There's no way I could ever eat 130g of protein

kaleas

I've been lifting 3x a week this month based on the NROLFW. I also bike 2x a week 10 miles on a fixed gear, so it takes a lot out of my legs. I'm also a vegetarian.

According to most sources, they claim that you should eat a gram of protein for every pound you weigh, which means I should be aiming for about 135g.

On a GOOD day I can hit 50, and that's if I drink a protein shake. On most days I'm anywhere between 25 - 30. Along with this, I need to make sure I'm eating a lot of fiber to keep myself regular. Oatmeal destroys my stomach and so does granola in large quantities, so I need to be sensitive to how I get my fiber.

So how the crap can I get the protein my muscles need to keep up with the demand, eat my fiber, and keep within 1600-1800 calories?

This is way too much to think about. Meeehh.

aplusgeek

I've been lifting 3x a week this month based on the NROLFW. I also bike 2x a week 10 miles on a fixed gear, so it takes a lot out of my legs. I'm also a vegetarian.

According to most sources, they claim that you should eat a gram of protein for every pound you weigh, which means I should be aiming for about 135g.

On a GOOD day I can hit 50, and that's if I drink a protein shake. On most days I'm anywhere between 25 - 30. Along with this, I need to make sure I'm eating a lot of fiber to keep myself regular. Oatmeal destroys my stomach and so does granola in large quantities, so I need to be sensitive to how I get my fiber.

So how the crap can I get the protein my muscles need to keep up with the demand, eat my fiber, and keep within 1600-1800 calories?

This is way too much to think about. Meeehh.

Are you vegetarian?

Sabine_Stroehm

Most sources I've read say a gram of protein for every POUND OF LEAN body mass. If you're 130 and 30% body fat, ten you're not going to be eating 130grams. Does that make sense?

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/zonediet/a/zoneprotein.htm

I weigh 135 and am shooting for about 100 Grams a day.

shirsch52

I had thought I read somewhere that it was recommended to eat 1 gram of protein for every pound of lean body mass... but I could be mistaken about that.. someone help me out! I try to eat 30% of my daily calories from protein. I don't eat tonnes of meat as it is just because I don't like it too much - but I'll eat it once a day for the protein benefit.

I recommend things like greek yogurt (I know some vegetarians that will eat yogurt and some that won't - depends on which group you're in) it's about 18g per 3/4 cup, chickpeas (I like to roast them with garam masala on them - they get super crunchy and are high in protein and fiber, very yummy snack). Not sure if you eat cottage cheese either? But that's high in protein. Quinoa of course is great for protein (and it's a complete protein at that). I like to make greek salad with quinoa in it, super yummy!

Good luck! Look forward to reading other responses too!

monty619

this is why being vegetarian is not optimal for body composition.. too limited on foods for well balanced macros. start eatin some eggs gurl.

tabinmaine

Protein bars
Eggs
Protein Shakes
Greek Yogurt
Nuts
Chicken
Steak
Hamburgers
Cottage Cheese
Cheese

Do you not eat any of these ?

shaycat

I hit 90 every morning after entering in my food for the day.
I eat cottage cheese and string cheese, a high protein cereal. High protein dinner. You can check it out if you like.

marie_2454

I'm a pesco vegetarian, and I eat 100+g protein a day eating 1,560 calories. My diary is open, so you can look at some of the stuff I eat, but dairy, eggs, and protein powder is how I get most of my protein.

MoreBean13

I'm also a vegetarian and shooting for ~110g. I can't do it without protein shakes. :grumble:
If you do dairy, whey is cheap and easy. If no dairy, you can look in to hemp, pea, soy or spirulina protein. All of which should be sold at any well-equipped nutrition or natural foods store.

It's also much easier on workout days when I eat 2000-2200 calories.

Sarauk2sf

this is why being vegetarian is not optimal for body composition.. too limited on foods for well balanced macros. start eatin some eggs gurl.

Vegetarians eat eggs.

And it is not that hard to get enough protein.

MsTanya77

Protein bars
Eggs
Protein Shakes
Greek Yogurt
Nuts
Chicken
Steak
Hamburgers
Cottage Cheese
Cheese

Do you not eat any of these ?

Turkey is another great source, Kefir, Fish, Beans, Legumes...........

juicemoogan

Put in 2 scoops of protien and some greek yogurt in your shake.. Theres like 75g's right there.

nigel061

Protein bars
Eggs
Protein Shakes
Greek Yogurt
Nuts
Chicken
Steak
Hamburgers
Cottage Cheese
Cheese

Do you not eat any of these ?

The OP said "I'm also a vegetarian." !

IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym

I shoot for about 110 - 130 grams a day and do not have a problem hitting it, but do you eat meat? Protein shakes can help some, too...

EpiGaiaRepens

I'm also a vegetarian and i lift heavy. First, 130gs is more than you need. Folks are right about the "lean" body mass. I weigh 124 and shoot for 30% of my cals to come from protein. That's approx 100g protein if I'm eating 1200 cals. If I work out more, i eat more calories, i eat more protein.

