How to Get Enough Protein Each Day (Strategies for Busy People)

How to Get Enough Protein Each Day (Strategies for Busy People)

So, you want to up your protein intake, but you’re not sure how to fit it all into a day.

You’re not alone!

With so many health and fitness experts recommending 30 grams of protein per meal, or up to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight daily, it can add up fast.

Fortunately, the numbers often appear bigger than the portions, which is what this article is all about.

Here, you’ll learn ten helpful protein strategies for busy people that will help you improve your protein intake with pleasure and ease.

First Step: Calculate How Much Protein You Need Per Meal

Knowing your daily protein targets is a great first step. However, that number can be daunting, especially if you’re aiming for a higher protein intake, such as 0.7-1 gram per pound of ideal body weight.

Breaking this number down by meal will make it so much more attainable.

For example, if your goal is to eat 90 grams of protein per day, that comes out to about 30 grams per meal, excluding snacks or beverages.

If your goal is to eat 140 grams per day, that works out to about 47 grams per meal, excluding snacks or beverages.

Much easier, right?

From there, you can decide whether you want to rely solely on mealtimes for your protein or include some snacks.

For the 140-gram daily target, it will probably be easier to aim for 30-40 grams per meal, then add protein-rich snacks or beverages to make up the difference.

Either way, this breaks a larger goal into more manageable numbers you can easily track with a macro-tracking app or a food journal.

Second Step: Get to Know the Best Protein Sources

Meat, fish, and seafood are the best-known sources of protein, but they’re not the only ones.

Here are some of the best protein sources for meals, snacks, and beverages.

  • Meats: Beef, bison, pork, organ meats, and wild game
  • Poultry: Chicken, turkey, cornish game hens, pheasant, ostrich, duck, goose
  • Eggs: Hard-boiled, scrambled, deviled, frittata, custards, egg salad
  • Fish and seafood: Wild-caught salmon, sardines, low-mercury tuna, cod, anchovies, shrimp, scallops, clams, oysters, crab, etc.
  • Dairy products, especially cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and Greek yogurt
  • Bone broth, real bone broth, cooked for 24 hours, can contain up to 12 grams of protein per cup.
  • Some dairy alternatives, such as protein-enriched yogurts, soy milk, pea milk, and hemp milk
  • Soy products, including tofu, tempeh, soymilk, and edamame
  • Protein powders, including whey, pea, hemp, cranberry seed, rice, egg white, casein, hydrolyzed beef protein, and others 
  • Beans and legumes such as black beans, white beans, kidney beans, lentils, adzuki beans, black eyed peas, and chickpeas
  • Nuts, the highest protein nuts include: 
    • Peanuts 
    • Almonds
    • Pistachios
  • Seeds such as hemp seeds/hearts, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds

These foods all contain varying amounts of protein and amino acids per serving to help you meet your daily goals.

A macro tracking app is the easiest way to calculate the amount of protein in grams for different foods and serving sizes.

Third Step: Strategize Protein Timing

As mentioned earlier, it’s important to strategize when you’ll eat your protein.

Most experts recommend starting the day with a protein-rich breakfast, aiming for around 20-30 grams.

This will get you off to a solid start in meeting your targets, help promote satiety throughout the day, and offer flexibility.

From there, plan when and how you’ll make up the difference at lunch, dinner, and snacks.

Related reading: A Beginner’s Guide to Protein Cycling

10 Simple Strategies to Help You Up Your Protein Intake Daily

Now that you’ve created a foundation for your protein goals, let’s look at some tried and true strategies to help up your daily protein intake.

1. Add Protein to your Morning Beverage

Consuming enough protein is important, but who said you had to chew it?

Enter the protein-rich morning beverage, a simple hack that can bank 10-20 grams of extra protein.

