150g of Protein a Day | Realistic Meal Plan & Recipes (As a Busy Mom of 4!)

Today I’m sharing how I eat 150g of protein with 1800 calories (as a busy mom with health and fitness goals). These are the recipes and meals I actually eat—healthy, macro-friendly, and packed with protein—that help me build lean muscle, stay energized, and feel my best! I am also sharing a bit of my workout routine, for those of you who have been asking what my training looks like lately.

If anyone wants to follow along with the meal plan, I have included it below (completely for free) with all of today’s recipes & macros! This will show how I structure my own meals to hit 150g of protein in a day. I am not prescribing what you should do, but sharing what works for me and my lifestyle! I hope you find this helpful ❤️.

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FREE ✨ Meal Plan (with recipes & macros): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ygtmf2NxoTodVesapw2VBQEZstWDbO53/view?usp=sharing

Today’s Meals:
Breakfast: Breakfast Tacos + Coffee with Milk & Collagen (41g protein)
Snack 1: Chocolate-Date Protein Shake (28g protein)
Lunch: Honey-Dijon Salmon & Spinach Salad (34g protein)
Dinner: Teriyaki Pineapple Chicken with Quinoa & Broccoli (44g protein)
Snack 2: Sprouted Rice Cereal with Milk (6g protein) *Can sub this for other snack if desired…I just had a craving for cereal! ha!

Total Protein: 153g (*full macro breakdown is part of my meal plan above!)

💪 Today’s Workout:

Warm-Up:
10-minute treadmill walk (light & easy)

Circuit:
Dumbbell Squat to Press – 10 reps per side
Tricep Kickback – 10 reps
Assisted Pull-Up – as many as you can do
Hanging Leg Raises – 10 reps
Bulgarian Split Squats – 10 reps per leg
(Repeat 2–3 times, increasing weight or reps each round for a challenge)

Finisher:
1,000-meter row (max effort)
10-minute treadmill incline walk (cool-down)
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🛒 Links to some of my favorites lately✨
Daily Multivitamin (New Chapter): https://amzn.to/3W7kWrj
Seed Probiotics: https://refer.seed.com/by/melaniefaris
Estrosmart (balance my hormones): https://amzn.to/48BjZPt
Triple Strength Omega 3 Fish Oil: https://amzn.to/48A3Z05
Collagen Powder: https://amzn.to/4gMDMh8
Legion Whey Protein Powder (what I usually buy): https://amzn.to/4gMV0Lm
Leanfit Creatine Powder: https://amzn.to/481FXLh
Biosteel Electrolytes: https://amzn.to/4hwYQbu
Sprouted Brown Rice Crisp Cereal: https://amzn.to/4oa0y57
Garmin Lily Smart Watch: https://amzn.to/4mvnKJz
Metal Straws: https://amzn.to/4ohWLD2

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This post contains affiliate links. I only recommend products I truly love and use. In no way are you obligated to purchase these products, and it is at no extra cost to you if you do. Thank you 💕

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౨ৎCHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
01:52 Breakfast Tacos
04:36 Teriyaki Pineapple Chicken Prep
08:33 Chocolate Date Protein Shake
10:33 Workout
12:41 Honey Dijon Salmon and Salad
15:05 Dinner
17:42 Evening Snack

