Meeting Protein Macros

sarahwinston2

How do you meet your protein macros without going over in carbs or fat? I can't seem to get it right. If not, I am waaaaay under in protein.

claireychn074

There are lots of low fat and low carb sources of protein, including cottage cheese, fat free Greek yoghurt, chicken, white fish, reduced fat cheese.... what are your macro settings? Are your carbs and fat set too low?

janejellyroll

Many people fat as a minimum goal and don't worry too much about going over it.

deannalfisher

if you are going over in fat look at less fatty cuts of meat; dial back carbs and plus up protein etc

lemurcat2

What is your protein goal? The MFP default goal or something higher?

Do you eat meat? Eggs and/or dairy?

Basically, it's not that big a deal to go over in fat or carbs unless you are over your cals. You may find that you fluctuate between being over in one or the other (which is fine) or that you are consistently over in one or the other (which also can be fine so long as your fat still includes sufficient healthy fats and you aren't hungry).

The best advice I'd have without knowing more about any dietary restrictions or what you are eating is to look at your diary and see what you are getting your protein from -- eat more of that, such as increasing serving size. If there are meals without much protein (or if a lot of the cals are from snacks that are low protein), think about ways to add protein into those meals. You may need to cut back on portions of foods that are mostly fat, mostly carb, or mostly fat+carb to do so.

Sources of protein for meat eaters are easy -- meat. No carbs, and you can choose lean cuts for low fat. (The fat in fish like salmon is good for you, though.) Low/no fat dairy can be a good source of protein, and will have some carbs (greek yogurt and cottage cheese have relatively more protein). Eggs are an okay source of protein but of course come with fat, which is fine (or add egg whites if you must, although personally I only do whole eggs).

For non animal sources, you are normally going to have some carbs or with nuts (not a great source of protein, but a very healthy food that has some) fat. The highest per calorie sources that have a good amount of protein in a normal serving are foods like seitan, tofu, tempeh, and then the variety of beans and lentils.

AnnPT77

The thread below links to a spreadsheet that lists many, many foods in order by protein efficiency: Most protein for fewest calories. Inherently, it means that the most protein-efficient foods will be relatively low in carbs, fats, or both.

Take a look, find things in the spreadsheet that you enjoy eating, and eat more of those, less of something else that isn't helping your meet your nutritional goals and isn't important to you for other reasons.

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

KevinWH87

Would you be willing to make your food diary public? Maybe I (or others) could give you some more specific advice on what you're already eating.

cmriverside

Practice.

No one gets this right away.

Either pre-log your food and tweak portions to fit OR study your food after the fact and tweak it tomorrow. I can hit pretty close most days, but not at first I didn't. It took playing with my recipes and meals until I had a good grasp of what the macros were in my favorite foods.

Scottgriesser

Easiest way- meal prep the same meals for the entire week and use protein powder where necessary.
Best way- meal prep a menu that hits all of your goals and has a variety of foods in it.
Not gonna work way- eat random stuff and log after in the hopes it all works out ok.

dbanks80

I really like the Premier Protein shakes. 30 grams protein 160 calories 1 gram sugar

It helps me a lot to meet my protein goal while staying low in calories and sugar

AdrianSee1975

Lean meats (including chicken and some types of fish), high protein/low carb yoghurt, whey protein powder.
All are high protein and very low carb/fat.

H_Ock12

Protein powder!

Onedaywriter

MotherOfSharpei wrote: »

Protein powder!

I’m shooting for 30% protein and I’m usually not quite there. After fighting for a while to keep away from anything sooo processed I decided to use protein powder. It helps. I workout and need the protein but some days are just carb kind of days. If I don’t get enough protein I feel sore the next day.

sarahwinston2

lemurcat2 wrote: »

What is your protein goal?

Thanks!

sarahwinston2

Thanks! I'm shooting for 40% also. My carbs are 111 and my fat is 49 g.

sarahwinston2

Would have responded earlier to you guys but didn't see until I checked

Nony_Mouse

sarahwinston2 wrote: »

Thanks! I'm shooting for 40% also. My carbs are 111 and my fat is 49 g.

40% seems high. How many grams is that for you? Is there a reason you're aiming for such a high protein intake? In all likelihood, it's unnecessary.

lynn_glenmont

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

sarahwinston2 wrote: »

Thanks! I'm shooting for 40% also. My carbs are 111 and my fat is 49 g.

40% seems high. How many grams is that for you? Is there a reason you're aiming for such a high protein intake? In all likelihood, it's unnecessary.

According to math, it's 147.5 grams, given that 111 g of carbs (444 cals) and 49 g of fat (441 cals) are 60% of OP's calorie goal (leaving 40% for protein).

sarahwinston2

Yeah it's about 148 according to MFP. I'm doing it to reduce my body fat percentage and lose inches. A nutritionist said the 30-40-30 breakdown was good for that purpose.

Nony_Mouse

sarahwinston2 wrote: »

Yeah it's about 148 according to MFP. I'm doing it to reduce my body fat percentage and lose inches. A nutritionist said the 30-40-30 breakdown was good for that purpose.

That's unnecessarily high.

Common wisdom around here is that 0.6-0.8g per lb of ideal (not current) weight, or 1g per lb of LBM if you know it is a good target, as a minimum. Fats at 0.35-0.45g per lb of ideal weight as a minimum, let carbs fall where they may according to preferences.

sarahwinston2

Thanks! That gets me to about 75-100 grams per day, which is better, lol. Usually I hit about 57 per day.

ElizabethKalmbach

Depending on where my protein came from tends to determine whether my carbs are high (plant protein) or fats are high (meat) and I don't really fuss to much about the ratio between fats and carbs as long as I'm meeting my protein goal (111g) and varying my protein sources. Some days I get lots of plant protein from lentils and quinoa, other days I have a really awesome pork chop and some yogurt or an egg. Have you considered just flexing your carb/fat balance over the course of the week instead of trying to be perfect on all macros every day?

sarahwinston2

Hmm, that's a good idea. Thought we had to be on all macros at all days

AnnPT77

sarahwinston2 wrote: »

Hmm, that's a good idea. Thought we had to be on all macros at all days

Close is good enough; averaged to good over a small number of days is close enough. Bodies don't have counters that rest at midnight.