You know that you should be eating more protein. You’ve heard about the weight loss benefits and the performance perks. But when you ask your nutrition coach or your trainer about it, they give you a goal number that seems impossible to reach. These tips to eat more protein should make that number feel more attainable, and improve your overall health too!

The importance of protein is not a new topic. Whether you are trying to lose weight, gain strength, boost athletic performance or improve general health – you’ve probably heard that protein is a crucial dietary component.

Resistance training is a phenomenal muscle building workout, but only when you consume enough protein to counterbalance what you are breaking down and using. Remember that when you work out, you’re not actually building anything. What you’re doing is challenging your body to do more work. You are, in essence, using up calories and creating microtears in the muscle!

Enter: protein. Protein is the building block of muscle. You can’t build more without it. So it’s no surprise that an adequate intake of protein every day is imperative in promoting muscle synthesis.

What’s the Right Protein Intake for You?

There are multiple factors that are considered in determining your protein intake. Your age and gender, fitness level and current body composition, and of course your exercise habits al factor in.

In general, evidence suggests that .8-1 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight is ideal for maintaining muscle mass if you are an active individual. If you’re goal is to increase muscle mass however, that can bump the recommended intake up even as high as 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight.

If you’re just starting to focus on increasing protein intake, my recommendation is to get an understanding of how much you consume now, and make it a goal to increase that amount by 10-20% each week.

Tips to Eat More Protein Starting Today!

Consuming that much protein can feel overwhelming at first. But don’t let the numbers get to you. With a few savvy tips and tricks, increasing protein intake can actually be very easy (and delicious).

Post-Workout Protein Shake

The easiest, and perhaps most advantageous addition of protein is immediately after your workout. Your muscles are practically begging for amino acids, the building blocks of protein. A single scoop of whey protein powder goes a long way towards fulfilling your immediate and daily macronutrient need.

Whey protein is an ideal form of protein post-workout. First, it’s fast too shake up, fast to consume and fast to digest and become available for your body to use. Second, it doesn’t require refrigeration or preparation. All you have to do is scoop a serving into a shaker before your workout and add water when you’re ready!

Start Your Day With At Least 1 Serving

If you want to make sure something gets done, you do it first, right? Set yourself up for success by making sure your first meal has at least 1 serving of protein in it. (Here are 5 easy ways to do that!)

Breakfast lends itself to delicious, high protein ingredients. Some of my favorites:

• Eggs in any form
• Greek yogurt with berries and nuts
• Kodiak cake pancakes, muffin cups or waffles
• Canadian bacon
• Protein smoothies
• Dave’s Killer Bread

Plus, protein is satiating – so eating it in the morning can reduce cravings throughout the day!

Always Include Protein in Your Snacks

If there’s one snacking rule to live by, it’s this: always include protein. I love this rule for a few reasons.

Protein-packed snacks ensure that you get small doses of protein throughout the day. Your body can efficiently absorb about 20-25 grams of protein at a time. That means that in order to increase protein intake efficiently, you need to spread consumption throughout the day.

They also ensure that you think about your snacks before you have them. It’s really easy to reach for a bag of chips or cookies and munch away until satisfied. But even though the hunger might be gone (at least temporarily), that kind of snack isn’t giving your body what it needs. Adding protein forces you to think about it.

Some of my go-to protein-packed snacks include hard boiled eggs, beef jerky, single serving containers of Greek yogurt or cottage cheese and a handful of nuts.

Add Greek Yogurt

Speaking of Greek yogurt…this happens to be my favorite way to sneak in more protein all over the place. Plain Greek yogurt is an excellent source of protein, and you can use it all over the place if you get creative!

Try substituting Greek yogurt for sour cream. Put it on tacos or serve with quesadillas. Mix it with chives and dollop on baked potatoes. You can even substitute it in dip recipes – no one will know the difference!

Uuse Greek yogurt as a substitute for mayonnaise in dressings and on sandwiches and wraps. Per tablespoon of yogurt you get about a gram of protein so even though the amount sounds minimall, it can really add up.

Build Your Meals Around Protein

In my house, every dinner starts with picking a protein. Chicken. Salmon. Tuna. Black bean burgers. When you pick your protein first you’re guaranteeing that it’s a part of the meal. Plus, most proteins are open palates. You can do anything with chicken! Anything with salmon! You could build a salad, or a grain bowl, or make baked nachos while you’re at it. You might find that you have more fun finding new recipes based on a protein than you do making the same old, same old!

Eat Protein at Every Meal

This sounds obvious but if you really tracked what you ate at every meal, what would the protein outcome be?

