Protein - I need ideas

Piqueaboo

Hi folks,

I recently upped my calories and protein to 35% but now find that I struggle eating enough of it. To give you an idea, I do try and hit my macros (Sunday P 35% | F 27% | C 38%; Saturday P 40% | F 27% | C 33%; Friday P 39% | F 16% | C 45%; Thursday P 41% | F 33% | C 26%; and so on) but I don't seem to hit the amount in grams that I'm supposed to, so to use the above example, Sunday I was supposed to hit 184g of protein but hit only 112, Saturday 188 but hit 166, Friday I actually went over, Thursday 196 but hit 128.

Basically what I need is ideas how to up my protein without increasing calories too badly - also, I'm not the richest person in the world so would like low-cost options. I also think this may be the time to start integrating protein powder?

Any tips are appreciated!

kommodevaran

Protein has 4 calories per gram. Protein is in meat, fish, eggs, protein powder, to some extent in dairy, beans and grains. To get in more protein and not go over on calories, just eat more of the protein dense foods and less of other foods. You need a balanced diet filled with enough of a range of nutrients. You definetely don't need 184 grams of protein per day. Protein foods are typically expensive.

TavistockToad

whats your reasoning for eating so much protein?

Nony_Mouse

Okay, this is why percentages aren't actually that useful for macros imho. For my baseline cals, my protein is exactly where I want it in gram amount, but as soon as exercise cals get added, up it goes, and there is just no need for me to eat that much.

So, you may be better off thinking in grams. For protein, you want 0.6-0.8g minimum per lb of ideal body weight, for fat 0.35-0.45g minimum per lb, the rest of your calories can fall wherever. If you want more protein than that, fine, but it's not really doing anything in terms of muscle repair etc etc above that level. The examples you posted of what you hit the last few days are fine.

That said, if you can find a protein powder you like, it's a damn good excuse for a milkshake every day!!

deannalfisher

184g seems really high

amusedmonkey

You don't need to go that high on protein unless that's how you like to eat, especially if you are having issues hitting it. Lower your protein to a more reasonable number and your diet should become more sustainable . It appears you don't really need advice on what to eat since you seem to be hitting good number of protein grams, because the answer would be "more of the same". I really encourage you to focus on getting 100-120 grams and not worry about the percentages. If you eat more on some days, no problem, but you shouldn't create unnecessary stress for yourself to hit an unusually high number for no good reason.

Old_Cat_Lady

I eat 60-70/day protein minimum and I'm losing. Almost vegetarian here.

cryonic_273

If you are having trouble hitting protein its not due to a lack of options. Base your meals round a high protein source thats low in fat. The low fat is so it leaves you enough calories to flesh out the rest of your diet.

Prawns, white fish cod/basa , skinless chucken and turkey, lean steak, pork loin are all nearly pure protein. Use these to hit your quota then use the rest of your calories to add a healthy portion of varied fruit and veg.

Beans are a very good source of protein up to about 40% and some fat free dairy is very high in protein - Skyr/fat free fromage freis/ cottage cheese /quark which can make good snacks / breakfasts.

184g is a very high protein level and you probably dont need that much unless doing heavy bodybuilding. Thats 736 calories of pure protein - which is a lot of protein. - thats nearly a kilo of steak (800-900g) or chicken to hit that target. its much higher weights from lower % protein foods.

this site is good for generating meal plans to target specific ratios. https://www.eatthismuch.com/

emailmehere1122

I'm not sure if it's available where you are but here in the states we have egg whites in a carton. It's about 60-70 cents per gram of protein

Others have asked...why so much protein?

Piqueaboo

Hey everyone,

Thank you for all these answers!! To answer yours, I changed my diary settings to 35% protein and the numbers is what MFP spit out (I upped it following advice of another user here when I had a plateau and wanted to get moving again) - I'm basically just going by what it tells me (pic below). I'll happily go lower as I feel I've got my food nailed down, and the only thing that's a challenge is the amount of protein. If I go by the calculation from @Nony_Mouse then I should be having 137g of protein which is a lot easier to achieve

I'm 75% towards my goal weight and I'm worried I'll mess it up, in a nutshell, I suppose.

amusedmonkey

Piqueaboo wrote: »

Hey everyone,

Thank you for all these answers!! To answer yours, I changed my diary settings to 35% protein and the numbers is what MFP spit out (I upped it following advice of another user here when I had a plateau and wanted to get moving again) - I'm basically just going by what it tells me (pic below). I'll happily go lower as I feel I've got my food nailed down, and the only thing that's a challenge is the amount of protein. If I go by the calculation from @Nony_Mouse then I should be having 137g of protein which is a lot easier to achieve

I'm 75% towards my goal weight and I'm worried I'll mess it up, in a nutshell, I suppose.

That would be a more reasonable target. Protein will not help with your plateau, though. What will help is patience (weight can stall for a couple of weeks for no reason, possibly more if you're already small), good logging practices (a food scale can help if overeating is suspected), and reasonable exercise logging (some activities tend to be overestimated on MFP and some trackers overestimate).

AnnPT77

Piqueaboo wrote: »

Hey everyone,

Thank you for all these answers!! To answer yours, I changed my diary settings to 35% protein and the numbers is what MFP spit out (I upped it following advice of another user here when I had a plateau and wanted to get moving again) - I'm basically just going by what it tells me (pic below). I'll happily go lower as I feel I've got my food nailed down, and the only thing that's a challenge is the amount of protein. If I go by the calculation from @Nony_Mouse then I should be having 137g of protein which is a lot easier to achieve

I'm 75% towards my goal weight and I'm worried I'll mess it up, in a nutshell, I suppose.

@Nony_Mouse's advice is solid, IMO.

Nony_Mouse

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Piqueaboo wrote: »

Hey everyone,

Thank you for all these answers!! To answer yours, I changed my diary settings to 35% protein and the numbers is what MFP spit out (I upped it following advice of another user here when I had a plateau and wanted to get moving again) - I'm basically just going by what it tells me (pic below). I'll happily go lower as I feel I've got my food nailed down, and the only thing that's a challenge is the amount of protein. If I go by the calculation from @Nony_Mouse then I should be having 137g of protein which is a lot easier to achieve

I'm 75% towards my goal weight and I'm worried I'll mess it up, in a nutshell, I suppose.

@Nony_Mouse's advice is solid, IMO.

Aw, thanks @AnnPT77