Episode 88: Burn More Calories and Fat - How (and why) to Eat 100 Grams of Protein Per Day

In this episode, Jo and vegan/vegetarian coach Christie tackle one of the most common nutrition challenges: eating enough protein. They share personal stories about how increasing protein intake transformed their energy, health, and body composition, and dive into why protein is essential for boosting your metabolism and fat loss.

Jo and Christie also break down the difference between high- and low-protein foods, bust common protein myths, and offer practical hacks for hitting 100 grams of protein daily, no matter your dietary preference.  Don't forget to snag our high protein fast food guide - link in the show notes.  

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast

00:35 The Life-Changing Magic of Eating More Protein

01:28 Personal Experiences with Protein Intake

04:14 How Protein Boosts Your Metabolism

09:39 Understanding Protein Sources

11:48 Vegan Protein Options

14:12 Common Misconceptions About Protein

18:55 Top Hacks for Eating More Protein

30:34 Conclusion and Additional Resources

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Transcript

0:43

Hello, everyone. It's Joe. Welcome to the booster metabolism after age 30 podcast. So today our podcast is going to be very tactical, and we're going to talk all about how to eat 100 grams of protein or more in a day. That is one of our missions here at couture coaching is to get every woman eating at least 100 grams of protein a day. Many women are eating much below that. And 100 grams of protein a day is a minimum. Today I have Christy, our vegan vegetarian coach on with me because if she can eat a hundred grams of protein a day, As a vegan, anyone can. I want to first talk about the life changing magic of eating more protein. I often tell people that eating more protein was one of the most life changing, quality enhancers of my life. Christy, did eating more protein change your life? Absolutely. For me, Just the amount of fullness I had in my stomach. I was satisfied when I ate. I could feel more energy. All of that kind of shifted when I started eating more protein. And the only reason I started eating more protein is really just joining the program. I never. thought about it really, and never considered I, I knew it was important, but I never tracked or made any sort of goals around actually eating a certain amount of protein. And so it was a new concept for me and truly was life changing in so many ways. Do you have any idea how much you were eating before you started tracking and working with us? I think probably I mean there were some days that were better than others But I think honestly probably 30 30 or 40 grams maybe a day I would say that's maybe less some days. Yeah. A lot of women, are eating probably somewhere between 40 and 60 grams of protein on a good day. If you think about 100 grams, you more than doubled your protein intake by eating that much protein. How much protein do you eat? A day now, do you just stick at the 100 grams, or do you try to go higher than that? So I actually have done the 100 grams for a long time now, and I'm now recently trying to my goal is 120. And then I'd like to step it up and I'd like to get to a little higher than that. But right now we're at 120. Okay, excellent. Good job. So a little bit about how eating more protein changed my life. So looking back, I really feel like I have battled blood sugar regulation issues my entire life. I didn't realize that was going on at the time, but I remember as early as middle school or high school, my blood sugar crashing mid morning, I would eat the typical like bowl of cereal for breakfast and then just my blood sugar would plummet by the middle of the morning and then I would spend the rest of the day recovering from that blood sugar crash and it was so normal to me that I didn't realize how terrible that crash was making me feel. I first started eating more protein when I worked with my first bodybuilding coach. That's where I really got up to that 100 grams a day level. And probably more throughout that period. That's less than I eat now. I aim for around 140 or 150 grams of protein a day. And I just, Could not believe it when those morning blood sugar crashes went away and I had quality sustained energy throughout the day. For me, it was just, I felt so much better the few times that I can remember in the recent past where I've had a blood sugar issue is because we've been traveling or something has gotten off with my diet and if I don't get enough good quality protein in the morning I might have a blood sugar issue, and it just makes me feel terrible. It literally takes the entire rest of the day for me to recover from my blood sugar plummeting. And for me, it is all directly related to how much protein I eat. So that's how it's changed my life. I will never go back because I feel so much better now. That's not to even mention how eating more protein tightened up my body. Make my skin look better and regulated so many other things in my life. So like I said, I will never go back to a low protein lifestyle. That's for sure. So let's talk now about how eating more protein boosts your metabolism. So maybe we can persuade you. With this, these facts to eat more protein, if what