Top Dietitian Shares a 200g Protein Meal Plan for Busy Dads Who Train Hard
As the saying goes, fitness is 20 percent what happens in the gym and 80 percent what happens in the kitchen. And while hitting your macros is simple when your mom was cooking your meals, if you're a dad juggling work, family, and workouts, getting in your protein can feel like another task to check off your to-do list. Because let's face it, being short on cooking time or eating the same meals for years on end is enough to make even the most disciplined guys struggle with hitting their goals.
To make hitting your daily protein goals easy and delicious, we tapped Rachael DeVaux, R.D., C.P.T., creator of Rachael's Good Eats and author of the upcoming cookbook The High-Protein Plate, out March 3. She shared her husband’s (a busy dad and dedicated gym rat) meal plan to help explain how they found a high-protein meal plan he actually enjoys.
"This isn't diet food. It's food that I think most people would crave and love to eat on a daily basis, and not something that feels restrictive whatsoever," she says. "It's satisfying and very repeatable. And I think that's why it's stuck with my husband, because he genuinely loves to eat each of these meals."
The following high-protein meal plan provides roughly 220 grams of protein, 90 grams of fat, and 175 grams of carbs.
High-Protein Meal Plan
Breakfast: Protein Smoothie
- Protein: 50g
The first meal of the day is a pre-workout protein smoothie. It includes one to two scoops of whey protein powder, half a frozen banana, a handful of frozen blueberries, a spoonful of peanut butter, and a tablespoon of chia seeds, hemp seeds, or ground flax seeds. He uses almond milk, but any milk works, plus ice to your preference of smoothie thickness.
Whey is a complete protein, containing all nine essential amino acids, and is particularly rich in leucine, which plays a key role in muscle protein synthesis. Blueberries provide antioxidants, while the seeds provide fiber and omega-3 fatty acids.
"It's light, it's fast-digesting...it's going to give you that complete protein with enough carbs to train hard without feeling too heavy and weighed down during your workout," DeVaux says.
Lunch: Egg Sandwich
- Protein: 50-60g
Lunch is the healthified version of an egg McMuffin, consisting of three eggs, three beef sausages, and two ounces of shredded cheese, stacked on an English muffin. Sometimes he’ll add avocado for extra healthy fats or a side of fruit for natural carbs. Eggs and beef provide complete proteins and key micronutrients like zinc and iron, while the English muffin helps replenish glycogen when your body is most insulin sensitive to fuel recovery.
"Post-workout, I wanted him to focus on getting about 50 to 60 grams of high-quality protein to fully stimulate muscle protein synthesis after his workout," DeVaux explains. "After lifting, your body is primed to use carbs efficiently. And when lunch is high in protein and fat, you're not going to be raiding the pantry soon after. It's going to actually keep you satiated and full for a couple of hours until your next meal."
Afternoon Snack: Healthy Nachos
- Protein: 50g
His late afternoon snack is about one-third of a pound of grass-fed ground beef, cooked in a skillet with taco seasoning. Once done, he adds two to three ounces of shredded cheese and uses tortilla chips for dipping.
"This is something we just always have in our fridge because it's easy to heat up in a skillet.. We usually use 93/7 lean beef," she explains. "Again, the lean beef keeps the protein high without excessive fat."
Dinner: Greek-Style Smash Burgers
- Protein: 60g
Dinner varies, but with DeVaux being such a wiz in the kitchen, they often rely on recipes she shares with her audience. One of their favorite is her Greek-style smash burgers, a recipe featured in her upcoming cookbook. Each burger contains about 30 grams of protein, though she notes that dads who train can easily put down two of these.
"It's basically a burger on a pita, and you can use ground lamb or ground beef. You mix it with red onion, spices, dill, and cook it up in a skillet," she said. "I also make homemade tzatziki with Greek yogurt, fresh herbs, and cucumber. And then you basically build it with crumbled feta, tomatoes, and the tzatziki on the cooked patty."
Dessert: Yogurt Bowl
- Protein: 30g
The day ends with a healthy dessert featuring Oikos Triple Zero Greek Yogurt as the star of the show. A 170-gram serving size of the vanilla flavor has just 100 calories with 17 grams of protein. He tops it off with diced apple, peanut butter, honey, and cinnamon for a sweet, high-protein treat.