Trying to go from 195 to 165, currently 185

j9jn8fscd2

high protein based diet but still low calorie is my struggle cuz high protein usually means high calorie if it isn’t egg whites or something. Roughly 18% BF, any tips?

AnnPT77

If you want high protein for lower calories from food, this thread below may help you. It links to a spreadsheet that lists many, many foods in order by most protein for fewest calories. Fewer calories implies more protein relative to the amount of fat/carbs.

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

Besides your main protein source in each meal, think about getting smaller amounts of protein from sides, beverages, breads, things like protein pasta, even condiments/flavorings. Those smaller bits through the day add up.

If protein is the priority, take a hard look at any food you're logging that has quite a few calories, doesn't have much protein, and isn't proportionately important to you for satiety, other nutrition, or even happiness. Those are things you can reduce (portion size or frequency) to free up calories. Spend those calories on other foods you like that have at least some protein. A series of small changes to your routine habits along those lines will gradually increase your protein total.

Obviously, protein powder or other supplements are an option, and some of those are quite low in calories per gram of protein. I don't have specific recommendations, because I don't find them tasty or satisfying personally, so prefer to get my protein from tasty foods. 😉

If you're trying to lose only 20 more pounds, don't try to lose it fast. The faster a person loses, the higher the risk of losing more than minimal muscle alongside fat loss, not to mention that fast loss increases health risks. You're getting fairly lean, and the leaner you are, the harder your body will push you to get out of what it thinks is a famine - hunger hormones and that sort of thing. Slower loss, maybe more satiety, more nutrition, less push-back . . . maybe higher odds of success?

Probably you've already thought about your protein goal, but I'll mention it anyway. Some people arrive here with an unnecessarily high protein goal, which just makes things more difficult . . . and I say that as someone who's a believer in relatively high protein. (But we need other nutrition, too!)

This is a good and nuanced source for protein information, including a science-based protein needs calculator:

https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/

A plus is that it has a full discussion and run-down of why it recommends the values it does.

Best wishes!

springlering62

I would politely disagree.

High protein does not equate to high calorie.

Chicken breast is lean. Some cuts of pork loin and top round London Broil are 140 calories per 4 ounces. Fish. Shrimp.

I add cottage cheese to baked goods, smoothies, and eat it on its own. Some people do likewise with skyr or yogurt, or even kefir.

I make sure my snacks include some form of protein. My afternoon snacks typically include a Nugo bar (for the yum, protein is bonus) and a bowl of cottage cheese and frozen blueberries and cherries.

After dinner snacks are an ice cream made of yogurt or skyr, and maybe an ounce of cheese afterwards.

Sometimes people here complain they can’t incorporate enough protein. It’s not that they can’t, it’s that they are adhering to a super low calorie goal of 1200 or less, and they don’t have the room in such a futile goal to accomodate much nutrition of any kind.

Make sure you’re eating enough to fuel and not beating yourself into submission with too few calories. It’s better to lose slowly with more calories and keep at it, than to jackrabbit with super low calories and quit in frustration in a few weeks.

springlering62

and FWIW egg whites aren’t particularly high protein. They’re just the shiny thing in the room to new dieters because they’re so low cal.