Sneaky Ways to Increase Your Protein Intake Daily
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Are you struggling to meet your protein goals and wondering how to boost your intake effectively?
Well, today’s episode is for you! In this episode of the Embrace Your Real podcast, we explore the challenges of meeting protein goals and share practical tips and tricks to help you overcome them. From understanding why protein is essential to practical strategies for incorporating more protein into your daily diet, this episode is packed with valuable insights to support your health and fitness journey. Whether you're struggling to meet your protein goals or simply looking for creative ways to boost your intake, we've got you covered. Tune in to learn how to fuel your body effectively and maximize your results!
What I discuss:
Add collagen peptides to your morning coffee protein shake.
Try Greek yogurt in oatmeal with almond butter.
Increase your protein portions by 50%.
Supplement with EAA (Essential Amino Acids).
Double up on protein shakes.
Sip on some bone broth
If you want more from me, be sure to check out...
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Hey there, beautiful human you're listening to Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter, a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I get you a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get it. Let's go. [00:00:27][21.0]
[00:00:27] Hello and welcome back to another episode on the Embrace Your Real podcast. Real Talk. I honestly love protein. I think protein is a super macronutrient, and if I had to only focus on one macro daily, it would be protein. I get it though, when coaching, you know, thousands of women over the last decade, protein is honestly one of the hardest macros to hit, even though it's also one of the most important macros at the same time. And so that's why in today's episode, I thought that it would be, you know, always beneficial for you to share some protein hacks that will help you easily hit your protein goals. Because that's the again, that's the number one thing that I hear so many people struggling with is when they're starting to properly fuel their body, they're like, okay, I'm good on calves, I'm good on fats. But protein is what I struggle with. And so I'm going to be sharing with you, you know, obviously some sneaky ways to increase your protein daily as the title, but also kind of figure out how much protein you need, because that's another struggle that many women have, is they don't know how much protein they need. And so that's what we're going to be talking about in today's episode. But before we dive in, I wanted to share this trivia comes from Brandi McKee. [00:01:30][63.1]
[00:01:31] She gave a five star review and said, this is exactly what I need daily. The world has so much garbage in, garbage out. Finally, a place to be lifted up, encouraged and challenged. I am so grateful that this podcast is helping you. Thank you so much for tuning into the podcast and taking time out of your day to leave this rating and review. They honestly means so much to me and our team. Just kind of know how this podcast is helping you in general. So if you could scooch over to Apple Podcasts, leave a rating and review, that would mean the world to me and our team. Before I dive into kind of how to include more protein into your daily food intake, I kind of quickly want to go over why it's so important to include more protein into your daily food intake, right before I teach you kind of the ins and outs of it, I think it's important that we understand why. And this is why I'm such a huge believer in the tool of macro counting, because I believe that when you are completely empowered around food, it will allow you so much freedom and flexibility. Because if there's one thing that I have learned is when I don't feel confident in something, it's so much harder for me to stick with long term. But if I feel comfortable and confident in a specific topic, it's so much easier for me to stay committed to it. And so I want to teach you, I want to educate you. And that's that's what this podcast is always all about, is hopefully encouraging you, empowering you, or educating you in some way, shape or form. So first things first. Number one, protein is the most satiating macro. [00:02:56][85.7]
[00:02:57] So you actually have a hormone called ghrelin. And this hormone is responsible for telling you when you're hungry. So when you eat any macronutrient it suppresses this ghrelin. And when your ghrelin levels are low, your body feels satisfied and isn't asking for more food. While carbohydrates suppress ghrelin, the fastest protein suppresses it the longest. And that's really important to know versus, you know, carbs. Obviously they suppress it very quickly, but protein is suppressing it for the length of time. And so that's what's going to help you feel fuller longer. That's what's going to help you feel more satisfied. And that's why when you are reaching your protein goals, you're going to feel fuller, longer compared to eating carbs and fats, where you might feel full, you might feel satisfied for a short period of time, but within 40 minutes within, you know, an hour or two hours, you're going to be hungry again. Number two, it is extremely hard to reach your goals without the adequate amount of protein. So without getting enough protein, you're simply not going to be able to build and maintain the body that you want. It doesn't matter if you're hitting your carbs and fats. If you are not reaching the minimum amount of protein that your body needs, it's going to be difficult. You're going to be working against yourself because protein is the building block of muscle, so without protein, you can't really build muscle effectively. And without more muscle, you're going to struggle to build that lean and toned body that you want. Because muscle is more compact than fat. And without protein, you're also going to be struggle with that revving metabolism, right? Protein helps so, so much in making sure that your metabolism is efficient. [00:04:23][86.3]
