Protein Goal Woes
amelisegb
Posts: 58 Member
Full disclosure: I am pescetarian - I eat fish but no other meat.
How do people reach their protein goal!? I thought I did pretty well yesterday eating lots of plant-based proteins, but I'm still barely halfway there.
I've recently started again after a month of no logging, but even when I logged every day and tried to meet the goal, I always end up too low, or way over on fat/calories if I did make it.
Is there any advice you would give someone who's struggling to get enough protein in their diet?
How do people reach their protein goal!? I thought I did pretty well yesterday eating lots of plant-based proteins, but I'm still barely halfway there.
I've recently started again after a month of no logging, but even when I logged every day and tried to meet the goal, I always end up too low, or way over on fat/calories if I did make it.
Is there any advice you would give someone who's struggling to get enough protein in their diet?
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Replies
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Do you eat egg whites as well? They have excellent protein if you skip the yolk.0
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Hemp Protein powder.1
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What about dairy - yoghurt, milk, cheese etc. (yoghurt in particular is a great source, especially if you get one of the higher protein ones)2
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Do you eat eggs and dairy? Fish is fine, you don't need meat for protein; it can be hard to get in enough iron, but not protein. Vegetarian protein sources are beans and grains. You don't need to eat back exercise calories in the form of protein, and it's calories you're supposed to not exceed, not fat - if your goal is weight loss.0
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What is your protein goal?0
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What's your protein goal?
Most protein bars are around 20g of protein. A can of tuna is 32g of protein. That already puts you at 52g then it's fairly easy to make up the rest in nuts, seeds, legumes, beans, rice, oatmeal...
Edamame is one of my fave high-protein veggie snacks.0 -
Maybe you've set your protein goal too high? The normal, average height and weight woman, only 'needs' about 50 grams a day. Most people go for more ... Myself ... I try to get a range in from 72 to 90 grams a day. My average for 2017 is 86 grams. I am not any sort of vegetarian, but still have completely vegetarian meals as part of my meal routine.
Do you eat legumes and pulses? Do you add protein powder into any of recipes? Do you include dairy products, or is that considered meat? ... cause there is a lot of protein in ricotta cheese and yogurt.2 -
Maybe you've set your protein goal too high? The normal, average height and weight woman, only 'needs' about 50 grams a day. Most people go for more ... Myself ... I try to get a range in from 72 to 90 grams a day. My average for 2017 is 86 grams. I am not any sort of vegetarian, but still have completely vegetarian meals as part of my meal routine.
Do you eat legumes and pulses? Do you add protein powder into any of recipes? Do you include dairy products, or is that considered meat? ... cause there is a lot of protein in ricotta cheese and yogurt.
That 50ish grams you are quoting is more sedentary women that are eating maintenance cals. if you are tying to lose weight and are active or workout your protein needs are much higher.2 -
Maybe you've set your protein goal too high? The normal, average height and weight woman, only 'needs' about 50 grams a day. Most people go for more ... Myself ... I try to get a range in from 72 to 90 grams a day. My average for 2017 is 86 grams. I am not any sort of vegetarian, but still have completely vegetarian meals as part of my meal routine.
Do you eat legumes and pulses? Do you add protein powder into any of recipes? Do you include dairy products, or is that considered meat? ... cause there is a lot of protein in ricotta cheese and yogurt.
That 50ish grams you are quoting is more sedentary women that are eating maintenance cals. if you are tying to lose weight and are active or workout your protein needs are much higher.
.8-1 per pound of body weight is a good reference2 -
Maybe you've set your protein goal too high? The normal, average height and weight woman, only 'needs' about 50 grams a day. Most people go for more ... Myself ... I try to get a range in from 72 to 90 grams a day. My average for 2017 is 86 grams. I am not any sort of vegetarian, but still have completely vegetarian meals as part of my meal routine.
Do you eat legumes and pulses? Do you add protein powder into any of recipes? Do you include dairy products, or is that considered meat? ... cause there is a lot of protein in ricotta cheese and yogurt.
That 50ish grams you are quoting is more sedentary women that are eating maintenance cals. if you are tying to lose weight and are active or workout your protein needs are much higher.
.8-1 per pound of body weight is a good reference
That should be for lean mass, no need to get that much for total body weight. I do suggest setting a minimum of 0.8 grams per lb of goal weight, as most people don't know their BF%
OP, one reason you are probably having trouble is that you are 400-600 cals under your calorie goal (the few days I checked anyway).2 -
If you eat dairy: Low fat cottage cheese; greek yogurt; protein shakes with milk;protein enriched granola, oatmeal, etc.; eggs; 21 grain breads have 5 or six grams of protein and the same fibre. I was not losing weight and went to nutrition classes. I needed to increase my calories and my protein to reach my level of activity. I have been steadily losing. I do not always eat enough calories, but try to make the protein.1
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Maybe you've set your protein goal too high? The normal, average height and weight woman, only 'needs' about 50 grams a day. Most people go for more ... Myself ... I try to get a range in from 72 to 90 grams a day. My average for 2017 is 86 grams. I am not any sort of vegetarian, but still have completely vegetarian meals as part of my meal routine.
