How to get protein

emmies_123

After a few weeks of logging my meals I have been consistently unable to hit the protein macro, usually under by 20-40 points! I am trying to build some strength in my upper body, although I'm not doing a lifting workout.

How do I get more protein in my diet without hating my diet changes:
-I have a nut allergy, so almonds/walnuts/etc is a no go
-I hate the taste of eggs. Trying to build a tolerance to taste but it is slow going.
-I'm strongly lactose intolerant, so no greek yogurt or soft cheeses. Can have lactose-free dairy products or hard cheeses, but then i'm adding a lot of calories too...
-Not a fan of texture when eating beans. If recipe could mask texture I would likely eat more beans.

I have increased my meat intake over the last week, introducing meat into my lunch and breakfast. Sadly still falling way short of macro, and I don't think I can add much more meat without getting sick of it.

Also concerned about going over calorie count just trying to get to protein macro.

Any advice welcome

janejellyroll

If you're not a fan of more meat and beans aren't an option, have you considered tofu, tempeh, and seitan? There are also protein powders and bars -- there are a huge variety of options available here from plant-based ones like soy, rice, hemp, or pea or animal product-based ones. You can also check out soy-based yogurts -- they're higher protein than other plant-based options.

I'd also experiment with different types of beans/recipes to see if the texture issue is always a problem. My husband hates most beans due to texture, but he's fine when they're blended. Red lentils, when cooked, tend to "melt" and the texture is very different. If you include them in a tomato sauce, you're getting a huge protein boost to the meal.

Another thing to check out are higher protein pastas (like black bean or chickpea). Pasta alone won't meet your protein needs, but they could be a nice boost.

Go_Deskercise

I am using FitMiss Delight Monday - Friday as my afternoon snack at work.
I picked it because it has 16g of protein and 90 calories in 1 scoop.

I'm not expecting it to work wonders or anything, I just wanted to up my protein intake and curb my afternoon appetite so I don't go snack crazy before dinner.

I really like it so far. I got the chocolate flavor, so it helps with my sweet tooth a bit as well!

emmies_123

I like meat, but not much more than i currently have:

Introduced Sausage to breakfast
Introduced turkey breast sandwich to lunch time. Usually have pasta, which gave me protein but not as much

For dinner I have variety depending on day. Chicken, tilapia, pork chop, or steak (if hubby is making it). Usually have a potato product as a side...

I may have to look into protein powders, although i'm worried that would give me too much in a dose...

kommodevaran

Fish and seafood? Grains also have some protein. Have you changed the macro settings, btw?

TavistockToad

emmies_123 wrote: »

I may have to look into protein powders, although i'm worried that would give me too much in a dose...

It wont... but you can measure exactly how much powder you have, so it's entirely under your control.

urloved33

emmies_123 wrote: »

After a few weeks of logging my meals I have been consistently unable to hit the protein macro, usually under by 20-40 points! I am trying to build some strength in my upper body, although I'm not doing a lifting workout.

How do I get more protein in my diet without hating my diet changes:
-I have a nut allergy, so almonds/walnuts/etc is a no go
-I hate the taste of eggs. Trying to build a tolerance to taste but it is slow going.
-I'm strongly lactose intolerant, so no greek yogurt or soft cheeses. Can have lactose-free dairy products or hard cheeses, but then i'm adding a lot of calories too...
-Not a fan of texture when eating beans. If recipe could mask texture I would likely eat more beans.

I have increased my meat intake over the last week, introducing meat into my lunch and breakfast. Sadly still falling way short of macro, and I don't think I can add much more meat without getting sick of it.

Also concerned about going over calorie count just trying to get to protein macro.

Any advice welcome

I drink it in my home made smoothies.

janejellyroll

emmies_123 wrote: »

I like meat, but not much more than i currently have:

Introduced Sausage to breakfast
Introduced turkey breast sandwich to lunch time. Usually have pasta, which gave me protein but not as much

For dinner I have variety depending on day. Chicken, tilapia, pork chop, or steak (if hubby is making it). Usually have a potato product as a side...

I may have to look into protein powders, although i'm worried that would give me too much in a dose...

You can have as much as you want. If you don't want a whole serving, you can have less than that.

Kandisn29

Salmon? Protein powder?

emmies_123

kommodevaran wrote: »

Fish and seafood? Grains also have some protein. Have you changed the macro settings, btw?

I have not changed the macro since it was originally calculated by MFP based on body measurements and goal weight.

Kandisn29 wrote: »

Salmon? Protein powder?

Halo top - lactose free version is not sold within shopping distance
Milk - I do sometimes have lactose-free milk (store brand) but this eats up a lot of calories in daily budget and trying to get more food than liquid calories so I can avoid hunger and snacking.

diannethegeek

I aasume by now you've been through the stickied "must reads" and have already seen this: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also/p1

TavistockToad

emmies_123 wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

Fish and seafood? Grains also have some protein. Have you changed the macro settings, btw?

