Hitting a high protein goal is something most of my clients struggle with at first. A lot of times my clients are shocked that the things that they thought had the most protein in them, don’t actually have as much protein as they thought.

As someone who has had a consistent high protein goal for a long time, I’m here to help you reach those goals with ease everyday with a few simple swaps, and some easy hacks. I don’t just want to tell you the obvious “Eat eggs instead of cereal for breakfast”.

PS. There are NO affiliate links in here. I’m not being paid to recommend any of these products. They’re Legitimately products that I or my clients use in order to hit a high protein goals.

1.) Protein Fruits and Veggies.

While pursuing a high protein goal, you still need to be eating the rainbow, but it helps if you know what parts of the rainbow contain the most protein. Two birds with one stone. If you’re eating a lot of fruits and veggies, try swapping to some of these which are much higher in protein than many other fruits and veggies.

Veggies
-Edamame contains about 18 grams of protein per cup.
-Green peas contain almost 9 grams of protein per cup
-Brussel sprouts contain just over 5 grams of protein per cup
-Asparagus Contains just over 4 grams of protein per cup
-Broccoli Contains just over 4 grams of protein per cup
-Avocado Contains 4 grams of protein per cup

Fruits
-Guava contains just over 4 grams of protein per cup
-Kiwi Contains about 2 grams of protein per cup
-Oranges contain about 2 grams of protein per cup
-Blackberries contain about 2 grams of protein per cup

If you’re still trying to get your veggies and fruit in, try choosing from the list above to add a little bit of extra protein in.

2.) Dairy

Often people think of cheese as a complete source of protein, and it is, but it is typically considered to be a fat. Though cheese works in a pinch, try a few of these ideas instead.

Make your morning lattes or cereal with fair life milk instead of regular milk which has 13 grams of protein per cup. As an alternative, if you’re eating cereal, you can also mix some PB fit into your milk before your pour your cereal in to add an extra 8 grams of protein.

Even if you don’t want to snack on cottage cheese whether it be the taste or texture, cottage cheese can be blended and mixed into soups, sauces, smoothies and even cookie dough and you can’t even taste it. Which is great because cottage cheese has 25 grams of protein per cup.

I also recommend switching from regular yogurt to greek yogurt, extra points for Ratio yogurts which have 25 grams of protein per serving. There are also some delicious high protein granolas such as the nature valley granola that has 13 grams in 2/3s of a cup and is a super easy option for a grab and go breakfasts.

3.) Bread

I always recommend this Daves killer bread. It has 5 grams of protein per slice, which is higher compared to many other breads out there.

4.) Meat

Everyone thinks of meat as one of the best sources of protein, and it definitely can be, but I can’t tell you how many of my clients have said “Wow, I really thought that steak I had would have more protein in it than it did.” Sure, it has more protein in it than an apple, but compared to other meats, red meat doesn’t have the best protein content.

Try choosing lean meats such as chicken, turkey and some fish. For example, ground cooked chicken has about 43 grams of protein per 100 grams whereas ground beef has about 26 grams of protein per 100 grams.

5.) Nuts and legumes

You already know that beans and lentils are a good source of protein, so I don’t have to tell you that.

But I do have to mention that a 30 gram serving of almonds is about 6 grams of protein. This makes slivered almonds perfect for topping salads and bowls and I’ve even had slivered almonds in curry and couldn’t taste them. You could also add them to cookies and brownies.

There is almost 10 grams of protein in a 30 gram portion of hemp seeds which makes them great for salads and smoothies as well if you like a little crunch.

I’ve also been known to throw a can of chick peas into a stir fry or soup. 1 cup of chickpeas has 39 grams of protein and chickpeas soak up the flavor of whatever they’re cooked in while still having the texture of a regular bean. You can also roast these in the oven or in the air fryer and they’re delicious both with savory seasonings, and with cinnamon sugar.

Also, Spring for quinoa instead of rice which has 8 grams of protein per cup instead of 4 grams and it works in most recipes that rice works in (Except maybe rice pudding).

Let’s put some of these swaps into practice with a couple of simple meal plans.


Sample High Protein Meal Plan 1-

(THIS MEAL PLAN IS FOR THE PEOPLE WHO DON’T HAVE TIME TO COOK THROUGHOUT THE DAY BECAUSE OF WORK OR WHATEVER.)


Breakfast-
Vanilla Latte- 2 oz brewed espresso, 1.5 cups fairilife milk and 1/2 ounce vanilla syrup.- 19 Grams protein
1 Ratio yogurt- 25 grams protein
2/3 cup protein granola- 13 Grams protein
1/2 Cup blackberries- 1 Gram protein
Total= 58 Grams of protein

Lunch
Bacon and Chickpea stir fry with broccoli and other mixed veggies, cheese and avocado on top (I meal prep this on sunday and it takes about 15 minutes) – About 34 grams of protein
Total = 34 Grams of protein

Snack
Orgain Protein Shake- 20 grams of protein
1 cup of edamame (I like this air-fried so freaking good)- 18 Grams of protein.
Total= 38 Grams of protein

Dinner (I meal prep this on Sunday too and it takes about 30-45 minutes)
Ground Turkey meatballs with carrot and zucchini- 23 grams of protein
Chickpea pasta noodles- 14 grams of protein
Greek Yogurt Alfredo Sauce (I bet you could make this with cottage cheese too and make the protein even higher) – 17 Grams of protein
1 cup combined Broccoli and peas- about 6.5 grams of protein
Total =60.5

After Dinner Snack
Protein bread toast with peanut butter – 13 Grams protein
Hot tea
Total -13 Grams of protein.

Total daily protein= 203.5 grams of protein total.



Sample Meal plan 2

(THIS IS THE ONE FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE TIME TO COOK DURING THE DAY)

Breakfast-
Latte- 1.5 Cups fairlife milk, 2 oz espresso 1/2 oz vanilla syrup- 19 Grams protein.
Cottage cheese and 2 egg omelette- 32 Grams of protein (Depending on what you mix in, you could any of the veggies listed above and ad some extra protein).

Total= 41 Grams of protein

Lunch-
Quinoa buddha bowls- with Quinoa, Roasted Chick peas, Spinach, Sweet potato, and chicken topped with slivered almonds- 51 grams of protein

Mint, Pineapple and spinach Smoothie– 20 grams of protein

Total protein= 71 Grams

Snack-

Orgain Protein Shake- 20 grams of protein
1 cup of edamame (I like this air-fried so freaking good)- 18 Grams of protein.
Total= 38 Grams of protein

Dinner-
Roasted chicken with asparagus- 58 Grams grams of protein
Total=58 Grams of protein

After Dinner Snack
Protein bread toast with peanut butter – 13 Grams protein
Hot tea
Total = 13 Grams of protein.


Total Protein in a day= 221

So that’s it, that’s how I manage to hit my protein goals most days. It honestly takes practice, just like anything else does.

You won’t get it perfectly the first time and you may come across some things that work better for you than the ones listed here, but I hope this is helpful to get you started.