High Protein, Low-Fat Food Recipes

An effective way to lose weight is to embark on a high protein, low-fat diet. While no one should stay on a high protein diet for an extended period of time, a reasonable high protein diet for those who exercise can be beneficial. This type of diet is also a great way to cleanse your arteries and keep up your energy. While it may seem daunting at first, there are some basic recipes that can help you stay on track while eating this way.

Healthy Sources of Protein and Serving Sizes

In the food world, there are a few superior sources of great protein. If you're looking at animal sources, chicken breasts and fish fillets are the simplest and very filling. Beef is also filled with protein and iron, but it is imperative that the leanest cuts of the animal are used, flank steak being a good option. Eggs are also a great way to start the day, but take the yolk out and concentrate on only eating the whites. If you are trying to add vegetarian options, quinoa is a super grain with protein content that rivals many animal sources, and rice and black or pinto beans are also a main course that can be easily and cheaply added to your diet.

When planning to add protein to your diet while keeping fat and calories down, it is extremely important to watch your serving size. A serving of anything is the size of your closed fist. Calculate how many calories you are aiming to ingest and look up the average calories in a serving of whatever food you are eating. There are online sites like Calorie Count Plus that help you calculate your caloric need and list the nutrition information for common foods.

Cooking Methods and Low-Fat Side Dishes

Now that you are keeping sources of protein and serving size in mind, watch out for the way you choose to cook your food. Avoid using oil, and when you must use it, use 1 tbsp. of olive oil in place of butter or vegetable oil. Grilling and broiling are always healthier choices, and you would be surprised at how delicious chicken, fish, or lean beef can be when cooked over a low heat using lemon, white vinegar or soy sauce as both the flavoring and lubricant. Cooking low-fat is a matter of learning new habits and techniques, not avoiding flavor or joy in food. Herbs are your best friends: garlic, oregano, cilantro, rosemary, onion and thyme can all be added to your meals to give them zest.

Each meal should have an appropriate serving of your protein and two sides: a fruit and a vegetable. Some fruits and vegetables are better than others. Some of the fruits and vegetables with the lowest fat and calorie count are: asparagus, raspberries, blueberries, squash, peaches, kale, broccoli, apples, sweet potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots and peas. Avoid white potato, banana, mango and cherries. These are all very starchy or high-sugar foods that will only make you hungrier sooner or slow down your metabolism. A sure-fire way to flavor kale or other vegetables is to add garlic, ginger or soy sauce over low heat. The nice thing about having delicious vegetables and fruit as the companions to your protein is that you can eat almost as much as you want in a sitting because they are healthy, have little to no fat and have fiber that helps fill you up.

Number of Meals in a Day

Children have it right when it comes to how to eat in one respect: frequency. In order to take full advantage of a high protein diet, especially if you're trying to gain muscle, it is important to eat at least every three hours. Most people are used to meals being large servings of cooked food, but the best way to get more protein in your diet is to carry around pre-sorted servings of almonds, an energy bar or apples and cheese. A handful (remember what we went over in regards to servings) every three hours will keep you full of energy and full enough to avoid unhealthy snacks. Try to incorporate lean protein into every snack and avoid items like bread or crackers unless you are really keeping track of the serving size.

Once you've gotten the hang of this way of eating, your day should look something like this: egg whites and fruit for breakfast, a snack of a handful of almonds, chicken breast and salad for lunch, 2 tbsp. of peanut butter on sliced apples for your afternoon snack, and a serving of flank steak, asparagus and peaches for dinner. Try this for a month and you'll feel so good you'll wonder why you didn't eat like this before.