Cannot devise decent menu

koinflipper

I need to lose at least 60 pounds so will take more than a year to do this on one pound a week weight loss. I am on 1400 calories per day with 25% carb, 25% fat, 50% protein. I am having trouble devising meals that meet my goals. I am only allowed 88 grams of carb and must eat 175 grams of protein. On my limited Social Security income I can not get that much protein unless I use legumes and then way over carb limit. Even meal replacement shakes for 2 meals will exceed my carb limit. I am considering meal replacement shakes for all meals using half the powder and adding 100% whey protein powder to limit carbs and increase protein. I met my goals for two days now but took hours of planning and replanning. I am very discouraged. Any ideas of inexpensive protein without carbs or fat? Or is this macro ratio with low calories even feasible?

emdeesea

I don't mean to be difficult, but do you need to watch your carb intake for any medical reason? Because I've lost more than 50 and haven't watched any of my macros at all (maybe with the exception of fiber and protein, but even then, it's not perfect).

Marilyn0924

Is there a medical issue that requires you to consume low carb or is just a preference? If it is the latter, allow MFP to set your macros and go from there. Losing weight does not require anything special, just that you eat less than you burn overall.

nutmegoreo

koinflipper wrote: »

I need to lose at least 60 pounds so will take more than a year to do this on one pound a week weight loss. I am on 1400 calories per day with 25% carb, 25% fat, 50% protein. I am having trouble devising meals that meet my goals. I am only allowed 88 grams of carb and must eat 175 grams of protein. On my limited Social Security income I can not get that much protein unless I use legumes and then way over carb limit. Even meal replacement shakes for 2 meals will exceed my carb limit. I am considering meal replacement shakes for all meals using half the powder and adding 100% whey protein powder to limit carbs and increase protein. I met my goals for two days now but took hours of planning and replanning. I am very discouraged. Any ideas of inexpensive protein without carbs or fat? Or is this macro ratio with low calories even feasible?

How did you decide on this macro breakdown? Once you've lost the weight, are you going to continue consuming meal replacement shakes? My suggestion would be to think about what you plan on doing when you have lost the weight, do that, but eat less of it. Alternatively, log everything you are eating now and see where you can cut back. Reduce the serving sizes. You can do it without changing your style of eating, you just need to reduce quantity.

As you progress, you may find some foods more filling than others, and begin to consume those more. You may also find certain macros more filling and gravitate toward those. Trying to make big sweeping changes can lead to giving up. Start simple. These first few weeks are a little challenging because you are learning to log. If you plan on taking a year to get there, the first little while learning to log accurately and learning what works for you, will be drop in the bucket. You don't need to stress about it this much!

Nikion901

Ditto the above posters ... and may I inquire as to why you want to eat 50% protein? That's an awful lot of protein for your kidneys to filter and an awful lot of uric acid production. Besides, excess protein only turns into glucose anyway ... so why not balance it out with more carbs. From what I've read, If you stay below 150 grams of carb a day you will still be low-carbing it. If Keto is what you are after, then you need to cut carbs even further, and also increase fat quite a bit. And, you need to lift heavy weights to sustain that kind of protein intake, for the repair of torn muscles from the heavy weight lifting.

However if you choose to stay on the macros you have described, then add protein rich elements to your food ... add chia seed to your meals, add whey protein powder to your meals, add egg whites to your meals, stuff like that.

seska422

Your profile says you are a 62 year old female. The RDI for protein for you would be 46 grams per day with a percentage range of 10-35% of calories from protein. If you want a bit more than the 46 grams, 75 grams of protein would be plenty. There's no reason at all for you to eat 175 grams of protein unless you've been specifically instructed to by your doctor.

Dietary Reference Intakes: Macronutrients

Weight loss is about total calories in being lower than total calories out. I've been using 50%C/20%P/30%F and it's worked for me.

bwogilvie

Like the others, I'm curious why you are aiming to get 50% of your calories from protein. Among foods that are almost entirely protein, the cheapest I can think of are canned tuna and boneless, skinless chicken breasts. If you're going to eat a lot of canned tuna, avoid albacore, which tends to be higher in mercury than other varieties. (It's usually more expensive, too.) Look for specials on tuna and frozen chicken breasts.

