When it comes to improving your fitness and achieving your goals, nutrition plays a pivotal role—and at the heart of good nutrition is protein. Whether you’re just starting your fitness journey or have been working out for years, consuming enough protein is essential for muscle growth, recovery, and overall health.
Why Protein Matters
- Muscle Growth and Repair
Protein provides the building blocks your body needs to repair and grow muscle. After a workout, your muscles need protein to rebuild, which helps them grow stronger over time. This is especially important if you’re lifting weights or engaging in resistance training. Even if you’re new to fitness, starting with adequate protein intake ensures that your body has the tools it needs to adapt to your training, whether you’re aiming to build muscle or lose body fat. - Improved Recovery
Getting enough protein helps speed up muscle recovery after workouts. This means less soreness, faster recovery, and the ability to stay consistent with your exercise routine. For beginners, proper recovery is key to avoiding burnout and staying motivated. - Better Fat Loss
Protein has the highest thermic effect, which means your body burns more calories digesting it compared to carbs and fats. Additionally, it helps keep you feeling fuller for longer, reducing cravings and the urge to overeat. If weight loss is part of your fitness goals, eating enough protein will help preserve lean muscle mass while you lose fat, making your progress more sustainable. - Supports Overall Health
Beyond fitness, protein is crucial for overall health, supporting everything from immune function to skin and hair health. Consuming adequate protein can also help maintain muscle mass as you age, which is important for long-term health and mobility.
How to Eat 150 Grams of Protein a Day
As coaches, we know hitting your daily protein target can feel like a challenge, especially if you’re new to paying attention to your macronutrient intake. We’ve put together two examples of how to reach 150 grams of protein in a day with different meal structures. Our preferred method to make consuming this much protein a little more palatable (pun intended) is to break down the grams per day just about evenly across meals. If your target is 150 grams and you can consume 5 meals in a day, that means each meal should contain about 30g of protein. That seems more manageable, right?
Example 1: 3 Meals, 2 Snacks
Meal 1: Breakfast
- 3 scrambled eggs (18g protein)
- 100g Greek yogurt (10g)
- 20g chia seeds (4g)
Total: 32g
Snack 1
- 25g whey protein shake mixed with water (20g) This one is our favorite!
Total: 20g
Meal 2: Lunch
- 150g grilled chicken breast (45g)
- 100g quinoa (8g)
Total: 53g
Snack 2
- 50g turkey slices (12g)
- 1 apple
Total: 12g
Meal 3: Dinner
- 200g baked salmon (40g)
- 100g broccoli (3g)
Total: 43g
Total for the day: 150g protein
Example 2: 3 Meals
Meal 1: Breakfast
- 4 scrambled eggs (24g protein)
- 100g cottage cheese (11g)
Total: 35g
Meal 2: Lunch
- 200g grilled chicken breast (60g)
- 150g steamed lentils (18g)
Total: 78g
Meal 3: Dinner
- 200g lean ground beef (45g)
- 100g roasted Brussels sprouts (3g)
Total: 48g
Total for the day: 161g protein
Conclusion
Consuming adequate protein is key to reaching your fitness goals, especially if you’re just starting out. It helps build and repair muscle, boosts recovery, supports fat loss, and keeps you on track toward better health. By incorporating high-protein foods into your daily routine, like in the examples above, you can make sure your body gets what it needs to perform and recover optimally!
If you’re struggling to hit your protein goals, consider working with one of our coaches who can guide you through the process and create a personalized plan to meet your needs. Achieve Nutrition is here to help you every step of the way. Schedule a FREE CONSULT to learn more!
If you want to learn a little more about how we structure our nutrition coaching programs, be sure to check out this blog post. It will explain our entire philosophy!
