HIA Series | The Power of Protein
Action 2: Protein at every meal.
This month’s focus, in Nutrition and Hydration, will be on prioritizing a good source of high protein food at every meal. There will also be some discussion on why and how you may want to increase your total daily protein intake, beyond just meals alone.
Protein is a powerful macronutrient.
[1] Protein is essential in our diets because of the huge role it plays in the development and resiliency of our body. Some of its key functions include:
Building and repairing cells (all types of cells in our body) improving our strength, structural integrity, immune system, nervous system, ability to recover from stress, health of our skin and hair, and much more
Serves as enzymes, transport carriers, and hormones (which all largely impact how well your body breaks down and uses nutrients - impacting how you feel and function day to day)
Can also be converted and used as a source of energy (but not a preferred source)
Protein makes a big impact based on our body’s needs and our performance goals:
When you increase your activity and/or physical stress on your body increases (training harder, being more active throughout your normal week, or your job is more physically demanding) your body’s protein needs increase to allow you to recover and improve.
When you want to get stronger, faster, improve endurance or power production; your need for protein increases.
When you become injured, sick, or are recovering from surgery your body becomes less capable of producing certain amino acids (referred to as conditionally essential amino acids) and as a result you end up needing to consume more complete protein sources or combinations to get the nutrients you need to recover sooner.
As you age gracefully, you digest and use protein less effectively - meaning you will want to consume it more frequently to continue to support your muscles, bones, tendons and all the other structures in your body that keep you healthy, durable, and capable of doing what you want.
Also based on any body composition goals we have:
When you want to mainly gain muscle and size you need more building blocks (from protein) for muscle recovery and growth after training harder and longer or more frequently.
Important to pair more protein with a calorie surplus
When you want to gain a little muscle while also losing a little body fat, your body needs plenty of protein to repair and then improve on the muscle you have.
Important to pair more protein with your calories around maintenance (maintenance = hovering around equal consumption and utilization)
When you want to mainly lose body fat you need more protein to make sure you maintain your muscle (providing proper recovery) and protein will help you feel less deprived of food (it helps you feel full sooner) when you are consuming less overall.
Important to pair more protein with a calorie deficit
Just remember if the goal is to lose body fat, as you increase your protein intake, you still need to be consuming less calories overall, so you would need to eat less carbohydrates and/or fats to achieve that.
Ways we can best consume protein throughout the day.
[1] Due to proteins importance and our body’s limitations around creating, digesting, and using it effectively; we can further improve our bodies by keeping the following in mind:
We should prioritize consuming protein on a regular basis.
We don’t store protein well . Furthermore, our bodies are constantly losing the building blocks of protein, amino acids, as they break down and repair structures in our bodies. It is important that we replenish our amino acids by consistent consumption of protein throughout our day.
Our bodies tend to do better taking in smaller to moderate amounts of protein more frequently (ideally every 2-4 hours) throughout our day, rather than trying to get all your protein in 1 or 2 meals.
Our body's system for digesting protein is limited in capacity, so this can slow down how fast and how much protein your body actually takes in and uses effectively. You may have experienced stomach issues after over consuming protein in one sitting.
Consuming a variety of sources is helpful to meet our amino acid needs (9 of 20 amino acids, termed essential amino acids, we must get from our food) and provide a wider range of other helpful nutrients.
This is especially true when we consume a variety of whole, less-processed foods (keep reading to see some options for good protein sources).
Examples of good High Protein Sources - Protein Shopping List Ideas from Precision Nutrition
To provide some help with ideas for good protein sources here is a very helpful Protein Shopping List Ideas from Precision Nutrition (who is the nutrition authority I’m certified by):
After looking over the shopping list, I strongly encourage you to do 2 actions that will make this protein list more helpful for you:
(Your A List) Write down (or type out) any protein items from the shopping list (or not on the list) that you enjoy consuming.
(Your B List) Write down any protein items from the shopping list that you would be willing to try (or try again cooked differently).
By having items that actually mean something to you on your own list, you will have a powerful resource you can use to plan your next shopping list and meals. Without all the items written down in front of you it is easy to forget many different options you enjoy and fall into the pattern of consuming the same couple items over and over again.
The next step is to think on a continuum of quality.
[1] When we refer to quality, we are mostly referring to whole foods, meaning that the food has come from its direct source of plants or animals.