You can also make your own seitan (also known as wheat meat) with vital wheat gluten and a few other ingredients.

kpk54

Add me to the list wondering why 20% carbs and 50% protein. I'm your age, your gender and lost the amount of weight you are wanting to lose. I average about 30% protein and even that amount isn't necessary (unless medically prescribed for some reason). I eat a considerable amount of plain Greek yogurt, legumes, egg whites and then, of course, chicken/fish/pork and a bit of beef. Vegetables such as broccoli are fairly high protein. Do a google search for high protein vegetables for a list. I agree with those suggesting to start by focusing on calories 1st.

koinflipper

I have been eating 1400 calories for over a year now but no weight change. My doctor said Mediterranean diet but only maintaining weight/not losing. My blood work is always great with total cholesterol below 120, fasting blood sugar at 95. BP fine but on 3 meds for that.

My last annual checkup in Dec I had very elevated alkaline phosphatase, a liver enzyme. Doctor says could be fatty liver or sign of bone cancer. But I think it is from breaking my tailbone from fall on Halloween. Healing bone produces extra alkaline phosphatase. If I had cancer that spread to my bone I would be losing weight like crazy. I had blood work done last week and see doc next week so hopefully we will resolve that.

I did a lot of reading on internet about macronutrients and decided it wasn't calories. Carbs was the culprit. So I needed to eat a lot less carbs, moderate "good fats" and more protein.

Strong family history of metabolic syndrome including diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. 2 sisters died of heart disease at age 50 & 55. My father died at age 66 from heart disease and diabetes. Now my brother is diabetic. All siblings have hypertension requring meds. I have been on hypertension drugs for 30 years and statins for 20 years.

I have been vegetarian (not vegan) most of my life so only recently started eating chicken and tuna (I can only afford canned) . My whole family has been vegetarian but it obviously did nothing to prevent heart disease or metabolic syndrome.

I am unable to do much exercise beyond walking the dog (arthritis and back problems). Besides most research now shows that exercise does very little to help lose weight. Diet is the key.

Perhaps my macro ratio is too extreme as I obviously cannot eat that much protein on my budget without excess carbs. But I need to use less carbs and fat than average person for both weight loss and medical issues so that means more protein.

I think the biggest problem losing weight is my use of mostly legumes for protein which adds too many carbs. Legumes are cheap and supposed to be healthy. I guess not good diet for weight loss.

allaboutthefood

You can be a meat eater, vegan or vegetarian and still have bad health. I believe it's all about having a healthy balance when it comes to your food, the less processed the better or at least that is how I look at it. If you are counting carbs, make sure you are also tracking your fiber, you subtract your fiber from your carbs, that should help you, when it comes to eating beans and other foods high in carbs but also rich in fiber. I have just recently made the switch to a all plant based lifestyle 4 weeks ago. Before that I was a huge meat, egg, dairy, cheese eater. We are on a very tight budget and have to feed a family of five and we seem to always have a little money in the bank, since we gave up animal products. I have no issue with protean, fiber and everything else I need. I am once again losing weight, which is wonderful. I wish you best and do hope you find your balance and stay in good health

emdeesea

Do you use a food scale to weigh out your food? How do you confirm that you are eating 1,400 calories a day?

nutmegoreo

Are you able to see a registered dietician? Given you medical and family medical history, I would suggest starting with someone trained specifically to advise you. I'm not sure what the cost would be, or if it would be covered with a physician referral, but it would be worth looking into.

seska422

A low carb diet generally focuses on increasing the calories from fat, not protein.

What macro balance did your Mediterranean diet have? Did that work for you from a budget and satisfaction standpoint? If so, you may just need to tighten up your food logging. It's easy to eat more calories than you think you are eating if you don't use a food scale and log everything that has calories.

chulipa

Raise your fat and carbs and lower your protien then only eat what you want of the carbs and fat. My dietitian said women only need 40g of fat but MFP and others on here think you need more and fiber should be around 30g not 21g that MFP gives me. I never eat all my carbs and dont care. Get around 60g protein and 30g fiber and dont worry about the rest. I have a family history of heart and diebites my father died in his 60s along with most of his siblings. Some things are out of your control but remember diet and excercise play a big part when it comes to your health

kommodevaran

Maybe a lot less carbs, moderate "good fats" and more protein doesn't mean 25% carb, 25% fat, 50% protein. Did your doctor tell you to eat that? In that case, he/she should also provide you with a diet plan, and someone give you more money for all that protein If not, it could mean, for instance, 35% carbs, 40% fat and 25% protein = 120 g carb, 62 g fat, 90 g protein. This will provide plenty of protein, but also room for tasty balanced meals, and be much better for your wallet and kidneys.

