Need more protein - how do I add more without eating significantly more?
skrowe88
Posts: 52 Member
I eat a pescatarian diet (no meat except fish).
According to various sources (American Dietetic Association, CDC, World Health Organization), I need to eat within the range of 58 - 204 grams of protein a day. The ADA says I need AT LEAST 94 grams a day with a goal of regularly going over 100 in order to lose weight.
My problem is that I try to eat something with protein at every meal, but I still can't seem to get enough. I'll use my protein sources from yesterday as an example:
Breakfast: protein shake with banana and almond milk - 23 grams
Lunch: quinoa, bean and mango bowl - 12 grams
Snack: protein bar - 20 grams, yogurt - 8 grams
Dinner: homemade taco-style salad with beans - 7 grams
TOTAL: 70 grams, ~1300cals
I only get ~1400 calories a day, so that accounts for most of them.
So, my question is, how do I get in more protein without eating more? Add more powder? Eat straight eggs? I do eat tofu a few times a week, but that usually replaces a protein bar or something. I'm open to any advice (except eating meat). Thank you!
According to various sources (American Dietetic Association, CDC, World Health Organization), I need to eat within the range of 58 - 204 grams of protein a day. The ADA says I need AT LEAST 94 grams a day with a goal of regularly going over 100 in order to lose weight.
My problem is that I try to eat something with protein at every meal, but I still can't seem to get enough. I'll use my protein sources from yesterday as an example:
Breakfast: protein shake with banana and almond milk - 23 grams
Lunch: quinoa, bean and mango bowl - 12 grams
Snack: protein bar - 20 grams, yogurt - 8 grams
Dinner: homemade taco-style salad with beans - 7 grams
TOTAL: 70 grams, ~1300cals
I only get ~1400 calories a day, so that accounts for most of them.
So, my question is, how do I get in more protein without eating more? Add more powder? Eat straight eggs? I do eat tofu a few times a week, but that usually replaces a protein bar or something. I'm open to any advice (except eating meat). Thank you!
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Replies
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Replace the almond milk with light soy milk.
Replace the beans with tofu, tempeh, TVP, soy crumbles, etc.
Have Greek yogurt instead of plain yogurt.
Those things alone would boost your protein considerably without adding tons of calories.
Keep in mind, however, that your protein intake is not directly relevant to weight loss. Protein is for health, such as maintaining muscle mass, and may help with satiety. You lose weight in a calorie deficit, regardless of how much protein you eat. It’s not true that you need a certain amount of protein in order to lose weight.
In addition, the MFP default macros are generally fine for most people, unless you have a reason to eat more protein. On a 1400 calorie diet, you would need to get at least 70 grams of protein for it to constitute 20% of your calories. If you went up to 25% of your calories from protein, that would be 88 grams. You probably don’t need the large amounts of protein that you’re describing.8 -
I'm also pescatarian and probably don't hit my macros on a daily basis. The only thing I'm interested in on my weight loss journey is my calorie deficit.
If you feel good and are happy with the food choices you're making, I wouldn't get so hung up on the numbers.7 -
It seems like your day is missing the pesca part of pescatarian. All forms of seafood are high in protein. Adding a serving of fish or shellfish a day would go a long way.
Low fat cottage cheese and low fat milk (almond milk doesn't have much protein in it) are other options.
It is true that macros don't matter for weight loss, but getting enough protein is important for muscle retention during weight loss.12 -
I use low fat cottage cheese on my lunch salads instead of a dressing. I usually have tuna in the salad too.
I eat hard boiled eggs as a snack or with my protein shake at breakfast. I usually blend the banana into the protein shake with almond milk and some ice to make it nice and thick and then just eat the hard boiled egg with it.
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Look at your diary at the end of the day, increase portions of foods with protein and decrease portions of higher cal foods without protein.
