Having trouble increasing my protein

weightofyourskin · December 2011

In November I started doing New Rules of Lifting for Women, and I realized I don't get a whole lot of protein. Last week my average was 79 grams a day. My goal is 150! I just don't know what to do to increase it. I eat yogurt, cheese, eggs and lunch meats virtually every day (mostly this spicy chicken thing that's 5 grams of protein a slice) and every dinner contains a substantial (for me) amount of meat, most often chicken or pork. And that's AFTER I started making an effort to get more protein! On days I lift I drink a protein shake that adds another 45 grams to the daily total but even that's not going to bring me to my goal - I don't like the taste, so I couldn't really drink more than one a day.

I weigh 173-174 pounds and my ultimate goal is to reduce my body fat and measurements and have more lean muscle mass. I've been trying to do research on how much protein I need but there's a lot of conflicting information out there. Right now I'm eating at a slight deficit (240 calories a day) but I intend to increase my calories after I finish Stage 1 of NROL... and then my protein goals will increase too.

Any advice/suggestions?

ajbeans · December 2011

A can of tuna contains 20 g of protein. I'm weird so I like it right out of the can, but you can put it in a salad if you prefer.

Eggs. Scramble them with cheese and bacon bits and some chopped peppers (because you need your veggies too).

Instead of lunch meats, try just regular meat. You can get individually frozen chicken breasts that are so easy to prepare. Just stick them on the George Foreman if you have one, or in a skillet if you don't, and cook it through and eat it with a dipping sauce. Or slice it after it's cooked and eat it on a salad. You can cook it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for a couple of days for a really fast lunch.

EroseT23 · December 2011

I agree, eat tuna, or canned salmon if you prefer. Shrimp is high protein low fat, and bags of frozen shrimp often go on sale (at my grocery store, at least). It's easy to thaw out a serving and cook it up in just a few minutes. Try switching to greek yogurt if you haven't already, it has about double the protein per serving as regular yogurt. Cottage cheese also, you can mix it with fruit OR make it savory by adding a bit of shredded cheese, ham, veggies, whatever. Make oatmeal with milk instead of water. Some whole grain products have more protein than you'd think. The bread I get from Trader Joe's has 4 grams per slice, and Flat Out flatbread has 9 grams of protein per wrap, so keep an eye out for those kinds of things, too.

weightofyourskin · December 2011

I agree, eat tuna, or canned salmon if you prefer. Shrimp is high protein low fat, and bags of frozen shrimp often go on sale (at my grocery store, at least). It's easy to thaw out a serving and cook it up in just a few minutes. Try switching to greek yogurt if you haven't already, it has about double the protein per serving as regular yogurt. Cottage cheese also, you can mix it with fruit OR make it savory by adding a bit of shredded cheese, ham, veggies, whatever. Make oatmeal with milk instead of water. Some whole grain products have more protein than you'd think. The bread I get from Trader Joe's has 4 grams per slice, and Flat Out flatbread has 9 grams of protein per wrap, so keep an eye out for those kinds of things, too.

I HATE cottage cheese and oatmeal but I'll definitely be giving the shrimp and Greek yogurt a try. I had no idea that shrimp is so high in protein! I've had Greek yogurt before but it was the plain flavour because I was using it as a replacement for sour cream. I'll look for some fruit flavours, or maybe stay with the plain and put some honey and nuts in there.

Steph70508 · December 2011

I had the same problem. A 4oz chicken breast has 25 grams of protein, so they are my new friends. I also have one or two protein shakes a day. I also found these cool things called whey crisps that you can add to pretty much anything. I put them in my Greek yogurt, oatmeal, peanut butter sandwiches etc. I see you say you don't like cottage cheese. I don't either, but recently tried a recipe for cottage cheese, oatmeal, and egg white pancakes that is sooo good! You blend the ingredients in a blender and the cottage cheese looses the clumps and takes on the flavor of the vanilla and cinnamon. 1 serving has over 30 grams! Good luck!

tbloor · December 2011

Having greek yogurt right now with Nature's Path Peanut Butter Granola...the granola also has 7 grams of protein per serving! And it tastes fantastic!

