How I Actually Eat

I eat high protein most days, and this page is the honest version of what that actually looks like: what's in my kitchen on repeat, what I've gotten sick of, and why I bother counting grams at all. There's no plan to buy here and no 30-day challenge, just the food I actually cook.

Why I eat this way

Over time, I've gravitated toward a very high-protein, very low-carb way of eating because it's simple, filling, and works well for me. Most of my meals are built around meat or eggs, with things like vegetables, cheese, avocado, Greek yogurt, kefir, berries, and some nuts mixed in. I eat a moderate amount of fat and don't spend much time trying to replace bread, pasta, or other high-carb foods with elaborate substitutes. I'd rather build a meal around foods I already enjoy.

One of the biggest reasons I've stuck with it is that protein makes planning meals easier. If I know what the main protein is, the rest of the meal usually falls into place. Steak and vegetables. Eggs and sausage. Chicken with avocado. Greek yogurt with berries. None of it needs to be complicated.

I'm not a dietitian, and I don't have a nutrition science background. What I do have is a lot of experience eating and cooking this way, paying attention to protein, reading labels, weighing food when I want a more accurate number, and figuring out through trial and error what actually works in everyday life.

A normal day

Here's roughly what a day looks like right now. It moves around, but this is close to the average.

• Breakfast: Eggs are probably the most common starting point, usually with some type of meat such as sausage, bacon, leftover steak, or chicken. I might add cheese or avocado depending on what I'm making. Breakfast usually lands somewhere around 35 to 50 grams of protein.
• Lunch: Usually something centered on chicken, beef, turkey, sausage, or another meat. Leftovers work well here because I don't need lunch to be complicated. I'll often add cheese, avocado, or vegetables on the side. Roughly 40 to 50 grams of protein is typical.
• Dinner: Meat is the centerpiece again: steak, burgers, chicken, pork, fish, sausage, or something similar, with vegetables on the side. This is often my biggest meal and can easily provide 50 to 70 grams of protein.
• Snacks: Greek yogurt is one of my defaults, usually plain and sometimes with a small amount of berries or nuts. Kefir is another easy option. Cheese, a handful of nuts, hard-boiled eggs, or leftover meat also work when I want something quick.

Total protein on a normal day lands around 180 grams, give or take. I don't worry if every day looks identical. Some days I'm above that number, some days I'm below it, and weekends or especially busy days can look different.

What's always in my kitchen

A handful of ingredients do most of the work, week after week. Right now that list looks like:

• Eggs
• Beef, chicken, turkey, sausage, and other meats
• Greek yogurt and kefir
• Cheese
• Avocados
• Lower-carb vegetables
• Berries
• Nuts

There are usually a few convenience foods around too, especially things like rotisserie chicken, cooked sausages, hard-boiled eggs, or other proteins that can turn into a meal without much effort.

I eat plenty of other things too. These are just the ones on repeat.

What got boring

One thing I've learned is that eating high protein gets boring fast if every meal turns into plain chicken breast and vegetables. I can eat simply, but I still want the food to taste good.

That's a big reason I rotate through different meats, cooking methods, seasonings, sauces, cheeses, and sides instead of forcing myself to eat the same "perfect" meal every day. Sometimes steak sounds good. Sometimes it's burgers, eggs and sausage, chicken with avocado, seafood, or something made with ground beef. Even something as simple as changing the cheese, adding avocado, or having Greek yogurt instead of eggs can keep things from feeling repetitive.

I'm also not interested in turning every food into a strange high-protein substitute just to add a few extra grams. If a recipe tastes noticeably worse after being "optimized," I'd rather find a different meal.

Where I still get it wrong

Convenience wins sometimes. I don't cook every meal from scratch, and I don't weigh every ingredient I eat.

There are days when lunch is leftover meat straight from the fridge, rotisserie chicken, sausage, cheese, or whatever high-protein option requires the least amount of effort. There are also days when I don't hit my protein target because I'm busy and simply haven't eaten enough.

I've learned that a meal doesn't have to be impressive to be useful. Eggs and leftover steak might not need a recipe, but they get dinner on the table. Greek yogurt with berries and nuts isn't groundbreaking. Neither is cheese, avocado, and some leftover chicken. They work, and that's sometimes more important than making every meal interesting.

How I think about the numbers

My daily protein target is around 180 grams. I use it more as a target than a hard rule. I'm interested in consistently eating a high-protein diet, not hitting an exact number down to the gram every single day.

If I'm reasonably close at the end of the day, that's good enough for me. I don't want eating to turn into an accounting exercise where being 12 grams short somehow means I failed.

I do pay more attention to the numbers when I'm developing recipes for this site. Every recipe on ProteinCrafted lists calories and protein per serving, calculated against actual ingredient data rather than guessed. See how I calculate nutrition for the full process. If a number here ever looks off, tell me. I'd rather fix it than have it sit there wrong.

What this site is (and isn't)

ProteinCrafted is a cooking site, not a medical one. I'm not a doctor or a registered dietitian, and nothing here is meant to diagnose, treat, or replace advice from your own doctor. If you have a health condition that protein intake affects, talk to someone qualified to advise you directly.

What you'll find here is the kind of food I actually want to eat: protein-forward meals built mostly around meat, eggs, dairy, vegetables, avocado, nuts, berries, and other straightforward ingredients. Recipes include the protein and calories counted out honestly, without requiring a shopping list full of powders, specialty products, and obscure substitutes.

I won't promise you a number on a scale, sell you a supplement stack, or make a health claim I can't back up.

If you want to see what this actually looks like on a plate, the recipe archive is the fastest way in.