How We Get Protein With A Plant Based Diet

September 28, 2019

Many of you all know we have been eating mostly plant based for over a year now. The question we get asked most often is, “Where do you get your protein from?” We thought it would be better to write it up in a blog post for you all to read and reference later. By no means are we experts in this area– we just have read a little bit about it and it has been working well for us for now.

Before we get into that, we wanted to highlight this outfit from lululemon. We had been looking for a more supportive bra for a while now, especially for r, and were so happy when we found this Run Times Bra. We are wearing size 32 D for reference, and think it runs larger.

This bra is lightweight, but also really supportive. It has padded straps that you can adjust, and you can also cross them for a racerback tank.

Another cool feature about this bra is that there is perforated paneling, so you get good airflow to keep you cool.

We have on the “dark chrome” color.

Now let’s take a second to talk about these Align pants. We have these in both the crop 21″ and the short 4″, and they are SO good. If you don’t own a pair of these yet, you MUST get just even one pair. This our favorite pair from all of lululemon.

These pants are super lightweight, and high-rise, so they are comfy. They literally feel like butter when you touch them. Even better, they are sweat-wicking!

These pants from lululemon have a “naked sensation”, meaning you forget you’re wearing leggings, almost like a second skin! We have size 4 on in these, but these seem to run larger than the crops on us.

We paired the leggings with this grey cropped tee.We love that this tee is looser, and is flattering with higher waisted leggings, like these. Also, it is great to layer with for fall. We have size 4 on in this one.

{ Align Pants 28″ “Plumful” | Run Times Bra | Cates Tee }

For this second, look, we are wearing the same Align pants in the camo color. We love that you can wear these to the gym or pilates, and then out and about with other pieces in your closet.

We paired it with this Sculpt Tank, which has really cute mesh detailing, so it keeps you cool, but also shows that cute, strappy sports bra underneath. We have size 2 on in this one.

Underneath, we are wearing this Free To Be Bra from lululemon in size 6 that is stretchy and comfortable, and cute layered under tanks.

And, now for our protein talk:

You don’t need as much protein as you think

Not going to lie, we used to eat a TON of protein, mostly from animals (chicken, fish, turkey, eggs). There is nothing wrong with eating those at all, but from our research, you don’t need to be eating as much protein as you think you do.

We read that the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for “optimal” protein is 0.8 kg/lean body mass. You can also calculate it by your body weight x 0.36 to get your recommended protein intake in grams.

When we ate a lot of animal protein, we were eating more than 150 g of protein some days, which is crazy, since we didn’t need that much. PS- at that time, we ate a lot of protein and vegetables, so we needed the protein to keep us fuller, if that makes sense?

Plant-based protein gives you the necessary amino acids

According to what we read, all protein comes from the sun and the soil. So, whether you eat protein from plants that get it rom the sun and the soil, or animals that are eating the plants, the amino acids are the same.

How much protein can you get from plants?

So, if you’re curious, here is a graphic of how much protein you can get from different plants:

Plant Protein Sources — source: ohmyveggies.com

Some of our favorite foods are quinoa, chia seeds, spirulina, and lentils. You can make salads with a lot of these grains and legumes, and spirulina is great in smoothies!

PS- did you know that 1 cup of spinach has 5 grams of protein?! If you eat as many greens as we do, you can easily get 15-20 grams in with spinach alone. We love our greens!

Some other veggies that are protein-packed: