Whole foods Protein sources

carlaringuette

My hubby and I met with a nutritionist last week and she believes we were hardly eating any protein and eating way too much sugar.

We like the whole food plant based approach and while we believe it is the most healthy we have not been able to sustain it with our work/commute/gym/family and community commitments. We've tried several times. Watched all the documentaries on Netflix. Read the books. Have a whole collection of recipe books but in the end our lives are too busy and we need to hire a personal chef (& before you flame me no we can't afford that). Most importantly hubby lost weight and we can't have that!

His issue is he needs to gain a significant amount of weight while I am looking to loose a significant amount.

So we are still researching.

I have food allergies too. Haven't been tested in awhile but feel it everyday.

I have committed to trying this nutritionist plan for one month. It hasn't been a week yet but with adding meat and eggs back my stomach is crampy and the headache won't go away.

If I could find a way to not spend the whole weekend food prepping,
a way for my husband to actually gain (he seriously cannot loose another ounce) & recipes I can throw together extremely quickly I'd do it in a heartbeat.
Not asking for much right? Lol

So what we are focusing on now is getting processed sugar out. Nothing over 5 grams of sugar. And adding protein which seems to be the biggest challenge.

The nutritionist after studying it all weekend told us she didn't have the expertise to help us. She said the plan would definitely work for me but not him.

So we are back to square one.

What are whole food proteins?

(the processed things like Tofu, seitan or tempeh while convenient are good going down but ultimately not worth the tummy issues and literal headaches).

What are some of your favorite Quick whole food recipes.?

puffbrat

What is your definition of whole foods? You can have chicken, turkey, pork/bacon, steak, hamburger, fish, shellfish, beans, chickpeas, oats, etc.

It sounds like you really need to get allergy testing done to figure out your allergies before you overhaul your diet. I would also suggest you two see a registered dietitian rather than a nutritionist, especially given the difficulties of your combined needs.

cathipa

You do not need to consume meat, dairy or eggs for protein. You can consume vegetables, beans and grains for protein as well. Protein deficiency is not common most industrialized civilizations (unless with certain medical conditions), so I don't understand the big push for more meat, eggs and dairy by nutritionist and physicians (seems counterintuitive given the calories and fat in most of these products). Beans are easy to meal prep and are a great source of protein and fiber (which is very satiating as well). Overnight oats with soy milk is another quick meal prep option.

deannalfisher

also why does she believe? do you have a food log that you provided her? if not, i would focus on logging consistently in MFP for a couple of weeks to actually get good insight into what you are/aren't eating

kimny72

If you and your husband have different goals and different intolerances, eating slightly different meals would probably be easier than trying to live off the small subset of foods that works for both of you. At the very least, you can add a side dish to any meal that is just for hubby that is calorie dense and doesn't need to fit into your restrictions for yourself.

If you are unable to eat any of the major sources of protein without being physically uncomfortable, you need to go to either an allergist or a gastro and consider an RD rather than a nutritionist.

It's hard to tell from your post which restrictions are due to physical symptoms and which are simply your preference, so I'm not sure I'm 100% understanding.

"Whole food proteins" (assuming you are purposefully dropping "plant based" here) would be beef, chicken, turkey, pork, fish, shellfish, eggs, and I think at lest unflavored dairy is typically considered "whole" food I guess?

concordancia

Are you sure your current distress is from what you added and not your body adjusting to what you took away?

For different calorie goals, I generally give my husband bigger servings than what I eat and often add something else for him, like a sweet potato, which he likes with avocado.

For proteins, beans and nuts are the simplest fall backs. I make a simple three bean salad with one can each of green beans, chickpeas and kidney beans, add salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, sometimes ginger or other spices to change things up.

I recently made a filling for lettuce wraps out of finely chopped vegetables and nuts.

Lentils make an excellent substitute for most uses of ground meat, including tacos.

If your only issue with the soy products you mention is the processing, have steamed edamame.

Do you eat fish?

lemurcat2

I'm confused -- are you trying to stay WFPB or are you adding back certain foods? Are you experiencing issues with meat/egg/soy products.

I used to eat mostly whole foods based omnivore, and now I eat mostly plant based (mostly whole but I will use tofu and tempeh). I am not strictly plant-based (not an ethical vegan, or a vegan at all, but I am in favor of reducing my animal product consumption by a lot). I eat plant-based several days a week, meat on probably one or two for just one meal, eggs/dairy occasionally. I eat less protein now than I was, but still more than enough.

Anyway, a good easy template is to figure out what you want for breakfast, have it be something easy that provides some protein, and just have it daily. Have a similar plan for lunch (I usually have a salad, which is easy) or premake stuff or use leftovers from dinner. For dinner when eating plant based I make some combo of grains (or other starch like potato), beans/lentils, and vegetables most often (and eat a lot of vegetables). Fruit is great as a side or part of any meal or of course as a snack.

When I was eating eating more meat I'd often have meat on the salad instead of a vegetarian protein source (like tofu, beans, chickpeas, plus often some nuts or seeds for a bit more) and build dinners around fish/other meat, a starch, and then lots of veg.