Christie and I just discussed wasn't persuasive enough. And so again, when we talk about metabolism, we're not talking about anything else other than your body burning more calories on a regular basis. So number 1, protein is the building material of your body. So it's the building material of muscle and really the rest of your body. It is a necessary macronutrient for survival, but especially for building muscle. The more protein that you're eating, the more muscle you're probably going to have and keep on your body and muscle burns more calories than fat or other body tissues. Eating more protein directly relates to having more muscle on your body. Now, you need to do a few other things to stimulate that muscle growth. But for sure, not eating enough protein can cause your muscle to waste away. Again, this is just a factor of protein supports muscle and muscle growth. So the more protein you eat, the more muscle you're going to have on your body, the more calories you're going to burn at rest. Another reason that protein boosts your metabolism is that it has the highest thermogenic effect of all macronutrients. So what that means is, Any food that you eat requires a certain amount of energy for your body to process that food and 20 to 25 percent of calories and protein are expended to just process and digest and synthesize the protein. So that means if you eat a protein source. That has 100 calories, 20, 20, 20 to 25 of those calories will be expended just to process that protein. When you compare this to other macronutrients, about 8 percent of carbs are used to process the carbs. So that means if you eat 100 calories of carbs, 8 calories of those. 100 calories are going to be used to digest and process those carbs and fats are much lower. So about 4 percent of the calories from fat are used to process carbs. So if you eat a hundred calories worth of fat, only four calories of those 100 calories are going to be used to process fat. This is just to say all calories are not created equal, and if you just swapped, some of your carbs and fat calories for protein, you're going to burn more calories just by making that swap. Now, this probably isn't going to be enough to burn an extra pound a day or something, but it does all add up and so it just helps, I think, understand why protein is so different from other macronutrients. Okay, and then the 3rd reason I don't have a lot of science behind this. This is a relatively new discovery about protein. And so researchers have discovered that protein is like a fat burning supplement. There's new research out that suggests that beyond building more muscle and the thermogenic impact of protein has other fat burning properties. And scientists aren't exactly sure the exact mechanism of why this is, but in studies where they took 2 groups of women who were they were able to equate everything like their conditioning level, how much they were exercising, they equated the calories they were eating between the 2 groups. 1 group, they jumped their protein intake up probably similar to what Christine and I just discussed from 40 grams to 100 grams a day. I don't know exactly how much protein they were eating. The other they kept again, the calories between the 2 groups equated, but the other group, they just gave them what I'm going to say, the standard American woman eats and protein and the group who got more protein burned significantly more body fat than the other group. So this sort of fat burning impact tended to only happen with women who had been vastly under eating protein. When they first began eating more protein. So someone like me, who is already eating 150 grams of protein, I may not see the same results if I bump my protein intake up to 200 grams a day. But nonetheless, these are pretty persuasive results. And again, they think that this. Has to do with something beyond just, really the study wasn't long enough that I think that probably these women can see much muscle building or muscle preservation. And like I said, the thermogenic effect isn't that great that it would account for the differences in 2 groups. So they really do think that there's some mechanism in protein that it's almost like a fat burner. And I know we're all looking for a magical fat burner. And so protein and muscle are the two, two places that they found it. So that's just another reason to eat more protein or eat enough protein. So those are the metabolic impacts of eating more protein. And there are all sorts of other benefits that don't necessarily really. To your metabolism that make protein, a great thing to eat. As Christy mentioned, it's very satiating compared to other food. It's very stabilizing to your blood sugar. It will make you less hungry and eat less overall. It will make your skin tighter. So all sorts of benefits to eating protein that don't really necessarily directly relate to making your body burn more calories. Anything that I missed Christy? No, I think that that covers it all. Okay, so now let's talk about what protein is. This is probably obvious, but I just thought that it would be good to do a real brief primer on what protein is. That, that's a question that has surprised me from time to time, And I'm gonna cover some animal based protein sources. And then Christie, as our vegan is going