Soooo hard to eat enough protein!!

N1ckL12

Hi guys

I'm trying to splint my diet as 40 carbs, 40 protein, 20 fat but I'm struggling to get more than 25 protein in per day. Today I eat 100g turkey breast, salmon fillet, protein bar and still only achieved 29%.

Everything I eat seems to have almost as much carbs as protein. Salmon to my amazement has a large fat percentage so even thou it's high in protein the carb % drops but the fat % increases.

So even though I'm trying to get a better balance of protein other aspects of the same food continue to prevent the balance to switch sufficiently to suit my requirements

Any advice??

Nick

redfisher1974

I have to drink 3 protein shakes a day to get my goal for protein, sometimes like today only two. But its a good way to get to your totals.

fivethreeone

How many grams per day is that? You should set your protein goal in grams. A standard recommendation for those losing weight/strength training is 1g per pound of lean body mass.

In a typical day I often eat

Egg white omelet with cheese & sausage for 40g protein
8 oz chicken breast for 46g protein
1-2 scoops protein powder for 20-40g protein
1c greek yogurt for 22g protein

I have an extremely high protein goal (150g), but with a little planning it's not too tough to get it all in.

concordancia

Without seeing your diary it is hard to tell.

Personally I keep my focus on keeping the protein up, the carbs in the middle range and just let the fat fill in the difference. I am not currently even tracking fat.

nosebag1212

chicken breast, eggs, milk, protien shakes, any kind of meat etc I find it easy as hell to get enough (all you need is 1 gram per lb lbm)

FatFreeFrolicking

No, it's not.

Here's a list of high protein foods:

Eggs
Beef jerky
Chicken breast
Tuna
Ground turkey
Ground beef
Salmon
Tilapia
Shrimp
Deli meat
Nuts
Seeds
Cheese
Hummus
Spinach
Broccoli

I consume eggs, bacon, chicken, ground turkey, salmon, steak, nuts, protein bars, etc. on a regular basis and am easily able to get 80-100 grams per day.

EmotionalEater84

You don't need protein, you need amino acids .. Eat raw foods and you'll be fine.

Jesssamesssa

I eat around 110-150g a day. I eat eggs, egg whites, protein powder, chicken, turkey, fish, beef.

FatFreeFrolicking

EmotionalEater84 wrote: »

You don't need protein, you need amino acids .. Eat raw foods and you'll be fine.

Wrong. The body needs protein.

concordancia

FatFreeFrolicking wrote: »

EmotionalEater84 wrote: »

You don't need protein, you need amino acids .. Eat raw foods and you'll be fine.

Wrong. The body needs protein.

(Psst, amino acids are what make proteins)

bulbadoof

I prefer 40/30/30 ratios personally; maybe they would be easier for you to hit.

20yearsyounger

Your body isn't going to use over 1.7g per Kg (.75 per pound) for the purposes that protein are used for.

http://answers.webmd.com/answers/2018665/how-many-grams-of-protein-can-the-body-digest-and-use-at-a-time

Hopefully, you are not beating yourself up if you are trying to eat above that.

If you really are short on protein, cheese and milk does it for me.

FatFreeFrolicking

concordancia wrote: »

FatFreeFrolicking wrote: »

EmotionalEater84 wrote: »

You don't need protein, you need amino acids .. Eat raw foods and you'll be fine.

Wrong. The body needs protein.

(Psst, amino acids are what make proteins)

I am well aware. People don't go around saying "I need amino acids." They say "I need protein."

YesIAm17

EmotionalEater84 wrote: »

You don't need protein, you need amino acids .. Eat raw foods and you'll be fine.

So how much of which raw foods does the OP need to get what would be the equivalent benefit of 1g of protein per pound of lean mass?

Kalikel

I have such a hard time with protein and almost never hit my goal. I'm supposed to get 63/day, but am really lucky if I get to 50.

I don't like most protein foods. Throw in that I need to stick with lower fat and it gets harder, as many protein foods bring fat along for the ride. Sodium hitchhikes, too.

Protein is an issue I am wrestling with all the time.

shaundai8

Hey Nick, I do it by eating 5 meals a day and splitting it up but I do a lot of egg whites, chicken, turkey, lean cuts of beef. There are leaner fish; salmon is so good but yes, it has a lot of fat! Other fish like tilapia, cod, and mahi mahi will have a lot of protein without so much fat.

SLLRunner

stuffyramirez wrote: »

Hi guys

I'm trying to splint my diet as 40 carbs, 40 protein, 20 fat but I'm struggling to get more than 25 protein in per day. Today I eat 100g turkey breast, salmon fillet, protein bar and still only achieved 29%.

Everything I eat seems to have almost as much carbs as protein. Salmon to my amazement has a large fat percentage so even thou it's high in protein the carb % drops but the fat % increases.

