One target runs this whole page: protein, every day, inside the window.
Daily protein window
130โ150g
130 is the floor, not the finish line
The usual gap
~20g
On days without a shake
The fix
+2 oz
More meat at lunch and dinner
That is the whole strategy
10g more protein at lunch and 10g more at dinner, roughly two extra ounces of chicken or beef on each plate, and you go from missing the target to living inside the window. Nothing else needs to change.
Three pieces. If the plate has all three, it is right.
- 6โ8 oz of cooked protein. Chicken, beef, pork, fish. Weighed after cooking.
- Two fists of veggies. Any kind, any prep. More is always fine.
- Rice or potato on training days. Lighter on the carbs on rest days, veggies pick up the space.
The Prep Rotation
Six plates to batch. Portions are per plate, so they work alongside whatever else is being cooked. Rotate them and nobody gets bored.
Chicken Breast Plate
~50g protein
8 oz chicken breast, roasted broccoli and peppers, jasmine rice.
Sirloin Plate
~48g protein
7 oz sirloin, green beans, baby potatoes.
Chicken Thigh Plate
~45g protein
7 oz chicken thighs, big mixed salad, sweet potato.
Ground Beef Bowl
~46g protein
7 oz lean ground beef, peppers and onions, rice. Taco seasoning welcome.
Pork Tenderloin Plate
~48g protein
7 oz pork tenderloin, roasted root veggies, potatoes.
Fish Plate
~45g protein
8 oz salmon or white fish, asparagus, rice. Cook fish fresh on the day, it is the one thing that should never be batched.
A good prep company gets you 80% there. Two asks close the rest.
- Pick the highest protein meals on the menu. That is the only filter that matters.
- Ask Don and Yvonne to bump the protein and veggie portions. You know the owners. Most people cannot make that ask. You can.
- Skip the fish options from any prep company. Fish does not survive the box. Everything else travels fine.
- Backups on the road: Factor, Icon Meals and Trifecta are all solid when Clean Eats is not an option.
Travel days are where the window gets missed. Stack the easy 10s.
- Meat sticks in the truck and the bag. Chomps or the Kirkland grass-fed ones, an easy 10g each. Two of those quietly rescue a travel day.
- Airport default: grilled chicken anything. Sandwich, salad, bowl. Pick the protein first, the rest follows.
- Eating out: order double protein. Restaurants will always do it, and it beats a perfect-looking plate with 20g on it.
You drink plenty of water. With your daily activity it needs something in it.
- A pinch of sea salt in your water through the day, or
- One LMNT packet a day, maximum. Each packet carries a full gram of sodium, so one is the dose, not the starting point.