to cover some pre vegan protein sources. The all of protein sources, I'm going to talk about our animal base. They are animal byproducts. So any sort of animal meat, like beef, chicken, turkey is protein. You're basically eating the muscle and tissue of another animal. It's the most bio identical to our. Tissue is human. So that's going to be protein egg whites. The egg yolk is more fat than protein. It's still really good for you. But in terms of in an egg, what comprises the protein, it's mostly the egg white. And then the dairy complex. has also has a lot of protein products. So way that comes from dairy is is protein. And this is often what they will separate out of dairy and make into protein shakes or protein powders or put into protein bars. So way is a very pure protein source coming from dairy. Casein is another part of the dairy protein. It is a slower burning protein than whey and it, you can find it in things like cottage cheese. If you've ever, I know if I eat cottage cheese in the morning, I will not be hungry for hours and because it's full of that casein protein, that is a slower burning protein than whey. A lot of bodybuilders will eat Cain at night. So that they have a slutty, a steady supply of protein throughout the night. And then there are also protein powders that are made of Cain or Whey Cain Blend. Of course yogurt comes from dairy. That's a great source of protein. Greek yogurt specifically has a higher protein content and then low fat cheeses. Things like string cheese the lower fat cheeses are going to be higher in protein than like a real fatty cheese. So that's another source of protein coming from dairy. Christy, what are some vegan options? So some great vegan options are really centered around the soybean and wheat gluten. So while there is protein in everything, even broccoli, obviously you want a more condensed source of higher protein. And using non animal sources, we're looking at something like seitan, which is actually made from wheat gluten. So if you're gluten free, that wouldn't be a great option for you. But if you're not it has a wonderful protein. And macro profile overall. And so that can come in different forms, whether it is in, they have tofurkey deli slices, or you can get field roast frankfurters, or you can get all, or you can make it yourself. Seitan's super easy to make at home, and you can make a big loaf of it. It has a meaty texture and it's super delicious. And you can you can flavor it and so many really delicious flavor profiles. And then you have your tempate tofu, soy milk and at a mommy. So those all come from soybeans and are just processed differently. Obviously, you have at a mommy, which is your whole soybean. And then tempeh is, it's also in a pretty whole form there. Tempeh makes excellent you can grill it. You can just steam it and it's excellent salads. And then you have tofu, which is a little more processed than tempeh, but excellent source of protein as well as calcium and other vitamins. and then soy milk, which is out of all your non dairy milks, unless it's fortified with something like a pea protein, soy milk is going to have your best nutrition profile, and have a great deal of protein in it. Also there are fortified products that are that are great vegan sources. There's several Brands of vegan yogurt that use it's more of a Greek yogurt type texture and it uses typically pea protein or pea protein isolate or legume protein in order to up the profile so that you can get 17 to 22 grams of protein. per serving of yogurt. And then there's, of course, the powders. So you can, just like you have the whey powders, there's also soy powders and protein, soy protein powders and pea protein powders. I know the one I use is a blend of some various sources of protein. Nice. Okay. Let's talk about things that are not protein that are maybe commonly thought of as protein. And I think this is where maybe things get confusing as to what protein is or isn't so nuts and nut butters are not really a great protein source. They do have protein, but they're more fat than protein. And you have to just eat a ton of fat calories to get the protein you need from nuts and nut butters, beans or legumes by themselves. We're not hitting on legumes. They're very healthy for you. They contain a ton of fiber, but they are more carb than protein and Christine, my right to get a full protein serving from beans. You have to eat them with rice, like rice and beans make a complete protein. So that used to be the way they think about it and they don't so much anymore. Think about it being a complete protein. Mainly because people are often, it doesn't have to be consumed in the same meal and people are often consuming the other things they need throughout the day. So they don't necessarily think of it that way, but I think. Rice and beans are delicious together. So I, I do enjoy that. And then fatty cheeses. Like I mentioned, if you're going for protein from your cheese, you're going to want to eat or you're going to want to look for a a lower fat cheese because the fattier the cheese, the more the cheese is comprised of fat and protein and then many granola and other foods that are labeled as high protein. Now we're going to tell you how to know if a food is high protein and how you do