Latest / Doctor Drop It with Dr Barbara Hessel / How to Get 100g of Protein WITHOUT Meat (And Lose Weight Faster)

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How to Get 100g of Protein WITHOUT Meat (And Lose Weight Faster) · Doctor Drop It with Dr Barbara Hessel

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about how to get 100 grams of protein a day without eating meat.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you're a vegetarian or vegan or you just don't want to eat meat every day, getting 100 grams of protein can sound almost impossible because when you start adding it up, a little protein in your oatmeal, some nuts, maybe beans at lunch.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: You're eating foods that are supposed to be high in protein, but somehow you get to dinner and you're still not even close.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Dr.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Barbara Hessel.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm board certified in obesity medicine and gynecology.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: And protein is one of the first things I look at when I'm helping women lose fat without sacrificing their muscle.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you can absolutely get 100 grams a day without eating meat.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: You just have to build your meals differently.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to show you how I would divide those 100 grams across the day, which foods I would build each meal around.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: And the biggest mistake I see people make with plant protein.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now, why 100 grams is important.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: But before we get into the food, there's a reason I care so much about this number on a weight loss channel.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: When you lose weight, your body doesn't automatically lose only fat if protein is too low, especially while calories are coming down.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Some of that weight can come from muscle too.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: And for women in midlife, that is exactly what we do not want.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Muscle helps you stay strong, supports your metabolism, and plays an important role in blood sugar control.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: The more muscle you lose while dieting, the easier it is to end up lighter on the scale, but weaker, softer, and actually burning fewer calories than you were before, which means that it's easier to regain weight.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why protein is one of the first things I set with my weight loss patients.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now, for some women, the right target might actually be higher than 100 grams.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: But 100 grams is a useful benchmark because a lot of women who think that they're eating plenty of protein are nowhere close.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: And once you know how to build 100 grams a day, the whole thing gets much easier.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: So stop trying to get 100 grams by accident.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: The first mistake is starting with foods instead of starting with a number.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: You have oatmeal with some nuts, a salad with chickpeas, maybe hummus for a snack, beans with dinner.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: All those foods contain protein, so the day feels protein conscious.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: But feeling like you ate protein and actually getting 100 grams are two very different things.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: The easiest way to fix that is to stop thinking about 100 grams as one giant daily target.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, break it up.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: I generally want protein spread across three or four meals.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: So if 100 grams is your goal, think roughly 30 grams at breakfast, 30 at lunch, 30 at dinner, and another 10 or 20 somewhere else if you need it.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now the question changes.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of asking, how am I supposed to eat 100 grams of protein, you're asking, how do I build breakfast around 30?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: And that's actually much easier.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the rule I want you to remember.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: If dinner has to rescue your protein target, breakfast already failed.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Breakfast is where I see this go wrong more than anywhere else.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: A piece of toast with peanut butter might be a perfectly good breakfast.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Oatmeal with cheese seeds can be a perfectly good breakfast too.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: But if your goal is 100 grams of protein, those foods usually can't carry the meal by themselves.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: You need a real protein anchor.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: So build each meal around a protein anchor.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: When I say protein anchor, I mean the food doing most of the work.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you eat eggs and dairy, this is fairly straightforward.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Eggs give you about six to seven grams each.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Greek yogurt can give you around 20 grams per cup.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Cottage cheese gives you around 14 grams per half cup.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: So instead of having one egg with toast and calling breakfast done, you might combine eggs with Greek yogurt or cottage cheese until the meal gets into that 25 to 30 gram range.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now, breakfast is actually doing its share of the work.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you're fully plant-based, soy is one of the easiest tools you have.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Tofu, tempeh, and edamami can all do much more of the heavy lifting than foods like nuts or seeds.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: You can also use quinoa, hemp seeds, chia seeds, nutritional yeast, beans, and lentils to build the rest of the meal.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're struggling to get enough protein food alone, a complete plant protein powder can be very practical.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: I prefer whole foods first, but a pea and rice blend, soy protein or hemp protein can make a big difference when you're trying to reach the number consistently.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: The important thing is to stop assuming that because food contains protein, it works well as your main protein source.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Nuts are a perfect example.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: I love nuts.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: They taste great and they're nutritious.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: But if almond or peanut butter are doing most of the work, you can eat a lot of calories before you ever get close to 30 grams of protein.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because nuts are mostly fat.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: They work much better as a supporting food than as the anchor.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: The same idea applies to plant proteins in general.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you're fully plant-based, you want some variety because different foods contribute different amino acids.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's the important caveat about protein.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: And sorry if I'm nerding out too much.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: There are essential amino acids or EAAs that the body needs to function.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: And essential means that our bodies cannot make these amino acids and they have to be eaten in our diet.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: One EAA important in building muscle is leucine.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: There's a certain amount of leuc that our bodies need to build muscle.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's called the leucine threshold.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: The leucine threshold is the dose of the amino acid leucine in a single meal, about 2.5 grams for younger women and 3 to 4 grams for older adults, required to fully activate muscle protein synthesis.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: So 2.5 to 4 grams depending on your age.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the problem.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: On average, plant-based protein powders contain between 1.5 and 2 grams of leucine per standard single scoop, which typically provides 2 to 2.5 grams of total protein.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're getting a serving of protein, which typically provides 20 to 25 grams of total protein.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: So you're getting a serving of protein, but you're not getting enough leucine to build muscle.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Some options are to increase your serving size up to 30 to 35 grams of total plant protein.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: You can buy a blend combining pea and brown rice.