Wolf Pact Challenge WEEK 3 | HOW TO UP YOUR PROTEIN GAME
“I have to get HOW MUCH PROTEIN?!”
Is what every single one of us thought coming out of our BioScans. Eating 120-160g of protein can seem daunting (And YES you do need that much - check out this article to explain why) It feels you’ll be doomed to eating chicken breast for breakfast and protein shakes for every snack. However, with a little bit of creativity and some preparation it doesn’t have to be that hard!
First let’s take a peek at some foods that contain a fairly high amount of protein per serving- some that you may not have thought of before.
These are just a few of the many foods that are protein rich! You don’t just have to look to the obvious meat, protein powder and eggs. Plant based sources are also often high in fibre and rich in nutrients.
Now that you have a few ideas of where to get protein we have to bring up my second point which is preparation!
“by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”
Most of the time high sugar, high carbohydrate and processed foods are what is most readily available to us. Snacks that are “Grab & Go” are often granola bars, crackers, etc. The convenience food industry is making it awfully hard for most people to get in whole, protein rich foods. Until that changes, we have to arm ourselves with pre-made snacks, go to restaurants and brands we can trust to give us nutritious food.
Start with simply making sure you have a protein source (ideally 30-40g) for each meal. This can look like cooking up a whole chicken to have for the week, or making a batch of turkey meatballs to throw onto a whole grain pasta, in your salad or just to have as a snack! For the vegetarians out there try marinated tofu, tempeh, eggs, dairy (greek yogurt, cottage cheese, etc). Once you have hit 3 meals with up to 40g of protein each, you’re at 120g already!
Then think about how you could add it into snacks; this is the tricky part. After a workout or when you’re between meetings, soccer games, etc go for a protein powder (1 scoop is typically around 25g) that you can easily add to water, or bring a baggie with some natural beef jerky, almonds, and pieces of cheese. If you have more time, have 1 cup cottage cheese with berries and a dash of cinnamon. Have hummus and broccoli as a snack when you’re cooking dinner. Have a hard boiled egg with your oats (on the side!) to add more protein and keep you fuller!
Once you get the hang of recognizing higher protein foods and where they can fit into your day getting in 100+grams of protein can be easy!
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
How to plug your BioScan results into MyFitnessPal
All about protein - how much you really need, and how it works