Tips for getting more protein?

[OakLeaf]

I've heard that, too, that Americans get way more protein than they need, even vegetarians.

Karen

There's "need" and there's "need." I know that a person can survive and be healthy on less than 1 g protein per kg bodyweight per day. But if I'm not getting at least 1.75 g of quality protein per kg, I'm sore and tired all the time and I can't build muscle. That's not something I read or a conclusion that I reached when I was thinking about protein; it's something I discovered accidentally one day when I ate a tuna sandwich at lunch and miraculously wasn't sore for the rest of that day and the next day. Any time I did that, the soreness stayed away and I got stronger.

As I mentioned, it's really been a struggle for me to get that much protein in my diet without a lot of animal products (and by "a lot" I mean more than 3 meals per week, which counts as a lot for almost the entire world), but now that I've added it up, I can see what my problem is (low-protein breakfasts and lunches) and start to remedy it. Mmmm, chickpeas for breakfast!