How to Get Enough Protein

Women need more protein per kilo of body weight than men, and as they age, this becomes more urgent. The Australian Diaetary Guidelines recommend 4 serves of protein per day for women of menstruating age, increased to 5 serves at 50 years old (with a reduction in serves of grains). However, Dr Stacy Sims, a leading women’s health researcher has demonstrated that women need more than this, much more.

As a rule, women should be aiming for 1.6-2.4g of protein, per kilo of bodyweight, per day, everyday. If your protein is coming from a vegetable source, divide the grams by 4 to calculate what you’ll actually absorb (eg, if 100g of cooked red kidney beans has 9g protein, you’ll absorb around 2.25g). for an average 80kg woman, this is 136g protein per day minimum.

So how is this even possible? How do we possibly eat that much in conjunction with our 9 serves of fibrous foods?

I guess you’re seeing why we don’t diet at IntoYou anymore!! Not in the traditional sense anyway.

So here’s one idea for getting enough protein. You can use any free app like MyFitnessPal to calculate your intake. Gradually you’ll build up your protein and get the hang of it, it doesn’t have to happen tomorrow!

BREAKFAST: Protein shake

1 banana, 1 C berries, 1 T ginger, your preferred protein powder (we recommend Chief Collagen Protein), milk. Use enough protein powder to get 30g right off the bat. The protein content of milk varies, but it’s not as high as you’d think it is – only 3.5g protein per 100g! Using something like cottage cheese or yoghurt will boost the protein content beyond standard cow milk! Other vegetarian “milks’ like soy milk have complete protein in them, and a lot more than cow milk (although we still divide by 4).

SNACK: Protein

We recommend whole food bars like the Chief Beef Brisket bar, two boiled eggs, or cottage cheese and smoked salmon on a rice cake. This will be 12-15g protein per serve.

LUNCH: Bowls

Get away from the bread and make yourself a bowl. They’re as easy as a sandwich and also far more versatile. Fill half the bowl with leafy greens, or vegetables, pop in half an avo or some olives, make up 1/4 of quinoa, buckwheat, or teff grains (these all have more protein than rice), then make sure a full 1/4 is protein food (eggs, chicken breast, salmon and/or other fish/seafood, beef and/or other red meats, pork, etc). Dress it with buckets of olive oil and sprinkle with ground flax, or use hummus as a creamy dressing, and you’ve got yourself a protein bowl with almost 45g in it!!

SNACK: Protein

We recommend whole food bars like the Chief Collagen Bars, or greek yoghurt sprinkled with nuts and/or protein powder. This will be 12-15g protein per serve.

DINNER: Meat and 3 Veg

It’s a classic, and easy to do. A basic steak, potato, broccoli, and a few carrots and you’ve hit another 15-30g of protein (depending on the meat used!). Unprocessed meat is better, so avoid things like ham, bacon, and sausages unless they’re whole food products with no numbers in them.

So there you have it, one idea for how to get 130g of protein into your body in a day! Your skin, hair, nails, bones and muscles will thank you for years to come!