Protein

mostein

Good morning! I am noticing in my food diary that I eat very little protein, yesterday was only around 20g and my recommended was 60. I am not losing any weight, do you think if I upped my protein it would help me lose weight? I am not a vegetarian but I am not that interested in meat products, I do eat beans but not everyday so I think I could easily up my protein I would just have to think about it. What do you think?

jmafte

Greek yogurt has a ton, peanut butter has a good amount too. I eat a lot of meat (90% chicken and turkey) and I'm constantly over on my protein intake, sometime over by far too much.

kristy_estes21

Protein helps keep you full so that would help. I don't know how you are about snacking and stuff, but if you have more protein at each meal then it will help you not to snack too much between meals. Do you like chicken? It has a lot of protein in it as well as fish. Greek yogurt has quite a bit too. If you're strength training then more protein will help you build lean muscle mass.

nyctraveler

fish is great for protein if you don't like meat

you are eating wayyyy too little protein b/c MFP setting is defaulted to 30% of your diet which is too low.

I am usually around 100g of protein a day from chicken/turkey, fish, cheese stick, eggs, etc.

Tofu has a lot of protein too but watch our for the fat

Britt22706

I'm not expert so don't go by what I say. But I would imagine that it could possibly be a factor. Protein helps to build lean muscle, which in turn helps boost metabolism and burn calories.

Greek yogurt is amazing!! Try this with some fresh fruit or nuts! The nuts would be a plus because it would add even more protein. And hey, if you don't like meat, maybe try adding a protein shake into your daily routine.

Pandorian

MFP defaults to 15% I believe, I had to change mine to 30% to get the amount of protein I wanted (0.5 grams per pound of body weight or a little over 1.1 gram per kg )

kaitimae

When it comes down to weight loss it is all about calories - however, protein is extremely important! It builds muscle, and lean muscle helps to burn fat. Especially if you are doing strength workouts.

There are lots of choices to get protein, even if you aren't interested in meat - beans - like you said, yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese, regular cheese, milk, spinach, lentils, nuts, etc. Definitely make sure you are getting your reccommended ampount of protein! I am usually over on protein, and it's the one thing I never worry about going over on.

GregJennings

The bottom line is to be under net calorie budget. Net calorie budget is gross calorie intake minus that burned in exercise.

With that said, being vegetarian and consistently under running protein intake could be costing you lean muscle mass. Lean muscle mass is, essentially, your metabolism. The more you have, the more calories you burn and vice versa.

So, if you could get your intake of complete proteins up and introduce some strength to increase lean muscle mass, you might have an easier time losing weight.

FWIW.

lizzybethclaire

Why not try some meat alternatives for protein? All you need to do is add flavor to them and it is easy to add them to your food. For example: TVP (textured veggie protein). You reconstitute it with water (or chicken broth or even beef broth) and you can add it to soup, rice, spaghetti, chili, whatever... It will take on the flavors you put it with. It has a meaty consistency. I tricked my kids with it in spaghetti-they thought I made them spaghetti with meat sauce! TIp: you do not need to reconstitute it if you are adding it to something with liquid in it such as spaghetti sauce or soup. You may just need to add a little extra water. It has no fat (if it is plain) and is low in calories and has a lot of protein. A 1/4 cup dry is 80 calories, 0 fat, 4 g fiber, and 12 g protein. Plus it is cheap (usually a $1.99 a pound)! Just remember, 1 cup dry=1 pound of red meat.

p.s. I don't sell TVP but I do think it is awesome

mostein

Thanks everyone!