#highprotein #150gprotein #whatieatinaday

Hey friends, welcome back to another video. Today I’m going to be sharing once again what I eat in a day to hit 150 grams of protein. And today’s calories are going to be around 1,800 calories. I have mentioned this before, but it’s definitely worth mentioning that I don’t really count my calories on a day-to-day basis. I’m sharing this with you in case you count calories and it’s helpful for you. I mostly just track my protein and eat the foods that I feel best eating. And with that being said, I am Melanie. If you’re new here, I’m a stay at home mom of four. I’m not a health expert or professional. I’m simply just a mom sharing my passion, which is healthy recipes and a little bit of fitness content and just my life and what’s worked for me. So, keep that in mind if you’re looking for a professional. It’s not me. Think of me as your YouTube friend, walking this health journey with you, coming alongside you, and just sharing some things that have helped me in my day-to-day life, foods that keep me feeling my best, recipes that I’ve enjoyed, and foods that my entire family will eat with me. I don’t just cook for myself. I have four little kids to feed and a hungry husband. Yeah, that’s what I’m all about. Today, I will be sharing the complete meal plan for today’s meals. I have all of the calories, the macros, which includes the carbs, the fats, the protein, and all of my meals and snacks. And I’ve typed it all up for you. I’ve shared all of the recipes that you will need if you want to recreate today’s entire meal plan. And if you haven’t already, make sure you hit that like and subscribe button. Join my YouTube family. I am completely blown away by you guys, by your love and support. Honestly, you guys. Oh, I’m getting emotional. But I never in a million years dreamed that I would have like 5,000 subscribers. So, thank you. Wow. Blown away. Okay, let’s go. [Music] Well, it may be a busy school morning with four kids and lunches to pack. And some days, if I don’t plan well, a fancy breakfast is just not realistic for me. But the great thing about this breakfast is it looks like it took a whole bunch of effort and it looks pretty darn fancy if you ask me. It actually took hardly any time at all to prepare. Today I’m making breakfast tacos. All I did was I separated my eggs. I actually ran out of my egg white carton, so that’s why I did that. So, I had half a cup of egg whites and then I included one whole egg as well. And I just scrambled them on my pan and added a little bit of taco seasoning. And I’m going to be using two small corn tortillas. If you prefer flour tortillas, you can definitely use those as well. And to be honest, the corn does kind of fall apart a little bit, so that might even be a better option. But I do love the flavor of corn tortillas, so I decided to use those. Now, I’m just rinsing some black beans. The great thing about beans is they’re going to add extra fiber, a little bit of protein, and just make this meal even more filling. You can add whatever toppings that you like. I love salsa, so of course, I feel like that’s just like a non-negotiable. So, I’m adding a little bit of salsa. And I’m also adding some guacamole. I love these mini guacamole packs because they’re already pre-portioned for you and you don’t have to worry about the rest of the container going brown like if you were to use a large container. And I love spice. So, I’m adding some jalapeno slices as well. That’s completely optional. Now, my protein hack is to replace sour cream with a cottage cheese. Now, if you are kind of grossed out by the clumps in cottage cheese, feel free to blend it first and just smooth it out. You won’t even notice the difference. However, I’m not that picky, so I don’t mind. And I didn’t even notice at all. Even though this is a busy school morning, I still had lots of time to prepare this fancy breakfast. And in the same amount of time that my husband made simple over easy eggs, this was definitely a winner. Ooh, baby. Good. Yep. Missing out. Come on. We’re printing it. And before the busyiness of the day begins, I’m sitting down to have my morning coffee with a splash of milk and collagen powder. Hello. Good morning. Are you in a pretty dress? Wow, look at you. Come here. Well, it’s only 10:00 a.m., but I’m already thinking ahead and thinking about dinner because we’re getting on top of things today. And yeah, I just want to get ahead of schedule and just make dinner a little bit easier for me tonight. My daughter and son have piano lessons right after school and then my daughter has swimming. So, mom life. So, if I can start dinner now, put something in the slow cooker, I know that I have a healthy dinner ready to go that I don’t have to scramble and figure out later on tonight when I don’t have time. I am using this has been like my go-to cookbook lately. Feel like I’ve talked a lot about this book lately, but has really practical recipes. So, I love it. On the menu, I am going to be making this teriyak chicken thighs. Looks so yummy. I’ll show you how I make it. [Music] Today I’m making an adapted version of the teriyaki chicken thighs from the Wellness Mama cookbook. And I made a few changes to the original recipe. Partially because I love