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want to add more protein to your diet
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but not exactly sure where to start
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let's talk about that
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how's it going guys my name is richie
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kirwan and today we're going to talk
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about all the ways you can increase the
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amount of protein in your diet there are
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plenty of reasons to try and get more
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protein in the diet it helps us build
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muscle it helps us to maintain muscle
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when we lose weight and it's good for
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helping us to stay feeling fuller for
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longer which is always good news if
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you're trying to lose some weight i've
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already done a lot of videos on how much
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protein to eat for both building muscle
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and during a calorie deficit so check
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very general rule getting about 30 grams
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of protein per meal is a decent goal in
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terms of how much to eat
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but for some people who have never paid
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attention to their protein intake before
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it might not be that easy so here are a
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few ideas to help hit those protein
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start the day with protein breakfast is
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usually the lowest protein meal of the
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day with an average of about 12 grams of
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protein in the uk as most people focus
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on cereals toast fruit or even just a
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cup of tea or coffee increasing protein
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at breakfast is not only a great way to
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increase your total daily protein intake
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but it also means you have another
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opportunity to spike muscle growth or a
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way to keep hunger at bay until lunch
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aims at high protein foods like low-fat
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dairy products such as greek yogurt
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cottage cheese or cork or have some eggs
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or even a plain old protein shake
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you could even try high protein recipes
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like adding protein powder to porridge
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or making a high protein smoothie with
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fruit oats nuts and either protein
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powder or some high protein dairy
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build your meals around a protein source
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when planning your meals and meal
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prepping think about the main source of
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protein in the meal be it meat fish
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chicken eggs beans tofu whatever and
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think about how much you need to have to
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get the amount of protein you need
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specifically so for example if you want
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to make sure you're getting 30 grams of
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high quality protein you might want to
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make sure that you're getting at least
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130 grams of chicken breast per serving
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many people currently build their meal
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around carbs like pasta rice or potatoes
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and there's absolutely nothing wrong
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but protein and vegetables are often
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just little bits on the side
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unfortunately this can mean that meals
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can be very carb and calorie heavy with
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very little protein or veg for
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satisfying instead focus on getting
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enough of your protein source in first
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and complete the meal with vegetables
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and your favorite carbs this is where
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learning to use kitchen scales and
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calorie tracking apps can actually be
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really useful for some people for
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teaching you what macronutrients are in
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the foods that you eat and this can help
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you to learn how to prepare more
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nutritionally balanced or at least
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higher protein meals number three eat
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more dairy yes there are many people
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that don't eat dairy due to allergies or
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ethical reasons but if that doesn't
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apply to you then dairy can be one of
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the easiest ways to get a lot of very
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high quality protein into your diet you
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can get a lot of protein with the
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standard dairy staples of greek yogurt
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which is about 10 grams of protein per
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100 grams compared to a regular yogurt
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which only has about 5 grams or less and
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quark which is very much like a thick
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yogurt you can also top up the protein
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in other meals by adding things like
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grated cheese on top or having a glass
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of milk or a small yogurt alongside
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those meals dairy really is a fantastic
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source of protein and other nutrients
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like calcium and iodine it's available
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everywhere and there are plenty of lower
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fat options if that's a concern for you
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and on top of that it's pretty cheap to
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boot so take full advantage of that
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number four swap regular pasta for
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legging pasta now this might be a bit
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controversial to some people because
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people will say that pasta is perfectly
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fine to include in your diet and i
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absolutely agree but my reasoning for
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this is twofold not only are legume
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pastas a great way to get extra protein
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they're also a great way to include
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legumes which are beans peas and lentils
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into your diet i recommend legumes to
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people regularly because they're super
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high in fiber polyphenols and minerals
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making them a very healthy addition to
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the diet but people often find it hard
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to add them to their diet because
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they're not that common in the average
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uk diet apart from beans on toast these
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days it's so much easier to find high
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protein pastas that are simply made out
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of legumes like chickpeas lentils or
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peas you can use them just like regular
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pasta just don't overcook them or they
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will turn into mush and you can also
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find pastas that have added protein
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isolates in them but personally i think
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the regular legume pastas are a great
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whole food addition to the diet number
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five stock your house and your backpack
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or gym bag with high protein snacks so
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you always have some quick and
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convenient protein when needed protein
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bars jerky sachets of protein powder are
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super convenient because they last
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don't quote me on forever but they last
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for a while and you can just leave them
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in the gym bag or your locker or your
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desk at work and they will be there
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whenever you need them you can also
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stock your fridge with yogurts or dairy
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snacks mini cheese wheels and even
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hard-boiled eggs if you like them these
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can be really useful for topping up
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protein at otherwise low protein meals
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what exactly do i mean by that topping
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off the protein well think of it like
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a standard supermarket sandwich probably
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isn't going to have a whole lot of
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protein maybe 20 grams if you're lucky
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but adding a small pack of jerky or a
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protein yogurt can easily bump that up
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to 30 or even 40 grams think of protein
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per calorie oftentimes when people are
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cutting calories to lose weight they hit
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their calorie goal well before they hit
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their protein goal eating foods that
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have more protein with fewer calories
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which are often the most protein dense
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foods can make hitting your protein
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goals without going over on calories a
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lot easier to give you an example a
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piece of lean beefsteak with 25 grams of
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protein has only 130 calories on the
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other hand the same amount of protein
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from almonds will come with a whopping
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684 calories which means nuts are
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probably not a great way to increase
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your protein intake if you're trying to
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control your calories i actually talk
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about protein per calorie in a lot more
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detail related to vegetarian protein
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sources in another video so go ahead and
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check that out if you're interested
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number seven last but by no means least
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if all else fails and you're still
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struggling to get enough protein just
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add a protein shake here and there
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protein shakes exist to do exactly that
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to provide a convenient and easy way of
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getting protein into your diet without
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the hassle of changing your cooking or
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eating habits maybe you just need to
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invest in a bag of protein powder and a
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shaker and don't think you need to drink
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a protein powder as a shake you can add
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it to food as well into greek yogurt to
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make a high protein dessert or into oats
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to make protein-packed breakfast so were
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any of those tips useful
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if you have any other tips for
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increasing protein intake let me know in
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the comments below and as always if you
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have any questions let me know too and
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remember to like and subscribe to the my
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protein youtube channel for more great
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evidence-based nutrition information