Some examples include:

  • Collagen coffee: Add a scoop, stir to dissolve, and drink like usual (you won’t taste a thing!)
  • Protein powder lattes or frappes: Add a scoop of vanilla or chocolate whey protein to your latte, and blend for a frothy and satisfying pick-me-up
  • Collagen matcha latte: Add a scoop to hot milk, stir into matcha, and enjoy
  • Protein shakes: A cup of berries, a banana or mango, some smoothie-friendly veggies (like greens, microgreens, frozen cauliflower, red cabbage, or canned pumpkin), a scoop of protein powder, and cup of water, milk, plant milk, coconut water, or juice makes a high-protein, high fiber, slow sugar and satisfying breakfast with 20-30 grams per shake.

For more inspiration, check out this Orange Dream Smoothie recipe.

2: Use Snacks to Layer in Protein (and satiety) Between Meals

If snacks are a part of your nutritional strategy, use them to increase your protein intake.

Meat sticks, a handful of nuts, trail mix, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese mousse, ants on a log, roasted chickpeas, edamame with tamari, protein bars, and protein shakes all help add up to more protein daily, while keeping cravings under control.

Check out these Vegan Protein Bar recipes to up your snack game.

3. Not a Snacker? Double up at Lunch or Dinner

If snacking isn’t in the cards, be sure to increase your protein portions at lunch and dinner.

Depending on your daily goals, this could mean adding two chicken breasts or an extra egg plus hemp seeds to your salad, adding lentils or beans to a beef stew, choosing an 8-ounce fillet of salmon instead of a 4-ounce fillet, or opting for quinoa instead of rice as a side dish.

Study the best sources of protein listed previously and get creative about adding extras to your three meals a day.

4. Choose Leaner Sources of Meat—More Protein, Less Calories

When increasing protein intake, it’s important to get familiar with macro differences between protein sources.

For example, a 4-ounce serving of ribeye steak contains about 260 calories, 24 grams of protein, and 15 grams of fat,[1] whereas a 4-ounce serving of sirloin contains about 200 calories, 24 grams of protein, and 10 grams of fat.[2]

For poultry, a 100-gram serving of roasted chicken thigh (bone-in, skin-on) contains about 229 calories, 25 grams of protein, and 16 grams of fat,[3] while a boneless, skinless chicken breast contains approximately 165 calories, 31 grams of protein, and 3.6 grams of fat.[4]

Generally, you’ll want to choose leaner sources of meat with a higher protein-to-fat ratio. This will help you maximize your protein intake without blowing your daily calorie expenditure.

5. Enjoy a Protein Shake Daily

Protein shakes, whether enjoyed at breakfast or post-workout, are an excellent way to add more protein and nutrients to your day.

Biochem’s certified gluten-free Grassfed Whey and sustainably sourced Vegan Protein Powders, for example, contain 20 grams of protein per scoop, taste amazing, and blend easily to create a nutritious protein-packed shake.

Need some inspiration? Check out these simple protein shake recipes:

6. Add Beans and Legumes to Everything

Beans and legumes, like chickpeas and lentils, provide a hefty source of plant-based protein and fiber and are affordable and versatile.

For example:

  • Just half a cup of canned chickpeas, for example, provides about 7.5 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber.[5]
  • Half a cup of cooked lentils provides approximately 9 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber![6]

Beans and legumes can be added to salads, side dishes, stews, soups, grain bowls, sauces, dressings, pasta, and even pancakes and baked goods.

You can also find bean and legume-based pastas, such as red lentil, yellow lentil, and black bean, as well as bean-based muffin, brownie, and cookie recipes.

7. If you’re Vegetarian or Vegan, Focus on These High-Protein Foods

Getting enough protein need not be a source of stress for vegetarians and vegans. 

The secret is to use the strategies outlined previously and to focus on plant-based foods with the highest amounts of protein, including:

  • Tofu
  • Tempeh and hempeh
  • Beans and legumes
  • Spirulina
  • Seeds, especially hemp and chia seeds
  • Vegan Protein Powders, ideally from a mix of plant proteins for best amino acid content
  • Certified Vegetarian Whey Protein Powder (vegetarian)
  • Eggs (vegetarians)
  • Greek yogurt (vegetarians)
  • Protein-fortified yogurt alternatives (vegans)
  • Cheeses (vegetarians)
  • Higher protein grains, like millet and quinoa
  • Plant-based meat alternatives

Read labels or use a macro counter to ensure you’re choosing the proper portions to hit your daily targets. Easy peasy!

