Making the move to an exclusively plant based diet can be challenging on your mindset.

As someone who lived a very high protein, high fat (and high animal product) lifestyle for over a decade, worrying about my protein intake was something that took me a while to overcome.

More than that, once I had learnt enough to change my own mindset, I was then faced with the status quo mindsets of those around me, constantly asking me why? Why would you cut out such a huge source of protein? And where will you get all your protein from now?

How much protein do we actually need?

The reality is, we actually don’t need as much protein as we think we do! The average person, living a regular lifestyle with a moderate amount of daily activity, only needs .8 grams of protein per kg of body weight (according to most countries Recommended Dietary Allowances). This means for an average 75kg male, you only need around 60g of protein a day to sustain you.

This obviously changes if you are exercising and will change depending on your current health and fitness goals, but as an example, it is recommended that endurance athletes consume an extra 50%, and strength/body building athletes consume around double the average recommended intake. So this means that if you are a competitive body builder or strength athlete, weighing around 80kg, you still only need to consume around 128g of protein!

Where can I get my protein hit?

Now we have some perspective on how much protein we need, it’s really not that hard to see how we can get it from an exclusively plant based diet. By including foods that are high in protein like beans, lentils, chickpeas, tofu, tempeh and a few high protein snacks from The Better Food Co, you will well and truly have your protein needs covered!

For example, two of our Protein Pancakes in the morning for breakfast will already give you 16.6g of your daily protein needs! And you’ve eaten pancakes for breakfast!!!

Add to that some tofu/tempeh with your lunch, some lentils, black beans or chickpeas, and there is no need to be concerned about your protein intake when you eliminate animal products from your diet.

Some common plant based high protein foods include:

• Tempeh: 18g per 100g
• Lentils: 18g per cup
• Tofu: 17.4g per 100g
• Chickpeas: 14g per cup
• Hemp Seeds: 10g in 3 tbl spoons

And if you are after that sweet treat, The Better Food Co’s range of food mixes are perfect to help give you that added boost! Ranging from 4.5g – 9.3g per serve, we’ve got you covered!

Don’t believe me? Check these guys out!

There are loads of people our there that are making waves in the health and fitness community by living a plant exclusive life and making big gains!

People like Nimai Delgado and Patrik Baboumian who were seen in the Game Changers movie, ex-butcher turned vegan nutritionist Fraser Bayley at Evolving Alpha and Jordan David over at Concious Muscle just to name a few. Jump in Instagram and loose yourself down the follow rabbit hole to find plenty of plant based inspiration for your own journey.

We’ve got you covered!

So if you are considering making the switch to a plant based lifestyle, stop stressing about where you will get your protein and if you will be getting enough. With the right balanced diet, and the help of a cookie, brownie, pancake or bliss ball (or 3) your protein needs will be well and truly met.

Ben
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