The second aspect of whole foods is that we generally want them to be less processed and as a result, filled with more nutrients per calorie it naturally offers. This is often called or categorized as more “nutrient dense” foods.
Please don’t confuse this with thinking processing is bad, because some processing is needed to make many foods edible for us to consume (think cooking meat or lentils) or allows us to store foods (such as freezing meat, veggies, and fruit). Processing also allows us the much easier ability to go to a store and buy many of the food items we need. The key word is “less” processed when we think about what we choose.
A quick way to think about how processed something is, can be to run it through this filter of questions:
How close is this food to its original source? (chicken breasts or chicken nuggets?)
How extensive is the packaging and ingredient list; and can I pronounce the ingredients? (often less ingredients and more pronounceable is better)
Also note, some direct sources of food will not have a nutrition label
How long will this item keep if left out? (less time = often less processed)
Note, this filter can be used for vegetables, fruits, starchy carbohydrates, and fats as well.
How to think about food on your continuums.
Instead of “good” or “bad” food, think “MORE HELPFUL” or “LESS HELPFUL” food.
The language of bad or good can skew your mindset when it comes to consuming food and drink. What often happens is you shame yourself for even considering “bad” foods and then feel guilty after you consume them anyway. This adds unneeded and unhelpful stress to your life.
In reality your body is usually fine with the food you consumed and will use it to help you continue to function. The issue comes from how much of certain foods we consume, how much nutrients we are providing our body with, and what our health and physical goals are.
“More helpful” and “less helpful” provides terminology that better reflects each person's unique needs and goals around nutrition at that current time. Hence, personally, I like to use this language in my head when thinking about my decisions around food and drink.
Make your continuum of quality for Protein Sources
It’s very helpful to identify what specific protein items you want to include on your shopping list.
These are in terms of both
what the item is (such as chicken or goat)
to what level of quality you want that item to be (such as locally sourced chicken, raw chicken breasts at the grocery, frozen bagged chicken breasts, or breaded chicken patties).
There isn’t a right or wrong answer, you want to pick what you feel confident you will actually prepare and eat. THEN you pay attention to how you feel and whether you are moving in the right direction with your health and fitness goals.
If things are going well and you are happy with the results, then you are in a good place. Keep on living your best life!
If not, or you’re unhappy with your results, try to bump up a notch on your quality continuum and be ready to remind yourself why you are personally willing to make the extra effort to buy, store, and prepare a higher quality item (or you can look into meal prep options that already have these foods ready for you).
BONUS: Use your quality continuum for challenging environments.
This quality continuum type of thinking has been huge for me when I’m in environments where I have less control over the source of protein (such as parties, traveling, and meals I’m invited to). In these situations I just try and pick the highest item on my quality continuum that’s available and then allow myself to mentally relax and enjoy!
How you can approach your protein needs in the real world.
Start by prioritizing a good source of protein with every meal you have throughout your day.
This alone can change the way you feel and how your body responds to any training or demanding activity you are doing.
If you’d like to gauge how much per meal, you can use your hand to help you estimate.
[1] When preparing or deciding on your meal, try to get at least 1-2 palm sized portions of protein. Palm sized means exactly what it sounds like, raise your palm up and try to get at least that size of an amount of protein in your meal.
If you start to regularly have a more highly active day, week, or are training more intensely, try and increase your intake to more around 2-3 palm sized portions of protein.
If 2-3 palm sized portions of protein sounds like too much food in one sitting for you, you can stick with 1-2 palms and then try and add a couple protein based snacks throughout your day.
I would also recommend having a high protein snack after training or activity if you do not plan to eat a meal within an hour afterwards. While it isn’t always as crucial (depending on how much protein you’ve already had in your day), it is generally a helpful habit to consume a good source of protein soon after physically demanding activity.
All in all, you want to make sure your body has plenty of resources available to start repairing your body once you have worked hard through a training session, sport, or other tough activity.
I personally enjoy having a piece of fruit and a whey protein drink (in 1% milk) right after training. I think protein supplements can serve as great snacks and are easily accessible ways to increase our total daily protein, but you definitely don’t have to use a supplement for snacks. Whatever high source of protein you enjoy would serve the same purpose.
A quick reminder if one of your goals is to lose body fat, don’t forget that if you follow this advice above and increase your protein intake through meals or snacks, you still need to be in a calorie deficit (less calories in than you use each day) to effectively lose body fat. In this case, you will need to lessen the amount of other foods as your protein intake increases (but you don’t need to eliminate those other foods entirely).