that, because that's a marketing gimmick right now. You walk through the grocery store, there's lots of stuff labeled as high protein, but how you know if a food is really high protein is so you want to take the number of grams of protein in a food. So look at the nutrition label. So let's say a food has 10 grams of protein. You add a zero to that or multiply it by 10. That gives you 100. And then you compare that to the total number of calories in the food. If you're eating something that's 100 calories and has 10 grams of protein, and you again, you add that zero to the protein amount, 100 equals 100. That you're getting a good amount of protein for for that food so that I would consider that a high calorie food. If that protein number, when you add a zero to it is less than the total number of calories in whatever you're eating, that's not really going to be what I would consider a high protein food. It just means that more of the calories from that food are coming from fats and carbs than protein. Not all of your foods need to be high protein but it's how you can avoid the gimmick of something being labeled high protein when it really is. doesn't have that much protein and can make you smarter about how you're reading nutrition labels. So I'm going to give an example here. Again, we said earlier that nuts and nut butters are not really a high protein food. So a, I believe a tablespoon of a nut butter equals 190 calories or a serving. This is what I found on the back of a peanut butter label. So a serving of. Peanut butter is 190 calories. It has seven grams of protein, 16 grams of fat, and eight grams of carbs. So when I take that, seven times 10 or add is zero to the seven, that's 70, that number of protein is 70, and the total calories in the peanut butter is 190 calories. So this is not a high protein food. Most of the calories coming from this are coming from fat, which again, isn't bad. It's just not what I would go to if I was trying to hit my protein goals. I know for my son, who is a football player. It's what they feed them to make them big. Not big in a muscle way, but how to put weight on them. So lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That's an example of peanut butter. And then I looked at another food which is the dried and a mommy. I don't know what you call them. Christie just dried out of mommy. Yeah they're very good. They're salted. You can get them in different flavors. I found them at Costco and so it's very good. Yeah, they're very portable. I would call it a very portable protein source. So a serving of those, which I think is a third of a cup is 130 calories, and it has 14 grams of protein per serving. So if you add a zero to that protein number, it gives you 140 calories per serving. That's higher than 130. So most of the calories from this food are coming from protein. So that's a great protein bargain. I would say if you can get, if the protein, when you add a zero is higher than the calories in the food source, then you're really hitting the protein lottery. If you're having trouble hitting your protein goal, you might just look to incorporate some very high protein food sources in your, nutrition. So that, that's a hack for how you can tell if something is high protein. So now we're going to get very tactical and very practical and talk about our top three hacks for eating more protein. What I will say is you don't eat more protein by accident. You have to be very intentional. No one accidentally eats a hundred grams of protein a day. You can accidentally eat a ton of carbs and fats, but protein doesn't really look like Or work like that. If you're eating out a lot, it is a more expensive than carbs or fats. So it's not in a lot of prepared foods. I doubt that most restaurants have a higher margin on their protein. They're going to fill your plate up with, Cheap carbs or cheap fats. So if you're eating out a lot, it may be a little bit more, you might have to be even more intentional about hitting your protein goals. And then also with most protein is not shelf stable or immediately edible. It requires refrigeration of some sort and some sort of preparation. So that's just another reason it's harder to eat more protein. And. If you're just talking about taste, maybe not as enticing as carbs and fats some people might argue with you. I think if once you get used to eating protein, you will prefer it maybe over other foods because you know how you're going to feel after you eat and it's going to feel good. Much better than loading on up on a bunch of carbs and fats. Your energy is just going to be way, way different. So after time, you may crave the protein. I know that I do if I'm not getting enough, but immediately, probably carbs and fats are a little more enticing. So here are my 3 hacks. Number 1, front load your protein. So I like to start my day out with at least 50 grams of protein. You might be thinking how in the world does she does this? So one thing that I incorporate most mornings And if not in the morning, later in the day is some sort of protein coffee or an ice protein chai latte. And so what I usually do is take a pre made protein shake, like a fair life or premier protein and mix it up with my morning coffee or my morning tea in some way. So I'm drinking it, it goes down very