Difficulty achieving Macro Protein intake.

RonelleVanEyk

Macros baffle me, and I cannot hit the mark!

I usually manage not to exceed my 1200cal daily food goal. (It is a challenge, but I am pretty diligent).

I enter all my food into MFP. I try to combine this calorie focus with MFP macro goals... but, my protein always falls short (I usually only eat between 30-60g protein). My my fat intake is generally quite low too ... but my carbs (mostly veg, beans + pulses) are always well over!
I do wonder if this is an issue (and if it impedes my weight loss), and whether I am eating too many carbs to achieve that "full feeling", whilst compromising my ability to reach my protein goals!

It might be worth noting that i am vegetarian (almost vegan and eats very little dairy/eggs). I prefer the idea of achieving dietary needs through real food,
rather than processed/protein powder/shakes etc. I also eat quite low fat and have always had a bit of a fear of adding (healthy) high calorie food options (like avocado, nuts & seeds, oils).

erickirb

lower protein won't affect how much weight you lose, but not getting adequate protein while in a deficit (losing weight) will lead to a higher % of your loss coming from lean muscle, as opposed to the fat you want to lose. 1200 cals is also quite low, If you earn exercise calories, eat those back too. If you can't eat enough protein from your regular diet, maybe try adding protein powder to something you already eat. Add more Tofu, Tempeh, or other vegan "meat" options. 60 grams may be okay, but def. not 30

cmriverside

Here's a good thread with very detailed graph of the protein in various foods:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also/p1

You may need to raise your intake of dairy and eggs, they're both good sources of protein. I agree with the first poster, 1200 is low and only suitable for smaller (short) inactive (usually older) women - how much weight do you need to lose? He also stated why protein is really important, and for me it helps with hunger too.

There are many plant-based protein powders you can mix into liquid.

kshama2001

Paging @AnnPT77 who has been a vegetarian for decades and always gives great advice about hitting protein goals.

I agree with the others that 1200 calories may be unnecessarily low. Here is more on that: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/

If you are active (and I hope you are!) what % of the calories you earn from exercise do you eat back?

Retroguy2000

30g-60g protein is waaaaay too low for you.

I've heard some vegan sources of protein aren't as complete in amino acids as animal proteins, or something like that? Anyway, you can probably get casein or pea protein powder if needed.

AnnPT77

I share others' concern about 1200. It might be fine, it might not. I hope you're not trying to lose much more than about 0.5% of your current weight per week, because that can backfire in various ways, from elevated health risks to inability to stick with a too-low goal long enough to lose a meaningful amount of weight.

I'm a vegetarian, ovo-lacto. I'm also old (59-60 when losing), female, and non-big (5'5"). I lost most of 50-some pounds quite rapidly - too rapidly at one point, TBH, by accident - at 1400-1600 net calories, so around 1600-2000 calories gross intake most days. I admit, I'm mysteriously a good li'l ol' calorie burner, but MFP started me at 1200, based on accurate inputs, and only a mildly too-aggressive loss rate for my size at the time. So, I've been there.

During weight loss, I was able to work my way around to getting 80g+ protein as a routine, sometimes substantially more. Now, in maintenance at higher calories (and now around 130 pounds +/- 5, age 67), I routinely exceed my personal 100g minimum, often by a lot. I don't use protein powder or protein bars. I prefer to get protein from food, too, and it's mostly whole foods, though I'm not religious about whole food. I include some processed things like red lentil or soy pasta, some relatively processed snacks, etc.

I admit, I do like dairy, so eat it quite a bit (not that many eggs), but I think I could reach similar protein levels using only plant-based foods (still not including supplements). I haven't tried, because I don't want to, admit. I'd be eating more soy foods than I do now, and I'd enjoy my overall eating patterns less. (Those two points aren't tightly linked - I like things like tofu, tempeh, soy pasta, dry roasted soybeans, etc., just fine, eat some of them daily . . . but I like more variety.)

What I suggest is a process, plus some tips.

The process:

Look at your diary. Notice foods that have relatively many calories, but that aren't super important to you (in their current portion size) for feeling full, getting other nutrition, or just for happiness while sticking to your calorie goal. Eliminate those foods, or reduce their portion size or frequency. That frees up a few calories. Find foods you like that have more protein for the calories than the ones you reduced or eliminated, and eat those more often instead.

You can use the thread Riverside linked (which is great) to identify protein sources you may not have thought of. You'll need to scroll past the mostly meaty/fishy stuff at the top of the linked spreadsheet, but you'll find plant foods further down.

Keep doing that, reviewing and tweaking eating patterns, until you're getting your routine eating habits to the point where you're hitting your protein minimums the majority of the time, on average.

Tips:

1. Don't think only about the "one big protein per meal" things. (That's omnivore-think. ) In addition, think about pleasant ways to get little bits of protein from many different sources throughout the day. There are veggies with more protein than others, breads/grains/pastas with more protein, crunchy/salty snacks with protein, flavoring ingredients with protein (like miso or nutritional yeast) . . . you get the idea. Those little bits of protein add up, by end of day.

2. When shopping, I read a lot of labels. You can make up your own rule of thumb, but for me, I consider something (i.e., single food ingredient/item) a good vegetarian protein food if it has around 10 or fewer calories (total from all macros) per gram of protein. I consider a whole commercial dish (like a frozen meal, say) to be a reasonable protein source if it has somewhere around 20 or so calories per gram of protein, maybe up to 30 depending on how appealing it is to me for other reasons. (No, I don't build my life around protein. It's just a way to roughly and quickly evaluate new foods for protein quality.)

3. Yes, some vegetarian protein sources are lower quality than animal sources, either in terms of essential amino acid (EAA) completeness or bioavailability. I'm not going to go into details about that here, but it's true, and the implication IMO is that we should be trying to get somewhat higher amounts of protein grams than omnivores to compensate. It can also be helpful to vary protein sources more widely daily, and perhaps to develop your knowledge of protein complementarity. (Protein complementarity is choosing foods that are low in certain EAAs and high in others, alongside other foods that have opposite EAA shortages/extras.) Of course we should also pay attention to incorporating higher-quality protein sources (EAA complete plant sources or dairy/eggs) as much as practical.

4. You'll find some good nutrition information at this site: https://veganhealth.org/. I know you're not vegan, but you're striving to get lots of protein from things other than dairy and eggs, so their view is relevant. Unlike many vegan advocacy sites, this is a science-based site, with content from registered dietitians who are themselves vegan. If you avoid eggs/dairy, there are other nutritional issues you need to be aware of (B-12, Iron, Calcium, more). They're not insurmountable obstacles, but they're important to manage for long-term health.

That's enough for now. I still log most days, though not all. If you want to see what I eat, feel free to send me a friend request. I'm a poor MFP friend on that side of things, but my diary is open to friends, and I'm happy to answer questions (DM or on my timeline) about what I eat, how, why, etc. I do have a much higher calorie goal now than yours, as a caveat.

I'm confident you can make improvements, if you chip away at it via diary review. If you need to use protein powder temporarily to get closer to your needs, that may be worth it. Protein is especially important while we're losing weight, and you can mix it into other foods so you're not just drinking protein shakes. People have all kinds of recipes around here, but obviously since I don't use protein powder, I can't recommend any recipes/threads.

Best wishes!