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Easy Ways to Increase Your Protein Intake | Nutritionist Explains... | Myprotein
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Jan 30, 2025
30g protein per meal is a general rule on how much you should take, but are you getting enough? There are plenty of reasons to try and get more protein in the diet: it helps us build muscle and it helps us maintain muscle when we lose weight, and it’s good for helping us to stay feeling fuller for longer, which is always good news if you’re trying to lose weight. Richie Kirwan, nutritionist expert, is here to help hit those protein goals. *** Chapters 00:00 - Intro 00:45 - How to start the day 01:33 - Build meals around protein 02:36 - Eat more dairy 03:27 - Protein alternatives 04:26 - Protein snacks 05:17 - Protein per calories 06:03 - protein shakes 06:33 - Got any more protein questions for Richie? *********************************
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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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[Music]
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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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those out as a very
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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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goals number one
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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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products number two
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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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with that
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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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forever well
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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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this
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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
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[Music]
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