How to get enough protein?

Kotuliak

Based on many members' recommendation, one should be eating ~1g of protein per pound of LBM. Being a 5"10' male, 54, ~200 pounds, that means I should be eating 150 g or more protein per day. I am eating ~1,500 - ~1,600 cal/day, losing about 1 pound a week, doing 45 minutes of aerobic exercise and 15 minute resistance training per day.

I find it *very* difficult to get anywhere close to 150 grams of protein.

Yesterday I had - in terms of high-protein items - a protein bar, a scoop of Optimal Nutrition protein supplement, two hard-boiled eggs, and a steak. It all added up to 128 grams of protein. And that is unusually high - most of the time I ended around 100, if that. I would have to radically rebuild by diet around protein to get to 150.

Any thoughts?

MG_Fit

This would be pretty hard to do while meeting your other macros while eating at that kind of deficit. Here are my stats:

5'8" male
~180 pounds
Caloric goal ~2600
Protein macro ~ 225

My goal is to lose .5 pounds / month. Yes if you want to eat 1g of protein / pound of LBM you will need to rebuild your diet. But the question you have to answer first is what are you nutrition / fitness goals?

beckhole69

Eat more milk, cheese, quinoa, watermelon, chicken. I have no troubles getting to 130 grams protein.

If you like, set your food diary to public so I can creep.

AdrianBry

as long as your TOTAL calories are fine (or enough to cause weight loss) then why worry about how much protien, carbs or fats in your diet? it does not matter what you eat as long as you take in NOT enough energy (calories) to force your body to burn fat to make up for the difference BUT...

weight loss will be easier if 30% of your diet is protein or according to yoru 1500 diet then that'll be ABOUT 115 grams of protien you would need but that extra protien will only help you ward off hunger (itf thats a problem for you) and also... you body burns more calories digesting protien but even still...

you could eat 1500 calories worth of ice cream and still lose weight as long as you dont go over 1500. YES - you'll lose weight not mater what you eat BUT eating just ice cream may cause you to lose all your teeth (among other health issues)

joshdann

For breakfast, I often use a double-scoop of Nutracore Lean Active 7 as my protein shake. Most flavors taste great and a double scoop is 290 calories and 60g of protein (plus some other fancy weight loss stuff that may not really be all that necessary). I eat a lot of chicken and especially pork tenderloin. Pork tenderloin is not only heavy in protein but studies have shown that it has the most efficiently absorbed form of protein... and it tastes pretty awesome too.

Cindyinpg

For breakfast, I often use a double-scoop of Nutracore Lean Active 7 as my protein shake. Most flavors taste great and a double scoop is 290 calories and 60g of protein (plus some other fancy weight loss stuff that may not really be all that necessary). I eat a lot of chicken and especially pork tenderloin. Pork tenderloin is not only heavy in protein but studies have shown that it has the most efficiently absorbed form of protein... and it tastes pretty awesome too.

Yes, love pork tenderloin. Cottage cheese too. Yummy!

Fullsterkur_woman

Feel free to check out my diary. It's public. I eat one gram per pound of *body weight*, not LBM, so this amounts to almost 180 grams a day. And my calorie limit is 1800, so the ratio is equivalent, it would just be about 15% less amount of food in your case.

Fullsterkur_woman

I would have to radically rebuild by diet around protein to get to 150.

Any thoughts?

Oh, and one more thought. Yes. Yes it does mean that. That is exactly what I have done. Protein first, then fat and plants, then whatever I want.

trogalicious

I'm basically in the same boat. 3 eggs for breakfast, 200g chicken breast for lunch.. pretty much daily. Cottage cheese, almonds, fish, pork, dairy.. I typically will hit 150+ per day of protein by the time I'm near that goal of yours.

BeachGingerOnTheRocks

When I'm cutting, I eat about 1600 a day (at 120 pounds and being female), and I can get around 150 grams of protein.

It takes very careful eating, and you have to be diligent and consistent.

Egg Beaters
Very lean ground beef (93/7)
Tilapia, and lots of it
Basa fish (low cal, high protein)
Protein Powder that is lower in calories (muscle milk light, e.g.)
chicken breast

And you have to be picky about foods with fiber, low cal high fiber tortillas are a big part of my diet when I cut.

It doesn't leave a lot of room for treats, unfortunately.