[00:04:24] Number three, you burn more calories when you're eating more protein. I've talked about this a lot. If you tune into any podcast on macronutrients, I have specific podcasts in general and also in particular. So I did a whole series on, you know, a deep dive in protein, a deep dive in carbs, a deep dive in fat. So you can kind of scroll through the archives of my podcast, and you can see all of the podcasts I've done on protein and just macronutrients in general. But the reason why you burn more calories when eating more protein is because protein requires your body to use more energy to digest compared to other foods, and this is known as the thermic effect of food, which is also coined as teff. So if you ever CTF in capital that just again that's an abbreviation for thermic effect of food. Basically, TFF refers to the number of calories that your body needs to digest, absorb, and process the nutrients in your meals. So lots of research has shown that protein rich foods increase your F the most. For example, it can increase your metabolic rate, which is just essentially the rate that your body is able to burn calories by up to. 30%, compared to 5 to 10% for carbs and 0 to 3% for fat. Plus, you actually burn about 30% of the calories consumed through digestion. So let's say, for example, you're eating 100 calories of chicken just for, you know, a plain, simple example. You're going to burn 30 of those calories just from digesting the protein, which is pretty cool. Number four, it reduces cravings. So let's get something clear. A food craving is different from normal hunger, right? Most of the time when we're craving something, that means that we're not actually hungry. [00:05:58][94.3]
[00:05:59] We're just like, we're just thinking about food. We might be bored. Something might have come up. And these are the cravings that lead to overindulging. And this is what slows down the progress on our fitness journey, right? Many studies have shown that simply just increasing your protein intake daily, that can drastically decrease your food cravings or the cravings that you might have throughout the day. So if you are regularly getting enough protein, you'll notice a drastic decline in the amount of cravings that you have on a day to day basis. And it's not that you eat protein when you have cravings to crush the craving. It's that eating enough protein will prevent the cravings from even happening in the first place. So if you're proactive in your daily allotment of protein intake, you're going to notice a drastic decrease in your overall wanting to or craving foods on a day to day basis. Number five, it helps to maintain your body. So like I said, protein fills you up, which stops you from overeating, which can also help you stay within your macros and what your body needs on a day to day basis. And this also helps reduce your food cravings so you're not overindulging all the time, which can then less lead to building lean muscle, right? When all of this happens, of course it's going to help you maintain your weight and body or even get you to the physique that you're looking for based on what your goals are. So if and when life gets busy, if you have to decrease your amount of workouts that you're doing on a week to week basis, if you can really just simply focus on your protein intake, you're likely not going to lose all of that progress that you've previously made. [00:07:34][94.9]
[00:07:34] Because again, I talk about this all the time, but our life goes in seasons. There's going to be seasons where we can be a lot more proactive with our workouts, and there's going to be seasons where the workouts are likely going to be, you know, second or third or fourth on the back burner. Not that you have to completely put them off, but they might not be the main focus that they once were in a different season. So with that being said, it's cool to know that you're still able to make progress. If you can be proactive in making sure that you are eating enough protein on a day to day basis, there is actually a study done who tracked women who started to eat 30% of their calories from protein, and without telling them to restrict their calorie intake at all. What they found on average, is they actually lost 11 pounds in 12 weeks, which is pretty crazy. Protein is very, very powerful. Again, I've talked about this before. I know it's one of the hardest macronutrients to reach, but it's also so, so, so beneficial. And there are some simple hacks which I'm going to be talking about later in this episode that can really help you to ensure that you are eating enough protein. Number six, it helps you stay fit as you age. So aging is amazing. Honestly, I think that I'm truly getting better and wiser with age. You know, there are some days where I'm like, oh my gosh, I already have, you know, so many gray hairs in my at the top of my head, which shout out to my mom, she literally was gray. I think she went all gray at like 33. And that's my age right now. [00:08:55][81.3]
