How do I hit my protein goals consistently?
You cannot outrun a bad diet, and having a calorically-appropriate diet that focuses on protein is a cornerstone of healthy habits. The current body of evidence shows that aiming for about 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal bodyweight is a best practice.
(Yes, I know that technically it’s 0.8g/lb, but who wants to do that math all the time? 1g is easier, it won’t hurt, and honestly, will likely be beneficial.)
Hitting that 1g/lb goal, however, can be challenging, especially if you aren't looking to put on weight.
There are a lot of ways to tackle this challenge. My example below is just one way, so don’t take it as the only or best way. The best diet for you is that one that you can stick to, because…
Consistency wins
Before we go any further, we need to address consistency. Consistency is not perfection. Consistency is hitting your target 80% of the time. So if you have a day or two each week that you fall short of that 1g/lb protein goal, don’t sweat it. All is not lost! You will see results if you are good most of the time.
Why does protein matter?
Protein is the building block of muscle. When we exercise, we are essentially (not really, but the metaphor is close enough) damaging our muscles. Our bodies require protein to repair those muscles, and those repairs result in muscle growth. By consuming enough protein, we make it as easy as possible for our bodies to enact those repairs.
Protein also goes into repairing connective tissue (ligaments, tendons, and cartilage). As these structures are more likely to fail before the actual muscle tissue, keeping them in tip-top shape is very important for not just an athlete at any level, but for simply living a relatively pain-free existence and maintaining mobility.
Additionally, as we age, especially over the age of 50 and even more especially for menopausal and post-menopausal women, we start to lose muscle mass at a faster rate. To counteract, or at least slow, this process, we must incorporate resistance training, and to support that, we need to consume enough protein.
And all of this is on top of other metabolic processes that require protein to continue functioning properly.
Focus on the basics
Don’t know what you caloric intake should be? There’s a free nutritional calculator you can use.
Look, it can be a difficult enough challenge to eat a relatively healthy diet without adding a bunch of rules and restrictions that either a) aren’t backed by research and science, and/or b) may help a little, but just make things needlessly complex and difficult. Set yourself up for success, keep it simple, stick to the basics:
First priority: eat the right amount of calories to meet your goals (maintain weight, fat-loss, or muscle gain)
Get enough protein
That’s it.
Yes, there are more levels to this (like watching how much and what kind of fat you consume, getting enough fiber, getting enough micronutrients), but if you’re just starting to work this out, get those first two squared away. Build a healthy foundation, then start adding and subtracting.
Unless you are an elite athlete competing at the highest levels, or dealing with a specific health condition, things like meal timing, restrictive diets, micronutrient ratios and loads, and the rest really don’t matter. Will they have an impact? Maybe, but on the fringes, meaning the impact would be so small as to not make a difference in your everyday life and training. If you are competing at ADCC World Finals…then yeah, maybe that 0.8% difference will be the edge you need against another well-trained, elite athlete. The rest of us don’t have to concern ourselves with that stuff.
What gets measured gets done
As much as I loathe using a trite corporate cliche, this one actually works. The best way to hit your goals is to keep track of what you’re doing.
Plenty of research shows that most of us under-estimate how much we eat (calorically-speaking) and overestimate how healthy our diets really are. Having some actual data can be a good wakeup call.
Track your eating in something like Chronometer or MyFitnessPal, or any number of other diet trackers out there.
If tracking is an issue for you because of a history of disordered eating, that’s fine. You don’t have to track to see success. Just be consistent with what you’re doing, and you can make adjustments from there. If you’re several weeks or more into your training regimen, and still feeling super-sore several days after training, it might be worth upping your protein. (Also look at your training load, but that’s a different conversation.) Losing weight and you don’t want to? Up your calories a little bit. Putting on a little weight (beyond water retention and normal daily fluctuations) and don’t want to? Cut the calories back a little bit. (Also keep in mind that it might be recomp: losing fat and gaining muscle.)
If you are truly struggling with getting your eating habits into a healthy realm, I’d highly recommend working with an occupational therapist that specializes in disordered eating. NEDA (National Eating Disorder Association) and the Renfrew Center here in Philly can both be a good starting place for resources.
