A few years ago, my boyfriend started weightlifting — a lot. I was suspicious at first: Was he gearing up to have an affair? Preparing for a role in a Marvel film? Aiming to bench-press me when I least expected it? But as I watched him lift heavier weights, get stronger, develop impressive shoulders, and generally feel better physically and mentally, I was intrigued about giving it a shot myself.
Through my 20s and 30s, I exercised off and on, sometimes with real gusto. But I’d never taken lifting seriously enough to focus on a set program, track my weights, and continually improve on my numbers. (My “strength-training” was usually limited to the four-minute light-dumbbell routine during a spin class.) So I signed up for a $20-per-month app and started lifting five days a week. First I took it easy on myself, and then I took it… way less easy.
Now, the dumbbells I used to find “too hard” are way too light for me. It’s been about two years since I started strength-training in earnest, and my arms aren’t yet Linda Hamilton-ian, but I’m gonna be real with you: They’re getting there. There is no package I can’t pick up off the porch.
Building muscle is enormously important for everyone, but especially for women as we age: We start losing it rapidly around age 30, you’ve seen the statistics, blah blah blah. Who cares? Unfortunately, all of us should, since the retention/addition of muscle affects everything from hormone function to your injury risk to bone density to skin health. (There’s evidence that it might make your face look younger, wildly enough.) Part of building muscle is, yes, lifting very heavy things and putting them back down again over and over. But part of it is also about eating adequate amounts of protein.
Protein helps you build and hold onto muscle and it makes you feel fuller for longer, which helps me do less mindless snacking — which helps me look more (sorry, but) “cut.” So I eat a lot of it, at least 115 grams daily — which I roughly tabulate to about 30 grams at each meal, with some extra g’s added throughout the day. Yes, I eat all the standard stuff: eggs, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, seafood, cold cuts, turkey hot dogs, etc. But I also supplement my “real” foods with lots of protein-enhanced packaged snacks and meals that are handy, effortless, and (to me) extremely delicious.
Whether you’re on a muscle-building journey or just want to keep the buffness you have now, protein is key. So I rounded up my favorite ways to get enough of it when I’m too busy or tired to cook up a giant omelette — or don’t feel like eating yet another bowl of cottage cheese. As a bonus, you can buy any of these online, at big-box stores, or most grocery stores. So let’s eat our protein, lift heavy, get strong, and meet back here for an arm-wrestling competition in a year. [Flexes at you while grimacing.] Here are the top protein snacks and meals I rely on.
The Best Protein Snacks And Meals
Premier Protein Cereal
Post
This cereal comes in chocolate-almond or mixed-berry-almond flavors, but — much as if they were my children — I can’t pick a favorite (and I demand that they come home each year for Thanksgiving). It’s flaky and not too sweet, so it somehow feels wholesome, like a breakfast that Swiss people would enjoy on a mountainside. And it has a whopping 20 grams of protein per serving, giving it one of the best calorie-to-protein ratios of any of the products on this list.
Magic Spoon Cereal
Magic Spoon
With an almost-too-cute box design, I was concerned that this cereal would be all Gen Z posturing, no follow-through. But I was dead wrong — I enjoy pretty much all the flavors I’ve tried, though I’ll make special shoutouts to the fruit, blueberry, and peanut butter varieties. For an absolute protein lunatic like me, one 14-gram serving of this, even with milk, isn’t quite enough to constitute a full breakfast, but that just means I have to eat more.
Fairlife Core Power Protein Shakes
FairLife
Drinking my protein is very “meh” to me — I’m a huge fan of chewing — but if I’m rushing out the door in the morning and have zero time, I will happily down one of these. Fairlife makes a handful of different flavors of these powerhouses, which have a whopping 26 grams of “prot” per serving, but the sleeper hit is the strawberry-banana option. Just trust me.
Quest Protein Chips
Quest
I like Quest’s regular chips (especially the sour cream and onion flavor) and their mini cheese crackers, which call to mind a beloved snack that rhymes with “freeze-its.” But my true loves are the tortilla versions, which taste like something you’d find in a gas station chip aisle, in the best way. I’m not a huge fan of Quest’s sweet-snack offerings, but their crunchy, salty munchies hit a flavor/texture spot that few other protein treats do — and some of their chips have almost 20 grams of protein per single-serving bag.
Built Puff Treats
Built Bars
A friend who isn’t a fan of protein-anything “accidentally” tried one of these at my house and was blown away — they really do taste like a dessert-y treat with no hidden nutritional agenda. The gold-standard Puff flavor is the coconut, which serves up 17 grams of protein and is dipped in a dark-chocolate coating; it’s absurdly sumptuous and delightful. But I like almost all the Puff flavors I’ve tried, thanks to their pillowy, marshmallowy centers. (Honorable mention to the mint-chip ones, which you can grab at Target.)
One thing I’ll note — if the creators of Built bars are reading this right now, please look away — is that you must be sure to get the Puff bars, not the regular Built bars, the latter of which tasted like melted plastic and made me question my life goals.
Goodles
Goodles
This company makes all sorts of alternative pastas, but its megastar is undoubtedly its line of boxed mac and cheeses; they’re a staple in my household, partly because of the tastiness/high-protein factor, and partly because of how fast and easy they are to stir up. And of course, I throw in some extra cooked lean protein — cut-up chicken sausage is a particular favorite — because muscles never sleep.
Legendary Foods Protein Pastry
Legendary
Sometimes you crave the mass-market tackiness of a Pop Tart or plastic-wrapped icing confection, and that’s OK. Legendary understands that we are flawed. I prefer the brand’s Protein Pastry (the cinnamon flavor in particular) to its “cinnamon roll” but I will happily grab either as my afternoon treat. And at 20 grams of protein each, they’re a handy way to hit my goal.
Meal Boosters
Meal Boosters
Most companies make their protein powders cloyingly sweet, but the geniuses behind these savory (yes, savory) “boosters” are on a whole other level, mentally. You can mix these powders into pasta, turn them into high-protein queso dip, or sprinkle them onto popcorn for a cheesy (or buffalo-y) flavor hit that offers between 15 and 20 grams of protein per serving.
Carbe Diem Pastas
Carbe Diem
I don’t personally count carbs but I do love that these Carbe Diem pastas are enriched with protein — and are texturally and flavorally indistinguishable from regular noodles. A double serving (I get hungry, so sue me) serves up 16 grams of protein; add in some cut-up chicken or shrimp, and that’s dinner.
Have a readymade protein snack or meal you love? Drop us a line at info@katiecouric.com