[00:08:56] So at least I'm not there. But I definitely do have a good amount of grays. But I am looking at this proactively. I'm looking at this with it's a blessing to age. I believe that life can only get better from here. The things that I've learned, the thing, the things that I've experienced, and I think that the reason why I am such a firm believer in this is number one, because I believe that wisdom and and experience really enriches your ability to experience life on a day to day basis. But also in terms of my health and fitness journey, I'm so grateful to be where I am today at 33, because I believe because I've prioritized protein, and it's been such a focus over the last decade in my life, it has allowed me to be where I'm at in my journey. And here, you know, as of recording this, I'm about 31 weeks pregnant, and I just couldn't be more grateful to have had such an active pregnancy thus far. And honestly, a great pregnancy thus far. And I equate that a lot to kind of the practices that I've been doing over the last decade and and keeping and making sure that I'm, you know, still doing them in my pregnancy, obviously first trimester, I will tell people it is a it is hit or miss. There are going to be days where you are literally just wanting to be sleeping all day long and nothing sounds good. And if something sounds good, it likely won't sound good again in an hour. So you better eat it then. But past first trimester, I will say just prioritizing protein was staying active throughout my. And see I quite a lot of just, you know, instilling the habits that I had previous or prior to getting pregnant and continuing them throughout pregnancy to being able to experience the pregnancy that I have thus far. [00:10:38][102.2]
[00:10:38] But one of the downsides of aging that many people struggle with is their muscles actually gradually weakened, right? And if you are not prioritizing protein and resistance training, this is where you can run into trouble over time. I've talked about this a few different episodes recently. Within the last few months. You can go back to the archives and check them out, but it is so important to make sure that you are resistance training as you get older. So make sure that your bones are nice and strong, and also that you are fueling your body and really prioritizing that protein. And I think so many people use aging as an excuse, but it's actually not an excuse because there are things that we can do to be proactive and avoid it. And one of those things, again, two of those things that I just mentioned, number one, prioritizing, making sure you're eating enough protein on a day to day basis. And number two, at the very least, make sure there is just resistance training three times a week minimum. You know, it doesn't have to be for an hour. 20 to 30 minutes is going to be sufficient, but making sure that you are working those muscles on a regular basis through resistance training aka dumbbell workouts, going to the gym, lifting those weights. And lastly, number seven, it is not harmful to your body and it is not going to make you bulky. This is something that I wish I would have learned way sooner in my health and fitness journey. It will not harm your health to eat more protein, and it's not going to make you more bulky. I think that we need to get this out of our heads. First of all, it's really hard to eat too much protein because it's so filling, right? Most people even struggle to eat enough protein for what their body needs, let alone going over their protein intake. [00:12:11][93.1]
[00:12:12] Bottom line, it's not harmful, but it's also extremely difficult to do. And so really, it shouldn't be something that you should be worried about in the first place. And second of all, protein will not make you bulky, plain and simple. It will actually do the exact opposite. It will make you leaner, right? And you're like, what in the heck? How is protein going to make me leaner? Well, if you are again properly fueling your body, that will lead you to less likely to overindulge in things. And when you are properly fueling your body, when you are working each muscle group effectively on a week to week basis, that's when you're going to build that lean and toned body that you want. And I'm telling you that if you prioritize these things, you are going to be amazed at just protein, just when you focus solely on protein. And this is why when people come to me and they say, Julie, I want to, you know, I have X, Y and Z goal, but I don't want to count macros. I get super overwhelmed with that. I tell them, okay, at the very least, I want you to focus on staying consistent in your workouts. If that's something that you struggle with, try to focus on staying consistent in your workouts, but most of the time, it's not the workouts that people struggle with, it's their food intake. And so I say, okay, if you feel overwhelmed with all three macronutrients and counting all of those three, start with just protein. Figure out what your allotment is in terms of your protein intake for minimum, and just try to focus on that. You will be amazed, especially if you've never looked at that before. It's so easy to get entrapped in the marketing schemes. [00:13:35][83.2]
