Meat and poultry
Steak on a GLP-1: protein, portions and how to actually eat it
About 29 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), cooked, rump or sirloin, for around 210 calories. A small steak, about half a restaurant serve, about 120 g (4.2 oz), gives roughly 35 g of protein for 252 calories.
To reach 30 g of protein from steak alone you would need about 103 g (3.6 oz). On a small appetite that is often more than one sitting allows, which is why we pair it rather than chase the whole target from one food.
How steak sits on a GLP-1
Steak is the food people most often tell us they have gone off entirely. It is dense, it needs a lot of chewing, and it sits in a slow stomach for a long time. That does not make it a bad food, it makes it a bad choice on the two days after an injection. Later in the week, sliced thin and served with something wet, most people manage a small one.
When your appetite is small
Halve the serve and slice it before it reaches the plate. Sixty grams of thinly sliced rested steak carries about 17 g of protein and looks like something you can finish, which is most of the battle.
Three ways to prepare it
Cook it, rest it, slice it thin
Resting for five minutes and slicing across the grain changes it from a chewing job into something manageable.
Stir fry strips rather than cooking a whole steak
Thin strips seared fast and served in sauce over rice are much easier than a solid piece of meat.
Make it the smaller half of the plate
A 100 g steak with potato and a sauce beats a 250 g steak you eat a third of and then throw out.
What to eat it with
Something wet and something soft: mushroom sauce, mashed potato, a soft grain. Chimichurri or mustard helps when meat tastes metallic, which is a common complaint in the first weeks.
How it compares
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Energy per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steak | about 29 g | 210 kcal | this page |
| Beef mince | about 26 g | 180 kcal | See the page |
| Lamb | about 26 g | 215 kcal | See the page |
| Kangaroo | about 26 g | 120 kcal | See the page |
All figures are typical values for the food as eaten, cooked, rump or sirloin, not laboratory figures for a particular brand.
Australian, US and UK names
Rump in Australia and the UK is close to what the US calls top sirloin; US sirloin and Australian porterhouse are different cuts again. Buy on the look of the meat rather than the name if you are shopping in an unfamiliar country.
Questions people ask
Why can I not eat steak any more on a GLP-1?
Slower stomach emptying plus altered taste is the usual pair, and red meat is where it shows up first. Mince, slow cooked cuts and thinly sliced steak are the versions people go back to first.
Your number comes first
Knowing what is in a food only helps once you know how much you are aiming for. The target is 1.2 to 1.6 g of protein per kg of your goal weight, not your current weight, which for most people is 90 to 140 g a day.
Work out your protein targetMore on eating well when your appetite is small: high protein foods for a small appetite, how much protein on a GLP-1, and every food we have written up. The whole system in five documents is the Keep Muscle Kit, A$47 / US$29 / £23.
EverStrong provides nutrition and strength coaching and education. It is not medical advice and does not replace your prescribing doctor.