Have vegetarians met their macros within their calorie limits?

Rit1603

What do you vegetarians think? Its either one or the other for me, what about you? Found any sort of balance between the two?

I start realizing I will never meet my macros and stay within calories limit, and this is thanks to my diet.
Constantly in deficit of protein/fat and sometimes carbs

Average day, today for example:
1500 cal reached my daily intake but :
- 20 g protein
- 83 g carbs
- 16 grams fat
+ 501% vitamin A
+ 224% vitamin C
Salt always below limit which i guess is good,

So I cant have anything else unless I want to upper my calorie limit..

No meat/fish/cheese here.......

RodaRose

Check your numbers for protein, carbs, fat. Maybe there is a typo.

AnnPT77

What kind of vegetarian? I'm ovo-lacto vegetarian, and was able to get 65-80g of protein most days on 1200 net calories. I'm currently at 1800 net, striving to get 100g protein daily, and rarely missing it. (I eat back exercise calories of 300 or so a lot of days, so my 1200 net was probably 1500-1600 eaten, making it around where you say you're eating now.) And my MFP friends include vegans getting way more than 20 grams of protein on 1500 calories.

If you have the macros you list, I don't understand where your calories are coming from, unless it's alcohol: Carbs & protein have 4 calories per gram, fat has 9. Your calories from the macros you list would be ((20 grams protein * 4 calories per gram) + (83 grams carbs * 4 calories per gram) + (16 grams fat * 9 calories per gram)) = 556 calories. If you're eating 1500, this literally doesn't add up.

20 grams of protein in seriously not enough.

cate320

Try adding nuts to your diet and drink protein shakes with almond milk.

Are you vegan? I noticed you said no cheese, but what about eggs?

itsbasschick

i'm a vegetarian, and i get over 80 grams of protein on workout days and days after. i do eat dairy, but i also eat egg whites and soy, plus some protein from other sources like quinoa and the mixed egg/fungi protein in quorn products.

ASH_DVM

Rit1603 wrote: »

What do you vegetarians think? Its either one or the other for me, what about you? Found any sort of balance between the two?

I start realizing I will never meet my macros and stay within calories limit, and this is thanks to my diet.
Constantly in deficit of protein/fat and sometimes carbs

Average day, today for example:
1500 cal reached my daily intake but :
- 20 g protein
- 83 g carbs
- 16 grams fat
+ 501% vitamin A
+ 224% vitamin C
Salt always below limit which i guess is good,

So I cant have anything else unless I want to upper my calorie limit..

No meat/fish/cheese here.......

Unless you are drinking extreme amounts of alcohol to reach 1500 cals (7 calories per gram) which I'm assuming you're not, something is wrong in your entries or diary,

20g protein = 80 cals
83 g carb = 332 cals
16 g fat = 144 cals

Total = 556 cals.

Something is wildly amiss in your logging. Check your entries and try to use only USDA entries and make sure that your packaged food matches the label.

Rit1603

cate320 wrote: »

Try adding nuts to your diet and drink protein shakes with almond milk.

Are you vegan? I noticed you said no cheese, but what about eggs?

Yes i eat eggs but max one egg 2 times a week and i drink milk in the morning.

Rit1603

Now tonight Iadded a shake and stats looked better but i sumup to 1780cal
No i dont drink alcohol at all

Rit1603

Sorry guys you misunderstood:

Average day, today for example:
1500 cal reached my daily intake but :
- 20 g protein means i have 20 grams left
- 83 g carbs means I have 83 left still
- 16 grams fat means i have 16 grams left
+ 501% vitamin A means i went over
+ 224% vitamin C means i went over
Salt always below limit which i guess is good,

The - symbol was "minus"

Rit1603

After having a shake now stats are better but I am at 1786 .

sympha01

Doesn't it really depend on where you set your macros? Everybody does not follow the same goal proportions.

ASH_DVM

Rit1603 wrote: »

Sorry guys you misunderstood:

Average day, today for example:
1500 cal reached my daily intake but :
- 20 g protein means i have 20 grams left
- 83 g carbs means I have 83 left still
- 16 grams fat means i have 16 grams left
+ 501% vitamin A means i went over
+ 224% vitamin C means i went over
Salt always below limit which i guess is good,

The - symbol was "minus"

Well, then my post still makes sense, as you'd have about 500 cals to play with. Remember, not all the entries are correct and reliable. Calorie counts for packaged are, but some items users didn't input carbs, fats, proteins, etc, or entered them wrong. I'd just check the labels and entries, making sure they are correct, and you'll probably be closer to being correct.

AnnPT77

How about yogurt: Greek yogurt has a lot of protein for the number of calories.