I have not changed the macro since it was originally calculated by MFP based on body measurements and goal weight.

Kandisn29 wrote: »

Salmon? Protein powder?

Halo top - lactose free version is not sold within shopping distance
Milk - I do sometimes have lactose-free milk (store brand) but this eats up a lot of calories in daily budget and trying to get more food than liquid calories so I can avoid hunger and snacking.

MFP is low for protein, how many cals are you eating?

Have you tried prelogging to see how big your portions would need to be to hit your protein goal?

emmies_123

diannethegeek wrote: »

I aasume by now you've been through the stickied "must reads" and have already seen this: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also/p1

I have, thank you Sadly the issue I have with most of that chart is my need to balance calories with protein amounts with food intolerances.

mutantspicy

hard boiled eggs, boneless skinless chicken breast, Turkey, Lean Steak (new York strip) are pretty efficient protein adders. Meaning high protein for the calorie count. I would ditch the sausage.

Edit : Noticed you don't like eggs. Have you tried chick peas? I know some people who can't handle beans and lentils but can handle those. Also, one of my fav protein snack is Sardines.

fish9283

Egg whites and tofu do not have much flavor, so you can add almost any seasoning that you like, or mix them into other foods.

shaumom

For beans - chickpeas have some good recipes that hide the texture significantly.
Socca bread is a french flat bread that basically just has chickpeas, water, salt, and oil. Has a bready texture. USually it is made with chickpea flour, but I just use soaked chickpeas and blend up really fine with a little water to make the batter. Many recipes can be found for this online.

homemade Falafel - love this beyond words. It has a texture kind of like a slightly more crumbly hushpuppy - fried on the outside, soft and bready on the inside. Calories, though - it's a bit high, but very filling. I think there are baked falafel recipes that might help with the calorie issues, though, as there is no oil in the falafel themselves, but only chickpeas, onion, parsley, and salt. Some recipes add a teeny bit of starch or flour.


I have seen raw oats added to smoothies and blended up that might be a good addition of some protein.

Quinoa and amaranth are actually full proteins, so you could add some to smoothies or use instead of rice and you would be getting carbs and protein all in one go, cut down on the additional calories you would otherwise need when added partial proteins that needs to be paired with something.

I know there is soy protein powder or vanilla soy powder that you can add to smoothies - maybe you could make some other beans, then dry and grind them up for the same purpose, too?

sunflower butter or hemp butter - i believe some brands have nut or peanut free facilities, so maybe that would be a good protein source? I think some of the seed butters have like 1 serving of protein for just a couple Tb of the seed butter.

nickssweetheart

Split pea soup is incredibly high in protein and it's blended smooth so texture shouldn't be an issue. Fat free refried beans? Hummus? Also cooked from scratch beans have a much better texture than canned ones, maybe try experimenting with some dried beans?

I like to cook my oatmeal with soy milk so I get the extra protein plus I get something to chew. You might try a can of lentil soup and see how you feel about lentils. Personally I love them and they are adaptable to all kinds of seasoning.

And I second tofu. It's never been popular in this country but it's super easy, high protein, and delicious if it's cooked and seasoned well. I like to bake it so it gets more texture and then toss it with various sauces. You can also blend it into smoothies and it's significantly cheaper than protein powder, if cost is at all an issue for you.

Jrodasff

Protein shakes

kshama2001

nickssweetheart wrote: »

Split pea soup is incredibly high in protein and it's blended smooth so texture shouldn't be an issue. Fat free refried beans? Hummus? Also cooked from scratch beans have a much better texture than canned ones, maybe try experimenting with some dried beans?

I like to cook my oatmeal with soy milk so I get the extra protein plus I get something to chew. You might try a can of lentil soup and see how you feel about lentils. Personally I love them and they are adaptable to all kinds of seasoning.

And I second tofu. It's never been popular in this country but it's super easy, high protein, and delicious if it's cooked and seasoned well. I like to bake it so it gets more texture and then toss it with various sauces. You can also blend it into smoothies and it's significantly cheaper than protein powder, if cost is at all an issue for you.

Tofu is indeed significantly cheaper than protein powder if you are looking at price per pound. However, since the first ingredient in tofu is water, and protein powder has no water, a more valid metric is price per gram of protein. I'll use Nasoya Silken Tofu as an example, as this comes in a one pound package and is on sale near me for $2.69 per pound. The whole package only provides 20 grams of protein, so $0.13 per gram.

My protein powder, which is on the pricey side because the cows are grass fed, has thirty 20 gram servings of protein for $30, so $0.05 per gram. It's also 90 calories per 20 grams of protein, compared to Nasoya's 225 calories per 20 grams of protein.