Also, range of protein to protect against muscle loss when losing weight is 0.65-0.85% of a healthy goal weight. For me, that's a range of 78-102 g. Given that your calorie goal is only 1400, you might not need as much as you think (I am only 5'3, but if you are a lot taller 1400 might be low).
That said, to address the specific menu:
Breakfast: protein shake with banana and almond milk - 23 grams -- use a higher protein mix in than almond milk, such as low fat greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or soy milk. I often add silken tofu. Also, you can save cals by using half a banana and some strawberries. Adding greens will add a little protein, as would peanut powder. I often have 100% plant based smoothies with no protein powder that have 30 g of protein (around 400 cal).
Lunch: quinoa, bean and mango bowl - 12 grams -- more beans, less quinoa.
Snack: protein bar - 20 grams, yogurt - 8 grams
Dinner: homemade taco-style salad with beans - 7 grams -- this seems really low for a bean based dish, I'd again use more beans, more green veg that also have protein, maybe add some other source of protein.
Also, if you eat fish, fish has a lot of protein, include it in one of the meals. Other good sources of protein not mentioned are nuts and seeds (they are high cal for the protein, but good for you too), dairy (low fat dairy is often a great source if you tolerate it), eggs, and tofu (as you mentioned), tempeh, and seitan.
Also, you might be surprised at how much the protein from non starchy veg can add up for very few cals.3 -
I struggled with protein vs calorie for awhile and generally found a lot of the foods people list as good sources of protein aren't that good as a protein to calorie ratio. I'm trying to limit my 'supplement' intake, and set myself a soft goal for protein per meal/snack as a guide. Slowly, I've learned ways to increase the protein but a lot of that is meat, fish, etc. What I have done though is:
- Avoided the protein bars because I felt they were too high in calories for the protein, saving more calories for real food.
- Use whey isolate instead of concentrate due to calorie efficiency. Concentrate has more milk nutrients but also more calories per gram of protein. I might switch when I hit maintenance but I eat enough dairy I'm not in any need.
- Switched yogurt to skyr (Siggi's 0% fat, 5.3oz plain in US: 90 cal, 6 carbs (4 sugar), 16g protein). This is the most efficient non-meat product I've found so far. I started by mixing it half and half with their fruit flavors and then leaning that out to save me some calories and carbs but as long as you stick the the flavors that are lower calorie it is a small difference.
- I do bedtime casein. I've seen the argument that it's not more effective than whey in this situation, I'm good with the casein. (I also enjoy eating it instead of drinking it.)
- Eat an egg a day. I do this more because my dietician says they provide nutrients otherwise hard to get, but its easy enough to fit one in at some point.
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Thank you, these are great recommendations!Replace the almond milk with light soy milk.
Replace the beans with tofu, tempeh, TVP, soy crumbles, etc.
Have Greek yogurt instead of plain yogurt.
You're right, Mike. I never said I was a good pescatarian! It's a newer practice for me. I need to find more ways to add fish.It seems like your day is missing the pesca part of pescatarian. All forms of seafood are high in protein. Adding a serving of fish or shellfish a day would go a long way.
That's a good point because I'm probably not portioning things out the way I should. Also, I am 5'10" and have about 60 lbs to lose. Is 1400 too low? I can usually stay within that but it takes a lot of planning.Look at your diary at the end of the day, increase portions of foods with protein and decrease portions of higher cal foods without protein.
Also, range of protein to protect against muscle loss when losing weight is 0.65-0.85% of a healthy goal weight. For me, that's a range of 78-102 g. Given that your calorie goal is only 1400, you might not need as much as you think (I am only 5'3, but if you are a lot taller 1400 might be low).
Thank you for the ideas, everyone! I'm going to stress a bit less about numbers and just focus on maxing out the quality of my calories!