Do you eat legumes and pulses? Do you add protein powder into any of recipes? Do you include dairy products, or is that considered meat? ... cause there is a lot of protein in ricotta cheese and yogurt.
That 50ish grams you are quoting is more sedentary women that are eating maintenance cals. if you are tying to lose weight and are active or workout your protein needs are much higher.
.8-1 per pound of body weight is a good reference
I hope you are referring to LEAN body weight ... because your recommendation is for close to 200 grams of protein for someone weight in at about 230 pounds .... might be OK for a heavy weight lifting big man, or a football player, or a ditch digger ... but not for a person who does 1 hour a week of exercise on the weekend and counts every step they take to make certain they are getting in their 10K steps a day. Even at 150 pounds, that recommendation comes in at 120 grams of protein ... and if I ate that much protein in a day I'd be up all night with gout-like pain in my toes and fingers.
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Thanks all for the replies!What is your protein goal?
My protein goal (I think the MFP default) is 70g/day. I eat dairy and eggs, but I live with my mom who is lactose intolerant, so we don't really keep milk or yogurt around the house. Cheese is delish but has such a large fat/protein ratio I use up tons of my calories on it.
I think my problem is my "construction" of meals might be too carb heavy? lots of grains and veggies but eggs and dairy very rarely.
Legumes, beans, and nuts are how I get the majority of my protein now but obviously my current strategy isn't cutting it!
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I don't eat meat, eggs, or dairy. I found it challenging at first to get sufficient protein while calorie restricting. I began building my meals around my higher-quality protein sources first (for me, beans, tofu, tempeh, and seitan, sometimes some protein powder) and then adding other stuff. Like you, my natural impulse was to eat a lot of grains and vegetables -- considering the protein first and then adding the grains and vegetables helped me a lot.2
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Thanks all for the replies!What is your protein goal?
My protein goal (I think the MFP default) is 70g/day. I eat dairy and eggs, but I live with my mom who is lactose intolerant, so we don't really keep milk or yogurt around the house. Cheese is delish but has such a large fat/protein ratio I use up tons of my calories on it.
I think my problem is my "construction" of meals might be too carb heavy? lots of grains and veggies but eggs and dairy very rarely.
Legumes, beans, and nuts are how I get the majority of my protein now but obviously my current strategy isn't cutting it!
a typical lunch for me is (and I think this would work for you) 2 cups of peas, 1 can of seafood (tuna, octopus, oysters, salmon... ) and a piece of bread. Fair amount of protein.
I also do a green smoothie with egg whites and cashew milk.
greek yogurt is good for the lactose intolerant I believe. Fage 2%, 20 grams of protein.1 -
To everyone above.. I've heard .8-1 g protein minimum per kg of body weight. So for me that's 57-72 g for a 160 lb woman. MFP recommends I get 81 g. Close enough! I generally come in at 50-60 g and I'm a vegetarian (no meat, no fish, yes eggs, yes dairy).
My biggest sources of protein are black bean burgers (morningstar), fake chicken (morningstar), fake beef/fish (gardein), indian bean based dishes (tastybite), nuts (almonds, pistachios, walnuts mostly), hummus, tofu, soy milk, eggs (hard boiled, in a quiche, fried). Google around. There are also loads of surprise things like spinach that really pack a protein punch when you eat enough volume.2 -
OP, I feel you! I recently became conscious of my low-ish protein consumption. I'm trying now to hit about 90 grams on days that I lift weights (about .8 gram per pound of lean body weight). I can only do it if I drink a protein shake made with milk, Greek yogurt as a snack, and being very conscious of my other meals.1
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Protein powder is the only way I meet my protein goals. I am following the keto path though, so my needs may be higher than yours. I use Only Protein and I've liked it. Designer Whey's been a good one for me too.1
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OP are you active?0
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Eggs, lentils, canned tuna and salmon, soy beans/soy milk/tofu, peas, protein powder. Also as someone else mentioned, all the lactose intolerant folks I know can eat Greek yogurt, so might be worth considering too. There are also some bread products out there with protein added (like Thomas English Muffins has a "higher protein" option) that you might want to keep an eye out for.
