NOTE: I do not have any affiliation to any of these foods or companies.
I have recieved no free products or compensation for talking about the things
I shopped for or am displaying here in this post.
I’m watching as more and more protein-focused foods are being stocked on grocery store shelves so thought a purposeful protein trip was warranted.
Yes, you will see a couple of naughty choices, but I will explain as we go along. I promise, I have valid excuses!
Why I Shop for Packaged Foods
I have been asked several times why I do not just cook my food from scratch, why I buy so much packaged food. There are several reasons, but one of them is it’s just easier. I cooked for 40+ years when I had a family and partner and while I am a really great cook, I am just tired of it. Yeah, I am lazy. I admit it.
As a cook, I also excelled as a creator of fat-oriented foods. Lasagna with tons of cheese. BBQ chicken. Homemade macaroni and cheese. Homemade pizzas.
And then there were the baked goods. I’m an awesome baker. At one time, I baked six loaves of bread a day for three families. With my hands, not a machine. “Baking Bread Memories” is in my other, quiet, blog Navelgazing Writer. Even today, I could get the supplies to make brownies from scratch without a recipe. I have a baker’s nose, having the ability to smell when food is done without a timer. My nose never failed.
But first, I am tired of cooking. And second, I don’t want to re-learn how to cook a healthier way because I fear I would slip right back into my old cooking habits. I don’t trust myself.
I have been on diets since I was 10 years old. Cooking every imaginable variation on a theme of minimizing calories through shopping. Buy “the right” food. Clean out the cupboards of “forbidden” foods. Refill them with the “good” foods. Shampoo, rinse, repeat.
So, here we go!
What Exactly is a High Protein Food?
A quick word about “high protein” foods. Manufacturers have already figured out that people are looking for high protein foods so are adding “High Protein” or even just a giant “Protein” in the names of the new products. But on the old products, they merely enlarged the size of the protein count, making the number jump out at us.
It will be good for each person to decide what is a “High Protein” food or product for themselves. For me, it is about 20 grams of protein per serving. Better if up to 30 grams. You will see I bought things that were much lower, but I wanted the food and to show you what I mean about it being magnified to highlight the grams of protein per serving on the package.
Someday, there will be a Nutrient Content Claim for protein just as there is for “lowfat,” “light,” “reduced fat,” etc. For now, it is up to us to decide.
My Haul
There were a few other things… my probiotics, cherry tomatoes, and the Lay’s chips that I will address later. My total was $208.27 for the month. Before GLP-1s, I spent about $400-$500 for two weeks of food. Ugh! I spent so much money on food! I have a whole post, “My Food Spending Plummets on GLP-1s,” showing how much I spent on food before Trulicity, on Trulicity, and on Mounjaro. It’s rather stunning. My food shopping bill is much lower now than when I first began Mounjaro. Sure, I’m buying new clothes every 50 pounds down, but I’d rather that than putting calories in, and fat on, my body.
Bread
I have not bought bread in almost two years. When I went salt-free after I was in the hospital in 2022 with heart and lung issues from COVID, I stopped bread because I always put things on it that I didn’t need or want anymore. Mostly cheese. This time, I bought bread to put tuna on, but not sure I even will. I’m used to no bread now. It isn’t high protein bread either.
High Protein Yogurt
Standard yogurt has between 6 and 17 grams of protein for a 6-ounce serving depending on if it’s regular or Greek yogurt. This Ratio Protein regular yogurt has 25 grams of protein for a 5.3 ounce serving. It costs $2.09 per container. They have strawberry, blueberry, and vanilla flavors. It is really creamy and I like it lots.
High Protein Macaroni & Cheese
I was really excited to see this because one thing I ate a lot of before GLP-1s was macaroni and cheese. Kraft Mac & Cheese has 11 grams of protein, so I was happy to find an easy mac and cheese with 20 grams of protein. Muscle Mac is a new brand for me and I looked forward to trying it.
I made it for lunch today and, while the taste was okay, it wasn’t the best. It was very dry and I had to add some milk so it would to mix the powder enough.
I couldn’t eat but half a cup before being really full. Now, I don’t know why, but the macaronis stuck in my… well, somewhere between throat and inside my stomach. After two hours, I barfed it all up. I won’t be eating that again. You use your judgement. I am bummed because it’s a decent amount of protein.
Real Good Products
I have tried several of the Real Good dinners and like them a lot. Almost everything they have is made with chicken and the meals taste fantastic. I look forward to seeing more of the choices in the store because they all look yummy and have good amounts of protein.
Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice
What I like about the Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice are the sizes. In the olden fat days, I would be on a Lean Cuisine Diet and eat three or four of them at a time. Now, I can’t finish the whole dinner and find that endlessly amusing. The next best aspect of the dinners is the range of choices. The Healthy Choices have more protein in general, but I tend to throw more shredded grilled chicken (Tyson) on both of the brands to up the protein count.
Tuna Fish
I go through phases where I can eat tuna or salmon.
I was a vegetarian most of my life, a vegan for a great deal of it. Yes, a 350+ lb. vegan. McDonald’s fries are vegan. I bet you didn’t know that. When I worked at Disney World, on my way to work, I drove through McDonald’s and picked up three super-sized fries (they had super-sized back then). I ate them all on the 10-minute drive to my workplace. Inhaled is more like it. Then at my lunch break, I would run to McDonald’s again and get two orders of a super-sized fish filet meal (mental mind games that it was probably fake fish) with double extra tartar sauce, which, of course, included two super-sized fries.
I’ll just leave that there for people who laugh at us about taking GLP-1s. That is a sickness, people. A sickness I am controlling with Mounjaro and tirzepatide. Laugh all you want. I am alive and not a vacuum for food anymore.
When I was first taking GLP-1s, I was still a veggie, but as I learned more about how much protein I would need to keep my muscle and couldn’t come close with vegan protein. I began eating fish and poultry. It took some time, but I did it!
At first, I bought the big cans of tuna. Well, because that’s what I had ever bought before. But when it gave me four servings and it rotted before I ate it all, I am now buying these little cans. It will still be two servings, but that’s fine.
Remember, I bought the bread? It’s a week since shopping and I still have not touched it. I honestly don’t know what to do with it. (Is this ME talking?!? The carb freak!?)
Hot Breakfast Foods
I don’t eat breakfast, but I like to eat interesting breakfast items so I can change things up.
I think I do that intermittent fasting doobie-jobber, but without counting the time. I pretty much just eat when I am hungry, which isn’t often. I do make sure I get a decent amount of protein in, even if that just includes eating a handful of shredded chicken with Sonny’s Sweet BBQ Sauce.
That isn’t the breakfast food I meant.
This is.
And this.
Both of these Jimmy Dean Delights breakfast foods are really, really good. I add cherry tomatoes to each of them and you could definitely toss some avocado or salsa or anything in or on them. I still only get a small amount for the month.
When I started eating the Jimmy Dean sandwich, I made two for myself. When I couldn’t finish the first one, I shook my head and thought, “Old habits die hard.” I only cook one at a time now, still tossing some out when done eating.
High Protein Cereal
A fun find for me was the Premier Protein Mixed Berry Almond Cereal, $7.75 for 9 ounces… expensive, but dang is it good! And 20 grams of protein per serving? Love it!
Milk
There is high protein milk that I probably should have gotten for the blog post, but I have a weird thing about wanting the “cleanest,” non-dairy milk I can find. I like this almond Malk milk.
A measly 2 grams of protein. Maybe I will reconsider the high protein dairy milk, see how it sits in my stomach.
I also haven’t bought milk in two years. Cereal in longer than that. I used to have IBS, but that is long gone with the change in my diet a few years ago. I used to eat a box of cereal as a late night snack. “Good” cereal like Raisin Bran or Chex. You know, not Frosted Flakes like I ate when the kids were little. (rolling my eyes at how dumb I sound)
Besides the high protein cereal I bought above, I also bought Grape-Nuts Flakes. I used to love Grape Nuts, but I have dentures now, so thought I would try the flakes. They are yummmm-eee! Maybe they will help with the constipation?
One More Thing: The Lay’s Potato Chips
When I went to the Cardiologist a couple three weeks ago, she told me I needed to add salt to my diet, that that was part of why I was dizzy, needing electrolytes. I did buy electrolytes (more on that in another post), but she specifically told me to eat salt again.
In fact, she told me to carry salty snacks around with me. Pretzels, olives, crackers… or potato chips.
My ears perked right up at that one! Pre-GLP-1s, chips were never my thing. Unless there was gobs of French Onion Dip on it, I could leave them easily. But for some reason, now on Mounjaro, I have considered buying chips more than once. Did buy a bag once. A giant, family size one. I ate about 20 chips and threw the bag out. This time, I got a box with little 1-ounce bags. I’ve had one bag in a week and didn’t even finish it. Tossed what was left right out. I have nine bags left. I suspect that will last me until Christmas.
That’s It for Food Buying for a Month!
I’m hoping this helps some people. I think about busy people who typically drive-thru for food, that some of these things might be better for their/our bodies and perhaps less expensive all around. The whole family can eat these fairly low-fat and high protein meals.
Something definitely has to change and I think this is a good start.
Tell me in the comments what your favorite high protein foods are. I would love to know what I am missing.