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Can you do gluten? I find Seitan is an easy way to add protein to my day. I also snack on low fats cheese. Beans, while super healthy are really a split between carb and protein. You want to make sure you are adding in some high protein foods. Also not suggested yet but some vegetables are relaly high in protain compared to others. brocolli for example. Adding in high protein veggies is a good way to maximize your protein.2
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I'm a vegan chiming in to second the recommendation for seitan. I make my own at home, and it's high protein, low-carb, and can be made to taste like different things depending on how you prepare it (like tofu). I make a shake in the morning that's 12 oz. unsweetened soy milk and 24g of peanut butter powder. It's 220 calories, 23g of protein and only 14g of carbs.
For my lunches I usually have only protein and veggies, like a Field Roast sausage (25g protein), homemade baked tofu, or boca patties (11g protein each). It doesn't bother me to use mock meats for a protein boost mid-day, and it helps me get up around 100g of protein on 1500 calories daily. It can seem expensive, but Field Roast is $6/pack of 4, and Boca chick'n patties are $3.50/pack of 4. If I have a patty and a sausage for lunch, that's 370 calories, 36g of protein, and 29g of carbs, for a total meal cost of $2.38. Add some hot sauce and mustard and it increases sodium, but is very tasty!1 -
I also eat a pescatarian diet. I often add a scoop of nutritional yeast to meals to boost the protein a bit. It mixes well with eggs, quinoa/rice, tofu etc.
Also soy milk instead of almond adds about 8 grams of protein to a protein shake.2 -
It seems like your day is missing the pesca part of pescatarian. All forms of seafood are high in protein. Adding a serving of fish or shellfish a day would go a long way.
Low fat cottage cheese and low fat milk (almond milk doesn't have much protein in it) are other options.
It is true that macros don't matter for weight loss, but getting enough protein is important for muscle retention during weight loss.
This! I eat primarily pescatarian just because that's what I like to eat. Baked fish with veggies, shrimp stir fry, seafood gumbo with cauliflower rice, crawfish, seared scallops with veggies. Trader Joes sells really good tuna/salmon burger patties that are great to make a fish sandwich with using Sandwich Thins buns, lettuce and homemade tartar sauce with fat free mayo.
Make your protein the star of your meal and add veggies. I love beans, but honestly limit my consumption of them because the protein to calorie payout is low.
Snacks: Protein bars (with good protein to calorie ratio), Lo/No fat Greek Yogurt, low fat cheese, cottage cheese, cheese crisps, high protein ice cream
Breakfast: scrambled egg whites with veggies, protein pancakes with ultra-filtered skim milk, proats, etc.3 -
Thank you, these are great recommendations!Replace the almond milk with light soy milk.
Replace the beans with tofu, tempeh, TVP, soy crumbles, etc.
Have Greek yogurt instead of plain yogurt.
You're right, Mike. I never said I was a good pescatarian! It's a newer practice for me. I need to find more ways to add fish.It seems like your day is missing the pesca part of pescatarian. All forms of seafood are high in protein. Adding a serving of fish or shellfish a day would go a long way.
That's a good point because I'm probably not portioning things out the way I should. Also, I am 5'10" and have about 60 lbs to lose. Is 1400 too low? I can usually stay within that but it takes a lot of planning.Look at your diary at the end of the day, increase portions of foods with protein and decrease portions of higher cal foods without protein.
Also, range of protein to protect against muscle loss when losing weight is 0.65-0.85% of a healthy goal weight. For me, that's a range of 78-102 g. Given that your calorie goal is only 1400, you might not need as much as you think (I am only 5'3, but if you are a lot taller 1400 might be low).
Thank you for the ideas, everyone! I'm going to stress a bit less about numbers and just focus on maxing out the quality of my calories!
You could certainly eat more and lose.1 -
Others have given good advice, so I'm just going to drop a link:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also
That thread links to a spreadsheet that lists many, many foods in order by protein efficiency, most protein for fewest calories. You may have to scroll past some meaty things near the top, but even as a vegetarian (ovo lacto), I found it an extremely useful resource.