8. Choose High-Protein, High-Fiber Whole Grains

Although less thought of than meats and protein powders, switching to nutrient-dense whole grains can make a marked difference in your daily protein intake.

Here are some examples of whole grains with extra protein (per 100-gram serving, about half a cup):[7-11]

  • Teff contains about 10 grams of protein 
  • Amaranth contains about 9 grams of protein
  • Kamut contains approximately 9.85 grams of protein
  • Quinoa contains about 8 grams of protein and is the only grain with a complete amino acid profile
  • Millet contains 6.11 grams of protein

Many multi-grain breads also contain around 7 grams of protein per serving, and you can even find protein breads with even more, so check labels.

9. Try not to Over-Rely on Meats

There’s no doubt that meats are an excellent source of high-quality protein.

However, it’s important not to overdo it, especially with red and processed meats. Diets high in these foods and low in fiber have been associated in research with less favorable cardiovascular health outcomes. [12-15]

Some would argue that grass-fed meats do not cause the same issues because they’re lower in fat, but more research is needed to confirm this hypothesis.

In the meantime, it appears best to enjoy meat in moderation with other clean sources of protein such as poultry, fish, seafood, beans, legumes, dairy products, and protein powders.

Related reading: How Much Is Too Much Protein Per Day? The Science Behind The Limits

10. Add Protein Powder to Baked Goods, Oatmeal, Cereal, & More

Protein powders aren’t just for shakes; they’re also easy to add to other recipes, such as muffins, pancakes, energy balls, oatmeal, mousse, yogurt, cereal, and homemade protein bars.

For savory dishes, choose unflavored protein powder, and for sweets, try naturally sweetened chocolate or vanilla, like Biochem’s certified gluten-free Grassfed Whey and sustainably sourced Vegan Protein Powders.

These recipes will show you how:

Looking for Clean, Gluten-Free Protein Powder? We’ve Got It.

Biochem is proud to offer the highest quality, certified gluten-free, sustainably sourced protein powders and sports nutritional supplements to support your nutrition goals.

Our Grassfed, Certified Vegetarian Whey and vegan verified Plant Protein Powders contain 20 grams of protein per scoop, are manufactured in a certified gluten-free facility, free from artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and ingredients, and rigorously sourced and tested to ensure a clean, safe, and healthy product. 

Shop Biochem protein powders today to help you increase your protein intake with ease.

References Mentioned in This Article

  1. “Beef, ribeye cap steak, boneless, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, choice”. USDA Food Data Central.
  2. “Beef, top sirloin steak”. USDA Food Data Central.
  3. “Chicken, broilers or fryers, thigh, meat only, cooked, roasted”. USDA Food Data Central.
  4. “Chicken, broiler or fryers, breast, skinless, boneless, meat only, cooked, grilled.” USDA Food Data Central.
  5. “Chickpeas (garbanzo beans, bengal gram), canned, sodium added, drained and rinsed”. USDA 
  6. “Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, with salt”. USDA FoodData Central.
  7. “Teff, cooked”. USDA FoodData Central.
  8. “Amaranth grain, cooked”. USDA FoodData Central.
  9. “Wheat, khorasan, cooked”. USDA FoodData Central.
  10. “Quinoa, cooked”. USDA FoodData Central.
  11. “Millet, whole grain”. USDA FoodData Central.
  12. “Eating red meat daily triples heart disease-related chemical”. National Institutes of Health.
  13. “Red Meat Intake and the Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases: A Prospective Cohort Study in the Million Veteran Program”. J Nutr.
  14. “Effect of red meat consumption on cardiovascular risk factors: A systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials”. Clinical Nutrition.
  15. “Associations of Processed Meat, Unprocessed Red Meat, Poultry, or Fish Intake With Incident Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality”. JAMA Intern Med. 
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