The Protein Struggle: How to Nail your Protein every Damn Day
There’s absolutely no doubt about it….
Getting enough protein in your diet should be near the top of your priority list when it comes to getting the kinds of results you’re looking for in the gym.
Not only is protein vital in helping you build and maintain muscle, it also keeps your hunger in check while dieting by keeping you full and satisfied.
Without question, the biggest struggle for most newbie dieters is to consistently hit their protein.
You were told to hit a certain protein target goal but you have no idea how to get there! It seems like you’ll never be able to hit that goal, until today!
When new online clients come on board, the first thing we ask them to do is to log their food intake for a week without changing anything about their current eating habits.
More often than not, it turns out that they are under consuming their protein and having around 60-80 grams of protein. As for building muscle, this simply won’t cut it.
The golden standard for adequate protein is 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight (i.e. 200 grams for a 200lb person).
However, immediately jumping from 60-80 grams of protein to 160+ grams of protein seems daunting because they’re not used to eating with a protein target in mind.
Yet with a little strategy, it can actually become very easy to hit these higher levels of protein everyday!
Today, I’m going to turn you into a seasoned veteran so you can consistently hit your protein target every day..
This blog is going to teach you how to strategically hit your protein with ease so you can maximize the benefits not only for your physique but also for your health!
Here’s what we are going to cover today
Why is protein so important?
What is considered high protein?
Making your meals “protein-centric”
How to do strategic with your protein intake
How to fit it into your lifestyle
Why is Protein so Damn Important?
At Mack Performance, protein is the staple within my online client’s nutrition plan as the most important macronutrient.
The reason is simple – it is an essential macronutrient, which means you literally cannot survive without consuming it.
Protein helps us rebuild muscle tissues and keep our body’s systems (Muscles, nervous, and immunity) running optimally.
Your body needs adequate amounts of protein, especially when it comes to changing your body composition and here’s why:
1) Protein rebuilds muscle tissue which allows us to train hard again and allows us to recover quicker allowing us to build more muscle. The more muscle we build, the more fat our body will burn.
2) Protein has a very high Thermic Effect of Food (TEF), which means it takes more calories to digest. This means if you had 100 grams of protein, then your body will burn 30 calories simply by breaking the protein down into usable amino acids.
In fact, protein has the highest TEF of all the macros.
Protein: 20-30% of calories consumed are burned via TEF
Carbs: 5-10% consumed are burned via TEF
Fat: 0-3% of calories consumed are burned via TEF
3) Protein is extremely hard to store as body fat. Here's the proof. This 2015 study took 48 randomized, resistance-trained men and women and hard them either:
Consume a minimum of 1.36g/lb of protein daily
Maintain current dietary habits for eight weeks while undergoing a standardized resistance training program designed to increase lean body mass.
“ Compared to the control group, the high protein group consumed significantly more calories (+490 calories) and protein (3.4 vs 2.3 g/kg) From primarily whey protein shakes, leading to a diet that was 39%, 27% fat, and 34% carbohydrates. Both groups significantly increased FFM (muscle mass) and significantly reduced FM (Body fat) compared to baseline, but the reduction in FM (Body fat) was significantly greater in the high protein group compared to the control group (-1.6 vs. -0.3kg). According, body weight gain was also significantly less in the high protein group compared to the control group.”
The high protein group ate ~490 calories more than the lower protein group and lost more fat!
All in all, making sure you are correctly setting and prioritizing protein as it just too important to ignore.
Not only will protein help you stay full longer, but proteins are also essential for repair, rebuilding, and putting on muscles.
Regardless if your goal is fat loss, building lean muscle, or improving your nutrition, making sure you’re getting adequate amounts of protein from wholesome protein sources is essential.
What is Considered High Protein?
It can be difficult to get more protein in your diet if you’re not even sure about what foods are high in protein.
A high protein source is a food item that has a high percentage of protein or predominately made of protein.
