The 30-30-30 diet – is it suitable for vegetarians?
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Introduction to Quick Weight Loss
One of the most common things I hear when I speak to people for the first time about weight loss is that they are keen to lose weight quickly. And this makes total sense.
Quick results are satisfying, they’re motivating and they’re a sign that you’re on the right track, right? Well, not necessarily, and this is one of the biggest problems with diet culture in general now.
Many of these diets are unrealistic and aren’t sustainable, and can put you at risk of nutritional deficiencies and harm your health. So any time a new diet crops up, like this 30-30-30 diet, I’m always skeptical and want to investigate it properly.
Introduction to the 30-30-30 Diet
This was a diet that my brother, Dave, one of the co-founders of Hurry The Food Up, mentioned and sent me some info on it. It sounds catchy – the 30-30-30 is easy to remember and kinda feels fun – and clearly it’s popular. He asked whether it’s something that had any real scientific basis and whether it’s something that vegetarians should follow.
I’m going to give you all the info on this but first I figure it’s worth explaining what this diet actually is and how it works.
What is the 30-30-30 Diet and Why Could It Work?
The whole concept is to eat 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up, followed by 30 minutes of low-intensity exercise, hence the 30-30-30.
The idea is that you give your body a big blast of protein first thing, because protein is satisfying and makes you feel full, and it’s also involved with appetite regulation later in the day as well as contributing to healthy functioning muscle.
Now this is absolutely true and deeply rooted in science. We have heaps of evidence to show that protein is beneficial, especially so if you’re trying to lose weight.
Benefits of Protein
Because protein helps you to feel full and satisfied, it can reduce cravings and the need for snacking, and that can then help you to stay in a calorie deficit which is what you need to lose weight.
It also contributes to muscle maintenance, and I’m talking just healthy functioning muscle here, not anything like big stronger bodybuilder muscles although it does help with that too, so I always recommend it, especially as you get older, because generally protein needs increase throughout your lifespan.
Another benefit of protein is that it has the highest thermic effect of food out of the macronutrients, so carbohydrates, protein and fat, which means you actually burn a little more energy digesting protein than the others, so your overall calorie burn is higher on higher protein diets.
The Importance of Protein in the Morning
And eating a good amount of protein in the morning is a fantastic thing to do – there’s evidence to show that by having a high protein breakfast you reduce the likelihood of overeating later in the day which for people trying to lose weight is definitely a helpful benefit!
There was also a study in 2022 that demonstrated that spacing protein intake evenly across the day was associated with an improved body composition (so more muscle and lower body fat) in females.
It’s one of the reasons we’re so keen at Hurry The Food Up to promote a good source of protein in every meal, and why we try to build this into our meal plans.
Unfortunately, one of the places that people fall down on with their protein intake is at breakfast, so this approach from the 30-30-30 diet in prioritizing protein at breakfast should mean that more people eat more protein at breakfast, which is a great outcome in my eyes.
Exercise Component of the 30-30-30 Diet
Then there’s the exercise component of the diet. 30 minutes of low-intensity exercise after consuming your 30 grams of protein.
In theory, this is awesome because if you were following this you’d be doing 30 minutes of exercise a day which, if we’re being honest, is probably far more than a lot of people do.
I am a big, big fan of exercise because it’s super beneficial for health, whether it’s cardiovascular training, so the classic running, cycling, dancing, or resistance training, so lifting weights or yoga involving lifts and strength positions.
Exercise helps to create new healthy muscle tissue, it helps with controlling blood sugar levels, it improves immune function and it can reduce the risk of so many long-term diseases.
The Benefits of Low-Intensity Exercise
The focus with the 30-30-30 diet is on low-intensity exercise, and let me say that I love this.
Low-intensity exercise means exercise where your breathing doesn’t really increase above your baseline – so you can still talk fully and breathe in and out through your nose.
If you like numbers, then loosely speaking this would correspond to about 65% of your maximum heart rate.
For a lot of people, this can feel pretty alien and like you aren’t really doing anything but I can promise you it is doing you good, and actually, I’d encourage this approach for a lot of people.
It’s such a common theme to see people exercising way too hard, too frequently, which means they end up burning out and not being able to stick to their exercise routine over the long term, which defeats the purpose of it.
So aiming for low intensity is definitely a good option for many people, especially if you’re new to exercise, and this might be as simple as walking at a slightly brisk pace.
Understanding Fat Burning and Calorie Burn
I have seen a video from Gary Brecka (a well-known Human Biologist) suggesting that by doing low-intensity exercise you burn more fat, which in some senses is true but that’s not the whole story.
You might burn more fat for energy, but this doesn’t mean you burn more calories overall or that you burn more body fat.
This is a subtle but crucial point to highlight, so don’t be fooled.