Other possibilities: Soy foods like tempeh, edamame, dry-roasted soybeans; chickpea pasta or black bean pasta; any and all beans/legumes; nuts in reasonable portions including peanuts & peanut butter; vegetables that have at least a little protein rather than those with none; seeds; grains such as quinoa, buckwheat, teff, triticale, spelt, etc. If you don't need to eat gluten-free, seitan is also an option.

Personally, I don't enjoy fake meats, protein bars, or protein powder supplements, so I don't eat them, therefore I can't suggest any that are tasty, but I'm sure others can/will.

Check out the spreadsheet described in this forum post: Carbs and Fats are cheap. Here's a Guide to getting your PROTEIN's worth. Fiber also...

The top of the spreadsheet has a lot of meat items, but if you scroll down it, you'll find vegetarian sources. Find the most calorie-efficient protein sources that you like, and eat more of those.

Rit1603

AnnPT77 wrote: »

How about yogurt: Greek yogurt has a lot of protein for the number of calories.

Other possibilities: Soy foods like tempeh, edamame, dry-roasted soybeans; chickpea pasta or black bean pasta; any and all beans/legumes; nuts in reasonable portions including peanuts & peanut butter; vegetables that have at least a little protein rather than those with none; seeds; grains such as quinoa, buckwheat, teff, triticale, spelt, etc. If you don't need to eat gluten-free, seitan is also an option.

Personally, I don't enjoy fake meats, protein bars, or protein powder supplements, so I don't eat them, therefore I can't suggest any that are tasty, but I'm sure others can/will.

Check out the spreadsheet described in this forum post: Carbs and Fats are cheap. Here's a Guide to getting your PROTEIN's worth. Fiber also...

The top of the spreadsheet has a lot of meat items, but if you scroll down it, you'll find vegetarian sources. Find the most calorie-efficient protein sources that you like, and eat more of those.

Thank you so much help and info!

lainy1979

I always struggle to hit my protein goal. I'm the same, usually I haven't got the calories left in my day to balance it all out. I'm just a carb lover I think. I try to incorporate cottage cheese, nuts and eggs into my meals. Sometimes I think that this dieting malarkey would be easier if I could just chew on a big old steak every day but that isn't going to happen

lainy1979

... i do sometimes use diet shakes/smoothies and they do boost my protein intake

katiebean

I'm not vegetarian but I eat very little meat, and I struggle to reach my protein goal through food alone. I tend to have a protein shake to up it if I've got enough calories left.

If you can eat some dairy, try greek yogurt (I believe low fat yogurt tends to have a higher protein than full-fat). I eat greek yogurt with a banana and nuts for breakfast. Also, cottage cheese! Can't believe I never used to eat this. Low fat cottage cheese is really low in fat so you can have a big pile of it on your plate, it tastes really good and it's got a lot of protein in it. The cottage cheese I get has about 74 calories and 11g worth of protein per 100g. Yay. Also, eggs!

ketorach

Rit1603 wrote: »

What do you vegetarians think? Its either one or the other for me, what about you? Found any sort of balance between the two?

I start realizing I will never meet my macros and stay within calories limit, and this is thanks to my diet.
Constantly in deficit of protein/fat and sometimes carbs

Average day, today for example:
1500 cal reached my daily intake but :
- 20 g protein
- 83 g carbs
- 16 grams fat
+ 501% vitamin A
+ 224% vitamin C
Salt always below limit which i guess is good,

So I cant have anything else unless I want to upper my calorie limit..

No meat/fish/cheese here.......

That's 556 calories.

Edit: Saw your clarifying post above. Carry on!

distinctlybeautiful

I'm vegetarian and eat around 140-160 grams of protein on a regular basis. Dairy does it for me!

DaddieCat

I'm vegan and I eat upward of 200grams/day. Occasionally, I supplement powder, but it's really all in the foods you choose to meet your goals.

kshama2001

Rit1603 wrote: »

cate320 wrote: »

Try adding nuts to your diet and drink protein shakes with almond milk.

Are you vegan? I noticed you said no cheese, but what about eggs?

Yes i eat eggs but max one egg 2 times a week and i drink milk in the morning.

Why only two eggs a week?

What are your macros set to and why?

Please change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

chunky_pinup

This seems crazy low....
I eat 1400 cal a day and have no problems meeting my goals of 105p/31f/175c. I'm vegan, and eat a lot of seitan, beans (black, chickpea), quinoa, tvp, and the occasional tofu. I also have one shake and one protein bar on days I work out. For 1500 cals, all of your numbers seem very low. Are you positive you've calculated correctly?

janejellyroll

I'm vegan, eat about 2,000 calories a day (maintaining), and generally don't have problems meeting my goals. I get most of my protein from beans, tofu, tempeh, vegetables, grains, and seitan. I will occasionally add protein powder to a smoothie.

lemurcat12

You cannot be at calorie limit and significantly under on all three macros (unless drinking lots of alcohol). Your macros make up the total calories.