Putting your mind at ease: It’s very challenging to “over do” protein.
Protein has a tendency to be “self-limiting” in the amount we consume throughout our day. By self-limiting I mean that it is much harder for us to over consume protein compared to carbohydrates, fats, and alcohol (these are the 4 sources we get calories from).
When we think about what it means to over consume something, we can think about it on 2 fronts:
How demanding the digestion and utilization of the nutrient is on our body’s organ systems (to the point of it being harmful and/or toxic)
Are we consuming at too high of a quantity that our body is choosing to store the excess as body fat (body fat is not bad, but too much of it can jeopardize our health)
Addressing the first front, [2] our bodies can utilize the protein we need and then excrete left over amounts and/or use for energy as ketoacids, or convert excess to be used like carbohydrate based energy (process referred to as gluconeogenesis) or stored as body fat.
What this means is that our bodies can handle protein well and it’s not overly demanding aside from our limited ability to digest a lot of protein in one sitting. In other words, we can handle a lot of protein if we space out our intake throughout the day. However…
[1] You may have heard that a lot of protein is hard on your Liver or Kidneys. This idea comes from the legitimate instances where in individuals who already have underlying issues with their Liver, Kidneys, or have metabolic/gastric diseases - the amount of digestion and utilization of protein becomes more of a health concern.
So if you already have issues in these areas, THEN quantity of protein could be an issue (in which case I recommend connecting with a Dietician to address your dietary needs). If you are unsure whether you have any underlying health concerns, you should definitely check with your doctor for assurance and peace of mind.
Addressing the second front, [1] the helpful part about protein, through the lens of over consuming, is that it is hard to over consume to the point where it would be stored as body fat because it is satiating (making us feel naturally full sooner and not want to keep eating it) and it has the highest Thermic Effect.
Thermic Effect is the phenomenon that we burn calories when we digest food we consume. Protein has the highest Thermic Effect, meaning we burn the most calories consuming it compared to Carbohydrates and Fats.
It is important to still accept that if you consume more calories compared to your body’s ability to use or excrete them, you will store energy as body fat. So while it would be difficult to reach that point with protein, it would still be possible.
Keep in mind it is very healthy for us to consume a balance of macronutrients (Protein, Fats, and Carbohydrates that include non-starchy vegetables, fruit, and starches). Protein is a really powerful macronutrient to focus on but we do want to make sure we are getting other sources of nutrients throughout our day to maximize our health.
To try and state it more clearly, I don’t recommend an all protein focused diet strategy.
Challenges and possible solutions around protein consumption.
Here are some of the biggest challenges I have found when it comes to trying to consume more protein and utilizing more quality sources of protein throughout the week:
The challenge of keeping protein readily available.
Personally, protein is the hardest food category for me to have readily available throughout my day. It generally requires more preparation time than the other sources. Here is how I’ve used baseball to try and overcome this challenge with my meat sources:
Baseball System for Protein
In the Dugout = in the Freezer
On Deck = in the Fridge thawing or ready to be cooked
Up to Bat = what I’ve cooked for a meal and then left overs available to grab and heat up in the microwave, pan fry, or air fry
(!) What Makes This System Work - When I move an item to “Up to Bat,” I then move an item out of the “Dugout” to be “On Deck.” Then when I go to the store I make sure to replenish the “Dugout” items.
Also, if I just cooked my “On Deck” item and I know I’m going to the store that day or the next day, I tend to just get a protein source I want to eat next to put in the fridge “On Deck” so I don’t have to freeze it.
I also use frozen Salmon, Shrimp, and Tilapia as a cheat code because I can cook those after grabbing them out of the freezer (from Dugout to Up to Bat). This is nice when I either forget to move something to “On Deck” (because it happens) or if I end up not feeling like eating the “On Deck” item when I had planned to cook it.
You could obviously plug in your own protein items into this system. It has helped me create a more natural alarm system to tell me when I need to cook more (and have an item ready to cook) in order to keep a more helpful protein source readily available in my fridge.
I’m personally not big into plant based protein sources (I do enjoy eating many of them but they usually aren’t my focus for main protein sources throughout the week), but I think you could have a similar system using them and it would probably be even easier from a storage standpoint.
The challenge of eating enough protein.
