Best High Protein Foods To Maximize Fat Loss

A high-protein diet doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll lose weight.

If you’re getting your protein with greasy burgers or fatty steaks, it’s going to be hard to keep your calories down. 

If you’re struggling to lose fat because you can’t figure out how to add more protein to your diet without blowing your calorie budget, I’ll show you how to choose the right high-protein foods.

Prioritize lean protein to maximize your protein while minimizing your calories. 

You want most of your protein sources to be lean—that means lower in fat so there’s more protein per calorie.

I’m going to give you examples of how that works with different foods, and I’ll share how I put together meals when I want to maximize fat loss.

My regular protein sources are chicken breast, which has about 35g of protein per 150g serving, Greek yogurt and cottage cheese, eggs and egg whites. Of course, I also sometimes use a whey protein powder after my workouts, which has 27g of protein per scoop and only 110 calories.

But most protein-conscious people have already discovered those foods, so I’m not going to spend much time talking about those. 

I am going to explain how to choose the right kind for you, and then I’m going to share some more unique protein sources that you might not have thought about. I’m also going to give you a simple trick to determine if your protein source is really a good source of protein.

Greek yogurt has more protein than regular yogurt, but you’ll also want to look at the percentage of milk fat because that will affect the calories per protein serving.

There’s one Greek yogurt I like that’s 8% fat. It’s delicious because fat is yummy, but it’s not going to be a lean protein source. 

 3/4 of a cup has 8g of protein and 270 calories. That’s because it has 17g of fat, and fat is 9 calories per gram.

If you need pretty low calories to get into a calorie deficit, like if you’re a small person or you’re trying to get extremely lean for a period of time, you can stick with the 0% version, and it drops the calories down.

This 0% yogurt has 17g of protein, so more than twice the amount of the 8% version that I mentioned, and only 100 calories. 

I normally stick with a 2% because I want to keep some of that fat in there, which keeps me from getting hungry.

You can use it as a base for smoothies, add it to oatmeal, or even swap it for sour cream on nachos or with sweet potato wedges.

One protein source that you might not have thought about is high-protein milk. 

I’ve been using this particular Fairlife milk for a few years now. It’s lactose-free for people who have an issue with it.

I usually start my mornings off with a big matcha latte made with high-protein milk.

The way I make it, sometimes with some added protein, it usually has about 25g of protein.

One cup of the milk has 130 calories and 14g of protein.

They do have a 1% and a 0% version if you want even more protein for fewer calories. 

Now, on to some more interesting protein foods.

I was tracking my calories and macros last year—I did a video about it—and was out to dinner having scallops. I realized how high they are in protein for low calories.

Six oysters is less than 60 calories with about 6g of protein. 

Now, fresh scallops or oysters aren’t really something cheap or easy to prepare regularly, but if you see them on the menu at a nice restaurant, they’re definitely worth considering.

Then there’s shrimp—a stir fry or shrimp cocktail can be a great choice.

The only thing you want to look out for is battered and fried shrimp. 

Still high in protein, but a lot higher in fat and calories. 

Shrimp rings can also be an easy option. A little bit of that seafood sauce helps them go down easy.

Lean white fish like cod, hake, and sole are great choices too.

Salmon is going to be higher in fat and calories, but it’s still got the protein and healthy omega-3 fats—and it’s delicious. 

We can’t ignore mercury in any discussion about fish.

Chunk light canned tuna is probably okay up to about three times a week.

Then there are larger fish like shark, swordfish, tilefish, and king mackerel that are higher up on the food chain and have more mercury, so it’s generally best to avoid those. 

You certainly don’t want them to be a regular source of protein in your diet.

Moving on from the shellfish, we have a good high-protein snack for on-the-go—jerky or meat sticks.

Be careful of the sodium level and try not to rely on these too much because they’re highly processed meat. 

There are more and more jerky and deli sticks available that come from better-quality meat, though.

One of the best plant-based sources of protein is tofu.

Many years ago, I tried cooking with tofu, and it’s really easy to make stir fries with it.

Tofu absorbs all the flavor of the other food and the sauces. 

Now I have it when I’m doing a delivery from a big salad delivery place near us.

That one is flavored with lemongrass, and it’s so good.

100g of firm tofu has about 12g of protein for about 120 calories.

It’s helpful to have protein with every meal. It doesn’t matter how many meals you decide to have. 

I would say that the minimum in a fat loss or body recomposition diet is three meals per day.

Although your body can absorb and use a lot of protein at one time, that doesn’t mean that it’s the most practical or digestively comfortable way of doing that.

So think of protein first when you’re planning your meals. 

Look at the total amount of protein you want to have each day and divide it into the number of meals.

When I tracked my calories and macros, I found that it wasn’t hard for me to get 130 to 140 grams of protein per day.

If you’re 200 lbs, that would be the minimum that you’d want to be eating—0.7 times your body weight.