[00:13:36] When you look at, for example, a food like peanut butter, they say high in protein. All right. Peanut butter maybe has, you know, 6 to 12g of protein. And that's in two full tablespoons right. Two full tablespoons. You might get 12g of protein. But you're also going to be getting 16 to 20g of fat. It's a fat dominant food. Secondarily protein with some carbs in it. And so what people don't understand is that and same goes with eggs. Eggs. Don't get me wrong, eggs are an amazing superfood. If so many benefits to them. I'm not knocking them whatsoever, but so many people think you know, well, I'm eating two eggs. Okay, well, two eggs is about ten to maybe 12g of protein, right? But it's also giving you obviously good fats. But that's alone, you know, having two eggs in the morning that's going to give you about ten to maybe 15g protein depending on how big the egg is. That's not sufficient amount of protein, especially if you are not eating protein dominant foods the rest of the day. Right. And so you just you have to learn those things. And it just takes time. It takes time to learn what is in certain foods. But that's why I think it's so beneficial to educate yourself about what is in foods so that you can make these informed decisions. So if you are struggling with, you know, okay, I want to do this. I really want to finally reach my goals. I, you know, maybe you're doing good in your workouts, but you're just struggling with your overall protein intake, your overall nutritional intake. I do have a macro counting made simple online academy, and I walk you through this. I walk you through how to get your macros custom calculated based on your body, based on your needs. [00:15:06][90.3]
[00:15:07] I share all the tips. I share all the information to really help you make macro counting a lifestyle. And that's what's most important is you have to adopt this habit so that it can be a part of a lifestyle, so that it can be long term. We are chasing sustainable, long term results here. I am not about a quick. Fix I. It is not impressive to me. If you lose, you know, 20 pounds in a month. That's not impressive to me. Why? Because, number one, I know that that's not sustainable. And number two, a lot of that's just water weight. And number three, it's likely that you're just relying on a very, very strict diet that if you go off of, you're going to gain all of that 20 pounds back plus more, and then are you going to be even more discouraged? So for me, it's more impressive when women go into this and they say, oh my gosh, I, you know, been doing this for six months or eight months, I feel healthier, I feel more balanced, I feel like I'm able to actually live life, but I'm also slowly reaching my goals. That is so much more impressive to me than going on these quick fixes. So with that being said, let's kind of now dive into some protein hacks so that you can hit your protein goals daily. Number one, add collagen peptides to your morning coffee to your morning protein shake. Collagen peptides are an easy, digestible form of collagen protein that can be a convenient way to boost your daily protein intake. So collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, found in skin, bones, joints, connective tissues. They are created by breaking down the collagen molecule into smaller, bioavailable peptides that's more readily absorbed. [00:16:37][90.3]
[00:16:38] So essentially, it's just a great benefit of collagen peptides is that they're dairy free. So they're not you know, they're not vegan. But if whey protein bothers your digestive system, collagen peptides is a great alternate. And it's very, very easy on the stomach. Another great thing about it is that it literally tastes like nothing. So you can add it to whatever it is that you are wanting to make, and it will only make things creamier, which is a perk in my book. So, you know, if you're drinking coffee, add it to your morning coffee. If you're doing a protein shake, add it to your protein shake. If you are putting it in yogurt or something like that, it's just going to make things more creamy, especially if you mix it in. I personally have been using this in my protein shakes and it has. I will talk about it in a second, but it has added so much benefit to my day and just added more protein into my daily intake, especially being pregnant. That's one thing that I have learned is, you know, thankfully, as I'm in my third trimester now, most meats and most proteins now do not make me feel sick or do not like the thought of it does make me feel sick. But definitely in that first trimester you're like, whoo! All right, how am I going to get my protein intake? And you're getting very, very creative. But like I said, collagen is is flavorless. And another bonus is that it dissolves super easily. So you can simply stir a scoop of it, you know, with your protein, get an extra 10 to 20g on top of whatever protein that you're using. And this just makes collagen peptides a no fuss, no prep way to get more protein in. [00:18:06][87.9]
[00:18:06] And I know that a lot of ladies in sediment usually have talked about this, and they're adding it into their protein shakes. And it's honestly, if you're struggling to get more protein, this is a super simple way to do so. This is not sponsored by any means, but I use the vital proteins. It's just in blue. Can I think you can honestly get it anywhere Amazon I got it at King Soopers. It's a very, very popular one. But I know tons of other supplement companies have them. But I've just been using the vital protein one and it's been great. Plus, collagen has countless anti-aging benefits like improving elasticity in your skin and also improving joint health, making your nails, skin, and hair better. The list honestly goes on and on. You can literally mix it with, like I said, anything. It can be your coffee, it can be a protein shake. It can be Greek yogurt, your oatmeal, your tea, you name it. It will only make things creamier with zero taste and add more protein. Like I said, I have just recently been adding this into a protein shake, which I shared on my Instagram story. So if you are not following my personal Instagram, it's just Julia Ledbetter. But basically what I'm doing is I'm using a Premier protein, which is the Cafe Latte one, and I'm using that one because that's the only form of caffeine that I'm getting right now. So since I've been pregnant my first trimester, I was actually down to like maybe 10 to 20mg of caffeine a day, which is so low compared to what I was, I was typically 150 to 170, but in my first trimester, I really tried to decrease my caffeine intake. And then as I went into my second and also part of that was just that protein. [00:19:41][95.2]
