Maybe you're lifting weights? Perhaps you're just trying to lead as healthy a life as possible? In any case, you're looking for strategies to ensure that you consume enough protein.
Fortunately, you've come to the right place. In this article, we're going to discuss not only how to get more protein but protein rich foods and the importance of protein as well. Let's go!
1. Prioritize Protein Rich Foods
The first thing you need to do is prioritize protein rich foods. These should be worked into every one of your meals.
Now, what are protein rich foods? They're generally meat and dairy products. However, they can also be nuts, eggs, lentils, quinoa, and a variety of other foods.
Ideally, protein rich foods will serve as the centerpieces of your meals. However, you could also just use them as supplements to entrees. For instance, you could put almonds in a salad so as to meet your protein needs.
And, of course, you could also use protein rich foods are side dishes. Drinking milk is also a solid option, though you do have to look out, as milk is high in calories.
The point is, when preparing meals, you need to do so with protein in mind. Assess the foods that you're working with and determine how much protein they'll contribute to your daily accumulation. If they're low in protein, think about switching things up a bit.
2. Consider Protein Powders
While it's certainly possible to meet your protein needs with natural foods alone, many people struggle to do so. If you're one of these people, you should consider using protein powders as well.
Protein powders contain large amounts of protein, all the while being limited in terms of calories, carbs, and fats. They can be mixed into beverages or even cooked into foods. For instance, you can stir protein powder into a shake or bake it into pancakes.
The best thing about protein powders is how convenient they are. You can throw a scoop in a drink, shake it up, and then down the drink throughout your morning, consuming a good 20 to 25 grams of protein in the process. It doesn't get much easier than that.
There are a few different types of protein powders available. The most popular type is whey protein, a powder that's mixed with cow dairy. There's also casein protein, another cow product that's said to reduce appetite and increase feelings of fullness.
There are vegan options as well, including a variety of soy protein powders. You can find these online and in most grocery stores and health food stores.
Consume a few scoops of protein powder a day and you'll easily meet your protein needs.
3. Add Protein to Everything
Another tip to help you improve your protein intake is to add protein to everything. In other words, regardless of what you're eating, find a way to increase the overall protein count.
Now, what does this look like in practice? Let's say that you usually eat toast for breakfast. Toast, in and of itself, doesn't contain a lot of protein.
However, there are things you could do to toast that would make it more protein-rich. For instance, you could dip it in an egg yolk prior to eating it. Or, you liquify protein powder in butter and then spread it over the toast.
Doing this with meals throughout the day will ensure that you're getting ample amounts of protein, all the while allowing you to still eat the foods you want to eat.
4. Go Nuts
As was noted above, nuts are high in protein. And unlike other protein-rich foods, they don't need to be prepared or preserved. You can literally carry them around with you throughout each day.
Then, whenever you're hungry and need a snack, you can reach into your bag and grab a handful of them. You'll not only get the energy kick that you need but additional protein as well.
You can also incorporate nuts into different foods that you eat. For instance, you could put pecans into your salads; you could put almonds in your ice cream; you could even put peanuts in your cookies.
Make nuts your go-to food, and you're sure to be getting ample protein on a regular basis.
5. Track Your Protein Intake
Our last tip for ensuring that you get enough protein is to track your protein intake. Look at the labels for each food that you eat and record how many grams of protein you're consuming with each food. It's really as simple as that.
Of course, doing this on a regular basis can be a bit of a pain. Fortunately, there are tools available to help simplify the process. The most helpful of these tools are nutritional phone apps.
Apps like MyFitnessPal allow you to record each food that you eat throughout the day. These apps contain nutritional databases for these foods, and thus do all of the math for you. Just enter your specific food into the app and it will automatically show you much protein you consumed.
You can also use these apps to preplan meals. This way, you'll know exactly what you need to eat in order to meet your protein needs.
That's How to Get More Protein
And with that, we've discussed how to get more protein. Work some of these strategies into your everyday life and, without a doubt, you'll see your protein levels rise.
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