areallycoolstory

will chia seeds help?

koinflipper

OK. Changed my macro ratio to 40% carbs, 25% fat and 35% protein. Made the change before dinner. I had only eaten 600 calories because such low carbs for two meals and snacks.

Had 800 calories left for dinner. So I splurged and went to SmoothieKing and got medium chocolate Lean1 with added Greek yogurt and ended up with all macros on target and 150 unused calories for today.

It will be easier tomorrow with more carbs allowed. Maybe I am focusing too much on macro ratio but just meeting calories only maintains weight for me over a year.

I really like Lean1 as meal replacement and can add just about anything to it in a smoothie, like PB2, ground flaxseed, frozen fruit. It has all the vitamins and minerals and propotion is automatic. So I ordered one tub of chocolate and one tub of vanilla on Amazon.

I'll start out with two meal replacement smoothies a day just to take the headache out of balancing macro ratios. Then I just need to plan snacks and one meal. I will probably have one meal replacement smoothie the rest of my life. I am single so don't have to plan meals for anyone else.

Thank you everyone for advice and suggestions. I am pumped believing I can really do this.

koinflipper

Too seska422: Mediterranean Diet never specified macronutrients so I have no idea of ratio. I just stuck to calorie count based on measured food.

After I read about thermodynamics of digestion, I realized that macro ratios really do matter. 1 calorie from protein is not the same as 1 calorie from carbs. For example, you burn 200 calories to digest high protein meal. Burn just 6 calories to digest high carb meal.

amusedmonkey

koinflipper wrote: »

Too seska422: Mediterranean Diet never specified macronutrients so I have no idea of ratio. I just stuck to calorie count based on measured food.

After I read about thermodynamics of digestion, I realized that macro ratios really do matter. 1 calorie from protein is not the same as 1 calorie from carbs. For example, you burn 200 calories to digest high protein meal. Burn just 6 calories to digest high carb meal.

That's simply not correct. If you burn 200 calories to digest a can of tuna, it would essentially be a negative calorie food. Yes, protein has a better thermic effect, but it doesn't make as much of a difference as you imagine in the grand scheme of things. You are trying to focus on what constitutes 1% of weight loss instead of what constitutes 99% of it. If you aren't losing at 1400 calories you are either underestimating foods eaten or your TDEE is closer to 1400-1500 (if you are already close to goal weight and on the shorter side). The first case is more likely since you said you needed to lose 60 pounds.

What you want to do is tighten your logging, get a food scale and log every single bite by weight. You will be surprised how much of a difference it makes. You will also want to double check nutritional info. The other day I used dry beans, but mistakenly entered info for canned. I caught it fast and corrected it, but the difference was huge! Especially that canned beans are conventionally measured with the liquid, not drained.

If on one day you don't feel like figuring out your macros, you could use the free version of https://www.eatthismuch.com/ to build a meal plan for the day for you. The paid version provides some nice options like a weekly planner, a grocery list, the ability to make recipes from ingredients already in your pantry..etc, but the free version is more than enough to plan a random day. You could even set a price limit to exclude generally expensive foods from your plan, and if one happens to slip in, you could just use the block function to block recipes you don't like or foods you don't want to buy. I trust their plans when I don't feel like thinking and planning because they are calculated based on USDA data and because they offer you the weight in grams of each item you use for cooking, which makes the error margin smaller.

Try logging accurately for a couple of months and see if it makes a difference.

Sued0nim

Weigh your food on a scale, don't measure

Listen to the wise people on here

Throw away what you think you know and focus on calories

koinflipper

I don't eat anything that I can weigh. No fresh chicken, beef or other such thing where knowing weight is really only way to know how much you are eating. Most everything I eat is measured in cups not grams or it is already packaged with known specified amount.

I don't eat fresh veggies except carrots and celery. All others are frozen so makes no sense to weigh the ice.