How to get more protein?

mamashatzie

I've always thought my diet included a healthy amount of protein. I was aiming for 40% protein, which is 150g, but today I've only had 60g.

My food for the day is:
Baby carrots
.5 tbsp peanut butter
1 slice bread
1.5 homemade black bean enchiladas (with cheese and sour cream)
2 servings of 2-bean soup with kale
1 glass of 2% milk
Celery & carrots
Homemade ranch dip
Hard-boiled egg white (I hate the yolks, so I only eat the whites)
Banana

I eat meat only rarely, but I thought beans were a really good source of protein. Any ideas for how I can get more protein into my diet? Or is that a reasonable amount, and I don't need to aim for as much protein?

Edited to add--even if I change the protein to 30%, that is 113g and I'm still nowhere near that!

liftingbro

You need to eat more meat, or supplement with Whey protein. Meat is better.

Pandorian

eat that egg yolk, increase your Peanut butter to a tablespoon, anything less you're ripping yourself off
I use whey powder to boost my protein intake, but tonight I'm setting into a 8 oz steak and looking forward to it.

mrphil86

Protein shake is the easiest.

If you are not a big meat eater than try some tuna. Good amount of protein for how little you eat.

Pandorian

also, try looking up the nutritional info for a couple different bean types, maybe you picked a bean that's not so high in protein?

AggieCass09

You need to eat more meat, or supplement with Whey protein. Meat is better.

disagree.

i get in 100+ grams easy by eating eggs, beans, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, and protein shakes (optimum nutrition is my favorite).

MissMaryMac33

Lean chicken/turkey/fish
Quinoa
Greek Yogurt (The good kind....if the label has more sugar than protein, its not the one you want!)
Whey Protein Shakes

LaSweetMini

Whey protein is great! 100 calories per scoop and 18grams of proteing. Also, greek yogurt has tons of protein!

poisongirl6485

I am in love with tuna right now. And eggs.

caitirin

If you're avoiding red meat, go for boneless, skinless chicken breasts. If not that, then shrimp has a LOT of protein and no fat, but then you have the high mercury content in seafood issue. After that, whey protein drinks are the way to go (no pun intended). I've found that Optimum Nutrition Double Chocolate tastes pretty good. I've tried the ones at Costco and they make me gag.

Oh and, Greek yogurt also has a higher amount of protein in it, compared to regular yogurt.

diane423

add yogurt to ur diet. eat 3 egg whites there is 11 g of protein.

joejccva71

You need to eat more meat, or supplement with Whey protein. Meat is better.

disagree.

i get in 100+ grams easy by eating eggs, beans, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, and protein shakes (optimum nutrition is my favorite).

Yea but meat tastes GOOOOOOD.

AggieCass09

You need to eat more meat, or supplement with Whey protein. Meat is better.

disagree.

i get in 100+ grams easy by eating eggs, beans, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, and protein shakes (optimum nutrition is my favorite).

Yea but meat tastes GOOOOOOD.

ew. disagree again. I can think of only one exception to this ... ;-P

EmilyQC

Quinoa, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, garbanzo beans (my personal favorite, with some fresh parsley and .5 tbsp or dressing) and 12 grain breads. I also go over my protein almost every day and eat very minimal meat. I also don't use a protein shake because i don't need it and its a lot of extra calories.

*tip for coupons on greek yogurt (because I found that its more pricey than reg.) try smartsource.com for yoplait coupons or stonyfield.com for their Greek yogurt.

liftingbro

You need to eat more meat, or supplement with Whey protein. Meat is better.

disagree.

i get in 100+ grams easy by eating eggs, beans, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, and protein shakes (optimum nutrition is my favorite).

I did mention protein powder, the others are obvious but also tend to have a lot of other macros in them and also may not fit as easily into someone's daily calorie intake as meat.

Boneless skinless chicken breast is around ~35-40 calories per ounce with 5-6g of protein per ounce. It's hard to get that much protein from other soruces without getting additional calories you may not need.

RNewton4269

I am not a big fan of meat either. And need to get more protein in my diet as well. Some great tips here. Thanks for posting guys.

AggieCass09

You need to eat more meat, or supplement with Whey protein. Meat is better.

disagree.

i get in 100+ grams easy by eating eggs, beans, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, and protein shakes (optimum nutrition is my favorite).

I did mention protein powder, the others are obvious but also tend to have a lot of other macros in them and also may not fit as easily into someone's daily calorie intake as meat.

Boneless skinless chicken breast is around ~35-40 calories per ounce with 5-6g of protein per ounce. It's hard to get that much protein from other soruces without getting additional calories you may not need.

this is true, however the poster specified that she rarely eats meat.

mamashatzie

Thank you for the suggestions! The beans are black beans (my favorite) and great northern white beans (I think that's what they're called).

I really dislike tuna (that and egg yolks are two things I generally can't stand) but I will try Greek yogurt and cottage cheese. I will also look into whey protein/protein shakes, and maybe have scrambled whole eggs for breakfast instead of the peanut butter sandwich.

datzun

You need to eat more meat, or supplement with Whey protein. Meat is better.

disagree.

i get in 100+ grams easy by eating eggs, beans, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, and protein shakes (optimum nutrition is my favorite).

Yea but meat tastes GOOOOOOD.

ew. disagree again. I can think of only one exception to this ... ;-P

Umm....wait....what?

o.O

TMcBooty

tuna, chicken, fish

whey protein

cottage cheese

chobani yogurt

veggie sausage / patties

they also make high protein bread

sandyfeet10

"Nutritional Yeast" is something many vegetarians add to their meals. It has 8 grams of protein in 1 Tablespoon. You can add it to anything really...not much of a taste.

I add it to pasta sauce, soups, and my favorite is when I make popcorn with coconut oil, then sprinkle the yeast on top.

You can find it in health food stores.

SirBen81

If you eat meat rarely because you don't like it then the simplest solution is just whey protein. All these other foods are sources of high protein, but they include others things as well. Cottage cheese for example is loaded with sodium, yogurt has sugar, beans give GAS. These are all still healthy foods, but if you want protein and nothing else then just go with whey. It's cheap, comes in flavors, mixes with anything(water, milk, juice, pancake mix, etc), and it doesn't go bad, ever.

DopeItUp

Pancake mix, yum!

Dope