For reasons I have already touched on above, it can be difficult to increase your protein intake to the amount that would better serve your goals and body’s needs. It is common to not want to eat large amounts of protein in one sitting and this isn’t a bad thing (for reasons we’ve already talked about).
What we can do is start implementing more protein based snacks throughout our day. This is great because it could replace the less helpful snack options we’ve tended to gravitate toward, helps us get the daily protein amount we want without feeling sick, and helps keep us feeling satisfied throughout our day.
Here are a few ideas in the realm of higher protein snacks:
Plain Greek Yogurt with Super Seeds and Honey
Celery or Carrots in Peanut Butter (or other nut butter) or Hummus
Beef Jerky (or other type of meat jerky)
Protein Powder Drink in Milk or Water
I have been using Super Seeds in my yogurt, oatmeal, and smoothies for about 2 years now. I don’t notice much of a taste but I enjoy the texture they provide. You could also purchase the seeds that make up the “Super Seeds” separately.
Another great option to increase protein intake can be through smoothies. Precision Nutrition offers a great resource for making what they call a “Super Shake.”
The cost (investment) of high quality protein.
Compared to Carbohydrates and Fats, Protein tends to be more financially costly and requires more preparation time.
When we think about cost, it is more helpful to us to think about value rather than just what the dollar amount (or other currency) is. My hope is that if you are this far into reading about protein you have more of an appreciation of the value that high protein sources offer to your health and goals.
With such value, I believe it is worth the investment into your health and goals to budget for purchasing helpful sources of protein on a regular basis (this isn’t where you want to skimp on quality due to cost alone).
Just like you would like to see a good monetary return on investments (ROI) from your financial investments, when you really put things in perspective, you most likely would like to see a good nutritional ROI from the food and drinks you spend money on (invest into).
This nutritional ROI would look like…
feeling better with more energy day to day
reaching your physical and performance based goals
feeling full and enjoying the food/drink you are consuming
However, while I believe it is worth spending money on, you still want to run it through your own cost-to-benefit lens to come to terms with what items and level of quality you believe to be worth it. A couple key questions:
What is my weekly grocery budget? (and could I realistically increase it if needed?)
What type of protein sources am I currently able and willing to prepare? (do I have the necessary preparation tools or time?...am I willing to invest into those if not?)
It is very important to come to terms with what you will actually follow through with. Planning is very helpful but it is what you’ll actually do that counts.
Start with a strategy that is more helpful and as easy for you as it can be. You can then build from that over time and each next action shouldn’t feel much more difficult than the initial strategy you started with (this works because the initial action will become much more automatic and even easier as you normalize it in your life).
Now, with cost in mind, here are some potential ways you can mitigate the expenses around getting more high protein sources throughout your week:
Buy larger amounts of the protein source. You will spend more money in the moment but often the price relative to quantity is lower. As long as you have a way to store the food appropriately and you are willing to prepare it, this can save you money over the month.
Identify what types of protein are more available in your local area. In general, the types of protein sources around you that don’t have to be shipped from further parts of the country (or other countries) tend to be cheaper and less-processed (win, win).
Utilize plant based high protein sources. Foods like beans, lentils, legumes, tempeh, and edamame tend to be lower cost per ounce.
Revisiting the challenge of less controllable environments and storage of protein.
We have already discussed one of my strategies when in a less controllable environment and the food items are pre-selected for you. Quick recap: from what is available, choose the source of protein that is highest on your quality scale and then mentally relax and enjoy the time with others (PS#1).
Along with that strategy, I want to provide some other ways you can manage less controllable environments. I will refer to these as Possible Strategies (PS).
(PS#2) Another way you can approach the situation where the food is pre-selected for you, is to have already had a small meal or snack before going to the event. This way, regardless of what is offered to you to choose from, you can eat less of it and feel satisfied.
When you are on the go and proper storage of good protein sources is difficult, pro-active preparation will make or break you.
(PS#3) if you are able to keep a personal cooler with you, here are some nice options you can make at home (I strongly recommend in bulk) and then add to your cooler to grab and eat later in your day:
[3] Turkey Roll-Ups
Take a slice or multiple slices of turkey and add cheese and a veggie or two into the middle. Roll up the turkey so you create a wrap-like way to eat the turkey and other ingredients. Place in Tupperware for storage.
Greek Yogurt that is ideally plain
Either buy individual cups or distribute portions into Tupperware. You can add fruit, seeds, granola, honey, or other helpful ways to flavor your yogurt.