doing that with cookbooks and recipes. I love just making them my own and using whatever I have on hand and just getting creative. Also, partially I do this because I’m such a squirrel in the grocery store. I get distracted easily and then I get home and I realize I forgot some of like the main ingredients that I went there for. So, one of the main ingredients that I forgot at the grocery store was crushed pineapple. But luckily, I had a fresh pineapple at home already. So, I just chopped up about one cup of fresh pineapple. And since I didn’t have any pineapple juice, I just subbed in a little splash of lemon juice and it worked perfectly. And now I’m using tamari, which is a healthier version, or it is a soy sauce. It’s just a healthy soy sauce. And fun fact, there’s actually 2 g of protein in 1 tsp of soy sauce, which is something that I learned when I was typing up this recipe. Although, I wouldn’t recommend drinking a glass of soy sauce to get your protein in. That would be a lot of sodium and you might turn into Sid the Sloth. That scene from Ice Age when he’s floating in the middle of the ocean and he gets so thirsty, so he takes a drink of the ocean water and then he says, “Salty.” I love Ice Age so much. Anyways, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, just ignore me. Let’s get back to the recipe. So, I added in some rice wine vinegar. I added in some honey, a little bit more salt and pepper, and this is one of my favorite hacks. Whenever I buy fresh ginger, I peel it right away and put it in the freezer. And then, if there’s ever a recipe that you need fresh ginger, all you have to do is grate it while it’s still frozen, and it just grates so easily. Now, I’m adding in two packs of chicken thighs. And I also want to mention if you’d rather use chicken breast instead of chicken thighs, that’s definitely an option and that would taste great also. And for fun and a little bit of spice, I added in some fresh chopped jalapenos. I had some sitting in my fridge already, so I wanted to use it up and it ended up tasting amazing in this dish, so I highly recommend that as well. And finally, I’m adding one chopped onion and a few cloves of garlic. I love recipes like this where you can just throw everything in one pot. You don’t have to have too many dishes or too many extra bowls. And then once everything’s in there, you just give it a really good toss, making sure that the chicken is fully coated. Put the lid on and then set your timer for about 6 to 8 hours on low. I actually found 8 hours was a little bit too long. So maybe try the 6 hours and then see if everything’s fully cooked. The flavor in this recipe was phenomenal. I’m definitely going to be making this again. It was a big hit in my household. [Music] [Music] I have been downstairs working in my office for the past 2 or 3 hours. I need to go and work out. I need to shower. I just I got so much I got to get done. But I’m starting to get a little bit hungry. So, I’m not going to work out when I’m feeling hungry because my workout will suck cuz all I’ll be thinking about is eating. Usually, I’ll have my protein shake at the end of my workout, but I’m just so hungry right now. So, I’m going to have it first, and then I will just have lunch after I’m done exercising. [Music] Chocolate and date is such a good combo. If you haven’t tried it, you definitely have to try adding dates to your protein shake. I only used one, and I like to put it in hot water just to soften it up a little bit. So, while that’s sitting in the hot water, I added some milk. I actually had kefir, so it’s like a fermented milk, but you could definitely use regular milk or an unsweetened almond milk, whatever you like. I added in a little bit of banana. And then I have a whey isolate protein powder. You just want to make sure you’re getting at least 20 g of protein per scoop. I think mine actually has 24 g, but just look at your protein and make sure you’re getting at least 20 g. And then I’m adding in a tablespoon of cocoa powder. And this is powdered peanut butter. I don’t know if you’ve heard of this. It’s called PB2 in some grocery stores. It’s just like a lower fat um peanut butter replacement, I guess, or it’s still peanut butter. It’s just powdered. So, I added in a couple tablespoons of that and a little pinch of sea salt. The combo here is perfection. It tastes just like one of those chocolate monkey drinks when you go on vacation, except you’re going to be getting like 28 gram of protein. It’s packed with healthy ingredients. And just make sure you remove the pit from your date if your date is not pitted already. Otherwise, you might lose a tooth in the process of drinking your smoothie. [Music] All right, ready to work out finally. It’s only 1:00 workout today. I just warmed up 10 minutes on the treadmill. Did a couple sprints. Just got my body nice and warm. Got my heart rate up a little bit. Now, I’m just gonna do a quick circuit style workout. I only want to be down here for like 20, 30 minutes max. So, that’s when I like to do circuits where you basically just do one exercise to the next to the next and then just repeat it two or three times. You’re going to be able to hit multiple different muscle groups in one workout, which is what I’m feeling like today. I