Does eating more protein really help with food cravings?

RavenLRiehl

I noticed when I had beef sticks and cottage cheese with fruit earlier in the week, I was much more satisfied with staying below my calorie limit. What are some of your favorite foods that have a good amount of protein?

DiscusTank5

For me, yes it does.

Eggs, Quest protein bars, cottage cheese, plain Greek yogurt, high protein granola (Nutrail, Elizabeth, Nature's Path Love Crunch), edamame, rotisserie chicken, venison back strap, almonds, almond butter, natural peanut butter, cashew butter, pistachios, low fat frozen yogurt, whole milk (in my morning tea), goat cheese.

One exception: I don't usually eat much cheese when in a fat loss cycle. The rest of my family loves shredded cheddar on lots of foods like chili, eggs, or baked potatoes, and I usually skip it or have 5-6 grams only.

four_bumblebees

Eating more protein was the #1 game changer for me. I went from craving and overeating on junk all the time to eating three square meals a day and moderating junk food (80/20 rule) with minimal cravings. I can't recommend it highly enough. I aim for 1g protein per lb of healthy body weight but often go over that. My body seems to feel best at about 160g protein per day as a 5'4 woman (AFAB) in my late 20s.

yirara

It depends, and is totally individual. Give me a potato, or simple white rice and I'm happy and full. Give me some chicken with the same calorie amount, regardless of how well prepared or spiced and I'm not full or happy.

Retroguy2000

An oatmeal breakfast sets me up nicely for the day. That's either oatmeal with milk, and a separate scoop of whey powder, or overnight oats with whey powder mixed in. That extra fibre plus a daily high protein diet helps with staying on track.

Daily exercise also helps, even if it's just a walk. I'm sure there are physical reasons for that, but also it helps reinforce mentally what your goals are, even subconsciously. It's a real thing, called the transfer effect.

AnnPT77

I do best with a solid breakfast that has plenty of protein, protein through the day, and high volume in at least one meal. The high volume is usually a huge serving of varied, colorful veggies at dinner, but it varies.

Protein at breakfast is usually oatmeal with berries, peanut butter powder, cinnamon, modest portions of walnuts/hemp hearts/ground flaxseed, a blop of blackstrap molasses for a bit of sweetness (and a meaningful contribution to potassium goal among others), and plain nonfat Greek yogurt. I have coffee with lots of hot skim milk, too - frothing the milk if I feel fancy. It's a lot of calories, around a third of my base pre-exercise calorie goal (I'm in maintenance), but around 43g of protein, only slightly under half my daily goal.

On morning rowing days I want to eat a bit lighter, so have an Ezekiel pita with peanut butter plus a cup of nonfat plain kefir, 25g protein. Usually I go for coffee with my rowing buddies after the row, have a large skim latte (no flavor) for another 17g protein.

I love my oatmeal so much I usually have that for lunch on rowing days, gotta admit.

Lunch on non-rowing days and dinners differ a lot. Here, I should mention that I'm long-term ovo-lacto vegetarian, and don't enjoy protein powder/bars, so what I eat will vary from some others' habits.

For protein the rest of the day, some common things I eat are traditional soy foods (tofu, tempeh, dry roasted edamame), calorie-efficient cheeses, lots of plain nonfat Greek yogurt in other roles (instead of sour cream, as part of home-made salad dressings, etc.), legumes (crispy snack ones in addition to cooked ones), moderate portions of nuts/seeds.

I've been pursuing weight management seriously for around 10 years now (loss of about 50 pounds then 9+ years maintenance). I've tweaked a lot of details to increase protein in ways that keep me happy. That includes: -

• choosing veggies, grains, breads or pastas that taste good to me but have relatively more protein (ideally essential amino acid balanced, bioavailable sources)
• using flavoring ingredients that add a bit of protein (like miso, nutritional yeast, peanut butter powder or almond butter powder)
• having personal rules of thumb for quickly evaluating food labels at the store to keep me conscious of protein to total calories ratios. (I figure an individual food with 10 or fewer all-source total calories per gram of protein is a decent vegetarian protein source; 20-30 calories per gram of protein is decent for a prepared thing like a frozen meal. This doesn't mean I never choose things that don't meet those numbers, it's just one fact to include when considering whether the food is a good choice for me, including things like how tasty/tempting it is or how much it contributes nutritionally in other ways).

If you're interesting in finding calorie efficient protein sources and haven't run across it yet, this is a great thread for reference:

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