When meals feel confusing, protein per meal is a simple place to start.
Instead of tracking totals all day, I focus on building each meal with a steady protein baseline. For most adults, aiming for roughly 20–30 grams of protein per meal is a simple starting point.
It doesn’t have to be exact. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It simply creates structure.
If you use a food scale, this becomes very straightforward. If you don’t, familiar portions work just fine. A palm-sized serving of protein often falls close to that range.
Protein helps meals feel complete. It makes plates more satisfying and reduces the need to second-guess what you ate.
Instead of asking, “Did I eat enough today?”
You ask, “Does this meal include a solid protein base?”
That shift alone simplifies everything.
Why This Protein Per Meal Approach Works
Focusing on protein per meal removes the pressure of daily totals. Each plate becomes balanced on its own.
It creates structure without turning meals into math problems.
When protein is steady, the rest of the plate becomes easier to build around.
And that’s where the next step comes in.
Because once protein is set, the question becomes:
How much carbohydrate makes sense on the plate?
We’ll break that down next week.
YUM’S NOTE
Start with protein. Let the rest build from there.
— Yum 💛
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