So those results are going to be from quick adding calories or alcohol or (quite likely) incorrect entries. Nothing to do with being vegetarian.

AnnPT77

Rit1603 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

How about yogurt: Greek yogurt has a lot of protein for the number of calories.

Other possibilities: Soy foods like tempeh, edamame, dry-roasted soybeans; chickpea pasta or black bean pasta; any and all beans/legumes; nuts in reasonable portions including peanuts & peanut butter; vegetables that have at least a little protein rather than those with none; seeds; grains such as quinoa, buckwheat, teff, triticale, spelt, etc. If you don't need to eat gluten-free, seitan is also an option.

Personally, I don't enjoy fake meats, protein bars, or protein powder supplements, so I don't eat them, therefore I can't suggest any that are tasty, but I'm sure others can/will.

Check out the spreadsheet described in this forum post: Carbs and Fats are cheap. Here's a Guide to getting your PROTEIN's worth. Fiber also...

The top of the spreadsheet has a lot of meat items, but if you scroll down it, you'll find vegetarian sources. Find the most calorie-efficient protein sources that you like, and eat more of those.

Thank you so much help and info!

I forgot to mention PB2 peanut butter powder (there are other brands, too). PB2 comes in original, and chocolate. Basically, it's peanut butter with the fat removed, and (a small amount of) sugar added, 45 calories per serving, 4g protein.

Though you can mix it with water to make a spreadable thing, I don't really enjoy it that way. I like the chocolate one to flavor & slightly sweeten plain Greek yogurt (I'd put it in smoothies if I ever ate them).

The plain one makes a nice peanut sauce for edamame/mung fettuccine and veggies - just mix it with soy sauce, brown rice vinegar, and whatever seasoning you like (ginger, garlic, toasted sesame oil, green onions, szechuan pepper, hot pepper sauce are some options). One serving of that pasta + peanut sauce is 28g protein, even before considering whether the veggies you use have some protein.

Rit1603

Sorry for confusion guys but all of those numbers have a minus before, meaning that I am under the goal for those amounts (meaning I still those amount left) and when it is + meaning i went over the goal.

Why only 2 eggs a week? Because I don't particularly enjoy those

Cottage cheese: unfortunately don't like it! I only like milk/yogurt, parmesan over pasta or mozzarella over pizza . But no other cheese I never liked it since childhood

Today I had big portion tofu but I find tofu to be heavy on my stomach like if I don't digest it very easily although I like it when baked,

lemurcat12

Rit1603 wrote: »

Sorry for confusion guys but all of those numbers have a minus before, meaning that I am under the goal for those amounts (meaning I still those amount left) and when it is + meaning i went over the goal.

I understand that, but you can't be over 500 calories below your three macros in total (which is what the numbers you reported work out to) and be at your calorie limit unless the macros are wrong on some of the entries or you are choosing entries without macros included (as with quick add). That's the thing you need to figure out before worrying whether you are under on some macros.

Rit1603

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Rit1603 wrote: »

Sorry for confusion guys but all of those numbers have a minus before, meaning that I am under the goal for those amounts (meaning I still those amount left) and when it is + meaning i went over the goal.

I understand that, but you can't be over 500 calories below your three macros in total (which is what the numbers you reported work out to) and be at your calorie limit unless the macros are wrong on some of the entries or you are choosing entries without macros included (as with quick add). That's the thing you need to figure out before worrying whether you are under on some macros.

I think it might then be the reason, I generally scan bar codes....somebody suggest to use usda coded entries let me go back and check my last day

Rit1603

Ok today i met the goal but thanks to 1 protein bar for breakfast, tofu at lunch and shake at dinner, i actually went over 12 g, ok i guess i have to find balance

itsbasschick

Rit1603 wrote: »

Yes i eat eggs but max one egg 2 times a week and i drink milk in the morning.

if you're concerned about the cholesterol and fat in egg yolks, just eat the whites. that's what i was doing, but now i buy cartons of egg whites - they're not expensive from target.

Rit1603 wrote: »

Ok today i met the goal but thanks to 1 protein bar for breakfast, tofu at lunch and shake at dinner, i actually went over 12 g, ok i guess i have to find balance

you can go over 12 grams on protein and it won't hurt you at all unless you have a medical condition that doesn't allow you to eat more protein.

RodaRose

If you only like tofu when it is baked, work things out so that it is baked.