quickly. And so that's usually 30 grams down, and then I usually have some sort of breakfast bake or something that I eat with that coffee. That contains egg whites, chicken or turkey sausage, and also some carbs. So I eat a regular breakfast and then I have that protein coffee and that's how I hit 50 grams in the morning. And it really makes it easier to hit my protein by the end of the day if I'm starting out with that much protein. Not to mention, I feel pretty amazing throughout the day, have less cravings throughout the day, and just feel pretty good. Pretty satiated starting out the day. My second hack is make protein the star of every meal and snack. So when you are building a meal or you're getting a snack together, always ask yourself, where's the protein? Like the old lady in the old Wendy's commercials, where's the beef? I always think of her when I think, where's the protein? So you want to build your meals and your plates around protein. So let's say a typical meal might be your, you make pasta for dinner, make pasta the side dish and make sure you've got like a grilled piece of chicken or maybe one of the vegan protein sources that Christy mentioned really as a star of the show and make pasta more of the side and just your serving of carbs than the main meal. Course of the meal, if I were making like a pasta dish with protein, I would double the protein just so that it outweighs the carbs. And then every snack every time you eat, if you're eating 3, 4 times a day. You have to have a lot of protein in each of those meals to hit that 100 gram target. Or if you're eating more than that if you think about it, if you divide the number of times you eat by the grams of protein you're eating, you're going to have to include it in every time you eat. And then in terms, my, my 3rd hack is fortify. So I'm also always looking for ways I can sneak it in. So that might be adding egg whites to things like I cook my oatmeal with egg whites. I talk a lot about that anywhere that I can throw egg whites in. I do and baked goods. If it asks for eggs, I usually replace with egg whites. because it's a higher protein content. Cottage cheese is another thing I like to sneak into things. I, for cheese sauces mac and cheese, my kids like mac and cheese. So if I'm going to make a, like a baked mac and cheese, I make my cheese sauce with Like pureed cottage cheese. And if they are not on to me, I will use the protein fortified pasta. So I just sneak it everywhere. I can I use bone broth and soups rather than just chicken broth or chicken stock. It has a lot more protein bone broth does than just regular chicken stock. So again, anywhere I can boost that protein content, I do. And. And by doing that, you can really add, I don't know, a whole serving or so to your daily allotment, if you just sneak a little bit in at each meal. So those are my top three hacks. And I would say my top protein sources that I eat every day are some sort of protein shake. And I try to limit that to one a day egg whites, and then I would say meat like turkey, lean ground beef and chicken. So those are really my top protein sources. But Christy is going to share now her hacks as a vegan. I'm sure the, what she's eating is very different for me but how she hits her protein goals and some of her favorite protein sources. Yeah. In many ways, the hacks that you have are very similar to the hacks that I have. It's just different components getting there. I also try and front load my protein as much as I can in the morning and whether that's A protein shake. I usually will add more than the protein shakes. I've been using the powders aren't super chalky or powdery. And so I will add more. Scoops than a serving. So I have a really high protein shake in the morning. And then 1 of my favorite protein sources, which is field roast frankfurters and sausages. I will, heat 1 of those up or a tofu scramble type thing, which I'll get into a little more detail on those. in just a moment, but I'd really try and make sure that first meal of the day is very protein heavy. And then again, that four to five, four to five, four to five is such a key because it is really easy, especially as a vegan to eat things that have just very minimal protein. So just trying to add it in when it's necessary or when it's. when it's easy. Those roasted edamames are a hit in our house. Also we use just regular steamed edamame and that does amazing. You can add tons of protein to even like a salad that you may be having seitan on. And just anything I can add edamame to, I literally Add it to whether it's a pasta dish, Asian inspired dish, what you name it, it fits well in there. And we just snack on them. So they make a really good snack. Also, if I'm using anything, but like a pasta dish, definitely using the protein pastas and then A lot of cream sauces, I use silken tofu, and now silken tofu tends to be a little less protein than, excuse me, than like a a very firm tofu, but you can whip it up in the blender and replace it for a cream and and put some tomatoes and make it like a tomato cream sauce that has quite a bit of protein, vastly more. Then just a regular tomato sauce has and then if you're pairing that with the seitan and then the protein pasta, you're having a really amazing and some veggies are