Power Up Your Protein

I told you at the beginning of the week that I had some goals for myself. 
My goals are:
- at least 100 grams of protein per day
- more water! Aim: 80-100 oz per day
- no random snacking.
- log my food.
- Workout like a pro.

I'm happy to report the week has gone great thus far! 

Protein: I give myself an A- I've reached 90-100 grams each day and my meals have been first focused on the lean protein, and then surrounded by veggies with some quality whole grains.


Water: I give myself a B here. I'm definitely doing better, but I think I've reached 60-80 oz each day.


Snacking: A :) WAY better here. I've still reached for a few handfuls of my Kashi Go Lean Crunch as a snack, BUT I've logged every last bite. No calorie left behind. Which leads to...


Log My Food: A. Wow it helps me SO much when I do this. I can't even tell you. If you are feeling stuck. LOG YOUR FOOD.

Workouts: A+! My workouts have gone GREAT this week. I usually workout after all my morning clients, and I was on my way to workout and I started feeling really tired, and hungry...and in my head I thought...just go take a nap or eat lunch and then later before you go back to work you can get your workout in. It was like the devil and the angel on my shoulder. BUT I decided I should just start doing SOMETHING. I got there and saw some friends who ended up giving me some new burst of energy. I ended up doing a ROCKING 60 min interval session on the stairs that had me sweating like crazy and feeling great, along with some lifting. When I left I felt SO good, and I was SO SO SO glad I went and got it in. Another reminder that sometimes all we need to do is get started and then we'll be super glad we did!

I've had some of you asking how I'm getting my protein in. I've mentioned several times this is the hardest part for me. I don't like red meat, or pork. I hate fish, but I've surprisingly been eating tuna. Weird? Yes. I really don't loooove chicken because I don't like to prepare it. It has to be extremely clean, no fat/no veins, and very thin. This can create some problems.

So...here's what I've been doing...

I wanted to add a little more protein to my chocolate PB oatmeal, so in the morning instead of making it with 1/2 cup old fashioned oats 1 cup water. I have been making it with 1/2 cup old fashioned oats, 1/2 cup water. & 1/2 cup skim milk. Adding the milk only adds 40 more calories and 4 more grams of protein, so my breakfast totals out at about 15 grams of protein for the bowl. It is so good, and the milk makes it a little more fluffy...Can oatmeal be fluffy?

 I have been loving these individual tuna packs. They have 80 calories and 18 grams of protein in them with only .5 grams of fat. hellooooo amazing. I love that they are portion controlled too.

I pair them up with one of my favorite La Tortilla Factory Low Carb Tortillas. 80 calories each, 8 grams of protein, 12 grams of fiber. AMAZING. I eat these once a day with something it seems like.

The whole wrap has 25 grams of protein in it.

One of my favorite go to snacks for some quick and delicious (and vegetarian might I add) protein is edamame sprinkled with a little bit of sea salt. I get the individual frozen packs you can get at Costco. Each bag is one serving. about 150 calories and 13 grams of protein.

I also have to have some portable snacks I can eat at work and for that I will often eat some almonds or a part skim mozerella string cheese. Each string cheese stick has about 80 calories and 7 grams of protein. This is just about the only cheese that I eat. I'm not a huge fan of it. 

I make a lot of protein shakes. Mine usually consist of 1/2 banana, frozen strawberries, vanilla whey protein powder, ice, skim milk, and LOTS of cinnamon. These have about 20-30 grams of protein in one shake.

I eat a lot of chicken as well. I usually just grill it up on the George Foreman. I will cut it up and put it in a salad, eat it with some quinoa, put it in a wrap, or just eat it with some grilled veggies. A chicken breast usually has 110 calories and around 25 grams of protein.

I have also been incorporating a lot of egg whites. I usually do one egg and an egg white if it's for a snack, sprinkle it with some fajita seasoning, and then fry it up with Pam. This is 83 calories and about 9 grams of protein. If I'm feeling like I'm not getting all my protein in I'll do one egg and three egg whites. This is 120 calories and 17 grams of protein.

If I am eating it as a meal I will do three egg whites and one whole egg with some spinach, a lil' bit of salsa wrapped up in a La Tortilla Factory Wrap. This has about 25 grams of protein in it and 200 calories.

 Sometimes at work in between clients I need to grab a quick snack or meal and I have been running over to the local Target, and having them shave up 3 oz of of lean deli turkey. I can just eat this straight up with a fork. Weird I know. For having the meat issues I do it's amazing I can just chomp this down. It's about 27 grams of lean protein and 135 calories. I try not to do this too often because it does contain a lot of sodium, but it's a better option. I am obsessed with Target BTW. I could spend hours there.

Other protein options...I add beans of all sorts to everything; pasta, salad, soup, wraps. I love beans they are great for you and contain both protein and fiber. I eat veggie burgers, deli turkey in wraps, and sometimes will eat protein bars if I absolutely can't get my protein in otherwise. I am picky about my protein bars and I don't like the excess sugar that comes with them.

How are you doing with your goals this week? Are you accomplishing all you hoped to accomplish? I hope so! I loved reading your comments on what you wanted to work on for the week! How do you get your protein in? Any awesome tricks we should know about?

Don't forget only a few more days to enter the Spring Mix Giveaway!!