Food
What to eat to hit your number.
Your number is probably somewhere between 120 and 160 grams a day. That sounds like a lot until you see what it looks like on a plate. It is three or four proper meals with something meaty, eggy, or dairy in each, plus one snack. No powders needed, though a shake is a handy shortcut.
The three rules of a protein plate
- Something with 30 to 40 g of protein in every meal. Past 40, your muscles need a proper dose each time to respond. Twenty grams here and there does not cut it. Think a fillet of chicken, three eggs and a pot of yoghurt, a big tin of tuna, a bowl of chilli.
- Start the day with protein. Toast and cereal is the classic British breakfast and it has almost none. Eggs, yoghurt, porridge with whey, or leftover dinner. If you fast till noon, make the first feed the biggest.
- Batch cook one thing on Sunday. A big pot of chilli, a traybake of chicken thighs, a bolognese. Eat it twice. This is the single habit that makes the whole thing stick.
How much protein is in normal food
Rough, honest numbers for real UK portions. Not lab values. Enough to plan a day with.
| Food | A normal portion | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken breast | one fillet, about 150 g cooked | 45 g |
| Chicken thighs | two, skin off | 34 g |
| Lean beef mince | 150 g cooked, a normal portion of chilli | 36 g |
| Rump steak | a 200 g steak | 50 g |
| Turkey mince | 150 g cooked | 38 g |
| Pork loin | one chop, fat trimmed | 32 g |
| Bacon | three grilled rashers | 18 g |
| Eggs | three large | 20 g |
| Greek yoghurt | a 170 g pot, the thick 0% or 5% kind | 17 g |
| Skyr | a 150 g pot | 16 g |
| Cottage cheese | half a tub, 150 g | 17 g |
| Milk | a pint | 19 g |
| Cheddar | a matchbox-sized chunk, 30 g | 8 g |
| Whey protein | one scoop in water | 24 g |
| Salmon | one fillet, 130 g | 28 g |
| Tuna | one tin in spring water, drained | 25 g |
| Cod | one fillet, 150 g | 30 g |
| Prawns | a 150 g bag | 26 g |
| Lentils | a 250 g pouch of cooked | 22 g |
| Chickpeas | one tin, drained | 17 g |
| Tofu | half a block, 200 g | 16 g |
| Edamame | a big handful, 100 g | 11 g |
| Baked beans | a tin | 20 g |
| Peanut butter | two tablespoons | 8 g |
| Bread | two slices of wholemeal | 8 g |
| Oats | a bowl of porridge, 50 g dry | 6 g |
If you don't eat fish
Plenty of men don't. You lose nothing. Chicken, beef, turkey, eggs, Greek yoghurt, skyr and cottage cheese cover everything fish does for protein. The one thing you might miss is omega-3, which is a different job from protein. Two things fix it: a couple of eggs enriched with omega-3, or a plain fish-oil capsule a day if you can stomach it. Neither changes your protein plan.
If you don't eat meat
Doable, but you have to be deliberate, because plant protein is thinner on the ground. Lean on eggs, Greek yoghurt, skyr, cottage cheese and whey if you eat dairy. Then lentils, chickpeas, tofu, edamame and beans, in bigger portions than you think. A veggie man over 40 aiming for 140 g a day will usually need a shake or two to get there without eating all day. That is fine. It is a tool, not a cheat.
The stuff that quietly adds up
- A pint of milk in your tea and coffee across the day: nearly 20 g.
- Swapping normal yoghurt for Greek or skyr: roughly double the protein for the same pot.
- Adding a tin of beans or lentils to any stew, chilli or curry: another 15 to 20 g in the pot.
- Two boiled eggs in the fridge, always. Boil six on Sunday.
- Cheese on things. Not a lot, but it is 8 g a go.
Things people worry about that you don't need to
- Kidneys. For healthy men, 1.6 to 2 g per kilo shows no kidney harm in the research. If you already have kidney disease, that is different, and it is a GP conversation.
- Too much in one go. The old "body can only use 30 g" line is a myth. Bigger meals are used, just more slowly. It is why three big feeds works on a fasting day.
- Red meat every day. Mix it up. Chicken, turkey, eggs, dairy, beans. Red meat a few times a week is fine. Processed meat (bacon, ham, sausages) is the one to keep occasional.