9 Ways To Boost Protein At Any Meal
Hey guys!
I’ve been on a mission lately to eat more protein. I’m trying to build more strength and improve my weightlifting technique, which means I gotta fuel those muscles! A couple really interesting things I’ve learned on my weightlifting/higher protein journey so far:
- Strength training makes me HUNGRY
- It’s actually a lot easier to hit my protein goals than I thought!
Once I figured out which high-quality sources of protein worked for me, it became a lot easier to plan out my meals. I’ll show you what I mean! Here are my favorite ways to boost protein, and the serving sizes you need to get 20 grams of protein!
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What Does 20g Of Protein Look Like?
Here’s what 20 grams of protein looks like from some of my favorite foods:
1. Chicken – 3 oz = 21g protein
2. Salmon – 4 oz = 24g protein
3. Eggs – 4 large = 24g protein
4. Lentils – 1 cup cooked = 18g protein
5. Tofu – 8 oz = 24g protein
6. Black Beans – 1 1/2 cups = 21g protein
7. Chickpeas – 1 1/2 cups = 21g protein
8. Nutritional Yeast – 2/3 cup = 21g protein
9. Peanut Butter – 5 Tbsp = 20g protein
See how EASY it is to get a lot of protein from certain foods?! You probably also noticed that nutritional yeast and peanut butter have pretty large serving sizes to hit 20 grams of protein. You might use portions that large if you’re cooking with those foods, but I thought it was cool to see that even much smaller portions of those “add-ins” can give my meal a decent boost of protein!
Why 20 grams?
Once you know your protein goals, setting a goal to get at least 20 grams per meal is just a good place to start! You may find that you actually need more or less. But knowing what 20 grams LOOKS like will help you plan protein into your meals to meet your goals.
How Much Protein Do You Need?
The amount of protein you need every day depends on YOUR body and YOUR goals.
The recommended daily amount (RDA) for the average healthy person is 0.36 grams per pound of body weight, OR 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.
If you want to lose weight, some studies show that getting 25-30 percent of your calories from protein helps with satiety and fullness, and could increase your metabolism a little.
If you’re extremely active and/or want to gain muscle, a common recommendation is up to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (or 2.2 grams per kilogram).
There are a lot of ways you can go about figuring out your protein needs and it’s verrrrry personal. If you’re not sure where to start, focus on getting high-quality protein like the sources listed above!
What are your go-to ways to boost protein? Tell me in the comments!
5 thoughts on “9 Ways To Boost Protein At Any Meal”
There are 5 comments posted by our users.
My go-to ways to boost my protein intake include 1) having my protein shake in the morning! I always have my protein powder blended w/ almond milk. Secondly, I eat a lot of meats (eggs, chicken, fish). I tend to stay away from beef as it contains a lot of fat. I also eat turkey! Preferably the one that is 92% lean and 8% fat. And of course, edamame (which at first, I didn’t know had so much protein). And of course, beans and everything Cassey listed. My goal is to put on lean muscle, so I try to eat as much protein as my weight. (130g P/130lb)
I am one who needs a lot of protein in order to even maintain my sugar levels. I actually found out that I can be hypoglycemic if I don’t get enough protein. I try to make everything I eat to have quiet a bit of protein and if not, I substitute some good healthy snacks. One snack I have found that is especially good at night because it’s light, is protein popcorn. I make plain popcorn and add my protein powder on top of it because it’s one that is actually good dry. But I do agree with Cassey and that it is very much a personal journey to find out what works for you. Because I know not everyone can eat the amount of protein for a bodybuilder, like me. Find lean proteins that you like and make higher protein snacks if you need to as well.
Hey Darby,
This sounds like a great idea! I usually add nuts, seeds, and dark chocked to mine.
I’m just curious what kind of protein powder you use so I can try this as well.
Thanks!
I love this. I recently moved to NYC and meat is so expensive here. I’ve started eating tofu cause it’s so much cheaper. I love protein but I don’t love spend crazy amounts of money on it. It’s great seeing all the different alternatives I have.
I’m living pescetarian with a lot of days going actually vegan so my go-to are definately chickpeas! Like, just adding some to your salad, as hummus, or snacking on roasted chickpeas… so delicious! Another go-to? Cashew-parmesan – just add a cup of cashews, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast and 1/2 teaspoon each of garlic powder and onion powder into a food processor and mix for about 10 seconds until everything is nicely mixed and blended into small bits. It’s a delicious add on for pasta, creamy veggie soups or simply on bread or steamed veggies. You can even mix in more spices – I like to a bit of nutmeg.