lain8609 · December 2011

As much as the taste sometimes can take some getting used to...Soy products and fish are a very good source of protien. Try Tofu or if you'd like a treat try some different soy milk (just watch the calories). Another interesting fact is that some vegtibles also contain protien. I suggest looking at what is local and trying what's in season. Good luck.

psmd · December 2011

Try a few hard-boiled egg whites, 2 egg whites = 8 grams of protein for 35 calories, so if you have 6 (for 100 or so cals) that's 24 grams, not bad I think, 200 cals would be 50 grams. That's if you seriously want to up your protein intake for the least amount of calories. I like them with a little salt and pepper but sometimes plain too.

jmehere · December 2011

Edamame has 17 grams of protein per cup. You boil it, salt it, then eat it like peanuts. They're kind of addictive. Great snack or side.

ascott048 · December 2011

Try Chobani Greek Yogurt. The flavor is supper yummy and the texture is creamy. Also, plain greek yogurt with honey on it tastes great.

jmehere · December 2011

Lentils are also very high in protein.

ascott048 · December 2011

Lentils are also very high in protein.

Great advice, lentils are a great source of protein. Here is a recipe I love.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/red-lentil-soup-recipe/index.html

fit4life1010 · December 2011

I usually eat frigo light cheeseheads (8 grams of protein), lentils, greek yogurt (2x protein one), protein bars (there is one called The Simply Bar...I'm not sure if you can find it but there are many different flavors...I like cocoa (16 grams of protein) and peanut butter one (which I believe is 16 grams as well), and I drink milk, and oo eggs!

Sidesteal · December 2011

Take 8oz of greek yogurt, add a scoop of whey and stir aggressively. Add berries.

Thank your main bro sidesteal for the hookups.

havalinaaa · December 2011

I used to have huge problems with my protein and I'm still working on reliably getting the numbers where I want them (right now I'm aiming for 90 but I should really be going for 115ish). Larger portions of meat, eating fish at least twice a week - usually tilapia, flounder, or catfish as they're all lower in mercury, sustainable fish that are usually on sale around here - switching to greek yogurt most of the time (I still eat my sheep yogurt sometimes because I love it so much!), and a lot of boiled eggs have all helped me get the numbers up. At some point I may give in and start using a protein shake, but I'm really hoping I can make it work with just food. I've always been a low protein eater, so this is an entirely different dietary mindset for me!

As others suggested, grilling/baking up a large quantity of chicken breasts and then refrigerating them makes a real easy addition to most meals. Sometimes I just slice up a chicken breast and eat it with a healthy dip/sauce of some sort. Peanut, bbq, or honey mustard usually. Tempeh is a great source of protein and so is quinoa, I also switched to a bread with more protein in it.

Huffdogg · December 2011

fish, chicken, greek yogurt, pb, eggs, and a powder supplement

profit.

gymshoe42 · December 2011

Good question. What's NROL recommend? I have a book from the same author and it said for it's workouts ... 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.... but that would mean I'd have to down 230 grams of protein and that's... not fun nor is it practical. Especially later when you have to poop and it just doesn't work.

I found perfectly fine results at 0.5 to 0.7 grams of protein per pound while I was lifting. I'm not a huge fan of cottage cheese but I found this Darigold pineapple cottage cheese that makes it pretty tasty. Or you can take plain cottage cheese and dump some fruit in.

If you can't stand the taste of your protein shake, ... try different ones. They all taste different. Or throw it all in a blender, add a banana, tbsp of peanut butter. When I was trying to get to the 1gram/lb goal...i was doing multiple protein shakes... cause there's only so much chicken/steak you can eat in a day. But then the digestive problems started and I had to cut back.

havalinaaa · December 2011

Oh, and as far as how much I try to get 1 gram per pound of lean body mass.

ruststar · December 2011

Frozen chicken breast strips have helped me immensely. Heat up a 3 oz serving for 20g of protein, roll them up in a low carb tortilla (another 8), with a half oz of shredded cheese (about 4) and a 1/2 tables spoon of salad dressing, and you have 32 g for very low calories. Pair it with a salad and it's a complete meal.