For your size, I wouldn't recommend eating below 1600. Eat a little more, if you can; lift a little more, too, if you can.

BrainyBurro

Based on many members' recommendation, one should be eating ~1g of protein per pound of LBM. Being a 5"10' male, 54, ~200 pounds, that means I should be eating 150 g or more protein per day. I am eating ~1,500 - ~1,600 cal/day, losing about 1 pound a week, doing 45 minutes of aerobic exercise and 15 minute resistance training per day.

I find it *very* difficult to get anywhere close to 150 grams of protein.

Yesterday I had - in terms of high-protein items - a protein bar, a scoop of Optimal Nutrition protein supplement, two hard-boiled eggs, and a steak. It all added up to 128 grams of protein. And that is unusually high - most of the time I ended around 100, if that. I would have to radically rebuild by diet around protein to get to 150.

Any thoughts?

it's 0.8g/lb LBM

200lbs at 25% BF = 150lbs

150 x 0.8 = 120g

i have no problem getting 140g every day.

1 cup 2% milk + 2 scoops whey protein powder = 370 calories and 56g protein

don't make this harder than it needs to be.

firstsip

Do you feel too full to eat? Gradually upping the protein/calories should hopefully adjust your hunger "thermometer."

I'm also curious if you get what I get; I get incredibly nauseated from eating straight protein, and have to make sure I get some decent fat in there. NOT PREGNANT.

Tessyloowhoo

All of these foods can be bought at Market Basket, this is how a girl that is on a 1,400 calorie, high protein diet does it

light and fit greek yogurt (12g of protein, 80 calories)
4 hard boiled egg whites (14g of protein, 68 calories)
2oz of turkey deli meat (9g of protein, 50 calories)
Vegan Boca burger (13g of protein, 70 calories)
250g of steamed broccoli (BIG plate) (7g of protein, 88 calories)
Thin and trim chicken sausage, 2 sausages (20g of protein, 140 calories)
When pig's fly low carb bread, 2 slices (12g of protein, 140calories)
Joseph's lavash bread (10g of protein, 100calories)
Purdue simply smart frozen grilled chicken strips (21g of protein, 110 calories)

elsdonward

A research study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association produced a report by the Board of the Institute of Medicine to determine optimal intake of the macronutrients protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Regarding protein intake, they determined the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for those 18 years of age and older was 0.8 g of protein per kilogram body weight per day. In plain English, this means .36 grams per pound of body weight.

It was also noted the dietary guidelines published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Governmental programs, such as the school lunch program for children and Meals on Wheels for elderly persons, use the .36 grams/pound/day as well. Same for dietary guidelines published in the dietetic literature, the popular press, and various nutritional computer programs - a recommend protein intake of .36 grams/pound/day.

In example, a 190 pound person would need only 68.4 grams of protein per day. That requirement could be met by ingesting a 4 ounce skinless chicken breast, half a cup of low-fat cottage cheese, and half a cup of crushed walnuts in one day.

Any more protein than this is likely to be superflous - but if you want energy you could do no better than eating starch. Potatoes contain all the vitamins and minerals needed - because they are the storage system of the plant. Likewise with rice

Are you measuring your carb intake? This may deserve your attention. Heres a thought - Carbs are the way to Nirvanah without feeling hungry

michaluna1231

I have not heard of this formula that you are supposed to eat 1 gram of protein for each pound of LBM. But even assuming that's correct, my question is how did you compute that you have 150 pounds of LBM? That seems high. I mean, there's water weight, there's bone mass, fat, etc. Have you used a special scale that computes lean body mass? These aren't the most accurate in the world way to measure LBM but at least its an estimation, may be better than just guessing.

As for boosting protein, I try to boost my protein intake with lowfat or fat-free dairy: each cup of milk has 7 or 8 grams of protein, I also eat reduced -fat cheddar cheese (8 grams per oz) and Stonyfield organic NONFAT Oikos Greek yogurt (each 6 ounce serving has about 13 grams of protein.

When it comes to starchy foods, I aim for the highest protein yet convenient choices: I eat 100 percent whole wheat English muffins, 100 percent whole wheat bread, and select whole grain breakfast cereals or oatmeal. I do 100 percent whole wheat tortillas, etc. Popcorn is also a whole grain. Also 100 percent whole wheat pasta and brown rice. Most of these have 4 or 5 grams of protein for each 100 calorie serving. That adds up quickly.

