One of the best secrets I’ve found to build lean muscle mass AND stay lean at the same time is to drastically increase my protein intake.
I’ve always tried to have a fairly high protein diet, but I didn’t realize just how effective adding even more protein was in both building muscle and staying lean. In fact, here is one of the studies that confirms that high protein diets have no adverse effects, but significantly contribute to fat loss and lean muscle gain: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7539343/
The big problem is how do you eat all that protein in a day without having to resort to boring chicken breasts and egg whites for all of your meals?
It’s definitely a tough nut to crack since the main sources of protein really come from 3 places: meats, eggs and milk. (Yes, I know there are plant sources like lentils, but a majority of the most protein dense sources are meats, eggs and milk.)
The way I sought out tackling this challenge of getting a large amount of protein each day was to find a collection of high protein foods that I could have lying around that I could eat whenever I was hungry. I wanted these foods to be super convenient and not require any cooking.
I also wanted to make things even easier by having many of the food automatically delivered to my door every month, so I didn’t have to constantly worry about stocking up on them.
For that, I decided to utilize Amazon’s subscribe and save feature which allows me to have the food delivered to me every month and saves me 5% to 15% per item, which can add up to quite a bit of savings over time.
Here’s a list of all the foods I eat and a link to add them to your own subscribe and save or just order them if you want to try them out.
Protein: 20g
Calories: 190
Protein to Calorie Ratio: 10.5%
These are awesome. I like the Birthday Cake and the Chocolate Brownie flavors the best, but pretty much all of them are good. You can pop these in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds and they taste even better.
The ratio isn’t the best, so I use these as more of a snack or dessert.
Protein: 30g
Calories: 160
Protein to Calorie Ratio: 18.75%
I like these because they are super simple. I can just grab one of these and drink it instead of having to make a whole protein shake with a blender. They taste good and they have a nice ratio or protein to calories.
Protein: 20g
Calories: 140
Protein to Calorie ratio: 14.3%
Make sure you get the tortilla versions of these chips, those ones taste the best. I like the Spicy Sweet Chili flavor and the Chili Lime the best, but they are all good.
These taste just like regular chips, maybe even better. Super convenient. I snack on these all the time.
Tillamook Country Smoker Keto Friendly Zero Sugar Beef Jerky
Protein: 28g
Calories: 140
Protein to Calorie ratio: 20%
It’s difficult to find good beef jerky that isn’t loaded with sugar, so I was pretty excited when I found this brand and that it was on subscribe and save. Very high ratio of protein and it’s easy to eat 2 servings which gives you 28 grams of protein. Tastes great as well and is good exercise for your jaw, which is a bonus.
The Only Bean Crunchy Dry Roasted Edamame Snacks
Protein: 11g
Calories: 100
Protein to Calorie ratio: 11%
I like these because it adds a bit of variety, but still is a super easy to grab snack to get some extra protein in. Don’t worry about it being soy protein, most of the studies show soy doesn’t even really matter unless it’s in VERY large quantities, plus in the bean form it’s completely safe.
Protein: 20g
Calories: 180
Protein to Calorie ratio: 11.1%
This is probably my favorite of the high protein snacks. These are so good. I really like the chocolate flavor and the strawberry ones, but just about all of them are really really good.
I wouldn’t recommend toasting them like a regular poptart though, because they don’t really come out that well. Better to just eat them cold or very slightly toast them on a very low setting.
Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey Protein Powder
Protein: 48g
Calories: 240
Protein to Calorie ratio: 20%
This is pretty much a staple to have in a high protein diet. It really doesn’t matter as much on the brand and you might do better with a plant based protein source since you are getting complete proteins from other sources. I like to make a shake with this and add some powdered peanut butter for even more protein.
PBfit All-Natural Organic Peanut Butter Powder
Protein: 16g
Calories: 140
Protein to Calorie ratio: 11.4%
I will never buy regular peanut butter again. There is just no need to. This stuff tastes just as good and it has more protein and less fat per serving. I mostly use this in the powdered form and just add it to things. I’ll put some in my protein shake or I’ll add some to my oatmeal.
FAGE Total Greek Yogurt, 0% Nonfat
Protein: 36g
Calories: 180
Protein to Calorie ratio: 20%
Can’t really do a subscribe and save for this one, but I just get this from the grocery store or order it with Amazon Fresh. There are a few different brands to choose from, but I like the FAGE one. I get the plain version and either add some frozen fruit that I thaw or Mio water flavorer and it tastes really good.
I’ll also use this in place of sour cream and put this on tacos, chili and any other foods that it seems like it would go well with.
Protein: 20g
Calories: 100
Protein to Calorie ratio: 20%
Again, the brand doesn’t matter much here, but liquid egg whites are awesome. They are basically just pure protein and you don’t even have to cook them since they are pasteurized.
I’ll often cook these up with some frozen spinach and a little bit of cheese in the microwave and make a very quick meal that is almost all protein or I’ll add them to my protein shake (you can’t even taste it and it makes it more frothy.)
Mission Protein Tortilla Wraps
Protein: 14g
Calories: 140
Protein to Calorie ratio: 10%
These are super good and provide an alternative source of protein so you don’t get overloaded on whey. I put lunch meat in them for extra protein and make a wrap or I’ll use them for tacos or burritos. You can even toast them and just eat them on the side to replace rice or some other carb with a meal.
Explore Cuisine Organic Edamame Spaghetti
Protein: 48g
Calories: 360
Protein to Calorie ratio: 13.3%
You have to be really careful cooking this spaghetti because it’s easy to overcook, but this is one of the best items I have on this list in terms of nutrition. Super high in protein and fiber. I never eat regular spaghetti anymore. There is just no reason to do it. Sometimes I’ll get other high protein pastas, but this one has the best stats.
Adding it all up
If you add up all the foods I had on this list in a day here’s the total:
| Quest Bar | 20 | 190 |
| Quest Shake | 30 | 160 |
| Quest Chips | 20 | 140 |
| Beef Jerky | 28 | 140 |
| Edamame Beans | 11 | 100 |
| Tasty Pastry | 20 | 180 |
| Shake | 48 | 240 |
| PBFit | 16 | 140 |
| Greek Yogurt | 36 | 180 |
| Egg Whites | 20 | 100 |
| Protein Tortilla | 14 | 140 |
| Edamame Spaghetti | 48 | 360 |
| TOTAL | 311 grams | 2070 calories |
Now, obviously you aren’t going to eat all of these things every single day, but I generally will eat 5 or 6 of these items every day, which gets my protein up to at least the 200 gram mark and then I might have regular meal with some kind of protein source which will usually push me close to or past 300 grams.
The most important thing I found was that by having these foods around I was much much more likely to eat high protein totals each day and a lot less likely to eat junk food since all of these were good alternatives to some junk I might eat and they are super convenient and easy to just grab and go.
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