[00:19:42] The sound of protein shakes just made me want to vomit. So I was like, hey, I don't know. You know, I don't know what I'm going to do. And so it was actually a good time for me to kind of detox from caffeine. When I went into my second trimester, I started protein shakes again, and the Premier Protein Cafe latte is awesome. It has the equivalent of just a cup of coffee with 30g of protein. I think it has like three grams of fat and maybe five grams of carbs. But anyways, I've been doing a Premier protein, the Cafe latte, and then I've been doing a half a serving of the vital protein. So the collagen peptides. And then I've been doing a half a serving of pea science chocolate truffle, and I've been adding that in with 200g of unsweetened vanilla almond milk. And. Then the Chobani Sweet Cream coffee creamer is amazing. It's literally like sugar water, which I am just I just love all things sweet. So it's amazing. But I do 45g of that, so I do 45g of the Chobani Sweet Cream coffee creamer, 200g of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, a half a scoop of science chocolate truffle protein, whey protein, a half a scoop of or a half a serving. So about ten grams of the collagen peptides and then one full premier protein cafe latte. Mix it in, NutriBullet or some sort of power. You got to have a powerful blender. If you don't have a powerful blender, that makes all the difference, but some sort of powerful blender, blend it up. It is so creamy and rich and it tastes like coffee, but it's also sweet. And then I just put it over ice. I'm telling you guys, it's amazing. [00:21:20][97.6]
[00:21:20] And guess what? It has 55 55g of protein in it, 55g of protein I it is amazing. It has been a game changer. So if you're struggling with protein and that sounds like something that you might enjoy, give it a try. I do kind of like a step by step tutorial on my personal Instagram. I'll save it to a highlight story, so go check that out again Julia Ledbetter. But it is amazing. Number two Greek yogurt and oatmeal with almond butter Greek yogurt is one of the most underutilized proteins in my opinion. I think so many people don't understand how much protein Greek yogurt actually has, but it is an excellent boost of protein when it comes to honestly just nutrition in general. But obviously it just has such a high protein count. A single cup of plain Greek yogurt has 20 to 25g of high quality protein, while remaining very low in carbs and fats depending. I mean, even if you get the 0% fire, which is the faggy or yeah, for years I didn't know how to pronounce it. And then I noticed on the side of the can it said far yay! And I was like, oh, I used to call it fudge, but it's fire yogurt. I get the 0%. Some people prefer the 2%. It's a little bit higher in fat. I mean, still very low in fat. But if you want a little bit more of a fat, fatty kind of Greek yogurt, that's a great one. But it is so great. Greek yogurt is strained more thoroughly than regular low bit yogurt, which kind of removes most of the liquid whey, lactose, and sugar, which results in its very thick and creamy texture. So it's important to note that Greek yogurt is different than regular yogurt, right? And that's one thing that I didn't know until about three years ago. [00:23:00][99.4]
[00:23:00] I didn't realize the differentiation in those. And so you need to get the Greek yogurt in order to get the high protein content. But it is an amazing source of also probiotics to support that gut health. But like I said, to supercharge your protein, you can do Greek yogurt with oatmeal almond butter together. Not only does it combine carbs, fats, and protein, but also fiber into one meal, which will honestly keep you full for hours. And this one bowl, let's say if you do, you know a serving of oatmeal. You do a serving of, a cup of Greek yogurt, you're doing some almond butter, whether that is a half a or a tablespoon and a half a serving, which is a tablespoon or two tablespoons, that's going to give you about 32g of protein right there, depending on how much protein is in your Greek yogurt. And this can be your morning breakfast. Right. It could also be a midday snack. Either way, it's going to make you feel full, satisfied, and energized for hours. It's important that you get plain Greek yogurt. So when you look at the Greek yogurt, you're going to find all different kinds. You're going to find ones that are, you know, honey. And they they have tons of different flavors and they have granolas and things like that. I'm not saying that any of those are bad. I'm just saying that the macro content on them, just take a look at the macro content and compare it to a plain. And just remember with plain you can actually do you can dress it up in so many different ways. And this is why I talk about even like when you're doing protein batches. This is why I prep just shredded plain chicken, because you can dress it up in so many different ways. [00:24:26][85.7]