Also, I eat lots and lots of veggies, all of which have protein and almost no calories They are very filling, too. Also I eat legumes.

mortuseon

I've found it really helps to work in 'little' sources of protein that supplement stuff like meat, eggs, shakes etc without you really noticing. So I eat a lot of greek yoghurt and wholewheat pitta bread, lentils in soups rather than barley, milk (low-fat for me)...you'll find they add up surprisingly to boost your protein. However, I do use supplementary protein powder simply because meat is expensive! (this is ~100kcals per 20g protein)

mortuseon

I have not heard of this formula that you are supposed to eat 1 gram of protein for each pound of LBM. But even assuming that's correct, my question is how did you compute that you have 150 pounds of LBM? That seems high. I mean, there's water weight, there's bone mass, fat, etc. Have you used a special scale that computes lean body mass? These aren't the most accurate in the world way to measure LBM but at least its an estimation, may be better than just guessing.

As for boosting protein, I try to boost my protein intake with lowfat or fat-free dairy: each cup of milk has 7 or 8 grams of protein, I also eat reduced -fat cheddar cheese (8 grams per oz) and Stonyfield organic NONFAT Oikos Greek yogurt (each 6 ounce serving has about 13 grams of protein.

When it comes to starchy foods, I aim for the highest protein yet convenient choices: I eat 100 percent whole wheat English muffins, 100 percent whole wheat bread, and select whole grain breakfast cereals or oatmeal. I do 100 percent whole wheat tortillas, etc. Popcorn is also a whole grain. Also 100 percent whole wheat pasta and brown rice. Most of these have 4 or 5 grams of protein for each 100 calorie serving. That adds up quickly.

Also, I eat lots and lots of veggies, all of which have protein and almost no calories They are very filling, too. Also I eat legumes.

^ this! I eat exclusively whole grain and those little sources really help

Topsking2010

Bump

michaluna1231

I also wholeheartedly believe there is no need to consume "supplemental" protein such as highly processed powders etc. to lose weight....

I have never had a protein shake and I have lost more than 80 pounds now. I find that is IS necessary to change one's eating habits and make gradual, sustainable changes, and find a way to manage "trigger foods" and treat foods, but there is no need to drink nasty protein powders.

mustgetmuscles1

Eating more than RDA of protein is recommended for maintaining lean body mass in a calorie deficit.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23739654

Abstract
The purpose of this work was to determine the effects of varying levels of dietary protein on body composition and muscle protein synthesis during energy deficit (ED). A randomized controlled trial of 39 adults assigned the subjects diets providing protein at 0.8 (recommended dietary allowance; RDA), 1.6 (2×-RDA), and 2.4 (3×-RDA) g kg(-1) d(-1) for 31 d. A 10-d weight-maintenance (WM) period was followed by a 21 d, 40% ED. Body composition and postabsorptive and postprandial muscle protein synthesis were assessed during WM (d 9-10) and ED (d 30-31). Volunteers lost (P<0.05) 3.2 ± 0.2 kg body weight during ED regardless of dietary protein. The proportion of weight loss due to reductions in fat-free mass was lower (P<0.05) and the loss of fat mass was higher (P<0.05) in those receiving 2×-RDA and 3×-RDA compared to RDA. The anabolic muscle response to a protein-rich meal during ED was not different (P>0.05) from WM for 2×-RDA and 3×-RDA, but was lower during ED than WM for those consuming RDA levels of protein (energy × protein interaction, P<0.05). To assess muscle protein metabolic responses to varied protein intakes during ED, RDA served as the study control. In summary, we determined that consuming dietary protein at levels exceeding the RDA may protect fat-free mass during short-term weight loss.-Pasiakos, S. M., Cao, J. J., Margolis, L. M., Sauter, E. R., Whigham, L. D., McClung, J. P., Rood, J. C., Carbone, J. W., Combs, G. F., Jr., Young, A. J. Effects of high-protein diets on fat-free mass and muscle protein synthesis following weight loss: a randomized controlled trial.

More is also needed for those workout, trying to gain muscle and older people. 1g/lbs LBM is just an easy guideline to follow for a base intake.

mortuseon

I think it really depends on your fitness goals. I started drinking protein shakes because I started lifting, and there is a higher protein requirement there. I also find it helps to keep me more full, but I agree that if you can afford to buy meat etc...by all means!