Vegetarian and protein

foundlove2015

Hi.. I'm vegetarian and having a very hard time meeting my protein goals for my macros! I'm doing cardio and Hiit so I need the protein.. any suggestions?

lynn_glenmont

Primary sources: Legumes (beans, lentils, peas) and legume-based products (e.g, tofu, tempeh, soy milk). Dairy products. Eggs. Seitan (made from wheat gluten). Vegetarian protein powder.

Secondary sources (help a bit, but unlikely to get you enough protein without having some of the primary sources): Some whole grains. Some veggies. Mushrooms and other fungi. Nutritional yeast. Nuts, nut butters, seeds, and seed butters, but these generally come with substantial amounts of fat. There are options like partially defatted nut meal (PB2 is probably the best known, although technically peanuts are legumes, not nuts).

AnnPT77

What is your protein goal? How many calories do eat daily? How tall are you and what do you weigh now? Are you trying to maintain, lose or gain weight?

I'm ovo-lacto veg (for 44+ years) 5'5", weight mid 130s, maintaining, quite active (rowing and spin, mostly). My NEAT is in the low 2000s, but I target 1850 net (to calorie bank; plus I eat all exercise calories) and eat 100g protein minimum daily. I don't normally eat fake meat, protein powder, or protein bars (nothing against them in theory, I just don't find them tasty/filling personally). I eat very few eggs (again, just taste/preference).

I have three suggestions:

1. Review your food log. Find foods with relatively many calories that bring you relatively few protein grams. Reduce or eliminate those foods, substituting others you enjoy that have a better protein-to-calorie ratio.

2. Try to get at least a few grams of protein in nearly every food you eat. This is in addition to the "one big protein per meal" idea that omnivores use. Prefer snacks with protein, veggies with protein, grains with protein, even fruits with protein (they exist). Those 2 grams here and 4 grams there add up, through the day. Because plant-based proteins tend to be incomplete (in amino acid profile), vary them across the day and week to get a more complete mix. (I've logged 28 distinct foods today, if I count correctly. Only 6 (coffee, cinnamon, blackstrap molasses, mustard, sauerkraut and olive oil) had zero protein. Only 2 of those had >10 calories: Olive oil at 27 calories, and molasses at 66. Only 4 food servings had >10g protein: Greek yogurt, smoked tofu, black beans, cheese. Still, I'm at 99g protein, with 371 calories left to get that last gram, or more, in. Small amounts add up.)

3. Take a look at the thread linked below. It links to a spreadsheet that lists many, many foods by protein efficiency, most protein for fewest calories. You'll need to scroll past the mostly meaty/fishy stuff near the top of the list, but the plant sources are there, further down. Find some foods you enjoy, and eat more of them.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also

Best wishes!

lynn_glenmont

AnnPT77 wrote: »

What is your protein goal? How many calories do eat daily? How tall are you and what do you weigh now? Are you trying to maintain, lose or gain weight?

I'm ovo-lacto veg (for 44+ years) 5'5", weight mid 130s, maintaining, quite active (rowing and spin, mostly). My NEAT is in the low 2000s, but I target 1850 net (to calorie bank; plus I eat all exercise calories) and eat 100g protein minimum daily. I don't normally eat fake meat, protein powder, or protein bars (nothing against them in theory, I just don't find them tasty/filling personally). I eat very few eggs (again, just taste/preference).

I have three suggestions:

1. Review your food log. Find foods with relatively many calories that bring you relatively few protein grams. Reduce or eliminate those foods, substituting others you enjoy that have a better protein-to-calorie ratio.

2. Try to get at least a few grams of protein in nearly every food you eat. This is in addition to the "one big protein per meal" idea that omnivores use. Prefer snacks with protein, veggies with protein, grains with protein, even fruits with protein (they exist). Those 2 grams here and 4 grams there add up, through the day. Because plant-based proteins tend to be incomplete (in amino acid profile), vary them across the day and week to get a more complete mix. (I've logged 28 distinct foods today, if I count correctly. Only 6 (coffee, cinnamon, blackstrap molasses, mustard, sauerkraut and olive oil) had zero protein. Only 2 of those had >10 calories: Olive oil at 27 calories, and molasses at 66. Only 4 food servings had >10g protein: Greek yogurt, smoked tofu, black beans, cheese. Still, I'm at 99g protein, with 371 calories left to get that last gram, or more, in. Small amounts add up.)

3. Take a look at the thread linked below. It links to a spreadsheet that lists many, many foods by protein efficiency, most protein for fewest calories. You'll need to scroll past the mostly meaty/fishy stuff near the top of the list, but the plant sources are there, further down. Find some foods you enjoy, and eat more of them.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also

Best wishes!

Hey! Don't go dissing coffee. 0.28 g of protein per 2-calorie cup of coffee. That's 10% of its calories from protein! Not to mention 116 mg of potassium!