(Feel free to redo the math with whatever type and brand of tofu you like. Firm tofu does have less water, so more protein per serving, but it also comes in smaller packages and has more calories per serving. Nasoya's Organic Firm would come to $0.07 per gram of protein if it were also $2.69 per package, so still more expensive than my pricey protein powder.)

http://www.nasoya.com/healthy-tofu-products/

ps - I can't consider anything that provides 4-8 g of protein per serving to be "high protein." This might be high protein for a plant based diet, but certainly not if one is an omnivore.

ashxtasticness

Black bean quesadillas are good at masking bean texture. You just smash those bad boys up, add cheese/sour cream/whatever you want, mix it all together and make it into a quesadilla.

Protein powder/shakes that are lactose free, I add a little to my coffee in the morning to start my day off with a bigger protein boost.

Protein Bars- the best tasting, closest to a real chocolate bar I have found are power crunch bar, and let me tell you those things are delicious!

They have bread that has added protein as well, I can't remember what the brands are.

Meat, meat, meat- I eat a lot of chicken, turkey sausage, turkey meatballs etc.

nickssweetheart

kshama2001 wrote: »

nickssweetheart wrote: »

Split pea soup is incredibly high in protein and it's blended smooth so texture shouldn't be an issue. Fat free refried beans? Hummus? Also cooked from scratch beans have a much better texture than canned ones, maybe try experimenting with some dried beans?

I like to cook my oatmeal with soy milk so I get the extra protein plus I get something to chew. You might try a can of lentil soup and see how you feel about lentils. Personally I love them and they are adaptable to all kinds of seasoning.

And I second tofu. It's never been popular in this country but it's super easy, high protein, and delicious if it's cooked and seasoned well. I like to bake it so it gets more texture and then toss it with various sauces. You can also blend it into smoothies and it's significantly cheaper than protein powder, if cost is at all an issue for you.

Tofu is indeed significantly cheaper than protein powder if you are looking at price per pound. However, since the first ingredient in tofu is water, and protein powder has no water, a more valid metric is price per gram of protein. I'll use Nasoya Silken Tofu as an example, as this comes in a one pound package and is on sale near me for $2.69 per pound. The whole package only provides 20 grams of protein, so $0.13 per gram.

My protein powder, which is on the pricey side because the cows are grass fed, has thirty 20 gram servings of protein for $30, so $0.05 per gram. It's also 90 calories per 20 grams of protein, compared to Nasoya's 225 calories per 20 grams of protein.

(Feel free to redo the math with whatever type and brand of tofu you like. Firm tofu does have less water, so more protein per serving, but it also comes in smaller packages and has more calories per serving. Nasoya's Organic Firm would come to $0.07 per gram of protein if it were also $2.69 per package, so still more expensive than my pricey protein powder.)

http://www.nasoya.com/healthy-tofu-products/

ps - I can't consider anything that provides 4-8 g of protein per serving to be "high protein." This might be high protein for a plant based diet, but certainly not if one is an omnivore.

Fair enough. I don't pay nearly for tofu what you do, though. I use Nasoya which i $1.49 at WalMart and I frequently get it on sale at Sprouts for 99 cents per 14 oz. In fact, it's on sale there this week if anyone wants to dip their toe in the tofu waters.

allmannerofthings

I'm having a similar problem. I'm ok with some nuts but have major intolerance for lactose and soy and lots of difficulties with legumes. (I do like falafel tho) I am trying to find a protein powder with no soy and no dairy. Any suggestions? (I am in Canada)

fatvegan88

Why do you need protein? You know your body is full of protein. Diseases like Alzheimer’s are caused by a build up of protein in the brain. If you weren’t eating so much protein then your body would use that protein. Also your skin is made of protein, and your body can use that too. Just saying or you can eat like 200 g of chicken breast, whatever.

lynn_glenmont

fatvegan88 wrote: »

Why do you need protein? You know your body is full of protein. Diseases like Alzheimer’s are caused by a build up of protein in the brain. If you weren’t eating so much protein then your body would use that protein. Also your skin is made of protein, and your body can use that too. Just saying or you can eat like 200 g of chicken breast, whatever.

Your heart is made of protein, too. Your body could just use that. Of course, you would die. You wouldn't do well without your skin, either.

emmies_123

Thank you everyone. I found some protein bars that were nut free over the weekend, going to try various brands as work snack this week to see which I enjoy. I have also switched out my sandwich bread for "Nature's Own wheat" as it had a higher protein count than the one I was using before.

janejellyroll

fatvegan88 wrote: »

Why do you need protein? You know your body is full of protein. Diseases like Alzheimer’s are caused by a build up of protein in the brain. If you weren’t eating so much protein then your body would use that protein. Also your skin is made of protein, and your body can use that too. Just saying or you can eat like 200 g of chicken breast, whatever.