Example of how to get 200g of protein
My goal is 160g of protein a day, but I usually try to hit closer to 200g. One, I work out a lot (gym 3x a week, BJJ 4x a week) so getting a little more protein can only help. Two, it helps fill me up and curb my hunger cues, which helps me maintain my weight. When I get a call for a superfight, I usually only have about a month’s notice, so I don’t have a lot of time if I need to cut weight.
I don’t hit 200g every day, but remember, this is about consistency. Some days, I’m a little short of that 160g goal, and others I’m way over. As long as it averages out, and 80% of my days are good, I don’t sweat it. (The same thing goes for caloric intake.)
I also want to note that this example day is from when I had two training sessions: strength training in the morning, and no-gi BJJ class in the evening, so my caloric needs that day were higher than normal.
Breakfast (around 6 am):
Quaker Steel Cut instant oatmeal, mixed with Optimum Nutrition vanilla ice cream whey protein, and 80g each of fresh strawberries and blueberries. I also have a tall vanilla chai latte from Starbucks. Protein: 31g (29g from the oatmeal and mix-ins, 6g from the latte.)
AM Snack (around 10 am):
Barebell Salty Peanut protein bar. Honestly, these things are GOATed. They taste like a Snickers, but pack in 20g of protein.
Lunch (around 1 pm):
I’ve usually got around 5-6k steps by this point in the day, and on this particular day, I did a 40-minute lifting session around 11 am, so by 1 pm, I’m pretty ravenous.
I make a version of Pasta Mama, which is pasta tossed with 2 eggs. (The origin of this dish is from a restaurant that was looking for ways to use leftover pasta; the eggs help revitalize the gummy pasta, as well as add 12g of protein to the dish.) I’ll add in about 190-200g of pre-made chicken, roasted asparagus, and roasted tomatoes. The end result: 83g of protein.
Quick hack here if this isn’t something you can do easily during the day: Chipotle’s burrito bowl with double protein gets you 77g of protein, so you’d be good to go.
PM Snack #1 (around 3 pm):
I’m usually craving something salty around this point in the day, so I’ll make a bag of Orville Redenbacher’s Simply Salted microwave popcorn. If I was so inclined and wanted to dramatically reduce the amount of fat that comes with this snack, I could air pop some popcorn…but it just doesn’t scratch the itch the same way. That said, this snack nets 6.6g of protein.
(If this weren’t a two-a-day, I’d likely skip this snack, as I wouldn’t have it in my calorie budget.)
PM Snack #2 (around 4-5 pm)
I might not even wait until 4 and chase the salty popcorn with a Chobani Flips S’mores or Key Lime Greek yogurt. Salty and sweet…yes please. These snacks taste great (though they can’t replace my ice cream) and land another 9g of protein. If I’m being more fat-conscious, either in a fat-loss phase or just minding my calories, a 0% fat Greek yogurt is a great choice here.
Nighttime Snack (around 8 pm):
I am a sucker for ice cream, and generally like to finish the day with something sweet. That said, while ice cream is awesome, it’s not a great everyday snack because it’s pretty calorically dense with a high fat content, without giving a lot on the protein side. Also, consuming a high-fat snack right before bed can interfere with quality sleep.
So instead I’ll have a protein shake made with Fairlife Ultra-Filtered chocolate milk and Optimum Nutrition chocolate peanut butter whey protein. Fairlife milk has a higher protein content than it’s “normal” brethren in the dairy aisle (something to do with the filtering process that keeps more protein in), so this really helps me cross the finish line, packing in 43g of protein.
Grand Totals:
Calories: 2,551
Protein (g): 197.1
Carbs (g): 267.1
Fat (g): 77.1
Like I said, this isn’t a typical day. Most days I’m usually just above 160g, maybe closer to 170-180g of protein, which is where I want to be. Some days I fall under that goal, and that’s OK. Remember, the key is consistency.
Works Cited
Morton RW et al. (2018)
A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of protein supplementation and resistance training gains.
British Journal of Sports Medicine.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28698222/
Phillips SM & Van Loon LJC (2011)
Dietary protein for athletes: From requirements to metabolic advantage.
Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22067053/
Cruz-Jentoft AJ et al. (2019)
Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30312372/
Lichtman SW et al. (1992)
Discrepancy between self-reported and actual caloric intake.
New England Journal of Medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1454084/
Schoenfeld BJ (2010)
The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20847704/
Shaw G et al. (2017)
Vitamin C–enriched gelatin supplementation before intermittent activity augments collagen synthesis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27852613/