There are a lot of differing opinions on protein goals, but I think 70g is a nice happy medium goal for you. More than the RDA (which is the bare minimum and probably low for someone trying to lose weight) but lower than other numbers that might seem out of reach right now. 1 -
I do strength training 2x a week (~1 hr of weights with a trainer) and cardio 2-3x a week (2-3 miles running each time, but I'm trying to increase that!)OP are you active?
However I have a desk job so I'm sitting for long periods of time in the day unfortunately.
I love the faye greek yogurt suggestion, and I will definitely look into some plant-based protein powders going forward!
(as an aside, I'm actually allergic to soy too, which complicates things lol)0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »I don't eat meat, eggs, or dairy. I found it challenging at first to get sufficient protein while calorie restricting. I began building my meals around my higher-quality protein sources first (for me, beans, tofu, tempeh, and seitan, sometimes some protein powder) and then adding other stuff. Like you, my natural impulse was to eat a lot of grains and vegetables -- considering the protein first and then adding the grains and vegetables helped me a lot.
I think this is a great idea, thank you! I can definitely try to plan meals around a protein and add other foods on top of that.0 -
I do strength training 2x a week (~1 hr of weights with a trainer) and cardio 2-3x a week (2-3 miles running each time, but I'm trying to increase that!)OP are you active?
However I have a desk job so I'm sitting for long periods of time in the day unfortunately.
I love the faye greek yogurt suggestion, and I will definitely look into some plant-based protein powders going forward!
(as an aside, I'm actually allergic to soy too, which complicates things lol)
Ok since you strength train I recommend shooting for 100 grams of protein per day.
Fage 2% greek yogurt - 20 grams per cup
Fairlife 2% MIlk (lactose free) 13 grams per cup I think
Peas
Beans
Egg whites
All of these are right off the top of my head and are pretty good on protein with not a lot of calories...2 -
I do strength training 2x a week (~1 hr of weights with a trainer) and cardio 2-3x a week (2-3 miles running each time, but I'm trying to increase that!)OP are you active?
However I have a desk job so I'm sitting for long periods of time in the day unfortunately.
I love the faye greek yogurt suggestion, and I will definitely look into some plant-based protein powders going forward!
(as an aside, I'm actually allergic to soy too, which complicates things lol)
Ok since you strength train I recommend shooting for 100 grams of protein per day.
Fage 2% greek yogurt - 20 grams per cup
Fairlife 2% MIlk (lactose free) 13 grams per cup I think
Peas
Beans
Egg whites
All of these are right off the top of my head and are pretty good on protein with not a lot of calories...
Awesome suggestions, thank you so much!1 -
To everyone above.. I've heard .8-1 g protein minimum per kg of body weight. So for me that's 57-72 g for a 160 lb woman. MFP recommends I get 81 g. Close enough! I generally come in at 50-60 g and I'm a vegetarian (no meat, no fish, yes eggs, yes dairy).
My biggest sources of protein are black bean burgers (morningstar), fake chicken (morningstar), fake beef/fish (gardein), indian bean based dishes (tastybite), nuts (almonds, pistachios, walnuts mostly), hummus, tofu, soy milk, eggs (hard boiled, in a quiche, fried). Google around. There are also loads of surprise things like spinach that really pack a protein punch when you eat enough volume.
The per kg of body weight protein recommendation is avoid deficiency, in inactive people, who aren't dieting. Being active and in a deficit requires a higher consumption of protein from good quality sources.4 -
I'm usually way over on protein and have trouble hitting my fats.0
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The thread below is a great resource. It links to a spreadsheet that lists many, many foods by protein efficiency - most protein for fewest calories. Scroll past the mostly meat-y fish-y things at the top, and there are lots of plant sources. Find ones you like, and eat more of those, less of something else that isn't much helping you meet your goals.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also
As an ovo-lacto veg, I routinely get 100g daily (5'5", weight 120-something lbs) in maintenance, though it was sometimes a little less while losing. I tried never to go below 72g.
One thing that helps as a vegetarian is to try to get at least some protein from nearly everything I eat, rather than just focusing on one big protein food per meal like a lot of meat-eaters do. There are fruits with protein, veg with protein, breads/grains/pastas with higher protein, etc. Those little bits add up over the day. Added to your fish, seitan, tempeh, beans, tofu, etc., you can reach your goal.
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livingleanlivingclean wrote: »What about dairy - yoghurt, milk, cheese etc. (yoghurt in particular is a great source, especially if you get one of the higher protein ones)
ditto. yoghurt (particularly greek yogurt) and cottage cheese are really good sources of protein for the number of calories. If I'm low on protein, cottage cheese is my main goto for a snack.1 -
i've never tried them...but lots of people in different groups i'm in have mentioned muscleegg and the flavored eggwhites you can buy - not sure how you could incorporate them into food - maybe baked goods to increase protein ratios0
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