Unfortunately, this diet and low-intensity focus on exercise won’t magically burn and reduce your body fat percentage, because it’s your overall calorie amounts that are going to be the true player in that.
But the 30-30-30 diet is ticking some of my favorite concepts within nutrition that contribute to just being generally healthy, so I’m a huge fan of this approach.
The Lack of Evidence Behind the 30-30-30 Diet
I should highlight that at the point of recording this, the 30-30-30 diet doesn’t actually have any evidence behind it.
There aren’t any trials involving this dietary approach, so there’s no way to quantify the benefits of it, but it definitely does follow some good dietary principles.
However, like with most things, it isn’t quite as clear-cut as this and there are some potential drawbacks to the diet which we should go through.
A quick interlude to that say if you’re trying to lose weight and aren’t seeing results, check out our free week’s vegetarian weight loss meal plan.
It includes a shopping list, super tasty recipes including ingredients and instructions, and has all the meals planned out for you.
Downsides of the 30-30-30 Diet
Ok, so while I think the 30-30-30 diet has some real benefits I don’t think it’s quite as simple as saying it’s the best diet for either normal healthy living or for weight loss, and we should dive into this.
The first issue is that whether you’re a veggie or whether you eat meat, with your classic breakfast foods it’s actually pretty difficult to get 30 grams of protein.
If you eat meat then it’s definitely easier, but things like cereals or toast don’t have heaps of protein, meaning this is going to be more difficult for you to achieve.
If you want to consume whole foods, as in not a protein shake, and you’re a vegetarian, then your best option is going for something like low-fat dairy.
So 200 grams of low-fat Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, and then something like bran flakes or oats.
Or go down the egg route, so omelets, eggs on toast or our Hurry The Food Up egg muffins.
Challenges with Protein Shakes and Breakfast Options
Now you can of course have something like a protein shake, which is a convenient and easy way to get protein in, and I’m not specifically against that, but I think where possible this shouldn’t be an everyday thing for breakfast.
So I think, logistically, this might be quite difficult for many people to do, and honestly if everyone got over 20g of protein in their breakfast I would be super pleased as that’s a great start to the day.
Now I also always think about things from a sport and exercise perspective, and one of my worries about this diet is that it’s encouraging people to exercise soon after eating.
Unless you are going to just consume a protein shake without anything else, you’re going to end up eating a reasonable amount of slow-digesting food here and that means you’re at an increased risk of having stomach upset, especially if you do something like running.
Flexible Exercise Timing
So I think one of the nuances that I would recommend here is to say that if you do exercise and you don’t get any tummy problems then that’s fine, but actually you can exercise at any point of the day.
I’d be more keen for you to just work out when it fits into your schedule and lifestyle rather than saying it has to be first thing in the morning.
So you could wait a couple of hours after breakfast to exercise, or you could exercise in the afternoon or evening if that’s better for you.
Basically, just exercise whenever it works for you in the day. It’s way more beneficial for you to just do it consistently, and if morning doesn’t fit your routine – that’s ok.
Lack of Comprehensive Dietary Guidance
The other thing which is super important to highlight is that this diet doesn’t really give much advice for the rest of the day. Sure, you’ve followed the 30-30-30 rule first thing… Then what?
Do you need to worry about your diet? Can you eat whatever you like at other points of the day? Do you need protein at lunch and dinner?
The problem with it is that it doesn’t really give enough context on your diet as a whole or enough guidance.
Maybe that wasn’t ever the intention, but I’ve learned through my experience with working with clients that generally the clearer, more actionable advice you can give, the better.
Potential Pitfalls in Weight Loss
With regard to weight loss, I could see this as a problem, where someone thinks because they’ve followed this protocol for the morning they don’t really need to worry about their diet for the rest of the day.
So, they are much more lenient at lunch and dinner time, and even with snacking too.
On top of that, because the rule emphasizes protein at breakfast, they don’t bother much with it at other points of the day, meaning they fall short of their protein requirements.
This could easily lead to someone’s weight loss efforts derailing because they aren’t managing the rest of their diet appropriately.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Maybe I’m overthinking it but these are the things that spring to mind for me.
I think if I were to improve this, I would say it’s the 30-30-30-30-30 diet, where you focus on 30 grams of protein for breakfast, lunch, dinner and as snacks throughout the day, plus 30 minutes of exercise at any point, but that’s not as catchy.
Maybe 30 by 5. 30 to the power of 5? Dunno, if you ever popularize that approach after listening to this episode then please give me some credit, haha.
But in short, you definitely could use this as a vegetarian, either for general healthy living or to lose weight, but you’ll need to follow more than just this rule.
You’ll still need to eat satiating, filling, healthy food that is high in protein, fiber, wholegrain carbs, veggies, and healthy fats over the day, but I think the essence of the rule isn’t bad at all.