[3] Hard Boiled Eggs
Prepare them at home and then place in Tupperware to put in your personal cooler each day.
Veggies and Nut Butter or Hummus
Buy pre-sliced veggies or slice them yourself and pack a dip that is either a type of nut butter or hummus.
[3] Cheese Slice or String Cheese
Buy pre-portioned or cut and portion yourself.
(PS#4) if you are unable to transport any foods that need to stay cold, here are some options you could throw into your bag:
Jerky
You can buy jerky or if you are willing to make your own more power to you!
Nut Butter Sandwich
I like to use Jif Natural Peanut Butter, but you can use any nut butter you prefer. Spread it on whole grain bread either on two pieces together or one piece folded in half. Option to add a little sweetness if desired - I like a drizzle of honey.
[3] Pumpkin Seeds
Store bought or roasted in the over - esp. during Halloween.
High Protein Granola
Ideally looking for providing a ratio of 15g or more of protein with less than 10g of sugar - such as in KIND granola. Or better yet, you can make homemade granola.
Protein Bar
Although at the top of my protein to sugar ratio, I look for at least 15g of protein and offering some fiber such as in the Ready Clean Protein Bars. I tend to enjoy these before a demanding workout or activity.
Banana with Nut Butter
Pack them individually and then just add the nut butter spread on the banana as you eat it.
[3] Roasted Chickpeas
Roast them ahead of time and then add to Tupperware to throw into a bag and take with you.
For both cold and non-cold strategies you can see it is all about problem solving based on what higher protein foods can be easily grabbed and eaten (some after being prepared).
Keeping that in mind, I encourage you to make your own list of options including ideas you come up with on your own after looking over your preferred protein items or a google search of “high protein based snacks”. Once you have that list you can pick items you want to include over your next week and make sure they are available before the week begins.
A powerful tool you have access to in your training account through Fit for Life.
If you are a part of Fit for Life, I have included 2 powerful resources in the guides section of your training account. They are both Google Sheets that offer a one stop resource to plan for your food and drink choices.
The first one is called “My Nutrition Menu,” and it includes
categories of food and drink that you can fill in with your preferences
Breakfast, Lunch/Dinner, and Quick Meals sections for you to add your own options into
Snack section for you to add your own options into
An available meal planning section if you’d like to dedicate certain days to certain meals so you can shop and have foods ready throughout the week
The second one is called “Brian’s Nutrition Menu” and it is my filled out version of the menu discussed above. My hope is that it will help with ideas for everyone who looks over it. I personally use it for myself as well so I update it as I learn of new options or my preferences change.
This menu resource is what I use to list out items that are meaningful to me (like I have been strongly recommending you to do with protein sources). I like having all my options in one resource that I can access on my phone whenever I want to.
I then use those items to build my shopping list for the week (which I plan to detail how I make and use my shopping list in my future writing - so stay tuned!).
It does take some time but this is the planning aspect that enables a powerful, personal resource for you to have available. Once you have your main items filled in, it makes the doing aspect of getting good sources of food and drink and having them available on a regular basis so much easier.
If you want to get these resources and try a month with me in Fit for Life, you can do that by Clicking Here.
To recap some of keys points about protein:
Protein has many benefits to our health and is especially helpful for us when we are trying to improve our bodies and increase our physical activity.
Prioritizing a high source of protein in each of your meals can make a huge impact on how you feel, recover, and perform day to day.
Protein based snacks can offer a great way to more pleasantly increase your daily protein intake and improve your snacking decisions overall.
It's more difficult to over consume protein compared to carbohydrates, fats, and alcohol.
Many of the challenges around increasing or improving your protein intake can be addressed by
Listing out protein sources you are willing to consume
Keeping a protein option available to heat up or grab and eat (I use my baseball system)
Knowing what you want to have available ahead of time so you can shop and prepare those options for the week ahead
With so many benefits, prioritizing protein each day is a worthy effort. Now go make your life easier by making a list that you’ll actually use!
Happy training!
Direct Sources I used:
[1] Precision Nutrition Textbook: The Essentials of Nutrition and Coaching for health, fitness, and sport (4th edition) - Unit 2: The Science of Nutrition - Chapter 11 - Section on Protein: pages 124-135
[2] NSCA Textbook: Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (4th edition) - Chapter 9 - Section on Protein: pages 181-185
[3] Healthline Web Article: 30 High Protein Snacks That Are Healthy and Portable