What eating 140g of protein a day actually looks like

Around eight or nine years ago, I made some fairly simple changes to the way I ate. I didn’t follow a strict diet, cut out entire food groups or overhaul everything overnight. I started paying much more attention to protein and gradually built my meals around it.

Of all the nutrition changes I’ve made, this is the one that has made the biggest difference.

The benefits for me have been huge: steadier energy, better sleep, easier weight management, improved body composition, far fewer cravings and no more afternoon slump that leaves me hunting for something sweet.

These days, I generally eat around 140g of protein a day. That number won’t be right, or necessary, for everyone. Protein needs vary according to body size, age, activity levels, health and goals. I’m active, I strength train regularly and maintaining muscle is a priority for me.

And I certainly didn’t go from eating a fairly standard amount of protein to 140g overnight. It took time to build up, experiment and work out what fitted naturally into my day. Some days I don’t reach it, and that’s okay. But most days I get close.

So, what does that actually look like?

Breakfast: approximately 50–60g of protein

Breakfast is usually either my high-protein chia pudding or a blueberry smoothie. Both include protein powder, along with other ingredients that add fibre and nutrients.

This is quite a high-protein breakfast, but it works really well for me it really sets me up for the day. It keeps me satisfied, gives me steady energy and means I’m not looking for snacks an hour or two later.

Lunch: approximately 35–40g of protein

Lunch is generally one of two options:

• Around 140g of cooked chicken or leftover meat with a large salad; or

• Two-three scrambled eggs with cottage cheese and spinach, plus a slice of sourdough. Yes, I eat bread!

They’re simple meals, but simple is exactly what I need during a busy working day. I don’t want to spend ages deciding what to eat or preparing an elaborate lunch between appointments.

Dinner: approximately 30–40g of protein

Dinner is usually chicken, mince or some sort of beef with plenty of vegetables or salad. Sometimes we’ll have a small serving of potatoes as well. I don’t particularly love potatoes, but the rest of the family does!

This is how I naturally prefer to eat: a good serving of protein, lots of vegetables and some carbohydrate depending on the meal, my training and what everyone else is having.

And the extras?

There’s often an apple somewhere in my day. I’m also partial to something sweet after lunch, so I might have a third of a protein bar or one or two Tom & Luke’s tiramisu snack balls with my coffee.

I very rarely eat after dinner because I’ve generally had plenty to eat throughout the day. I’m not relying on willpower to avoid the pantry, I’m simply not hungry.

Altogether, the day generally gives me somewhere around 120–140g of protein from my main meals, with the exact amount depending on portions and ingredients. Any extras can take me a little higher. I don’t need every day to be identical or mathematically perfect.

What about weekends, meals out and holidays?

Weekends look slightly different, but not dramatically so. Breakfast tends to be later, and I’ll often have eggs instead of chia pudding or a smoothie.

If I’m eating out or we have friends over, I enjoy the occasion and eat differently. There needs to be flexibility for real life. But my general pattern stays much the same: protein first, plenty of vegetables and foods I enjoy.

Some people might look at my weekday meals and think they sound a bit boring. I don’t. There is plenty of variety, fibre and nutrition, and the routine makes eating well easy around a busy schedule. Most importantly, it works for me.

Why protein becomes even more important as we age

I know I talk about protein a lot, but there’s a good reason for that, it genuinely makes a difference.

As we age, our muscles become less responsive to smaller amounts of protein. In simple terms, our bodies may need a stronger protein signal to support muscle repair and maintenance than they did a decade or two earlier.

Protein also helps with fullness, recovery and maintaining muscle while losing weight. That muscle matters for far more than appearance. It supports our strength, mobility, metabolic health and ability to keep doing the things we enjoy as we get older.

This is also one of the problems with repeated restrictive dieting. Weight loss commonly includes some muscle as well as body fat. If weight is regained, that muscle isn’t automatically restored, particularly without enough protein and strength-based activity. Over time, this can leave body composition worse off even when the number on the scales returns to the same place.

Protecting muscle is one reason I’m much more interested in helping clients build sustainable habits than putting them on another short-term diet.

This is the foundation of my 8-week programme

Protein is one of the foundations we work on in my 8-week nutrition programme, but I won’t hand you my meals and expect you to eat exactly as I do.

We start with you:

• What foods do you already enjoy?

• What does your work and family life look like?

• Where are the gaps in your current meals?

• What small changes would help you feel fuller and better support your goals?

• How can we make it flexible enough for weekends, meals out and holidays?

We might increase the protein in your current breakfast, adjust the balance of your lunch or find a few easy meals you can fall back on when life is busy. You’ll also learn what an appropriate amount of protein looks like for you and how to put it into practice without needing to track every mouthful forever.

The aim is not perfection. It’s to find a way of eating that supports your health and feels realistic enough to continue for the rest of your life. That is how you step away from the cycle of losing weight, regaining it and starting over again.

If you’d like help working out what this could look like for you, you can book a free call with me.