If you really want to eat more protein, make sure that it’s included in every meal, every eating opportunity! You might have to re-think a couple of breakfasts or lunches but when you have goals, these are the kinds of decisions you need to make.

Meal Prep 3 Easy Options

If you’re not into meal prepping don’t panic. Meal prepping doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to invest in new Tupperware or lug a lunchbox around with you. By simply planning ahead and acting in advance to set yourself up for success – you’ll make protein that much easier.

You absolutely could make some soups and stews, or other protein-rich meals when you have the time. But you don’t have to! There are easier ways:

• Buy a rotisserie chicken, remove of the skin and shred the meat. This is great to throw on top of salads or in a whole wheat wrap.
• Sauté a pound of ground meat with taco seasoning.
• Whip up a big batch of tuna salad (with Greek yogurt, of course!), for scoop-and-go lunch options.
• Make sure that you have a few single serving containers of Greek yogurt or cottage cheese in the fridge.
• Boil eggs.

Choose Protein-Rich Grains

Grains are a carb. But whole grains actually provide protein too, because they come unprocessed with the bran and germ intact. Some grains have more protein than others: quinoa (8.1 grams per cup), kamut and teff (9.8 grams per cup), and wild rice (6.5 grams per cup) rank pretty high on the list. Other options include oats, millet and even whole grain pastas.

Take Advantage of Toppings

Toppings – on anything and everything – are a game changer. They can legit make a boring dish feel and taste complete and delicious. Plus, they can bring your protein game up a notch or two.

Whenever you’re building your meal, whether it’s a salad, or a pasta, or a stir fry, off the grill or out of the oven…top it! Try these protein-rich toppings for more crunch and more fun!

• nuts -walnuts, almons, peanuts, cashews, etc.
• seeds – sunflower seeds, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), flax, hemp or chia
• roasted chickpeas – you can roast them yourself!
• sliced egg (fine, not a lot of texture but it still works)
• high protein dressings – see Greek yogurt
• crispy quinoa
• beans

Add Protein Powder to Baked Goods

Protein powder does well in most baked goods. Do I recommend substituting it entirely for flour? No. Do I recommend making sourdough bread with it? Also no.

But I do highly recommend throwing a bit of protein powder into every day baking projects. Adding a scoop to muffins and pancakes is easy – and you can play with flavors as well! There are a ton of recipes out there that you can use for inspiration.

Use Beans to Boost Protein

Beans are another one of those carb-but-protein-too ingredients. If you’re a vegetarian, beans probably make up a high percentage of your overall protein intake. But even non-vegetarian fit folks can benefit from beans. Plus, they’re affordable and easy to work with.

Beans (except soybeans) aren’t a complete protein. You’re best bet is to combine beans with a complex carbohydrate such as rich or quinoa to get all nine amino acids that your body needs. Black bean burgers, anyone?

Peas Please!

Did you know that peas contain 8 grams of protein per cup? Peas are actually a great vegetarian source of protein. And super versatile too!

My mom used to (probably still does?), eat a can of peas for lunch. While I’m not necessarily advocating for a can of peas, you can certainly get creative and add some protein and color all over the place. Add peas to stir fries and rice dishes. They’re great in soups and stews (just add them last minute so they don’t over cook). I love to even throw them on salads when they are fresh and in season!

Build Protein into Dessert

There are a few ways to increase protein intake with dessert…

Choose ingredients that are naturally protein rich. Greek yogurt topped with berries is a great example. Fruit and peanut butter is another. Or, try one of these recipes!

Alternatively, you can bake protein into desserts. Kodiak makes a great protein brownie mix. Or you can add a scoop of your favorite protein powder into baked goods or microwave cupcakes like I mentioned above!

Try Kodiak Cakes

I’ve brought Kodiak Cakes up a number of times for good reason. I love the protein pancake mixes. Flavors range from buttermilk and maple, to lemon poppyseed, to double chocolate! Plus, the brand now has a huge array of products and so far, I’ve not met one I don’t like. I regularly get the microwave Kodiak Power cups to bring to work and I always have a box of waffles in the freezer!

Stir in Egg Whites

Last but not least: the power of egg whites! There are 3.6 grams of protein in 1 large egg white. They’re neutral flavor makes them a great way to eat more protein.

The obvious: add egg whites to an egg breakfast. Whole eggs are great, but if you want to add protein without adding fat, try using just the egg white. But you can use egg whites elsewhere! Add them to your smoothies or oatmeal (at the end of cooking). Fry up and put on your sandwich. You can even add egg whites (or whole eggs for that matter), to stir fries and fried rice!