How to get 30 grams of protein as a vegetarian or vegan
Ok, so you’ve decided that you’re going to give the 30-30-30 diet a trial. It can definitely be tricky to do it as a vegetarian (and especially as a vegan) but the good news is that it is definitely possible.
Here are some ideas, and I’ve included breakfast instructions right here ????
Throw in all the ingredients and whisk/mix until smooth.
⅓ cup low fat cottage cheese, ½ cup rolled oats, 2 eggs, Salt to taste
Add the oil (or butter) to a pan and fry the batter on low to medium heat.
1 tsp coconut oil
Flip with a spatula once bubbles start to appear. Cook until both sides are golden brown.
Simple as!
NOTES
Nutri info: We used low-fat cottage cheese to reduce the calories and saturated fats for this pancake. Go for regular cottage cheese, if you like!
Tip: Any berries you like can be used. I definitely recommend whatever your fave is, or whatever is in season near you! Fave toppings can be used as well.
Make-ahead? Yes, just keep toppings separate.
Freezable? Yes! Again, either the batter or the pancakes.
Here are some ideas on how to pimp these pancakes up! (All optional of course)
Batter ideas:
1 tbsp of coconut powder * A small handful of hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts * 1 tbsp of peanut butter * 1 tbsp of protein powder * 1 tbsp of raisins * 1 tsp of cinnamon * 1 tsp of vanilla extract * A few thin slices of apple or pear
Topping ideas: * Honey * Maple syrup * Cherries, strawberries * Yogurt * Sugar and lemon juice
EQUIPMENT & PRODUCT TIPS: You’ll need a non-stick pan for successful pancake action, but that’s it. See what you think about this pan.
I recently started using coconut oil instead of butter for frying. It works great, especially for pancakes! If you want, give this one a shot.
IF YOU LIKED THIS RECIPE: Then you definitely have to check out our Banana Egg Pancakes! Probably even easier to prepare and absolutely delicious. Or if you’d rather like to go into no milk, no egg direction, check out our roundup of these 24 awesome vegan pancakes!
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Is the 30-30-30 diet suitable for vegetarians?
Amount per Serving
Calories
367
% Daily Value*
Fat
16
g
25
%
Saturated Fat
7
g
44
%
Trans Fat
0.03
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
3
g
Monounsaturated Fat
4
g
Cholesterol
330
mg
110
%
Sodium
433
mg
19
%
Potassium
333
mg
10
%
Carbohydrates
30
g
10
%
Fiber
4
g
17
%
Sugar
3
g
3
%
Protein
26
g
52
%
Vitamin A
506
IU
10
%
Calcium
116
mg
12
%
Iron
3
mg
17
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Tag @HurryTheFoodUp on Instagram so we can admire your masterpiece!
And finally as a caveat, remember that you don’t need to become worried or stressed about getting 30 grams of protein every single time you eat.
Just aim for generally high-protein recipes and take the ‘protein-first’ approach to each meal (adding a good veggie or vegan protein source to each recipe).
These flavorful Chipotle Black Beans are easy to make and can be used in many different ways. The chipotle peppers give these protein-packed black beans a spicy kick that really takes them to the next level. This freezer-friendly recipe can be enjoyed with rice, tortillas, or salads. Make a big batch today to have on hand all week long.
Beans are a huge part of my diet because they’re packed with protein and go so well in many different recipes. These Chipotle Black Beans are one of my favorite ways to prepare them. The chipotle peppers add a spicy kick and make these beans perfect for tacos, burritos, and so much more!
Why You’ll Love This Flavorful Black Bean Recipe
Easy to make – I use canned black beans for this recipe, so it comes together quickly, and you only need a handful of other ingredients you may already have. If you don’t already have the spices in your pantry, you can buy a packet of chili seasoning and add 3-4 teaspoons of it.
Versatile – These spicy black beans make a great side dish and are great with rice, tortilla chips, tacos, burritos, and salads. They can be enjoyed as a main dish or side.
Freezer friendly – I’m starting to stock up my freezer with healthy, protein-packed foods that can easily be thawed and used in various recipes. These black beans freeze well in bulk and in single-serving portions.
Why Your Body Will Love These Black Beans
Blood Sugar Regulation – Black beans are high in fiber and protein, giving them a low glycemic index. This means they digest slowly and don’t cause blood sugar levels to spike or rise too quickly. This makes black beans a healthy choice for people with diabetes who need to control their blood sugar levels more. They also keep you feeling full for a longer period of time since they digest slowly.
Heart Health – Beans contain a significant amount of soluble fiber, which helps decrease cholesterol absorption in the bloodstream. Lowering the “bad” cholesterol in the body can greatly reduce the chances of a stroke or heart attack.