Let’s use 140g as an example.

If you choose to eat four times a day, that’s 35g of protein per feeding.

If you only choose to eat three times a day, you’d need about 47g per meal. 

If you went up to five meals, you’d only need 28g per meal.

Of course, you can plan this however you want.

You can have 50g at two big meals and 20g for two snacks—it’s your choice.

But plan ahead so that you’re meeting your protein needs each day.

Just make sure to eat enough protein consistently.

Studies have shown that diets higher in protein help people feel fuller for longer, making it easier to stick to lower calories without feeling like you’re starving all the time. 

Let’s talk a bit about high-protein snacks.

Many of the things that people think of as high protein, or even some packaged food that’s labeled “high in protein,” aren’t really that high at all.

A simple trick is to look at the amount of protein in the serving and add a zero to the end. If the calories are equal to or less than the amount of protein with the zero, it passes. 

I’m going to use some examples so you understand this.

Bocconcini cheese has 8g of protein, so you would want it to be no more than 80 calories, and it’s 70 calories—that’s a pass.

The milk I mentioned earlier has 16g of protein for 3/4 of a cup and only 120 calories—pass.

The Greek yogurt, even the 2% version, has 16g of protein and only 120 calories, which is less than 16 plus 0 (160 calories)—pass.

Here’s one of the surprising protein sources that I mentioned—Parmesan cheese. 

6g of protein in 2 tablespoons is only 60 calories—pass. 

This is not a hard and fast rule, just a rough general guideline.

It also doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t eat a food that fails the test, just that it’s hard to really call it “high protein” if it doesn’t at least come close.

This bar that I give my 10-year-old son for school has 7g of protein, so you would add a zero and you would want that bar to be no more than 70 calories.

It’s actually 100 calories, so it technically doesn’t pass the test.

But if, as an adult, you wanted to have a couple of those to get 14g of protein in 200 calories, it’s not bad or anything.  

Cheese strings have 6g of protein for 60 calories, and they’re really handy on the go—plus, they’re pretty tasty.

These cheese strings here actually have some cute Valentine’s messages, which my son is going to love when I put them in his lunchbox. 

Combining protein sources is especially helpful when we’re talking about snacks or plant-based sources of protein.

I really think of everything as a feeding—when you want a snack, it could just be a smaller version of something that you might eat at a meal anyway. 

Cottage cheese with fruit works on its own as a great snack.

It’s the same situation with cottage cheese as it was for milk and yogurt in terms of fat percentages.

In some cases, you’ll want a very low-fat cottage cheese, or you may want to mix it up with a 2% or a 1%.

Remember that you don’t want to cut out all fat from your diet because it helps you absorb fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K. 

You need fat for your hormonal health, and it makes your meal more satisfying and filling.

I like putting a pile of cottage cheese on some potatoes, sometimes with some olive oil, and then I’ll just have some veggies on the side as well.

That’s a lunch that I often have.

As for something like nuts, they don’t actually provide much protein per serving—they’re actually very calorie-dense. 

Almonds have 170 calories for 1/4 cup (about 30g) but only 6g of protein.

A lot of people think quinoa is high in protein, but a cup of cooked quinoa has only 8g of protein for about 220 calories.

It’s actually a seed and does have 5g of fiber, so you can mix it into your meal plan if you enjoy it. 

There are some high-protein pastas and other protein-enriched foods that may or may not be great sources of protein—check the label to find out.

You can also consider adding supplemental sources of protein.

They’re not as high in protein because they have more calories for the amount of protein they give you, but they still bump up your protein intake and add healthy fiber as well. 

Things like chickpeas, lentils—a lot of those high-protein pastas are made of those.

Black beans, green peas, black-eyed peas, and edamame soybeans I really like as well.

The one I have has 4g of protein for a small 85g serving and 70 calories. 

You can put these supplemental sources of protein together or add them to a main protein source to get extra protein in your meal.

Adding black beans to some homemade nachos made of extra lean ground turkey is a good example—one that I use myself. 

Because these sources are not as digestible, you might find it uncomfortable to consume large amounts of them.

It would take 2 cups of black beans to get 30g of protein, and I don’t know about you, but I get bloated and gassy just thinking about that. 

When you’re getting enough protein, it helps you manage your appetite in a calorie deficit, and you also support muscle protein synthesis.

Protein foods also increase the thermic effect of food, which increases the “calories out” part of your daily energy expenditure—making it easier for you to get into a calorie deficit. 

Don’t misunderstand me with the lean protein idea. 

It doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy some fattier protein choices like steak or salmon. 

Just have them less often, in smaller servings, and mix them in with leaner options to manage your total calories each day.

Focusing on leaner protein sources and spreading your protein intake throughout the day will help you lose fat and build muscle. 

For more ideas on setting up a body recomposition diet with some meal ideas, watch this video HERE..

Ivana Chapman