If you are working out and trying to gain muscle, protein is your true friend. It will help to repair torn muscle fibers, take away aches and pain and improve your energy levels.

However, eating the right amount of protein to build that muscle is harder than it seems. Why? Protein is very dense, it fills you up fast and this can lead to missing out on other macronutrients like fats and carbs. So how do you ingest large amounts of protein without losing your appetite or feeling sick?

How much protein do you need?

Read that again, how much do you NEED, not want. You only need about 0.7 – 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight to gain muscle. So if you are 180lbs, the minimum you will need is 126g and the highest you will need is 180g of protein per day. You can build muscle with just 0.7g: the key is to make it quality protein. So if you can, chicken and beef protein is the way to go. If you are a vegan, you can get by with plant-based proteins as well. Not all proteins are the same, as they are amino acids made up of different building blocks.

How to include protein in every meal

The trick is to make whatever protein you have each meal, naturally fit your day. Everyone has eggs in the morning, so just add some egg whites to your breakfast. Bacon, and to some degree oatmeal, has protein too. You may want a light salad for breakfast, add in some chicken, white fish or perhaps some bacon cubes. For lunch, everyone usually has some kind of sandwich or wrap. You can easily add chicken to it. Chicken or tuna pasta are also good choices. Most of us have time to make a proper meal in the evening, and protein should not be an issue here.

Not enough protein

When you kickstart this process, you will find that protein is so dense and filling that you struggle to eat everything else and struggle to meet your minimum protein requirement. So rather than force-feed yourself, take a look at the Best Protein Powder for your needs. Some have excellent carbs, so you can have them for breakfast. Others only focus on protein for after workouts. One shake might be anywhere from 40-50g of protein, helping you to make up for a lost meal or just helping you to meet your minimum level in between meals.

Protein is hard to ingest because it’s dense, filling and can take away your appetite. But you can and should find ways to include it. Make it a natural part of your meal, only as much as you need and think about buying protein powder to pick up the slack.