I hope that's sort of helpful -- if you have more specific questions/issues we could probably help more. One useful thing about this is it's easy to vary calorie amounts by increasing portion sizes.

carlaringuette

Hi guys - thanks for the replies. I do eat meat but it doesn't make my body feel good so I would prefer to be plant based just haven't gotten there yet. From previous allergy doctors it may be the nitrates/nitrites that give me tummy issues. The last time we tried hubby started loosing weight & my 88 yr. old father in law moved in with us and life got crazy hectic. FIL is only with us for 3 months at a time so I am learning to adjust those three months. Adjust my gym schedule to 5 am instead of right after work and our foods to anything that will make Senior eat and halfway happy. We also check in on my Daddy who is 86 but in much better shape every few days and he takes us out to eat every Sunday after church.

As for just increasing the portion size hubby gets full quickly so although he's eating a little more than I do he's not eating nearly enough calories.

I do need to get tested again but the last allergist I went to just left me feeling hopeless. She had a name that is trusted in this region as having an excellent reputation. The lady had never seen me before in my life and within 15 minutes she had prescribed 10 prescriptions. First of all we couldn't afford that and secondly I had taken a few of them before and knew what 1 of them would do by itself the combination of all of that would have made me a zombie for days on end. And this was the regimen she wanted me to follow daily for the rest of my life. No thank you. The best I ever felt was when I went on an allergy rotation diet.
Physically it was AWESOME! Energy through the roof. Mentally it was torture. It felt like everything I touched, smelled or tasted was attacking my body. If anyone offered me anything I didn't dare take it because I didn't know the ingredients. I have been on this journey since childhood. It was much worse back then - lost track of the trips to the emergency room. That was before they had Benadryl. Thank GOD for Benadryl. I so wish I could go back to that doctor but that was when I was a child and he has gone onto Glory. They don't make them like him anymore.

My daughter just had a reaction on Father's Day - lips and tongue swelling. Thank God for Benadryl.

Fortunately I haven't had a major reaction in quite some time. On the other hand, I have stomach issues, headaches and just feel blah because of it. On the one hand I would love to figure out what the root cause is and fix it. On the other hand I have been down that rabbit hole MANY times and I don't know which doctor to go to who isn't going to throw 10 prescriptions at me again or run a million tests and label me as the "unusual case" translated - Oh goody we get to use this one as a guiennie pig.

When we did whole food plant based we were trying to fix it with food. You know Let food be thy medicine.

That's really the only reason I attempt to do vegetarian/vegan is because I have the fewest negative reactions when we are on track.

By Whole Foods I mean - not processed. When we fall off - we go back to fast food, boxed dinners like Hamburger helper and Smart Ones because they are quick and easy and just deal with the after effects until I get so exhausted I just can't deal with it and then we search for answers/doctors/etc. I know stupid but that's life right now.

The problem is the time to prep everything with our schedules and the biggest thing is getting enough calories in my husband to make him gain weight. Hasn't happened yet.

I am not giving up though - have my research cap back on and will keep digging until we get it worked out.

concordancia

Have you tried an elimination diet?

Come up with a list of things that doesn't take much, if any, longer than hamburger helper. Get pre chopped veggies, since that is the most time consuming bit.

I have evening meetings all week, so my culinarily impaired hubby is making himself Paleo chicken sausage, zucchini and mushrooms, with a side of sweet potato. Minimal chopping, minimal time.

Make large batches of something simple, like a bean stew, on weekends to heat and serve during the week.

lemurcat2

For your husband, can you figure out some more caloric foods he is fine with and add them in as snacks? Maybe involving guac and nut butters and hummus -- things that can be purchased or made in advance? If he has trouble with filling up too easily at meals snacks could help.

For breakfast, oats with nut butter and/or fruit can be a fast option, and if you find a protein powder you tolerate that can be added too. I think the main thing is just deciding what you like and having everything on hand and premade if possible.

I also really like the idea of large batches for lunch. Chili or lentil stew or any kind of stew that has some protein in it is an easy option.

I'd maybe try the dr route again and say you want to be referred to a registered dietitian to try an elimination diet, as I like that idea too.

If there are some meals you know you don't react poorly to, I'd try to start with those ingredients and planning around them and figuring out how to streamline or made partially ahead.

slbbw

You might be lumping too many categories together for your intolerance. WFPB is great in concept. But this would likely include things like tempeh which is just fermented soybeans. Now if you have an issue with soy that will not work. How are you on grains and other beans? Things like chickpeas and quinoa. It is possible to make some easy habitual recipe using grain bowls if those are ok for you. For your husband making sure he is adding significant quantities of dressings, avocado and other fats would help him increase his calories. Snacks will also help him. Nuts are great for keeping calories high.

So back to my other questions. What are you defining as "whole food" Are rolled oats included, or just steel cut. playing with a variety of grain could keep things interesting. Farro, barley, quinoa etc. What about coconut milk and things like that? is that too processed or is it a whole food. A storfry that you dress lightly and your husband dresses with a coconut curry could easily accomplish your goals you have set forth here.

I think the trick to meet your need is to define what you mean by whole food. Cook base meals that are the same for everyone and find after cooking add ons like garnishes and sauces to tailor each meal to the individual's needs. Add differentitaed snacks and you should be good. his sound complicated, but should be easy if you start with a very basic menu palette of things like grain bowls.