Welcome back to the Daily Dumbbell, where we skate to one song and one song only. Why? Because it gets the people goin.

Today we’re talking about how to get creative and sneak extra protein into your diet. We’ll give you the strategies, schemes, and maneuvers only the pros know.

We’re also imagining a world free from Diet Dogma. This Transformation Tuesday we’re preaching an approach free from ideology.

Let’s dive in!

Oceans 11 grams:
Putting the Perfect Pro-team Together

Picture this. You’re working out and things are going well in the kitchen. But when you track your calories, you’ve fallen short yet again of your protein goal. You’re supposed to be hitting 135g but you’re barely getting to 100g most days.

You don’t want to bang down protein shakes all day, but you can only eat so much chicken, beef, and fish. So how do go about pumping up those rookie numbers? Well, for that you have to get a little creative.

You have to have a plan.

You have to… put a crew together 👀 

heist music - cue the putting a team together montage - more heist music

The Mastermind

First and foremost, no heist is possible without the Mastermind. That’s you. It’s your job to plan the meals for the week and figure out a way to pull everything together. Without a plan, it doesn’t matter how many tricks you have up your sleeve, it’s just smoke and mirrors.

• Plan your meals for the week. At least breakfast and lunch.

• Make sure the fridge is stocked with what you need to make it happen.

• Prep the time consuming things ahead of time. This can be every last part of the meal, or just a pound or 2 of chicken so it’s ready to go.

The Blender

Our first recruit? The Blender: Our demolitions expert who can whip up protein packed concoctions on a moments notice. He’s even been known to sneak multiple serves of veggies in, right under the mark’s nose, leaving their taste buds none the wiser.

• Add a scoop of protein powder to smoothies

• Greek yogurt is a good way to add protein if you don’t mind the tang

• A handful of spinach is a good way to get veg in

The Master of Disguise

Next up is our master of disguise. Armed with secret ingredients like chickpea flour, black beans, and greek yogurt. They expertly infuse our favorite meals with added protein. “Wait, I thought these were just normal brownies… you mean to tell me there’s black beans in here???”

• Swapping Chickpea pasta or Sneaking Chickpea flour into recipes

• Swapping ½ the sour cream and mayo for greek yogurt

• Don’t put beans in your brownies. That’s a rookie move

The Honeypot

The master of seduction. His methods might be cheesy, but he gets results. This tip is literally just adding cheese to recipes. An oz is 100 calories and between 5-7g of protein, but more than that it’s just freaking delicious.

• Cheese!

The Infiltrator

A protein spy who knows how to blend in seamlessly. They'll slip protein-rich foods into everyday dishes, ensuring that our protein intake remains steady and strong. You’ll never have a salad

• Making sure your salads have a main protein component: Chicken, steak, salmon, etc.

• Sprinkling sunflower seeds, pepitas, or almonds on your salad or into your yogurt.

• Using brioche buns that have 5g of protein instead of 2g for your weekend cheeseburger.

The Backer

Lastly, we have The Backer. Mr. Moneybags himself to join the team. When you’re on the go and you botched the planning stage, you need something quick! That’s when we turn to the supplements. While not your go to strategy, there’s nothing wrong with using them to… you’ve got it: supplement your protein intake:

• Protein bars, chips, cookies, etc

• Beef Jerky

• Protein Shakes

Pulling Off The Job

You’ve had 8 long years to plan this heist, wait no, that was Danny Ocean.

You’ve set out your plan, you’ve put the team together, and now it’s time to execute. The house always wins because they have set it up to keep the odds in their favor. What we’re doing here is tilting those odds back toward you.

By altering your environment, making sure the House is…. Full with easily accessible snacks, having your main proteins prepped and ready to go, and your secret ingredients on hand, you’ve set the table for a winning hand.

Transformation Tuesday

This Transformation Tuesday we’re going to hit you with something a little different. People want to know: What’s the best diet to transform my body?

Unfortunately, like so many other questions in this industry, it’s the wrong one. You’re zoomed in too close. You need to take a step back and look around in order to get the full picture.

You might not believe us that the particular diet doesn’t matter, but with a couple quick Google searches we think you’ll come around:

• 14 Vegan Before and After Stories 

• Forks Over Knives has 25 pages of vegan success stories

• 93 Keto Before And Afters

• This Instagram page has over 4k posts of transformations

• 23 Paleo Success Stories 

• 5 Studies showing weight loss & improved health markers compared to other diets.

• Dozens of Success Stories 

• Tons of Before & Afters - bit weirder than the rest.

Nutrition has found itself entangled in a web of dogmas and ideological battles. We've witnessed the rise of warring factions, each proclaiming their dietary approach as the one true path to health and fitness.

But here's the truth: you don't have to pledge allegiance to a specific dietary religion.

🎵 Imagine there’s no keto… 🎵 

Here’s the secret: You don’t have to choose one.

From vegan to keto, paleo to slow carb, each approach has its devotees who have achieved their dream bodies. Yes, even the dumbest diet ever created; the carnivore diet has its share of believers who eventually stopped having daily diarrhea claim to have seen incredible results.

So, what's the key to success? It lies not in blindly following a particular dietary doctrine, but in finding what works best for you and being consistent.

• Feel better when you eat more carbs? Great! Lower your fats a bit.

• Don’t want to eat animals? That’s fine, you can achieve amazing results without them.

• Want to eat like a caveman? We have a great therapist to recommend you. But in the meantime, you can likely achieve great results!

You can enjoy the food you eat AND achieve the progress you want without joining a keto kult. We promise, you’ll be more successful and happier for it.

That’s all for today folks! We hope you enjoyed our feature on planning out and executing the perfect protein heist! Come back tomorrow for Whoop Wednesday and Part 2 of our feature on Deadlifts! Deadlift 2: The Glute Supremacy