[00:24:26] If you want an Italian bowl, if you want a Mexican bowl, if you want a more traditional bowl, you are able to kind of dress it up through condiments and through veggies, through rice, or through whatever it is that you are kind of using for your carbs and fat. But if you start out with a plain base, you're able to dress that up how you want and use it so you're able to use it more throughout the week in multiple different dishes and meals and snacks to keep you full and satisfied. So again, this is a great example. Personally, I prefer to eat my my carbs. I prefer to sweeten things up. I just again have a sweet tooth. And so the way that I use Greek yogurt is typically in an oatmeal bowl. Do some strawberries or blueberries, and then I put almond butter or honey. Peanut butter has been my jam recently. I love honey peanut butter and add in some they have trivia brown sugars. Have you like brown sugar? Trevor? Brown sugar is great and. That's going to just again, just give you some added taste there. Number three increase protein portions by 50%. Yep. That's right. Just increase your portion size. I think sometimes we overthink and we think that eating more protein is too much. And when all we need to do is just, you know, eat a little bit more from what we're doing. And instead of trying to fit in another snack or meal, just try to increase your portion size. So rather than, you know, I think often times people are like, well, I'm just so full, like I can't eat a whole nother meal if I need to get, you know, 20 or 30g of protein. [00:25:57][90.5]
[00:25:57] And whereas if you just kind of sneak more protein in through increasing your protein intake for your, you know, let's just say three set of meals that you have, this is going to just allow you to make those small adjustments to the food that you're already eating and the slight increase of portion in lean protein, especially this adds up over the course of of the day, which will help you to meet your protein requirements without feeling deprived or without feeling super, super full, or feeling like you have to have 5 or 6 meals throughout the day. For example, if you typically eat, let's say, eight ounces of chicken at a meal, try to increase it to 12oz and see how that feels, because that is going to increase by a 25g of protein. So you just eating eight ounces versus 12oz. If you add that additional four ounces in, again, that's 25g protein right there that you're just adding in. And similarly, you can do this, you know, by bumping up your egg white portions from a half a cup to three fourths of a cup. That's going to add seven more grams or going from, you know, a half a cup to three fourths of a cup of Greek yogurt, that's going to provide five extra grams of protein, all of those things over the course of the day, like if you were to do those small three changes, that increases your protein intake by 37g right there, and that right there would likely be you trying to fit in a whole nother meal at the end of the day, whereas you're really full. And so just being super strategic there. Also, another thing that I love to do is look at my secondary protein. [00:27:24][86.7]
[00:27:24] So one of my best hacks is what I have. Let's say for example I have that 55g of protein shake that I just mentioned. And then for my carbs and fats and like the bulk of my meal, I'll do like a bagel. So I'll do a bagel with some peanut butter with some jelly. And the bagels that I use are the Dave's Killer Bagels. Plain. That right there has 12g of protein in that bagel. Even though that bagel is more of a carb dominant food, right? I think it has maybe 40 or 50g of carbs. For the full bagel. It has maybe 3 to 5g of fat. I can't remember the total, but 12g of protein. So that makes it a secondary protein food source. Whereas, you know, I'm mainly eating that bagel for the carb source, but I'm getting some protein in there as well. So being super strategic about that, again, just informing yourself about certain foods can help so much in that area. Number four supplementing with essential amino acids otherwise known as E aa. So if you see AAS that's what it means. Essential amino acids. Yes. There's not just bcaas, which is what most of you probably have heard before. So essential amino acids refer to the nine amino acids that the human body cannot produce on its own and must be obtained by the foods that you eat. So AAS are considered essential because they're necessary for vital processes like protein synthesis, tissue growth, and various metabolic functions within the body. AAS are also what your body breaks down protein into your body. So it's also kind of what your body breaks down, you know, and how your body breaks down protein into the body. So instead of eating protein to get AAS, you're just supplementing with the ideas directly. [00:29:04][99.5]
