soooo meaty….or not

Please tell me you love The Soup.  If not, we can’t be friends!

(that’s not true.  Sub in “chocolate and sex” for “The Soup”, then it’s true.)

In honor of it being the third Wednesday of the month, a WIAW,

 the middle of the week and also a full moon (<-that may or may not be true), I’m taking a nap!  In my blogging absence, Erin would like to share some non-meaty ways to get your protein in!  I’ll be back tomorrow with more nonsensical jibberish of the highest quality.

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Hey everyone! My name is Erin, I am 22 years old, a senior in college majoring in marketing, and as of this month, a year-long vegetarian!

I started my blog Girl Gone Veggie last year to share my life and my journey to health with the world. If you knew me when I was younger you would have never guessed I would become a vegetarian later in life. While I never ate a ton of meat I hated fruits and most vegetables until I was 18 years old. I ate a lot of fast food, didn’t live a very active life, and it showed. Last year I made the decision to start thinking critically about what I was putting into my body, and whether those foods benefited or hindered my health. I banned trans fats from my life and started eating boatloads of fruits and veggies. It’s crazy to think I now crave them. One of the things I’ve been asked frequently since becoming a vegetarian is how I make sure I get enough protein. Before I became a vegetarian I thought it was really hard to get enough protein without eating meat, and that I would struggle a little to keep from becoming protein deficient. Now that I am a vegetarian I always check labels to see what’s in my food. I quickly realized that protein is in everything! If you make a sandwich the bread alone has 6 grams of protein. My morning oats have 5 grams of protein before I mix them with anything else. As Americans, we consume tons of protein, arguable more than we oftentimes need. The CDC recommends that women consume around 50 grams of protein a day. When I was tracking my protein consumption I hit about 65 grams a day without any meat products! When Lindsay put out the call for bloggers to create a guest post involving lists on her blog I knew what I wanted to write about immediately. Below is a list of five ways to get protein without eating any meat. Hopefully you find some of your favorite foods on the list. They’re all pretty awesome!

• Greek yogurt

Greek yogurt is a part of my daily diet. Most are fat free or low fat, high in calcium, and packed with ~15 grams of protein a serving. I love all the flavor options and when added to a bowl of oats I’m looking at 20 grams of protein to start my day right.

• Eggs

Two eggs have 12 grams of protein and are packed with vitamins and nutrients. I love to whip up burritos stuffed with scrambled eggs and veggies for a delicious meal.

• Nuts

Two tablespoons of almond butter has ~8 grams of protein. Put that on a toasted English muffin (that has 4 grams of protein) and top with sliced bananas or strawberries for a delicious and surprisingly filling lunch!

• Protein Powder

I am a huge fan of hemp protein powder. A serving has 11 grams of protein and lots of fiber. Hemp protein contains all 8 essential amino acids, and is one of the few complete plant-based proteins. I love to add some to my favorite huge green smoothies.

• Beans

A serving of beans has ~8 grams of protein and can be added to so many dishes. My favorite way to eat them is in a veggie burger! Yum! And there you have it! Five tasty ways to get your daily protein without any meat. And none of them involve soy. I personally really enjoy soy and eat it about once a week but I know for a lot of people it’s not an option or something they prefer not to have. I feel totally comfortable eating it as I love the taste and eat it so infrequently but every body is different and you have to do what’s right for yours. For me veggie is the way to be, for someone else it may be paleo. Just do you. :)

I would like to give a big thanks to Lindsay for sharing her space on the internet with me!

QUESTION:  What is your favorite meat-free protein source?

splendid…lindsay