So even though I'm trying to get a better balance of protein other aspects of the same food continue to prevent the balance to switch sufficiently to suit my requirements

Any advice??

Nick

Nick- why are you eating so low fat? I could be wrong, but it seems to me 40 percent protein is pretty high.

jgnatca

It seems all the great proteins are tied to fat. PB2 (defatted Peanut Butter) sounds great until you find out that all the vitamins are extracted along with the fat. Vitamin A for instance, is found in fat.

jim180155

I weigh 150 lbs and aim for 150g to 180g of protein per day. I like to keep fat at around 25% of my total calories, but it doesn't really matter. As long as I get my protein and hit my calorie goals, carbs and fats can do what they want.

Also, for the amino acid vs protein debate, we eat protein. Our bodies then break the protein down into amino acids, and then uses those to build our own protein.

clarion_r

My advice would be to try and eat some kind of lean protein at every meal/snack to spread it out during the day.

The ones I found hardest were breakfast and snacks - so I have oats with fruit and protein powder mixed in or eggs for brekkie and protein bars or eggs even for snacks.

EmotionalEater84

FatFreeFrolicking wrote: »

concordancia wrote: »

FatFreeFrolicking wrote: »

EmotionalEater84 wrote: »

You don't need protein, you need amino acids .. Eat raw foods and you'll be fine.

Wrong. The body needs protein.

(Psst, amino acids are what make proteins)

I am well aware. People don't go around saying "I need amino acids." They say "I need protein."

So, because someone calls it "protein" instead of what our body actually uses from the protein I'm wrong? Seem a little sheepish of you.. Just an observation.

EmotionalEater84

YesIAm17 wrote: »

EmotionalEater84 wrote: »

You don't need protein, you need amino acids .. Eat raw foods and you'll be fine.

So how much of which raw foods does the OP need to get what would be the equivalent benefit of 1g of protein per pound of lean mass?

I, like everyone else, should be eating more raw. I'm not much into macros and fairly new to the idea, but I loved what I've learnt thus far! So, I wouldn't be a real good source to tell you this information. However, a quick Google search is just a click away and this is what I found..

https://www.drfuhrman.com/faq/question.aspx?sid=16&qindex=9
http://www.livestrong.com/article/315856-animal-protein-vs-vegetable-protein/
http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/protein.html

I realize most of this falls on deaf ears, but if you're interested - check it out. I never thought I'd be calling protein a waste of my time either..

rosebette

I have the same issue with protein. I'm supposed to be hitting around 88g and am lucky if I get past 65. Unfortunately, because I'm smaller and older, it's hard to get that much protein within my low calorie goals, so unlike bigger folks and males, protein shakes would just add extra calories that I would rather be getting from actual food I eat.

Liftng4Lis

Meat, Greek yogurt, quest bars.

BigGuy47

EmotionalEater84 wrote: »

I never thought I'd be calling protein a waste of my time either..

Trying to promote a vegan agenda on Thanksgiving is a waste of your time.

EmotionalEater84

LoL, I'm Canadian. Do I get a mulligan?

BigGuy47

Have some tofurkey on our behalf. I hear that it's loaded with amino acids.

EmotionalEater84

BigGuy47 wrote: »

Have some tofurkey on our behalf. I hear that it's loaded with amino acids.

Gross. I think faux meat is ridiculous. If I don't eat meat, why eat something that's supposed to taste and look like meat? O.o

Torontonius

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are super-high in protein and low in other calories.

Costco Kirkland Greek Yogurt (0% fat) is made of casein - loaded with protein

shouldn't be hard to get to your totals, and adding whey protein (no more than 1-2 servings a day) is helpful too. I prefer whey first thing in the morning, pre-workout, and then directly afterward. Easy way to get 70g in the first 3 hours of the day.

jim180155

rosebette wrote: »

I have the same issue with protein. I'm supposed to be hitting around 88g and am lucky if I get past 65. Unfortunately, because I'm smaller and older, it's hard to get that much protein within my low calorie goals, so unlike bigger folks and males, protein shakes would just add extra calories that I would rather be getting from actual food I eat.

Try egg whites. They give you a pretty good protein bang for your buck. One cup of egg whites has 26g of protein and 117 calories. Most of the time I use a whole egg or two and Egg Beaters mixed together. The whole egg(s) add flavor, fat, and nutrients. Add a little cheese, a couple slices of toast and milk and you've got a high protein meal at less than 500 calories.

Other times when I'm trying to squeeze in as much protein as possible and only have a few hundred calories to play with I'll eat just scrambled Egg Beaters.

NK1112

bulbadoof wrote: »

I prefer 40/30/30 ratios personally; maybe they would be easier for you to hit.

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