[00:29:04] Does that make sense? So this is why supplementing with AAS can provide benefits beyond just consuming the typical branch chain amino acids, otherwise known as Bcaas. You know, leucine, isoleucine and valine bcaas are certainly valuable, but EAA supplement provides all nine essential aminos required to effectively and efficiently build lean muscle, which helps you to build the lean muscle that you want, right? A typical E supplement will provide, you know, 10 to 15g of the nine essential amino acids per serving. This concentrated dose supplies the body with the amino acid building blocks that it needs to effectively rebuild and repair the muscle proteins after training. So when consumed around exercises like resistance training, ideas can actually minimize muscle breakdown and accelerate new muscle growth. Lots of benefits of ideas that I could talk about on a different podcast, but this could be another simple solution for you if you're needing to ramp up your protein intake, but you're kind of out of more protein rich foods to eat. And, you know, I talk about supplements. There are benefits, obviously, to supplements. There's so much research done on specific supplements. Other supplements have been less researched. EAA supplements, they're also great to help you bring, you know, if you're traveling, you're not you're not sure when you're going to get your hands on some protein as well as the college and peptides. Those are super. Easy, convenient ways to make sure that you are at least supplementing a little bit of your protein intake. Obviously, if you've been tuning in for any length of time, I always encourage that you prioritize food over supplements. But supplements can be very beneficial in helping aid, you know, to help you get to your protein goal. Just don't think that you have to have them in order to see results. [00:30:47][102.4]
[00:30:47] There's absolutely ways that you can see results without ever needing to dive into supplements, because I know that the supplement industry at the World of Supplements is, you know, it's multi-billion trillion dollar industry, and so many people can lead you to think that you need to have X, Y, and Z supplements. You're not going to see results, and that's just not the case. But they can be very helpful for you. Number five double up on protein shakes. So we all know that protein shakes like I just mentioned. They can be super convenient. And they can be a great way to kind of increase your protein intake. And this can even just be like double up on protein within one protein shake like I just talked about. So like I said, you know, because I'm adding multiple different protein sources into one shake, it doesn't seem like I'm having ear. I'm not needing to have two actual protein shakes throughout the day, although you could if you want to do that. I have just found that it's so much, especially now that I'm in my third trimester and I literally have to go pee like every five minutes. The less amount of additional liquid other than my water, the better, because I don't want to be living on the toilet, which I already kind of am. But this can be super beneficial if just by doubling up even on two scoops like I mentioned. So for me, I did try. One day I tried to have the full scoop of pea science, the full scoop of collagen, as well as the premier protein. And that was a lot. That was like 80g of protein in one protein shake. And I just felt I didn't feel my best. [00:32:12][85.0]
[00:32:12] And so I decided, you know, I'm just going to cut it down to half and see how I feel. It's still 55g of protein. And I felt like it was not overwhelming. I didn't feel like the shake itself was like. So falling to the fact or to the point where it was like making my stomach hurt. And so that's a great, simple hack that you can do. Another thing that you can do if you don't want to have two protein shakes, is you can have a protein bar. Protein bars are great. I love having one protein bars. I've been having them for years. This is not sponsored by any means, but the one protein bars are great. I do the dark chocolate, sea salt or the birthday cake. Those two are great. I've also tried the maple glazed donut and I've tried a bunch of other different ones, but the ones I always go back to the dark chocolate, sea salt and the birthday cake. And those have, you know, 20g of protein. They have, oh gosh, I'm blanking maybe 6 to 12g of fat and 20 or 16g of carbs. I can't remember that content, but I know that the protein, at the very least I think is about 20g, which is going to give you a decent amount of protein. So that right there, let's say you have the 55g of protein shake as well as the 30 or, you know, 20 to 30g protein bar that right there. You're in the 70 to 80 gram range already. And that's without having additional, you know, dinners or lunches with proteins. String cheese is another great option. Mozzarella cheese I mean, cheeses in general. If you can tolerate dairy, that's going to add some good protein eggs, egg whites, all those things. [00:33:40][87.8]
[00:33:40] So just kind of getting strategic there when it comes to your protein shake can be very beneficial. Or just supplementing with protein bars things like that. Number six bone broth. So bone broth as you've likely obviously you've probably heard about it before. Bone broth itself has gained so much popularity recently for its nutrient dense, new like nutritional profile. And a lot of people are also drinking it for gut health benefits. It's though I mean, it's an amazing, incredible source of protein and collagen, and it contains so many vitamins and minerals. Get that simply by drinking eight ounces of bone broth. That's going to provide ten grams of high quality, collagen rich protein, which is awesome. So if you haven't tried bone broth, I was hesitant. But I think I did about a year, year, year and a half ago. I tried it for the first time and actually tastes really good. You just pour it into a copper bowl, you can heat it in the microwave. You can honestly even, like dress it up if you want. You want to add some feta cheese, some spinach, some mushrooms. You can make it kind of like a little soup. You can also add some salt in there. Some people like to add butter. I mean, it's completely up to you how you want to dress it up. I've seen people honestly just drink it plain, and then I've seen people kind of use it as a base for like, soup. So there are so many different things that you can do. I mean, you could also even if you want to add more protein in there, you can just add like that plain shredded chicken that you are making for your batch protein at the beginning of the week. [00:35:04][83.7]
