My Favorite Hack For Eating 30+ Grams Of Protein For Dessert 

Confession time: I used to not give my protein intake much thought. That changed about a year ago, when I started reporting on the protein needs of women and learned that many experts recommend bumping up your protein intake to around 1.2 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight.

Since digging into the research on protein's benefits for lean muscle mass1, healthy body composition2, blood sugar balance3, and overall health (when paired with resistance exercise), I've been more diligent about getting enough of it. For me, that means aiming for around 100 grams a day. I don't love counting macros, so I'll typically just try to build every meal and snack around a serving of high-quality protein.

Of course, some days are more successful than others on the protein front. Life gets busy and I'll need to grab something quick on the go, or I'll finish a workout late and run out of time to whip up that protein-rich meal I had planned. And since I eat predominantly plant-based, I know that many of my meals lack leucine—an amino acid needed that promotes muscle growth but is more concentrated in animal proteins.

The Greek yogurt (about ⅔ cup) brings about 9 grams of protein4 to the table, while whey protein isolate+ packs an impressive 25 grams of protein from grass-fed cows per serving, coming out to roughly 34 grams per bowl—a solid contribution to my daily goals. Plus, it has the right amount of amino acids needed to feed my muscles one last time for the day. Each serving is optimized for strength, performance, and recovery thanks to 2.5 grams of leucine—the amount needed to stimulate the production of new muscle proteins.*

The clean protein powder touts a lean ingredient list (only six ingredients), and it's flavored with organic cocoa, organic monk fruit, organic cinnamon, and pink Himalayan salt. It packs the rich flavor of chocolate‚ with zero artificial sweeteners or flavor chemicals, so it doesn't have the funky aftertaste or extreme sweetness you'll find in other powders on the market.

I work at mindbodygreen and I still don't quite understand how our team got this to taste so good, but I'm not complaining. When I mix together the whey, almond milk, and creamy yogurt, it forms a light, airy texture and tastes like a decadent chocolate mousse, just without all the added sugar.

Another bonus: Unlike other desserts, this one doesn't wreck my sleep quality. Research shows that eating protein before bed can increase muscle protein synthesis5 overnight, and higher-protein diets seem to support deeper and less fragmented sleep6.* I just try to eat it at least one to two hours before bed to give myself time to digest. The protein isolate (a more concentrated form of protein) in whey protein isolate+ is also easier on my stomach than other powders I've tried.