Generally speaking, most high protein food items will have somewhere between 15-20+ grams of protein per serving (with some exceptions
so, you might be wondering, “if protein is soo important, what foods should I be eating?”
Don’t worry, I have you covered with this cheat sheet
Build each Meal around your Protein Source
Now that we covered what are high protein foods, we’re going to talk about the strategy I used with all my online clients to hit their protein targets with ease.
This simple strategy starts with a mental adjustment that requires you to change the way you see your meals.
In order to nail your protein targets with ease, you need to follow this rule:
Every single meal must revolve around a primary protein source
This means no longer meals consisting just of pasta, avocado toast, or any other meals that don’t have protein as the main component.
This means you’ll build each meal by selecting your high-quality protein source first before selecting your carbs and fats items.
Here are a few examples to illustrate what I mean
Breakfast:
3 scrambled eggs with a side of toast
Greek yogurt with fresh fruit
Overnight oats with greek yogurt and a scoop of protein powder
Lunch:
A big ass salad with grilled chicken
A turkey sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes on whole grain bread
Chicken Tacos
Dinner:
Pork chops with asparagus and sweet potatoes
Salmon with rice and broccoli
Tri-tip steak with mashed potatoes and salad.
Note that every single meal has protein as the main ingredient, usually a type of lean meat too. Except on very rare occasions, you want all your meals to contain a significant amount of protein.
The Protein Puzzle: How to strategically hit your protein targets
At this point, you might be wondering how you can exactly fit all your protein into your lifestyle? Don’t worry, I have you covered as well with a step by step instructions.
1) Determine how many meals per day
The first thing we need to figure out is how many meals per day you typically have so we can spread your protein throughout the day.
Typically, most clients have 4 meals throughout the day (snacks included) so let’s go with 4 meals.
2) Determine your Top 5 Protein Sources
Now that we know how many meals per day, you’ll need to figure out your top 5 protein sources. Use the high protein cheat sheet from above as your starting point.
Of course, you can absolutely choose more than 5 and it doesn’t need to be set in stone, yet this will provide clarity on what protein sources will make up the majority of your diet.
3) Creating your Meals
An easy way to hit your protein target is to “build” each meal around your protein first. This is why identifying your ideal protein sources is critical so you can add your carbs and fats to your meals.
I’ve always found once clients are able to do this, then it makes this whole dieting thing sooo much easier.
Think of simple-ish meals with foods you enjoy eating that are easily repeatable.
For example, my go-to fat loss meal is pork chops with potatoes (either french fries style or sliced) and some kind of veggies (squash, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc.).
This makes it easy for me to choose my protein (pork chops) and build my meal around my protein. In addition, these foods are fairly cheap and can provide plenty of versatility and flexibility.
4) Plan out 2 meals ahead of time (or make it ridiculously easy for you)
Lastly, here’s an often overlooked strategy that I think is most important when starting out- planning out at least 1-2 meals the night before. This will help eliminate the guessing game of what you’re going to eat.
I strongly recommend planning out your breakfast and dinner ahead of time.
You do not want to be in a situation in which it’s 8 pm with 80g of protein with minimal carbs and fats left. This inevitably leads to a massive protein shake, which always leads to nasty protein farts. 😟😳🤭😦😵😵
Real-life Example: Mid 40’s Working Mom
Ok, I know this sounds (and even looks) overwhelming and initiating, but let me walk you through a real-life example.
Let’s say a client is consuming 1805 calories, 160g protein, 64g fats, and 150g carbs. She has decided that 3 meals and 1 snack best suits her lifestyle.
Also, she decided that her top 5 protein sources would be:
Whole eggs/egg whites,
Chicken breast,
Protein powder/shake,
Non-fat Greek yogurt
Pork Chops
Based on that information, here is what her meals look like:
Meal #1 (Breakfast) - 43.5g protein, 48.5g carbs, and 5g fat
For breakfast, she’s having some non-fat greek yogurt with some blueberries, granola, and half a scoop of protein powder. She knows she needs to get plenty of protein so that half scoop of protein powder will help her get a little bit more protein (plus it makes the Greek yogurt tastes so much better).
