When you are tracking your food and eating in a calorie deficit, it can be tricky to get in all of your protein for the day without infringing on your total fat goal. I am going to share some of my favorite high protein low fat sources and how I regularly incorporate them into my diet.

Foods with High Protein & Minimal Fat:

• Egg whites
• Greek Yogurts & 0% Fat Greek Yogurts
• Low Fat Cottage Cheese & 0% Fat Cottage Cheese
• Part Skim, Reduced Fat Cheeses & Fat Free Cheeses
• Lean cuts of meat like: 99% or 93% ground turkey, boneless skinless chicken breasts, cold cut chicken or turkey
• Protein Powders
• Shrimp
• Crabmeat
• Scallops
• Canned Tuna or Salmon
• Tilapia
• Cod
• Halibut
• Flounder
• Clams

Incorporating them into your diet:

Breakfast Ideas:

If you are someone like me who loves to have eggs for breakfast, one of the easiest ways to add more protein to it is to swap out some whole eggs for egg whites. A typical large egg contains 6.3g Protein & 5g Fat per serving and egg whites contain 3.6g Protein per serving. Instead of having 2-3 whole eggs in the morning, have 1 whole egg with 3-4 servings of egg whites.

Other Ideas:

• Greek Yogurt or Cottage Cheese – have some fruit with it!
• Make a protein shake (Justin loves to make protein shakes and use it as the “milk” for his bowl of cereal)

I’m sure there are plenty more – but these are just a few ideas to get you going!

Snack Ideas:

Some of my favorite mid-morning snacks are simply just a piece of fruit and protein shake. I have clients who enjoy eating greek yogurt with fruit or cottage cheese with fruit. My favorite mid-afternoon snack is a small sandwich comprised of 2% milk-fat cheese and some turkey cold cut made on either Josephs Lavish Bread or Josephs Oat Flax Bran Pita Bread. per serving, Josephs Lavish Bread contains 1.5g Fat, 6g Protein and only 8g Carbs and Josephs Oat Flax Bran Pita contains 1.5g Fat, 6g Protein and 9g Carbs per serving. Utilizing bread sources that contain upwards of 5g protein per serving is a great way to sneak in extra protein to your meal.

Lunch & Dinner Ideas:

My typical lunch everyday consists of a serving of 99% lean turkey, 1 serving of part skim/reduced fat cheese a potato and a large bowl of broccoli. I usually average anywhere from 30-35g protein per lunch depending on how much broccoli I want. Vegetables like broccoli, spinach or kale contain some protein usually around 2.5g per serving, but it all adds up! Other lunch ideas could simply be a salad topped with one of the above protein sources, a sandwich, one of the above protein sources with veggies and a starch! There are truly endless possibilities.

My typical dinner will usually consist of 4oz of boneless skinless chicken breast paired with a salad or potatoes and a vegetable. Just like with lunch, there are endless dinner possibilities that can consist of a salad topped with a protein source from above, pasta with one of the above protein sources, homemade burrito bowls, etc.

Other Easy Way to Incorporate Extra Protein:

• add an extra egg white or two to your breakfast
• consider supplementing with a protein powder
• switch from whole milk cheeses to part skim or 2% reduced fat cheese
• add an extra ounce or two of whatever your current protein source (instead of 3oz of chicken per meal have 5)

It can seem like a challenge at first to work on getting your protein intake up without upping your fat too much, but once you start to think outside the box a bit you’ll start to realize it can easily be done! What are some of your favorite high protein meals? Let us know in the comments below!