Digestive Health – Beans are high in insoluble fiber, which helps bulk up the digestive system and prevent constipation. The fiber in beans also acts as a prebiotic that feeds the good bacteria in the large intestine and carries out toxins in the system.
Chipotle Black Bean Recipe Ingredients
Black Beans – I use canned black beans for this recipe, but homemade ones can easily be swapped. I don’t like my chipotle black beans to be too liquidy, so I drain off most of the extra liquid from the can before adding the beans into the pot.
Chipotle Peppers – Chipotle peppers are jalapeno peppers that have been dried and smoked. They’re spicy and usually come packed in adobo sauce or dried. I like to use both the chipotle peppers and the adobo sauce for this recipe. I really enjoy the flavor of the La Costena brand (pictured above).
Canned Tomatoes – I like to use fire-roasted canned tomatoes because they add so much extra flavor. For this recipe, I prefer the tomatoes to be chopped into small pieces, so I like to drain out most of the canned tomato liquid and then chop up the tomatoes before adding them in. That step is totally optional, though.
Onion & Garlic – Fresh onion and garlic add lots of flavor to these beans and will make your kitchen smell amazing while cooking them. They create a nice flavor base that all the other ingredients build on.
Jalapeno – I wanted to add some fresh jalapenos into this recipe since chipotle peppers are dried jalapenos. They add extra heat, so you can leave them out if you prefer.
Spices – These black beans are flavored with cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and a pinch of cinnamon.
How To Make Spicy Chipotle Black Beans
Heat a large pan over medium heat and add 2 teaspoons olive oil and the diced onions, with a small pinch of salt. Cook onions until softened, 2 minutes. Next, add in the garlic and diced jalapeno and cook for another minute until the garlic is fragrant.
Add in the black beans, canned tomatoes, chopped chipotle peppers, spices, salt and pepper. Mix everything together and let the beans cook until they’re starting to simmer, stirring every minute or two. Use a potato masher or large fork to mash about half of the beans or until the desired texture is reached. Cook black beans for a minute or two more, until they’re slightly thickened, and then turn off the heat. Squeeze in some fresh lime juice and season with extra salt as needed.
Enjoy Chipotle Black Beans on their own or with rice. They can be added to tacos, burritos, nachos, and salads.
Recipe Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is already both vegan and gluten-free.
Are these beans spicy? You can make these chipotle black beans as mild or spicy as you like. Add 2-3 chipotle peppers if you want them mild and 4-5 if you want spicy beans.
How should these beans be enjoyed? These chipotle beans can be used in many different ways, including on nachos, tacos, burritos, burrito bowls, with rice, or as a side dish.
How long do these beans last? If stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator, they should last for about five days.
What is the best way to freeze these beans? I like to portion them out into 1-cup servings for the freezer to grab what I need to defrost. They can be frozen in a large container in bulk as well. Freeze for up to three months. Defrost in the refrigerator, on the kitchen counter, or in the microwave.
Have a question I didn’t answer? Ask me in the comment section below, and I will get back to you ASAP!
These flavorful Chipotle Black Beans are easy to make and can be used in so many different ways. The chipotle peppers give these protein packed black beans a spicy kick that really takes them to the next level. This recipe is freezer friendly and can be enjoyed with rice, tortillas or in salads. Make a big batch today to have them on hand all week long.
Ingredients
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion, I used white but any color will work
1–2 tablespoons diced fresh jalapeno, depending on how much heat you want
2–3 cloves garlic, minced
3 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained*
1/3 cup chopped chipotle peppers with adobo sauce, or more if you want more heat
1 (14.5 oz) can fire roasted tomatoes, I like to drain all the liquid out and then chop up the diced tomatoes into even smaller pieces (as pictured above)
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 small pinch ground cinnamon, optional
Salt, to taste
Instructions
Heat a large pan over medium heat and add 2 teaspoons olive oil and the diced onions, with a small pinch of salt. Cook onions until softened, 2 minutes. Next, add in the garlic and diced jalapeno and cook for another minute, until garlic is fragrant.
Add in the black beans, canned tomatoes, chopped chipotle peppers, spices, salt and pepper. Mix everything together well and let the beans cook until they’re starting to simmer, stirring every minute or two. Use a potato masher, or large fork, to mash about half of the beans, or until desired texture is reached. Cook black beans for a minute or two more, until they’re slightly thickened and then turn off the heat. Squeeze in some fresh lime juice and season with any extra salt that is needed.
Enjoy Chipotle Black Beans by themselves or with rice. They can also be added to tacos, burritos, nachos and salads.
Notes
*I don’t like my chipotle black beans to be too liquidy, so I drain off almost all of the extra liquid from the bean cans and the canned tomatoes. You are welcome to leave some of that liquid in the recipe if you want your beans to be more on the soupy side.
Prep Time: 15 mins
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