Protein is having its moment right now. It’s the go-to macronutrient recommended to everyone for a variety of reasons. And the reality is, protein is one of the most satiating macronutrients out there. This is why it’s recommended for people to help them feel fuller for longer to support their body when exercising and to help people when losing weight.
But if your mind automatically goes to changing your diet to whey protein shakes, living off plain chicken breast and Greek yoghurt, then you need to know you’re likely already eating a decent amount of protein without having to completely change what you eat to meet protein goals.
This post is going to help you rethink protein without starting from scratch, so it’s a natural transition to include it in your diet in increased quantities if required.
Understand What Protein Does
Before you head out shopping to buy anything marked “high protein,n” you need to understand why your body needs it. Yes, as we touched upon, protein is satiating, but that’s not the main reason you need to eat it.
Protein is involved in nearly every function in your body. From building and repairing muscle tissue to protecting enzymes and hormones while supporting immune function, maintaining skin, hair, and connective tissue.
If you don’t eat enough protein, your body will pull from muscle to meet its needs. And you’ll notice this in terms of strength, lower energy levels, or taking longer to recover from illness, injury, or workouts.
Basically, protein is important for more than just gym gains.
Know Daily Protein Needs
Before you buy that bulk pack of chicken breasts, take the time to understand what your body needs in relation to protein.
There is a recommended daily allowance of 0.8g per kilogram of body weight as a minimum. This is what is needed to prevent deficiency. But if you live an active life, you’ll likely need more. And evidence points to active people needing around 1.2-1.8g per kilogram of bodyweight.
So you need to know how active you are, what you weigh, and use these numbers as a rough guideline to work out exactly how much protein you need to eat as a minimum.
Identify the Protein Sources You Already Eat
Rethinking protein is less about finding new and unique protein sources and understanding where you already get it from.
Make a note of the foods you eat for the next few days, and record the protein content of each thing you eat. It doesn’t need to be “high protein,” just your normal foods.
Because you don’t need a specific “protein meal” to actually get protein.
A bowl of oats will have protein in it, so will milk and cheese. You might already be eating a lot of chicken, meaning you’re getting more protein than you think you might be.
But recording what you eat for a few days and adding up protein can give you an idea if you’re meeting nutritional needs and what your baseline actually is.
Identify New Protein Sources
From here, you can look into different foods to assess their protein levels and determine if you want to add them to your diet or not.
And chances are you’ll find new foods in the least likely of places.
If you’ve been relying heavily on meat and dairy for your protein, why not look to beans and lentils to help you increase protein and fibre in your diet? Lentils and chickpeas hit around 9g of protein per 100 calories and work well in loads of different means from soups to stews, salads, and curries.
Or why not try tofu, which has around 13g of protein per 100g? Edamame is a great protein snack and has around 11g per 100g. There are plenty of protein sources, whether you stay on a meat-based diet or you want to switch to a plant-based protein source entirely.
Plan Your Meals Around Protein
A great way to hit your protein goals is to plan your meals around protein. That’s one of the best shirfs you can make.
This means deciding what your protein source is going to be before you do anything else.
For example, breakfast can look like a protein shake with oats blended in, or Greek yoghurt in a smoothie, or an egg-heavy breakfast. Lunch and dinner can use chicken, salmon, or beef as your protein source, and you then build everything else around this.
Aim for around 20-30g of protein per meal, based on your daily requirements, and this will give you a solid base for the day.
Track How Your Body Responds
You don’t just need to track your protein intake; you need to know how your body responds to the changes in protein consumption, too. Whether you’re swapping protein sources or increasing the amount of spreading it more evenly over the day, track how your body responds to the changes.
Make a note of what you changed, when, and the results. Did you feel you recovered more quickly after training? Do you feel fuller and are snacking less, are you holding or building muscles, or are you losing weight in a fat loss phase?
As we mentioned, high protein means you’re more satiated, and this makes managing calories and willpower easier.
If you’re changing protein sources, i.e, switching to a more plant-based diet, note how your digestion is affected, if at all. This could indicate you might need more fibre or ease off on the plant-based food choices to allow your body to adjust.
Understand Protein Levels in Food
Anything can be labelled as a protein food, but are all foods equal when being considered as protein sources?
Not really. As a rough guide, you want to be looking for foods with around 10g of protein per 100 calories. Anything in the 8-10g range is decent, while anything above is a perfect source.
We touched upon a few food sources above for protein per 100g, but food, like chicken per 100 calories, comes in around 18g and eggs are 8g. This means it is easier to track if you’re in a fat loss phase, as you can choose higher protein foods that are lower on the calorie scale.
Rethinking protein in your diet isn’t the big overhaul you might feel it is. It’s a few simple steps and a mindset change of how you view protein. And before you know it, you’re on the right path to naturally upping it without it being too much drama.
