Get More Protein in your Diet with This Breakfast Cereal Hack

I recently started helping Chad get his life on track with macros. Meaning – he wants to gain a certain amount of muscle, and along with his workouts and weightlifting, he wants to start tracking macros to help aide in the process of changing his body composition.

It was fun in the beginning, but now I’m getting a little sick of the fact that he’s basically on a carb holiday every single day.. meaning it’ll be bedtime and I’m craving popcorn and he still has 2930812309 g of carbs that he can eat.

Seriously? Not fair.

But we started talking and he was telling me that it’s difficult for him to get in all the carbs and fats each day that he needs, but he always goes over on protein. For me, it’s the exact opposite. I could pretty much eat all my carbs and fat grams at one meal if I’m not careful, but very rarely do I even get close to taking in the amount of daily protein that I’m supposed to.

So I’ve been paying more attention to my own macros lately, and reworking those puzzle pieces each day so that I’m hitting my targets a lot more closely. If you’re like me and you struggle to take in enough protein throughout the day, then here are some tips that I’ve learned:

• Add an extra ounce or two of protein at your meals (so for example, I would always take a 4 oz serving of chicken with my meals. I’ve started upping that intake based on my needs, to 5 or 6+ oz at each meal).
• Supplement with protein shakes throughout the day, as long as they’re healthy! (Check your labels – how much sugar and “extras” are added in? Make smart choices when it comes to your protein selection).
• Add peanut butter or nuts to your meals (but watch the fat content when you do)
• Eat your protein first (at meals – don’t save it for last. Eat it first and you’re more likely to get it all in).

Those all may seem like no brainers, but you’d be surprised the difference it makes when you make a conscious effort to eat more protein each day.

One of my other favorite hacks is so simple, and one of my favorite ways to snack or eat a quick meal. Once you read it, you’ll be wondering why you never thought of it before, and I promise you’ll start adopting it into your daily food routine, too!

Breakfast Cereal Hack

Add protein to your breakfast cereal! It’s SO good, and SO filling. I promise! You can literally do this to ANY type of cereal, but I’m going to share one of my faves down below!

• 1 cup of peanut butter cereal (I like Peanut Butter Poppers from Good & Gather – you can find it at Target)
• 8 oz of almond milk, shaken with 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder (I love TrueNutrition. You can choose from whey protein, pea protein, paleo protein, and more. Plus you can add boosts like vitamins and minerals, probiotics, collagen, etc. – I’m not affiliated with them, they’re just my go-to brand of protein powder!)
• Once your protein powder and almond milk have mixed, pour over top of your cereal.
• Optional: add one tablespoon of almond butter, and 1/2 banana to the top of your cereal.

Macros (without the optional items): 260 calories, 24.5g Carbs, 5.9g Fat, 27.2g Protein.