Need more protein

ebkins7

Help! I need to get more protein in. I'm working out really hard and want that protein to help build that nice lean muscle!

I try to have a protein with every meal but I'm still missing. We live on a single income so expensive powders are not really an option for replacement.

Here's what my diet typically looks like on a given day

breakfast: egg whites and slice of 12 grain toast
Snack: yogurt and friuit
Lunch: salad with chicken or fish and beans
snack: almonds or a fruit or granola
dinner: chicken or fish with veggies (sometimes lean red meat)

Any suggestions would be helpful

shannonstarr

Double up on your chicken servings....lots of protein with not many calories..
Pure Protein Bars are awesome and not that expensive...
Cottage Cheese is low in calories and high in protein...

Goal_Seeker_1988

switch to plain greek yougrut. One serving has bout 29 grams of protein.

TabbyJustice

My friend just turned me on to a yogurt called Chobani. So far I've found it in almost all grocery stores I've been to. 14g protein in a serving and it's average a dollar in price. Also try adding maybe a cheese stick to your snacks in the day for extra protein and calcium.

Nichelle27

Lentils are an excellent source. If you like beans, they carry plenty of protein.

Thorneapple

Try aiming for the foods with more bang for your buck, protein wise. Here is a link that shows the nutritional contenet of some high protein foods.



http://commonsensehealth.com/Diet-and-Nutrition/List_of_High_Protein_Foods.shtml

sd59940

I love lean turkey patties grilled or fried. Fry them using PAM’s Olive oil spray it contains zero everything…
http://www.pam4you.com/pages/products/oliveoil/index.jsp

I chop tomatos, onion, bell pepper and cilantro; Spice it with garlic, pepper and light salt. I grill 10 of these bad boys every weekend and freeze for the week, about 18-24 grams each patty depending on how big you make them.

More protein sources: Tuna, Greek Yogurt (gross but I eat it), cottage cheese, I read something on lean pork check it out. I’m on a budget too and these are some inexpensive meals.. Hope it helps and good luck!

ebkins7

switch to plain greek yougrut. One serving has bout 29 grams of protein.

Wow! That's a lot! Gonna have to try it!

ebkins7

Thanks guys! Those are all great suggestions! Gonna try a few of them and see where I get!

Awineburg

Lentils are an AWESOME source of protein and not to mention very cheap! The local store here carries them for $0.40 cents a pound!

mhmoorehead

I am a weight loss surgery patient. Our diets are primarily protein with good fats and carbs mixed in. Your intake looks good but here is the formula for calculating how much protein you specifically need.

Weight in pounds divided by 2.2 = weight in kg
Example: 130 lbs. ÷ 2.2 = 59 kg
Weight in kg x 0.8
Example: 59 kg x 0.8 = 47 g of protein
To boost your protein try the following:
Try mixing in some cottage cheese or tofu to your egg whites. A 1/2 cup of cottage cheese has 15 grams of protein and gives egg whites a nice creamy texture. 1/2 cup tofu has 20 grams protein. I make a mock egg salad using diced tofu. You can follow any egg salad recipe and just substitute tofu for the egg and add a little extra mustard to give it a yellow appearance. I make mine with a home made tofu mayonnaise. I'll be happy to give you the recipe if you'd like. My family cannot tell the difference with the egg salad and the mayo. Add some flax seeds or pumpkin seeds to your salad. 1/4 cup of each has 8 grams of protein. A six ounce can of tuna has 40 grams of protein. Beef or turkey jerky is rich in protein and low in fat. Hard cheese generally has more protein than softer ones. But all cheese is protein rich and gives you a good calcium boost. If you can splurge a little and are also looking for a boost in your water intake muscle milk makes a protein water. One bottle has 60 calories, 10 grams of protein, and 5 grams of fiber. There are several flavors, grape, grapefruit, raspberry, and orange. Good luck! Hope this helped.

kdiamond

Good suggestions...also I would try 1% cottage cheese as a snack (16 grams of protein per 1/2 cup serving), or a few slices of deli turkey, also definitely switch to greek yogurt (2% Fage is awesome), sometimes I do a turkey jerkey for a snack too (8 grams of protein per stick - get the all natural ones without preservatives).

dlaplume2

I know you said no on the protien powders, but if you use them a little differently they might help. I use this stuff nutribiotocs makes it is a rice protien powder. It has 12 grams of protien per tablespoon. You could blend it into your yougurt. I add it to my pancake mix to lower the shock of sugar. It really seems to help. The container will last a while if you're not into making shakes several times aday.

I use Vanilla flavored.

you could probably add it to oatmeal too.

Just a thought, outside the box. If you only use one T a day it will last you over a month. I only make pancakes once a week if even so it does last me a while.
You do, do some kick butt workouts so you need the extra protien, make sure you get enough calories from carbs too.

sara_xo

cottage cheese, nuts, cheeses, you can get some cheaper not as good tasting proteins from walmart and cosco that are iso proteins for around $20... um.. greek yogurt, fish, tuna (i buy the flavoured mini cans.. walmart usually has 2 for $2) chicken extra lean ground beef.. umm... egg whites are good (theres a site that has tubs of them for $50 instead of buying them in a 2 cup carton its way cheaper

rawfitness

A protein supplement is really economical. A typical can of tuna costs about $1 for 22 grams of protein. You can purchase 2 lb of protein for $20 which will have approx 25 servings of 24 grams each. Protein supps are a bargain IMO. Approx 80 cents per serv.

cclaborn22

I love whey protein, turkey bacon, baked tilapia with some lemon pepper, tuna salad with eggs, and my favorite dinner right now is one whole egg w/5 eggs whites and some fresh salsa on top yummy :happy: