Easy ways to up your protein intake at breakfast
If you’re still eating cereal, then I’m here to interrupt your age old habit and challenge your breakfast choices! I make no apologies for suggesting that your bowl of cereal isn’t perhaps the best option, because the breakfast ideas and inspiration that I’ve provided below rival ANY breakfast cereal on the market - hear me out!
It’s true that the first meal of the day really does set the tone for the day. Have you heard of the concept mood food? It’s basically suggesting that the food we eat has a direct impact on our food. Next time you eat a more sweet style breakfast (or your bowl of cereal) pay attention to how this makes you feel in comparison to a warm cooked breakfast or a more savoury style meal full of protein and healthy fats.
This point of this post is to talk about protein intake at breakfast and some easy strategies to ensure you are getting approx. 20-30g of protein in your first meal of the day. Regardless of when you break your fast, protein is often the component that is overlook or missed out. Protein is made up of building blocks called amino acids. Our body uses amino acids to build and repair muscles and bone and to make hormones and enzymes. Protein keeps up full and is important for maintaining our lean muscle mass. You can get protein from both animal and plant sources.
Some food sources of dietary protein include:
lean meats: beef, lamb, veal, pork, kangaroo
poultry: chicken, turkey, duck, emu, goose, bush birds
fish and seafood: fish, prawns, crab, lobster, mussels, oysters, scallops, clams
eggs
dairy products: milk, yoghurt (especially Greek yoghurt), cheese (especially cottage cheese)
nuts (including nut pastes) and seeds: almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, macadamias, hazelnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds
legumes and beans: all beans, lentils, chickpeas, split peas, tofu.
What is a serve? A standard serving size of ‘lean meat and poultry, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds, and legumes/beans’ is one of:
· Approximately 150g raw weight of animal protein OR 1 palm size piece wild caught fish, pasture raised chicken, or grass fed beef/lamb
· 1 small can of wild caught tuna, salmon or sardines
· 3 free range eggs OR 2 eggs + 50g bacon OR 2 eggs + 30g cheese
· 30g protein powder
· 1 cup (150g) cooked dried beans, lentils, chickpeas, split peas or canned beans
· 170g tofu
· 30g nuts, seeds, peanut or almond butter or tahini or other nut or seed paste (no added salt).
Below are some easy ways to get more protein into your diet at breakfast:
1. If you’re having a smoothie, make sure you are adding in 1 serve of protein powder. Check the ingredients of the protein and see what constitutes one serve, sometimes it’s 2 scoops, not one. Often the ingredients in your smoothie (e.g. nut milk and nut butters) won’t get you to the ~20g that you require.
2. If you enjoy eggs, eggs are a fantastic way to get in protein. You can pre boil them, have them in a frittata or scrambled them with extra greens. Aim for 3 whole eggs to get your ~20g of protein.
3. Choose a high quality and perhaps high protein yoghurt. Yoghurt bowls are a really easy, fun and super quick way to get in some protein. When topped with berries or your fruit of choice, along with some hemp seeds, chia seeds or nut butter, your bowl can easily hit the 20-30g!
4. Choose quinoa in your post training meal to boost overall protein content. Quinoa has 8g of protein per cup (cooked).
5. Make a seed loaf and top it with your favourite toppings. I am obsessed with Nutritionelly’s Simply Seedy Loaf. Check it out here.
6. Protein pancakes: I am the biggest fan of pancakes and you can definitely still have these ‘daily’ if you wish and still achieve your health goals AND get in your protein. My go to recipe is:
Protein Pancakes
Ingredients (Serves 2)
1 banana
1 eggs
½ cup oats
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
Method
1. Blend all in a food processor and then cook in batches in a well oiled frying pan.
2. Top with some yoghurt, berries and nut butter of choice.