More protein!

cwsreddy

We aren't all going run out and get a body scan, so I am trying to give a healthy, attainable number to shoot for. Pretty much all the sites I have read state that "most women" have a lean mass of about 100 pounds. If you know yours is smaller or bigger, great! But most of us don't know exactly what our lean mass is, so we have to go by guidelines.

to be fair it's easy to get an estimate, I use this site and compare it to the military charts, and it's pretty accurate http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

I'm with SonofaBeach with "more protein never hurts"(unless there's a medical condition)

ok so more protein doesn't hurt, but if it doesn't help, why waste your time and money?

It is more of an "erring on the side of caution" type scenario.

fair enough. if you don't have all the information at hand then yes, better to err on that side for sure. but at the end of the day 70g of protein for a grown woman isn't going to hurt you either.

At risk of beating a dead horse, saying that 70 grams of protein "isn't going to hurt you" in the context of optimal protein intake isn't very helpful. Yes, she can certainly do well at that level, but the question is "can she do better at a higher level?" I'm willing to concede that the data isn't clear above 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass and that is why I'm saying simply to err on the side of caution. That said, if you have recent studies on this that are peer reviewed, I'd love to see them. This is a grey area and I'm not an expert but am well read and very keen on improving my own understanding.

The USDA suggests women dont need more than 46g of protein.

Now I hate the USDA. I think it's a joke. I think the FDA is as well and that the gov't and medical science tend to have no clue when it comes to nutrition.

That said, if we take 46g as the absolute minimum to function normally (not optimally) then 70g should be plenty for the average person to also function normally. Now the question of optimal comes in and that's my bread and butter. I love the word optimal, because I want to function at my optimal level as much as possible. I want to be the best version of myself that I can possibly be. I want to perform better in athletic pursuits as well as day to day life.

For someone like me, 70g of protein probably won't be enough and so you'll do your research, you'll get your numbers checked and you'll decide about how much is optimal and gets you the results you want.

But for most people using this site, they're just looking to lose weight and get healthier so they can be happier day to day and live longer than they otherwise would. For that, I don't think it IS important to err on the side of "more is better" if it isn't necessary. If someone can find their version of success on 70g of protein then great! If they need 80 great! If they do better with 100 great! But I think it's important for people to know that you won't have reduced fat or weight loss simply because you cant reach 100g of protein daily.

dnamouse

Sun Warrior makes a dairy-free, gluten-free etc rice protein powder. I use it and it's not too bad (milk products and soy products are out for me and that's pretty much the only brand I can get here that's safe for me to consume).

In terms of amount, I try for minimum 1g/pd bodyweight, BUT, that said, I only weigh 90pds lol (very, very short!) so that's pretty easy for me to do

Other than protein powder, I boil up about a half dozen eggs, put them in the fridge and have one as a snack every now and then. Also, pre-cook some chicken, weigh it into portion sizes and freeze it as well - makes for a nice and quick topping for a salad or sandwich or tossed through rice or pasta (or on top of homemade pizza).

Tanya949

my fav breakfast on the weekends: chocolate almond butter yogurt:

6 oz of vanilla greek 0% fat yogurt (I get big containers of Green Mountain Creamery yogurt)
14 grams of Syntrax chocolate truffle protein powder
1 tablespoon (16 grams) of almond butter (I use Barney Butter)

All together there is is 30 grams of protein in this and it's sooo yummy.

Wow that sounds good! I have to try that!

acogg

One gram per pound of body weight??? I would need to eat 229g of protein per day?? I can't even get 100g on a good day. I don't eat meat, but I do eat PB, greek yogurt, milk, cheese, quinoa, lentils, chickpeas, beans, vega protein powder, nuts and seeds, kale, spinach, eggs, and I can't get nearly enough protein in my diet. I'm thinking of trying seitan, they say it can have as much/more protein than meat? I am truly frustrated that I have hunger pangs every day, eat to my daily goal, have cut out ALL processed foods except the odd hamburger bun (black bean burgers),make all my own meals, drink tons of water and am still hungry. I am scared to eat that much protein, really.

I was trying to reassure this poster that lean mass is what needs to be supported and a general idea of a good number. Gads, now it has been turned into an argument over 30 grams of protein? :ohwell:

escapepod

How do you feel about tuna? I like tuna mixed with cottage cheese instead of mayo, some onion or other seasoning, maybe a bit of chopped celery - makes a very portable high-protein snack. You mentioned you like eggs, what about hard boiled eggs? I generally don't eat breakfast until I get to work, and I like something warm for breakfast. I've found that I can re-heat a hard-boiled egg in hot water in a mug at work. If I'm getting fancy, I spoon-chop it, and mix it up with a bit of chopped ham or Jimmy Dean's turkey sausage crumbles and a bit of shredded cheese in the microwave.

Boogage

Quark has been great for topping up the protein for me. I'm sure there's lots you can do with it but I just like to mix it with some milk and a sachet of low cal hot choc powder. It tastes like Angel delight and 80g of quark has around 10g of protein. I also eat quite a lot of other reduced fat cheeses. Oh also some meat free products contain quite a lot of protein. Although processed I've found some meat free burgers that are only 80 cals, 3g fat and 9g protein.

FoxyLifter

the problem with soy protein is it's far from complete. I'm a fan of both pea protein and hemp protein. Hemp is a complete protein, and while pea protein is not complete, is has a different amino acid profile than you're getting in the rest of your (probably) soy-heavy diet.

I second the hemp protein. I have a high fiber hemp protein that I order on a regular basis: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012C2GFM/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

writergeek313

Quinoa is a great source of protein, and you can do so many different things with it (even served warm with the milk of your choice and fruit, like oatmeal). I mostly get my protein from chicken breasts, Greek yogurt, eggs, canned tuna, cheese, and peanut butter. Recently I've started snacking on turkey jerky. The kind I've been buying has 13g in a 1 ounce, 80 calorie serving.

If you decide to go with a protein powder, I recommend Manitoba Farms Hemp Pro 70. When I was using it, I got it from Amazon for less than $20 for a 16 oz. tub. A serving has 20g of protein. The only reason I stopped using it was because I wanted something I could just mix with water or milk and I couldn't handle it this way. If there's a Trader Joe's in your area, I think they make flavored hemp powders (though I don't know if/how they're sweetened).

jessthep1rate

the problem with soy protein is it's far from complete. I'm a fan of both pea protein and hemp protein. Hemp is a complete protein, and while pea protein is not complete, is has a different amino acid profile than you're getting in the rest of your (probably) soy-heavy diet.

Why would you assume my diet is heavy in soy?