Whether you’re trying to lose weight, gain muscle or just feel great, protein’s your ticket to success: This building block nutrient famously builds lean tissue, but it does much more. Studies have shown that it may help exercisers avoid injury. It even helps wounds heal faster!
And for folks with a weight loss goal, a little extra protein is a big help. Not only does protein fill you up and keep you feeling fuller for longer than other nutrients, but it also reduces activity in parts of the brain associated with cravings. Scientists believe this is because people who eat more protein produce less of a hunger-stimulating hormone called ghrelin.
How much protein is enough? The daily recommended amount is about 56 grams for men and 46 grams for women. But more isn’t bad: Multiple studies have found that going over these amounts doesn’t result in deleterious health effects, and extra protein can help people who are trying to lose weight control their hunger and stay on track.
Whether you’re trying to reach the recommended daily amount or hoping to pad your protein consumption for its belly-filling, craving-fighting benefits, adding a little lean protein to every meal and snack can help.
Adding eight to 10 grams every time you eat can add up to some potent protein power. If you eat five times per day, that’s an additional 40 to 50 grams that keeps you full and fueled.
Here are seven simple, tasty ways to get that extra eight grams of protein (or more!) in your meals and snacks each day. These high-protein hacks will help you achieve your nutrition goals with ease.
1. Add Protein Powder to Coffee or Oatmeal
Sweet, flavored coffee drinks and instant oatmeal packets are hiding some unsavory extra calories. If you have two coffees each day with cream and sugar, for example, you could be downing an extra 300 calories with your morning pick-me-up. And one packet of the leading instant oatmeal has 11 grams of sugar.
Swap all that sugar for protein, and still keep the sweetness. One of the best high-protein hacks? Protein powder! Adding one serving of Nutrisystem shake mix into your coffee or oatmeal provides the tasty treat of chocolate fudge or vanilla flavor with 15 grams of filling protein. Or just add one scoop—a half-serving—for a 7.5-gram boost to your morning meal or drink.
2. Mix Greek Yogurt into Creamy Salad Dressings
We recommend eating four servings of non-starchy vegetables per day. These vegetables help fill you with fiber and provide nutrients your body needs to function at its best.
For some people, eating those vegetables is a whole lot more fun with creamy dressings like ranch, thousand island and other delicious, smooth toppers. But these dressings can be loaded with fat and calories … and not many nutrients. Just one teaspoon of regular salad dressing counts as an Extra on Nutrisystem—not enough to drench those veggies in flavor!
Extend the amount of flavor and creaminess you get, and add some protein, by mixing your dressing with Greek yogurt. One half-cup of nonfat plain Greek yogurt has 11 grams of protein, and is less than a single PowerFuel on Nutrisystem. Combine it with two tablespoons of fat-free creamy dressing or use a packet of ranch seasoning to blend with yogurt. This creates a simple, homemade dip and dressing that’s protein-rich, perfect for pairing with your crisp, fiber-packed veggies.
3. Whisk Cottage Cheese into Eggs
Want to make your eggs fluffier, more filling, and increase the volume you get to eat? Add some cottage cheese! Mixing a half-cup of cottage cheese into two eggs before cooking will give the eggs an extra-airy texture, and also add 12 grams of protein to your already protein-packed breakfast. A half-cup serving of one-percent fat cottage cheese counts as one PowerFuel on Nutrisystem.
It’s easy: Just whisk the cottage cheese into the eggs before pouring the eggs into your heated, nonstick pan. Then just cook normally and reap the protein benefits!
4. Toss Beans into Any Salad
Make your salad more filling and flavorful, and add some protein punch. One half-cup of black beans adds eight grams of protein to your veggies.
It doesn’t have to be black beans or garbanzos, though. Any bean or legume will do! Try adding a half-cup of fresh peas, roasted chickpeas, creamy white cannellini beans, or even pinto beans to your bowl of greens for added protein and flavor. It’s sure to freshen up your salad game, adding variety and flavor that can help keep you motivated as you move towards your goals—one plant-based forkful at a time!
5. Be a Kid Again: Have Milk and Cookies!
Nutrisystem Chocolate Chip Cookies are already a world-class craving crusher. Stash a bag of these crunchy cookies in your purse, laptop bag or glove box, and you’re ready with a treat that will keep you on track when you’re hit with a hankering for sweets.
But to make them more delectable, more filling, and provide more protein, go old school. Pour yourself a glass of skim milk! While there are hundreds of protein-added products on the shelf each day, it’s still tough to beat the original muscle- and bone-building beverage. One cup of skim counts as one PowerFuel, and has nine grams of protein … but you’ll barely notice that it’s healthy when you’re dunking cookies into it!
6. Use Greek Yogurt Instead of Sour Cream
Greek yogurt makes an appearance in another one of our high-protein hacks, and you’ll never notice the difference! If you’re topping a taco bowl, making a burrito or adding a dollop to a bowl of chili, sour cream adds creaminess and a bit of tang. Greek yogurt does the same … plus adds protein!
Top your next burrito bowl—from home or via takeout—with a half-cup of nonfat plain Greek yogurt, and you’ll pile an extra 11 grams of protein onto your plate without making a single sacrifice.
7. Add two Hard-Boiled Eggs to Any Sandwich, Salad or Snack
Hard boiled eggs are going to become one of your favorite high-protein hacks! Slice them as a sandwich topping, add halves to your salad, or just eat the eggs with an apple or other snack, and you’ve packed in more protein. Two large, hard-boiled eggs adds 12.5 grams to your daily intake.
One fun, favorite trick: Grab a shaker of sensational everything bagel seasoning from the grocery store. Add some to halved hard-boiled eggs for a protein-packed hack that’s not just good for your goals but is one you’ll seriously crave.