I want the protein in my organs and muscles to *stay* in my organs and muscles. That's why I eat more protein, because I don't want to use up the protein that is doing work in my body.

Rocbola

I eat a vegan diet and never, ever worry about protein. Americans have been sold a bill of goods when it comes to protein. Just eat food, get your greens and beans in, and you will never have a problem.

When was the last time you ran into someone with kwashiorkor?

kimny72

Rocbola wrote: »

I eat a vegan diet and never, ever worry about protein. Americans have been sold a bill of goods when it comes to protein. Just eat food, get your greens and beans in, and you will never have a problem.

When was the last time you ran into someone with kwashiorkor?

There's a difference though between "not-deficient" and "optimal". Making sure you are adequately fueling muscle repair is just common sense if you are actively trying to build muscle, isn't it?

It is actually recommended that those losing weight should eat more protein to protect themselves from losing more muscle mass than they need to. And it is rather common for older people to struggle to retain muscle mass as they age,

Also, many of us find protein necessary for satiety. I really struggled to stick to my calorie goal until I got both fiber and protein up over the minimum, one or the other on their own didn't help. Between satiety and muscle-building, increasing my protein was literally life changing!

sapatel3

https://www.target.com/p/banza-174-chickpea-pasta-rotini-pasta-8oz/-/A-50407889?sid=961S&ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&fndsrc=tgtao&CPNG=PLA_Grocery+Essentials+Shopping_Local&adgroup=SC_Grocery&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=c&location=9009728&gclid=Cj0KCQjwxtPYBRD6ARIsAKs1XJ5uRUlPYHK1EGuOf8iwlcMp2MBBsXKj7uACR6WNrX0rlUIZO6gz4RUaAjJtEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Rocbola

kimny72 wrote: »

There's a difference though between "not-deficient" and "optimal". Making sure you are adequately fueling muscle repair is just common sense if you are actively trying to build muscle, isn't it?

It is actually recommended that those losing weight should eat more protein to protect themselves from losing more muscle mass than they need to. And it is rather common for older people to struggle to retain muscle mass as they age,

Also, many of us find protein necessary for satiety. I really struggled to stick to my calorie goal until I got both fiber and protein up over the minimum, one or the other on their own didn't help. Between satiety and muscle-building, increasing my protein was literally life changing!

I have had no problem building muscle and increasing fitness, because a low processed, mostly plants diet, like i eat, has plenty of protein to rebuild muscle, as well as the fuel needed to get the job done. There is a lot more to the picture than just protein. The way i eat is optimal for me. (and everyone else who tries it)

Recommended by whom? I have seen that a lot in magazines and TV shows, but haven't found it to be helpful to me. I wonder why it would be a problem for old people in a land where most people get too much protein?

If it works for you great, but for satiety, i need some bulk, and to get some bulk without too many calories, i had to turn to high water content and high fiber content food. The food i eat has plenty of protein!!!!

kimny72

Rocbola wrote: »

kimny72 wrote: »

There's a difference though between "not-deficient" and "optimal". Making sure you are adequately fueling muscle repair is just common sense if you are actively trying to build muscle, isn't it?

It is actually recommended that those losing weight should eat more protein to protect themselves from losing more muscle mass than they need to. And it is rather common for older people to struggle to retain muscle mass as they age,

Also, many of us find protein necessary for satiety. I really struggled to stick to my calorie goal until I got both fiber and protein up over the minimum, one or the other on their own didn't help. Between satiety and muscle-building, increasing my protein was literally life changing!

I have had no problem building muscle and increasing fitness, because a low processed, mostly plants diet, like i eat, has plenty of protein to rebuild muscle, as well as the fuel needed to get the job done. There is a lot more to the picture than just protein. The way i eat is optimal for me. (and everyone else who tries it)

Recommended by whom? I have seen that a lot in magazines and TV shows, but haven't found it to be helpful to me. I wonder why it would be a problem for old people in a land where most people get too much protein?

If it works for you great, but for satiety, i need some bulk, and to get some bulk without too many calories, i had to turn to high water content and high fiber content food. The food i eat has plenty of protein!!!!

I'm confused. I thought you meant protein wasn't important, but now you're saying you don't have to worry about protein because you get plenty in your diet. That's great, but I wasn't getting plenty in my diet, so focusing on getting more helped me. Not sure why you would assume that everyone else would eat what you eat and get the same macros as you eating plant based.

While the "average" American eats a lot of meat and therefore probably gets plenty of protein, dieters often tend to cut way back or eliminate protein sources when trying to cut calories without meaning to, especially women.

Anyway, I'm glad you don't have to worry about protein! The MFP goal is actually pretty low, so if someone isn't even hitting that low number, it certainly can't hurt for them to start paying a little attention to it.