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Rice is high in methionine but low in lysine, and pea is high in lysine but low in methionine.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Together they form a complete amino acid profile that mimics whey.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Check for fortified brands that explicitly add exoleucine directly to the powder without increasing the scoop size.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: You can also supplement with powdered EAA.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to turn lunch into a chemistry session.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: But if you want to build around stronger protein sources like soy and combine foods intelligently across the day instead of assuming that any one plant food has you covered, that becomes especially important when your goal is preserving muscle while you lose fat.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because honestly, I see women who are plant-based and struggling, really struggling to lose fat and gain muscle.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're trying to lose weight and you're not sure how much protein you should be eating or how to structure this around your own hunger and metabolism, you can reach out to my clinic.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's a link in the description where you can learn more about working with me and my team.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's put all of this together and build the actual 100 gram day.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Here's how I would build the 100 gram day.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Start with breakfast and aim for about 30 grams.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you eat eggs and dairy, you might combine eggs with Greek yogurt or cottage cheese.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: You do not need some enormous breakfast.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: You just need to keep building until the protein gets to the range that you're aiming for.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: If you're vegan, tofu scramble can work very well.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: A smoothie with complete plant protein can work too.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then you can add things like chia or ham seed to support the meal rather than asking a tablespoon of seeds to carry the whole target.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Then move to lunch.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Again, decide where the 30 grams are coming from before you build the rest of the meal.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you want a big salad, great.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: But don't start with the lettuce and hope that the protein appears somewhere along the way.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Start with a tofu, tempeh, and imami, beans, eggs, or dairy that are going to do the heavy lifting.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Then add the vegetables, grains, dressing, avocado, and whatever else makes the meal something that you actually want to eat.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Dinner works the same way.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Pick the anchor first, build it towards roughly 30 grams, and then add the rest of the meal around it.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you've gotten to 30 grams breakfast, 30 grams lunch, and 30 grams at dinner, you're already at 90.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: That means that you don't need some massive protein shake at nine o'clock at night trying to fix the rest of the day.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you need another 10 or 15 grams.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: That could come from Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, edamami, or a smaller protein shake.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Or depending on how you built your meals, you might already be over 100.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's the whole strategy.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of wandering through the day collecting five grams here or seven grams there, you build three meals around real protein anchors.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: And suddenly 100 grams is not nearly as difficult as it sounds.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're a woman over 40, trying to lose fat without losing muscle, subscribe to the channel.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of nutrition advice was never built around what happens to hunger, muscle, and metabolism in midlife.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I focus on here.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll keep showing you how to make the food, exercise, and weight loss strategies you're already using work better for your body now.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: One more simple rule eat the protein first.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Once you've built the meal, I also like to have clients eat the protein first.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: The reason is practical.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: If you start with bread, the salad, the vegetables, and everything else on the plate, you can get full before you ever finish the part of the meal that we're actually trying to prioritize.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: So reverse the order, start with the protein, then move on to the rest of the meal.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: It also tends to make the meal more satisfying, which is useful if hunger is one of the things that you're trying to manage while losing weight.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: It also helps prevent glucose and insulin spikes that happen when eating the carbs first.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're training, I also want protein reasonably close to that workout.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: In my protocol, I generally aim for about 30 to 40 grams within a couple of hours afterwards.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing elaborate, just make sure the protein is actually there.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're fully plant-based, watch a few other nutrients too.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: One quick aside, if you eat no animal products at all, getting enough protein does not automatically mean that the rest of your diet is nutritionally complete.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Vitamin B12 deserves attention.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: So does iron, calcium, and omega-3 fats.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: There are plant-based ways to get many of these nutrients.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: Calcium-set tofu, fortified plant milks, and dark leafy greens can help with calcium.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Beans, lentils, chofu, tempeh, and pumpkin seeds provide iron, and eating those foods with vitamin C can improve the absorption.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Chia, flax, hemp, and walnuts provide plant omega-3 fats.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: B12 is the one I would be especially careful not to ignore if you're fully plant-based.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: But I wouldn't use this as an excuse to necessarily start buying a shelf full of supplements.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: So check the labels.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: Nutritional yeast is often fortified with B12.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Look for fortified plant milks, soy, almond, oat, or rice milk with added B12, and fortified breakfast cereals.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: Check the nutrition label to confirm added B12.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Build the diet well first.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: And if you think you might actually be deficient in something, get tested rather than guessing.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: You can do this tonight.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the easiest way to put all of this into practice.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: Don't plan an entire new diet.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Just pick tomorrow's three protein anchors.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: What is your breakfast protein?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: What is your lunch protein?
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: And what is your dinner protein?
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: Build each meal toward roughly 30 grams, then see what you're missing to reach 100.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's just another 10 to 15 grams.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now, once you start thinking this way, 100 grams stops feeling like a giant number that you have to force into your day.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: It becomes three meals you already know how to build.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the bigger point.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you're trying to lose weight, don't only ask whether the scale is going down, ask whether you're giving your body enough protein and protect the muscle you want to keep while the fat comes off.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because you can absolutely get 100 grams of protein without eating meat.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: You just can't expect it to happen accidentally.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: And protein is only one piece of the protecting muscle while you lose weight.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: And if hunger is something that you struggle with, be sure to watch this video next.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's a good one.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you there.