[00:35:05] And then add, you know, like I said, you could do feta, you could do, spinach, mushrooms. It's going to it's going to just taste like a soup for you. But I highly recommend giving it a try kind of playing around with it, seeing how you can dress it up or seeing how you enjoy it. You can also, you know, use it for cooking. You can use it as an alternative for so many different things. You can even. Add a scoop of collagen peptides. Like I mentioned before, the collagen peptides are unflavored, so really you can add them into whatever food you want, but that's only going to ramp up your protein intake even more. So again, there's so many different strategies I could go on for days and days about it. I could do multiple different podcasts, and I will in the coming weeks and months. I mean, you can never get enough tips and tricks, in my opinion, of how to add more protein into your daily allotment. But there you have it. Those are kind of six top sneaky tips that I have in today's episode. To add more protein into your daily allotment to help you reach your macro goals, let me kind of recap what I talked about. Number one, add collagen peptides to your morning coffee protein shake. Number two, try Greek yogurt in oatmeal with almond butter. You can dress it up in however, whatever way you want. You can also add Greek yogurt into making waffles or pancakes. I mean, again, the sky is the literal limit when it comes to Greek yogurt, especially if you're getting the plain one. It's going to allow you to do so many different foods. I talked about this before, but I even use the Greek plain yogurt for my pizza crust and that it's literally pizza crust and self-rising flour, and it adds so much protein into the crust. [00:36:37][91.8]
[00:36:37] And the crust literally tastes just like a pizza crust. I also use that for Bagel bites. I've used it for so many different things, but Greek yogurt is such a great food. Number three increase your protein portions by 50%. Again, remembering that if you simply just go from eight ounces of chicken to 12oz, at that rate, there's going to give you an additional 25g of protein by just increasing your protein portion number four supplement with AAS. So the essential amino acids number five double up on protein shakes. Again, just what I talked about. Kind of my protein hack of my premier protein. Half a scoop of the pea science a half a serving of the collagen peptides that right there 55g of protein. So that's going to help. And then lastly number six sip on some bone broth that is super beneficial. So many different ways again to dress that up. But that's going to be so helpful for you in ramping up that protein intake. Again, if you are curious on how to calculate your protein intake, you're like, I am ready to dive in. I feel like I have all the sneaky tips. I'm ready to go in. I want to finally see results from the hard work that I'm putting in. You know, week in and week out. In my workouts. I have a macro kind of made simple online academy that's going to literally step by step guide you through. We're going to custom calculate your macros based on your body, your goals, your activity level. And it's going to give you a clear path towards macro counting, how to make it a lifestyle, and how you can utilize the different phases of macro counting as your journey progresses. So if you want to learn more about that, I will link that in the show notes. [00:38:12][95.3]
[00:38:12] You can go to macro counting made simple.com. Again, that's macro counting made simple.com. I also have some recipe guides that I will link up for you, and these recipe guides are great. They have so many protein batches so you can make a bunch of different protein batches. And then I show you recipes that you can use that protein batch in so that when you're you, you know, when you're making the protein batch, you feel like you're actually able to use it in multiple different recipes throughout the week so that your taste buds don't get bored. And they're all macro friendly. They're all delicious. So I'll go ahead and link that as well. But that is all that I have for today's episode. I hope that you found this helpful. I hope that this was informative in some way, shape or form. If you have a friend, a coworker, or someone in your life that you think would really benefit from this episode or this podcast in general, you can copy the link and send it to them in a text message. You can also screenshot this and post it up on your Instagram story. I love connecting with you guys. I love seeing your moments and I would love to know how you boost your protein. So be sure to sneak in my DMs and say hey, I listen to this podcast and this is another tip. Who knows, you might hear about that tip in the coming weeks and months on a different podcast. But I love you so dang much. I mean it, and I'll talk to you in the next one. [00:39:31][78.7]
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[00:39:31]All right, sister, that's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you're not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie A Ledbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle for that daily post workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world, and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace it real because you're worth it. [00:40:39]