When first using MFP, I made it a habit to review my diary, looking for foods relatively high in calories that didn't have much protein, then thinking about whether I could happily reduce or eliminate those foods, replacing them with something else I enjoyed eating that better contributed to my goals. Repeating that process gradually moved my overall eating in a direction that was more nutrious, but still enjoyable and satisfying.1 -
Three words. SHRIMP AND TUNA.1
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Thank you, these are great recommendations!Replace the almond milk with light soy milk.
Replace the beans with tofu, tempeh, TVP, soy crumbles, etc.
Have Greek yogurt instead of plain yogurt.
You're right, Mike. I never said I was a good pescatarian! It's a newer practice for me. I need to find more ways to add fish.It seems like your day is missing the pesca part of pescatarian. All forms of seafood are high in protein. Adding a serving of fish or shellfish a day would go a long way.
That's a good point because I'm probably not portioning things out the way I should. Also, I am 5'10" and have about 60 lbs to lose. Is 1400 too low? I can usually stay within that but it takes a lot of planning.Look at your diary at the end of the day, increase portions of foods with protein and decrease portions of higher cal foods without protein.
Also, range of protein to protect against muscle loss when losing weight is 0.65-0.85% of a healthy goal weight. For me, that's a range of 78-102 g. Given that your calorie goal is only 1400, you might not need as much as you think (I am only 5'3, but if you are a lot taller 1400 might be low).
Thank you for the ideas, everyone! I'm going to stress a bit less about numbers and just focus on maxing out the quality of my calories!
Ya, I'm a few inches shorter than you, have had that much to lose and would definitely be hangry on 1400 calories.
Are you exercising? What % of the calories you earn from exercise are you eating back?4 -
Salmon (in the can, convenient).0
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I should exercise more, but right now I'm pretty sedentary (desk job) and I walk 2-3 miles and do yoga about 3 times a week (in addition to my normal daily step count). Not sure how much that earns me back, but usually not more than 100 cals at a time.kshama2001 wrote: »Are you exercising? What % of the calories you earn from exercise are you eating back?
Unfortunately, I can't stomach shrimp! But I am eating more tuna and salmon.gallicinvasion wrote: »Three words. SHRIMP AND TUNA.0 -
Someone said it earlier I think- but egg whites can be made into scrambles or omelettes etc- and mix in plenty of veggies0
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Quick update (if anyone still gets notifications on this thread): I've adjusted my caloric intake to 1660 a day so I'm a bit less 'hangry' and I have more room for protein. Over the past week and a half, I've steadily increased my protein intake by eating fish at least once a day. So that's progress! Thank you, everyone, for the ideas!9
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You can get protein water at Costco. 15 grams per 16 ounces and 60 calories.1
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Eating/drinking protein drinks, shakes and/or bars was my solution.1
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Quick update (if anyone still gets notifications on this thread): I've adjusted my caloric intake to 1660 a day so I'm a bit less 'hangry' and I have more room for protein. Over the past week and a half, I've steadily increased my protein intake by eating fish at least once a day. So that's progress! Thank you, everyone, for the ideas!
Great, thanks for coming back to update!0 -
I should exercise more, but right now I'm pretty sedentary (desk job) and I walk 2-3 miles and do yoga about 3 times a week (in addition to my normal daily step count). Not sure how much that earns me back, but usually not more than 100 cals at a time.kshama2001 wrote: »Are you exercising? What % of the calories you earn from exercise are you eating back?
Unfortunately, I can't stomach shrimp! But I am eating more tuna and salmon.gallicinvasion wrote: »Three words. SHRIMP AND TUNA.
Sams Club has 8 Members Mark frozen Ahi (Yellow Fin) Tuna filets (4 ounces) in a 2lb bag for $15.28. I think it is hard to imagine any high protein real food more price effective than that. $2 each 4 oz filet maybe 40g protein, and 140 calories. Sear in a tablespoon of soy sauce or 1/2 tbsp of salted butter over high heat and leave the middle pink but warm.
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