Once I started consciously tracking my protein intake, I realized a hard truth: eating enough of it in a day is work.
In my case, a personal trainer told me to aim for 90-100 grams a day, a standard range for someone who’s active, to build muscle and lose fat. (Research suggests that for active people, aim for about 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.)
Of course, I already knew protein powder was an easy hack to boost my intake, and the one I use delivers about 28 grams of protein per scoop. Protein bars, which seem to come in endless varieties, also seemed like helpful boosts.
However, I was personally wary of relying too heavily on ultra-processed foods to achieve my gym gains. While protein products have more dietary benefits than a bag of chips, it didn’t make sense to prioritize my health in one way while depriving myself of more nutritious protein sources.
Through years of trial and error, I found a few whole (or at least minimally processed) high-protein foods that I could keep in my fridge or pantry to easily upgrade every meal.
Cottage cheese for a protein-packed omelet
I was really resistant to the idea of lumpy, wet cottage cheese in anything, no matter how many TikTok influencers swore by “cottage cheese bread” or “cottage cheese cookie dough.”
But after I took 20 minutes to psych myself up to let a molecule of cottage cheese, blended with marinara, make contact with the tip of my tongue, I realized it basically tastes like ricotta when properly disguised. (A lower-fat version of it, anyway).
I’m still not on board with swapping cottage cheese or its tangy cousin, Greek yogurt, in desserts — my taste buds are only capable of so much denial. However, cottage cheese has become my go-to source of protein-ifying a simple omelet or quick pasta dinner.
It’s called growth (emotional and, hopefully, muscular).
Tinned fish, the MVP of quick, filling lunches
In my happiest form, I eat like an alpha street cat in Eastern Europe.
If I run out of my meal-prepped salmon-and-farro lunch, I slather a whole-wheat English muffin or seven-grain toast with mayo and pile on a layer of sardines or tinned salmon.
All together, this gets me to about 25-30 grams of protein — at least a third of my daily goal — depending on the fish.
If you still can’t get behind the tinned fish trend, fish like sardines are also chock-full of omega-3s — fantastic for heart and brain health. If fish isn’t your thing, there’s always canned chicken — just without those added fats.
Protein-filtered milk enhances every coffee or shake
Despite what every American dinner table looked like in ’90s TV shows, I was never successfully propagandized to chug a glass of milk with my meatloaf, let alone at all. Like cottage cheese, it needed to be masked by cereal or chocolate syrup.
As I got older, I tragically could no longer consume intensely milky products, like milkshakes or mac n’ cheese, without dire gastrointestinal consequences.
The solution to all my problems? Ultra-filtered milk, like Fairlife, removes most of the lactose and sugar from milk and concentrates the protein components (casein and whey), resulting in a higher overall protein content.
Filtered milk quickly beefs up a simple latte or protein powder shake. On the days I lift, I’ll mix about 2 cups of Fairlife milk (26 grams) with a full scoop of protein powder, which gets me over half my recommended daily protein intake.
On the days I don’t lift, downing one cup on its own is 13 grams of protein — the same as a few big handfuls of nuts.
Plus, because it’s filtered, it doesn’t have the aftertaste I always dreaded as a kid, and I don’t have to brace myself for a ruined afternoon hunting for public bathrooms in New York.
I can have my cake, and finish it with a glass of milk, too.
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