Beginner Guide to High Protein Meal Prep

February 15, 2019 • By Sophia Smith
The estimated reading time is 4 minutes

Meal planning is a key element to reaching your fitness goals and even though this may seem like a tedious and unattainable task for most, especially considering that life can be busy. With busy work life or studies, it is convenient to pick up a sandwich or burger from a nearby 7-Eleven or Tesco. Even though you may opt for healthier options at the store, you’re still missing out on a meal with full nutrients.

Meal prep not only saves time and money and but can keep you on track about your fitness and work/study goals.

The benefits of a high protein diet

There are quite a few reasons why a high-protein diet is advantageous. It is not just a fantastic way to burn calories effectively as protein encourages your body to burn calories during digestion through thermic effects. Furthermore, a high protein diet will also prove beneficial for beating hunger and working to effectively suppress your appetite and undeniably, the biggest reason a high protein diet is opted for is that it will help you to build lean muscle.

Losing weight without caring about a high-protein diet can be risky and unhealthy. It can lead to gaining more body fat, thinning hair, skin rash, and muscle loss. That is why it is crucial that you get the right amount of protein. However, remember that a protein-rich diet is not just about the amount of protein you ingest. Quality is just as important. You could also opt to get some essential tips and tricks from the experts at BroScience. (1)

Get into the best combinations of food for a balanced meal

A high protein diet has a positive effect on cholesterol levels and metabolism. In fact, you can safely rely on natural protein sources. About 15-20 percent of your daily diet should consist of high protein foods. Good sources of protein are milk, nuts, meat, chicken, eggs, fish, beans, peas, lentils, and coarse bread. A rule of thumb states that we need one gram of protein per kg of body weight. That is to say, if you weigh 65 kg, you need at least 65 grams of protein in one day. And if you’re trying to put on muscle, aim for about 1.2 or 1.3 times of protein in grams of your weight in kg.

Foods that contain full protein are meat, birds, fish, eggs and dairy products such as milk, cottage cheese, and cheese. Vegetarian products you can combine to get full protein are grains, rice, corn, beans, peas, lentils, and nuts.

Example of well-balanced meals:

  • Chicken breast salad–As the name suggests, marinate the chicken with salt, pepper, and some paprika.

(Total calories: 490, protein: 42g, fat: 29g)

  • Biryani(Chicken and Rice)-It’s hard to master, but a very popular dish in South East Asia. It’s basically chicken blended with rice full of different spice.

(Calories per serving: 600, Protein-40 grams, Fat: 12 grams)

  • 150 g of salmon with olive oil, beans and some vegetables like cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes.

(Total calories: 312, protein: 30g, fat: 20g)

  • 200g of chicken breast with olive oil, chickpeas, rice, and vegetables.

(Total calories: 330, protein: 62g, fat: 7.2g)

  • 3 eggs with olive oil and rice/bread and vegetables.

(3 full eggs provide 18g of protein, 10g of fat and a total of 156 calories)

It isn't a problem to get enough protein in your diet as long as you eat proper food. On the other hand, if you are a type that regularly uses sweets such as brown cheese, honey, jam, and nougat on bread slice, choose sausages, fish bowls and other food for dinner, and drink juice and soft drinks for meals, protein uptake can be defective.

Sophia Smith

She is a renowned nutritionist and freelance writer whose topics of interest include healthy living and healthy eating. She is passionate about introducing new and delicious healthy meals while balancing her time between cooking and going to the gym. Her mission is to change the life of as many people as she can and make them the best version of themselves.
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram