you keep cooked chicken breast in the fridge. Maybe you’re thinking chicken thigh is also a good choice. Well, here are the differences:
- 100g chicken breast (boneless and skinless) contains 23g protein and 110 calories
- 100g chicken thigh (boneless and skinless) contains 26g protein and 209 calories
Sure, at first glance, chicken thigh looks higher in protein. But that’s only in 100g.
Let’s say you’re aiming for 30g protein. Well, you’d have to eat 241 calories worth of thigh to get that much protein, or 143 calories of chicken breast.
By choosing chicken breast, you get the same amount of protein, but you’d “save” 100 calories.
18. Choose white fish over salmon (but not every time)
Let’s take a popular white fish like cod and compare it with salmon.
- 100g cod contains 23g protein and 105 calories
- 100g salmon contains 25g protein and 182 calories
That’s a pretty big difference in calories for just 2g protein.
Now, I mentioned to choose white fish over salmon, but not every time. Because salmon is an awesome source of omega 3 fats, which are great for you. So feel free to eat salmon a couple of times a week for health.
19. Choose extra lean ground beef over regular ground beef
If a recipe calls for ground beef, get the extra lean stuff.
Not that fattier beef is necessarily “bad” for you; this is just another opportunity to maximize the protein while minimizing the calories.
Let’s compare regular ground beef (approximately 25% fat) with extra lean ground beef (approximately 5% fat):
- 100g regular ground beef contains 16g protein and 293 calories
- 100g extra lean ground beef contains 21g protein and 137 calories
20. Make turkey burgers
Because ground turkey is just about as high protein and low calorie as extra lean ground beef.
21. Snack on protein
Here are a few ideas for you:
Half a can of tuna with a little mustard and black pepper: around 80 calories, 16g protein (just watch your tuna intake - it can contain high levels of mercury)
1 serving of beef jerky: 80 calories, 14g protein
Protein shake: typically 25g protein and 110 calories
Questions or comments? Leave them below.