Protein %

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kbcara
kbcara Posts: 105 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have set my protein % at 20% above what MFP recommends based on nutritional advice. I do exercise (2 hours x 4 days per week) and I'm told protein is super-important. But in between I am not active at all. On non-active days I always go over my allowance (yet remain a little under daily 1200kcal for mental motivation) but I really feel I'm not eating much protein. For example today we're talking a small jar of cockles at lunch and a 150g chicken breast (skinless) at dinner. Am I missing something!?

Replies

  • yanicka
    yanicka Posts: 1,004 Member
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    Is that all you have eaten today? Eat breakfast, make sure you have protein every meal, ditch the cookies. I try to eat 100-120g of protein a day, I use cheese, greek yogurts, almonds, eggs, lean meat and^protein powder. Change your weight loss to 1/2 pounds, eat your exercise calories.
  • Larius
    Larius Posts: 507 Member
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    I can't see your diary (it's a setting in MFP), so I can't see what's happening. Too much protein is only a problem if you have kidney or liver disease.
  • Larius
    Larius Posts: 507 Member
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    ditch the cookies.

    Haha I read cookies at first too. Cockles are clams.
  • 27strange
    27strange Posts: 837 Member
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    Protein is important and MFP's default settings are pretty low. I upped mine as well. I struggle to get in enough protein from food. I drink ON whey protein shakes following workouts, gives me 24g protein.
  • kbcara
    kbcara Posts: 105 Member
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    Ha ha, thanks for clarifying. If I was eating cookies I could figure out cutting them would be a good idea ;0) ... cockles are shellfish.

    No I've eaten more but they're the main sources of protein. So lunch was a chicken and vegetable soup (with barely any chicken so low protein source) and a small jar of cockles - an odd choice but today is an odd day. But dinner will be salad with chicken breast, a couple of small new potatoes and kcal allowing, some soft cheese.

    I think my point is on a 1200kcal day (which is working for me right now - slow and steady weight loss) it is hard to get sufficient protein without racking up to many kcals. So for example my 150g chicken breast (skinless, cooked without oil) is almost a quarter of my daily kcal allowance.

    So let's rephrase.... what are the lower kcal protein sources??

    PS not yet comfortable opening my diary up, not sure why!? but thank you.
  • ennaejay
    ennaejay Posts: 575
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    what the hell are cockles? i absolutely REFUSE to google it
  • kbcara
    kbcara Posts: 105 Member
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    Hilarious.

    http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10309-10001-10912-Van+Smirren+cockles+in+vinegar.html
  • joncarr875
    joncarr875 Posts: 1
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    How do you change the protein % in MFP? I know I've seen it before, but can't seem to find it.
  • jayb0ne
    jayb0ne Posts: 644 Member
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    I take a 40/40/20 approach to protein/carb/fat.

    Protein can be tough to get in. Carbs are everywhere and hard to avoid. Here's some things I do to get my protein in.

    200g chicken daily -54g
    200g cottage cheese daily - 29g
    2 protein shakes with skim milk daily - 63g
    peanut butter on toast daily (the toast aint important, you can just eat the peanut butter) 5-10g
    Any other protein I can find in my day. Meat, fish, dairy and nuts are your main sources of protein.

    Take a look at my diary if you want to try and get any tips. The one that's listed as 'Jay's Honey Nut Protein Yoghurt' is as follows:

    700g greek yoghurt
    160g peanut butter
    100g brazil nuts
    100g almonds
    35g honey
    3 scoops whey powder

    Whizz in blender, makes about 10 servings of 110g or so with 21g protein.

    Cheers

    Jay
  • kbcara
    kbcara Posts: 105 Member
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    Go to goals, and set your own in order to change the %.
  • yanicka
    yanicka Posts: 1,004 Member
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    ditch the cookies.

    Haha I read cookies at first too. Cockles are clams.

    Oups sorry....for my defence, I am french canadian. ;)
  • Larius
    Larius Posts: 507 Member
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    Chicken is as about as low in kcals as protein gets. You're getting about 1g of fat and 0g of carbs for 40-50g of protein. That's better than most protein shakes.

    A better question might be, why are you only eating 1200 kcals a day? That is a minimum, and not appropriate or ideal for most people. That may be why you are having trouble fitting in the food you think you should.
  • jayb0ne
    jayb0ne Posts: 644 Member
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    I think my point is on a 1200kcal day (which is working for me right now - slow and steady weight loss) it is hard to get sufficient protein without racking up to many kcals. So for example my 150g chicken breast (skinless, cooked without oil) is almost a quarter of my daily kcal allowance.

    So let's rephrase.... what are the lower kcal protein sources??

    Ahh, I see your issue. Well protein is 4 calories per gram so if you were aiming for say 40% protein, you'd need to get 120g per day. 120g of pure protein would be 480 cals but even protein isolate isn't PURE protein, there's other stuff in there. So to hit 40% of 1200, you'd probably need to eat about 600 cals worth of protein rich food.

    Chicken is pretty damn close to all protein. The chicken breast I buy logs as 246 cals for 200g with 54g of protein. Using our 4* multiplier, we can see that there are 216 cals from protein in this chicken which means that there's only 30 calories of anything else - which will be about 3 grams of fat. Not bad!

    If you're serious about packing it in though, your best bet is whey protein isolate powder which is about 90 odd % pure protein. That's the lowest calorie protein source I can think of as it's almost exactly 4 calories per gram.

    Cheers

    Jay
  • kbcara
    kbcara Posts: 105 Member
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    Thanks for the suggestions. I've got friends doing protein shakes etc. but instead of food which I'm not keen on as I am here to ditch fads or food lifestyles I can't maintain. However, maybe using them in conjunction with is something I can consider.

    Yes 1200kcal is low but I have a lot to lose and actually I believe I'm eating healthily without excluding any food groups (although far less bread/pasta portions than before!). I did check it out with a nutritionist who also agreed with MFP's suggested 1200kcal. Of course I'll end up increasing this little by little as time goes on.
  • jayb0ne
    jayb0ne Posts: 644 Member
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    Thanks for the suggestions. I've got friends doing protein shakes etc. but instead of food which I'm not keen on as I am here to ditch fads or food lifestyles I can't maintain. However, maybe using them in conjunction with is something I can consider.

    I used to think of protein shakes as a bit faddy too. I was fairly determined to get my protein from food rather than shakes, but then I learnt that actually 'most' people who exercise regularly use whey protein as part of their regime.

    Protein shakes are a convenient way of getting in extra protein but more importantly, they're the VERY BEST way of getting targeted timed protein into the body when it needs it. Food protein is generally slow release whereas whey protein from powder is fast release so after a workout you can drench your muscles in protein and amino acids immediately which allows them to repair, recover and regenerate quickly, leading to muscle growth or maintenance (dependant on your caloric deficit or surplus).

    Depends on your goals though I guess.

    Cheers

    Jay
  • ennaejay
    ennaejay Posts: 575
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    Hilarious.

    http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10309-10001-10912-Van+Smirren+cockles+in+vinegar.html

    Thanks - interesting - wonder if I could find them around here?

    Canned tuna and salmon are other good options for you.

    Jay has some great ideas, I'm going to try his Honey Nut Yogurt. Sounds magnifique!!!!!

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