don’t really feel like doing just a leg specific workout. I kind of want to do a full body. I’m gonna go through the first round pretty light and then with each round after I will either increase my weights by a little bit or I will do more reps just depending on the movement and how my body’s feeling. Round one done. Now we’re going to do it two more times. Make it a little bit harder. Increasing my weights, increasing my reps with certain movements. [Music] [Music] Two rounds done. One more to go. We’re going to make it a little bit harder this time. [Music] workout is done. It’s already 2:00. I don’t even know where this day has gone. It’s just like, oh, I haven’t even had lunch yet. So, I’m going to have something to eat now. I have leftover salmon that I made the other night for dinner. And I’m actually going to share the recipe for that salmon in the description in the free document that I created with today’s meal plan. So, if you do want to make that salmon, I highly recommend it. It’s super simple, tastes amazing. It’s a honey dijon salmon. So, I will include the recipe for how to make that salmon in the document. And I’m just gonna have some spinach with a little bit of hemp seeds or hemp hearts. I don’t know what to call them, but hemp seeds. They have a little bit of protein, some healthy fats, and then I’m keeping it so simple. I’m just going to do a little bit of olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and that’s it. And then before you know it, it will be dinner. So, I’m not going to eat like a huge meal right now. We typically eat pretty early. And yeah, so here is my uber simple salad. The salmon was not as big of a piece as I was expecting. I think I’ve been just snacking on it a little bit here and there. So, the recipe calls for a 5 oz piece of salmon, and that’s going to get you the right amount of protein, but I don’t think that’s quite 5 oz. What I’m going to do is add just a little scoop of cottage cheese to just up the protein a teeny bit for my lunch. but that won’t be included in my macro plan. I just know for me that doesn’t look like enough protein. So, that’s just a really simple way to get a little bit of extra protein in a meal if you need to. And also, ideally, after a sweaty workout, you do want to have some carbs, especially some quick digesting carbs. Something like a rice cake or even some bread or oatmeal, something like that, or even fruit. I did have that shake before my workout, which had some sugars in it. the date and the banana. So, I’m not too worried about getting some carbs right now. Although, ideally, I think if I was going to optimize my nutrition today, I would have a carb as well, but it’s going to be dinner soon, so I’m not too worried. Anyways, all that is to say, keeping it simple today, and I’m not overthinking it. My main priority, get my protein in and just fuel my body with the right nutrients and eat when I’m hungry. At least that’s how I like to do it. [Music] Slow cooker meals are definitely a lifesaver in my household. As a mom of four, I feel like I’m constantly running around juggling different activities, different sports for my kids, and just trying to stay on top of my life and laundry and dishes. So, if you have any good slow cooker meals that you’ve been loving, would you drop me a comment and let me know some new ideas because I’m always looking for new ideas to try in my household as well. Tonight, I’m cooking up just some side dishes to go with that teriyaki pineapple chicken. I love making quinoa because it has extra protein. And then you can even add more protein by cooking it in a bone broth. I didn’t have any on hand, so I just used a simple chicken broth. That’s just an easy way to get even more protein in your dinner. [Music] Now I am going to be plating my quinoa. And then I have some simple steamed broccoli. And I’m just taking a scoop of that sauce and the pineapples and pouring it right on top of the quinoa. Now, if you are counting your protein, I was. So, I took out two whole pieces of chicken thighs and then I just drizzled some of that sauce on top and sprinkled a little bit of sesame seeds. But this chicken also is amazing if you just want to shred it all up. And the only complaint that my kids had was that the pineapple was brown. I think cooking the chicken on low for more than 6 hours might be a bit much. That’s my one complaint. But the flavor is phenomenal and it just falls apart. So yummy. I think I need more sauce. You ready to eat? Can I have a bite? One bite for me. Are you eating my dinner? Are you eating my dinner? I think I need a bit more sauce here. Let’s add Let’s add a little more sauce. Oh yeah. Yeah. We’re going to put in the broccoli and the chicken right there, too. Okay. How about I make Oops. Going to make your own plate. Try it. Bite. Come on. Out of here. What does everyone think? Good. It’s really good. Bomb. It’s what, Levi? It’s bomb. It’s bomb. It’s bomb. It’s bomb. [Music] Well, to finish off a busy day, I’m actually pouring myself a good oldfashioned bowl of cereal. I had a craving and I just rolled with it. Well, thank you friends for hanging out with me today. I hope you gained some value and some inspiration and I look forward to seeing you all very, very soon. Bye for now.