Food items: 1 serving of Greek Yogurt, 1 cup berries, 0.3 cups of Granola
Meal #2 (Lunch) 32g Protein, 19g carbs, 26g fats
Since she is busy, she either brings a big ass salad or buys ones from a nearby store. She chooses the big ass salad because
she enjoys eating them,
portable as everything is in the bag,
easy to prepare.
She makes sure to either bring extra protein (grilled chicken) or doubles up on the protein if ordering out as this allows her to hit her protein target and keeps her full.
Food items: half a bag of Trader Joe’s Southwestern Salad Kit (w/ dressing), 4oz Grilled Chicken
Meal #3 (Pre-Workout) 30g protein, 5g carbs, 3g fats
Once she is done with work, she immediately goes to the gym. Just before working out, she drinks her protein shake so she can fuel her body for her training session.
Since she is going to workout, she wants to make sure it’s easily digestible and doesn’t make her feel too full to disrupt her training.
Food Item: 1 Premier Protein Shake
Meal #3 (Dinner) 50g protein, 79g carbs, 29g fats
Now, this meal is usually a wild card because it really depends if she is cooking that night or having leftovers from the previous night.
Typically, she likes to do some easy cooking as it helps her to destress. After finishing her dinner, she usually likes to have some chocolate as a little treat yourself for a hard day of work.
Food Items: 4oz pork chops, 7oz Brussel Sprouts, 225g of cooked Jasmine rice, 40g of Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Lover’s Bar 85%
And that’s it!
That’s what a typical day looks like for her hitting her macros, but more importantly, hitting her protein! While at first it may appear overwhelming, it’s definitely not as hard as you think it is.
Now, there are a few things I want to touch upon that really helped her achieve her goals.
She realized having a high protein breakfast was super helpful for her to hit her protein target while keeping her full. She was able to get 40+ grams of protein, which sounds like a lot, but she made it super easy and convenient for her. By doing this, she only had ~100 grams of protein left to eat, which sounds like a lot, but it really isn’t.
She evenly spaced out her protein throughout the day. She had at least 30 grams of protein with each meal. By being super consistent with her protein, she was never falling behind and having to play catch up with her protein intake. Plus, this made her feel full and more satiety after each meal.
She used a protein shake to achieve her goal. Being a busy working mom, she used the protein shake to help her achieve her goal. Protein shakes are super convenient when trying to hit your protein. Plus, it makes the non-fat greek yogurt sooo much more tasty and enjoyable.
She allowed herself some flexibility to fit in a treat. Since she knew that the majority of her food was high in protein, low in carbs and moderate/high in fats, she wanted to have some carbies and a treat to herself at night so she worked it into her budget (her macros). This allows her to enjoy the foods she enjoys while losing body fat like a champ!
Moral of the story: Protein is King
Getting enough protein every day is the #1 challenge for a lot of newbie dieters, but with a little thought, planning, and strategy, it won’t be long before you’re easily hitting your protein targets every day.
Here are the basic strategies laid out in this article
Knowing why protein is important for your physique
Knowing which foods are high in protein.
Keep your meals “protein-centric”
Identifying your top 5+ protein sources to build meals around
By applying a little bit of structure you’ll achieve your physique-related goals without starving and depriving yourself. This simple strategy can help you stay full while dieting.
The Next Step:
The goal of this guide (and online coaching) is to empower you through education.
I want to help you stop guessing when it comes to making sustainable progress and start achieving the results you desire.
So, what is your next step?
Realize that all the knowledge you’ve gained from this guide doesn’t equal real change.
If you’re fed up with how COVID fucked up your year, invest in a coach.
If you’ve read LITERALLY DOZENS of guides like this in the past and still haven’t made the change nor the confidence you want, invert in a coach.
If you’re overwhelmed by the content in this article, invest in a coach.
If you cannot be consistent with the strategies within this article, invest in a coach.
If you are ready for a change, I’m here to coach you.