6 Tips to help you hit your daily protein intake!
When consulting with new clients, they always seem surprised about how much daily protein we need in our diets and it can be a daunting task to fit it all in. After years of a high protein diet I’ve picked up some useful ways of hitting those numbers without having to eat 2 chickens, half a cow, and a small child every day.
1) Bulk buy your meat
As a student I was always looking out for bargains, and realised how much cheaper it was to buy chicken breast in bulk rather than from the supermarket. £20-£25 for a whopping 5kg of high quality chicken breast from the butcher saved me a fortune. If I were to buy that in the supermarket I would be looking at well over £50. If your Butcher doesn’t sell in bulk then I’d highly recommend taking a look at musclefood.com, they usually have some kind of bundle on offer and can set you up with enough food to last you months, and all their cuts are super lean. If you do this, you’ll have no excuse for not being organised with your meal prep. Time to clear out the freezer!
2) ‘Arla’ protein yoghurts
Look out for these little beauties in Sainsbury’s. Foods which aren’t naturally high in protein usually have a slightly odd taste, but the strawberry pots are pretty tasty in my opinion! With 20g of protein a pop, it’s a quick and easy way to throw some extra protein into your lunch.
3) ‘Oomf’ Protein oats
Tastes just like normal porridge but with a nice 20.8g of protein per pot. These are SO useful if you have a busy lifestyle and need a breakfast to go – just take it with you to work and add hot water. You can of course make your own at home with whey protein and porridge oats yourself, but these get on the list because they’re so convenient. I find that breakfast is typically the hardest meal of the day to include protein in. I get mine from Sainsbury’s (they should really start paying me for advertising), I personally recommend the banana flavour!
4) Double up with protein shakes for breakfast
As previously mentioned, breakfast is a tough one to include protein in. I’ve found when shredding up for summer a double protein shake in the morning sets me up for the day and allows more room for ‘error’ in later meals. If breakfast is carb or fat-heavy and low protein, it leaves you with less choice for lunch and dinner, making it easy to go over your calorie intake or fall short of your protein intake.
5) Bacon medallions
YES! BACON! The most sustainable diet is one where you can include the foods you love. Four bacon medallions come to 296 calories, and 26.4g of protein. Four medallions is also a more than reasonable portion as part of a meal. That’ll do pig, that’ll do.
6) Liquid egg whites
This is one I’ve refrained from purchasing for a long time until recently, and I have no idea why! It’s just about the purest form of protein available; the egg yolk is where all the fat from eggs is stored. Throw in some lean bacon and some low fat mozzarella into an omelette and you’d be surprised at how low the calories are and how high the protein is. It makes a fast, incredibly tasty, low calorie, high protein meal for those trying to lose weight. I get it by the litre from musclefood.com.
Honourable mentions
-Danio yoghurts: a modest 11g of protein per 150g pot, but tastes amazing (especially the blueberry).
-Myprotein.com, has been the cheapest supplement company on the market for whey protein for years. Please let me know if anyone finds cheaper!
-Protein Bread rolls from lidl – 30.7g of protein! But a hefty 15.4g of fat from all the seeds, but great if you’re bulking up; only 20p each too.
-‘Upbeat’ protein drink – a yoghurt drink with 20g of protein, very tasty and good for on the go.
-Protein beer – Yes… This is a thing now. Probably tastes horrific, it’s just a novelty!
If you’re not hitting your daily protein, I’d seriously recommend you take action and give some of these methods a go. Think of the gains!
Happy training
Peace out!
Sam Austin