having a really amazing meal. So I think those hacks. Definitely apply to whether you're eating animal protein or not. It's just sneaking it in when you can. And again, Beal Roast sausages and frankfurters are a great way to get in your protein. They are seitan and they pack about, depending on the variety, you get 20 to 25 grams of protein per link. And and the calories it definitely fits the protein formula because they're around 200 calories per link. So you can have a couple of those with a meal with some veggies and it's super easy. Tofu scramble is really something that we rely on a lot in our home using extra firm tofu because that gets you the most almost has an egg like consistency if you crumble it up and put it on toast But the extra firm has the best texture for that. It also is the highest in protein and trader joe's even has a high protein tofu. That really is just like a super extra firm. So I like to mix that up with some tomatoes, some turmeric. There's like a black salt that you can get that has a little bit of a sulfury. Kind of flavor to it. So it makes it feel more eggy or taste more eggy. Put that grill that all together, throw it on a couple pieces of sourdough, and that's a delicious I use that for lunch, breakfast, whenever. And then another great way to get protein as a vegan is this ingredient called TVP. And so it's actually textured vegetable protein. It is also from soy, but it has great Kind of a great feel to it and is awesome in it has no flavor to it on its own. It's whatever you put it with. So I put it in chili. I put it in pasta sauce. I put it in. I even put it in oatmeal because it mixes well with that and has a similar bite to the to it that the oatmeal, like the, oh, what is the oatmeal? The steel cut oats. If you have that with the TBP, you can add a ton of protein and and still have your oatmeal in the morning. So it's just a great way to sneak it into things. Awesome. Those are great tips. And so if someone is is like in terms of the dairy alternative milks, which is the highest protein content, is it the soy milk? Yes. Now there's a brand called ripple that is a pea milk. And it is made from, it is, it's made from pre pea protein. And so I believe that it has a little bit, maybe a little bit more protein in it, but It is also vastly more expensive and I believe has higher calories and doesn't have the calcium and all the other things that soy naturally has in it. In my opinion, the nutrition profile of soy milk is by far the best. Okay, excellent. And I've noticed that there are a lot of like cereals and other things coming out that are made out of pea protein. That, that would also be to my thinking, like a way to fortify your protein intake. Yeah, they haven't had a lot of things. I actually just am experimenting with one at that. I got from Costco. That is Oh, I forgot what it was called, but it's like a, you get a bowl of cereal. It tastes like fruit loops. And it's eight grams. It's called magic something, I think, or yeah, I think magic spoon is one of the new protein cereals out there. And then Catalina crunch is pretty good too. And yes, those are both pea proteins, I believe. And those I think of as if I want something sweet, like a sweet treat, I'll have a little bowl of a cereal. It kind of satisfies that plus the, it is a manageable. Cool. Like I'm getting a little bit of protein. I think the cereal I have has 8 grams per serving, which isn't like an amazing amount, but it's better than a lot of things that one could eat. So right. Yeah. So I think the key takeaway from both of us is we are not getting the majority of our protein from things like protein bars or protein waffles. A lot of the stuff that is marketed as, high protein, not that it's bad, but we're getting our protein really from real food forces as much as we can. Yeah. Yeah. Non marketed, protein fortified food. You can definitely hit your protein targets without having to pay a bunch of extra money for something that's marketed or labeled high protein. Once you learn to realize what a high protein food is. Okay. Those are great tips. And so hopefully all of those tips helped you learn how you can eat a hundred grams of protein. A day we do have some other podcasts from our library of podcasts that also delve on this topic. We have our macros podcast. That's just all about the different macronutrients and then Christy and I recorded a podcast earlier this year about being a vegan and eating enough protein. If this topic interests, definitely check out those podcasts. And then the last thing that we wanted to tell you about is we know that, life happens and oftentimes we are having to hit a fast food restaurant or eat out from time to time. And like I said. Sometimes it's hard to know which menu items have a lot of protein. So we have put together a fast food guide that has a lot of different popular restaurants and options there that are high protein. So there is a link to that in the show notes. If you want to get that guide, definitely check out that link and We will send you that guide and you can just keep that with you and take it with you as you go to Starbucks, Chick fil a, all the popular restaurants. So make sure you grab that. Okay. I think that's all that we have for you today. Have a great day. Thank you.