I have done it and so can you:

Tempeh
Tofurky Kielbasa <--this crap is ridiculously high in protein
use quinoa instead of any other grain- lower cals per serving, higher protein per serving than brown rice
PROTEIN SHAKES are a MUST for a vegetarian lifter
Eggs (of course)

The big issue I have with high protein vegetarian eating is that you're pretty much eating tons of processed soy products. Tempeh and sprouted tofu are less processed and better for you. Protein shakes can also be whey.

and it's amazing but I find myself opting to eat cheese because it has that protein I need. It's been working.

Good luck to you!
feel free to add me and look at my diary! I am not hitting my macros on the daily, but I am focusing on it again!

oh, and also NOTE: I'm slightly allergic to dairy so I don't eat dairy unless its in the form of cheese (cuz that doesn't bug me) and I'm going to start testing out whey protein shakes. I also am slightly allergic to gluten, so things like the tofurkey sausage are iffy for me. Feel free to add me!

maikune

Seems some people are confused about what vegetarism is. It means you don't eat meat, animal products such as milk, cheese and eggs are still consumed. VEGANS on the other hand avoid all animal products.

Karalopolous

Kashi Go Lean cereal has 13 grams per serving. Stack that with some greek yogurt and you got about 35 grams for one meal. Also, eating peas (ok, granted it's alot) like a whole package is 20 grams. Lentils are a good source as well. Soy milk is ok, and then yes the protein shakes are good for that too.
Uhhh, man it is hard to do without eating meat. But try starting with some of that

Lennox497

Depending on classification or strictness you adhere to being a vegetarian will limit your options. I would check out the other vegetarian's diaries for tips.

The part that puzzles me is that 50g is hard. I'm not saying this in a negative way just trying to understand, because curently I double dose on my protein shakes. They are 48g of protein each and take them twice daily.

MrsCon40

I am a vegan and I will get almost 180g of protein today. I have no qualms with the protein powder I'll use for some of it (it's non-soy so I don't have to worry about additional soy products I may consume during the day). I am still getting well over 100g without supplementation.

The trick is to comparison shop. I pick every product for their relative protein content. Some tortillas have 2g of protein and some have 10g. If you're not a meat eater (or a big meat eater) you can make up a lot of "lost protein" by shopping around for all the other products that you eat!

aweightymatter

Everyone else has covered protein, so here are some fiber ideas:

--old-fashioned oatmeal (haven't read NROLFW, but I'm pretty sure this is on most weightlifters' meal plans)

--flaxseed/flaxseed meal -- add it to your oatmeal, salads, soups, protein shakes... you could do the same with chia seeds too, though those are more expensive

--beans! (not sure if these are included in NROLFW? But I'm imagining they probably are)

--quinoa, which is also relatively high-protein for a grain-like food (though it's technically a seed)

--low-glycemic fruits and veggies?! A salad and a couple cups of, say, cooked broccoli should get you almost halfway where you need to be for fiber... Getting 20-25 grams at the minimum shouldn't be too hard if you're hitting the recommended daily servings of produce.

tig_ol_bitties

Seitan. 31 grams of protein for 4 ounces. Only 118 calories. Toss it into every meal.

ak_in_ak

tofu with peanut sauce
edamame beans- lots of fiber, low carbs, and lots of protein
chia pudding ( take chia seeds and soak in almond milk, lots of recipes online, super good dessert for low calories and high fiber and protein
boiled eggs
greek yogurt-use in protein shakes and fruit smoothies
one I haven’t tried, but want to, is salt and vinegar garbanzo beans, not sure if you are in to that kind of flavor but I am sure you could find a recipe online

free2live72003

I add an additional 50 g of protein every day by doing the folliowing:

I purchase carnivor liquid protein shots (fruit punch or orange flavored with 50g protein per shot). They are strong and syrupy and I find hard to drink alone. So, I add 1/3 bottle to each of the three 20oz bottles of water I drink per day. Now I have flavored protein water that doesn't taste chaulky, is easy to mix, and very portable.


This is a beef protein product, so if you are a vegetarian it won't work for you. But, maybe there is a liquid protein shot suited for vegetarians. It works for me.

EpiGaiaRepens

I am a vegan and I will get almost 180g of protein today. I have no qualms with the protein powder I'll use for some of it (it's non-soy so I don't have to worry about additional soy products I may consume during the day). I am still getting well over 100g without supplementation.

The trick is to comparison shop. I pick every product for their relative protein content. Some tortillas have 2g of protein and some have 10g. If you're not a meat eater (or a big meat eater) you can make up a lot of "lost protein" by shopping around for all the other products that you eat!

I *MUST* see your diary!!!!! I have no idea how a vegan can hit 180 g protein daily! Can we be friends so I can pour over your daily regimine???? My son is vegan. I am serious. I want to make sure he is eating well!

aplusgeek

Yeah looking at a few days of your diary it looks like you're mostly vegetarian, except for the egg protein. So without meat it will be next to impossible for you to get to a high enough protein content daily. The goal for most meals (for weight training and athletes) is around 50g per big meal, if you look at my diary that's what I'm usually around 50-70g per big meal.

If you are vegetarian you could also try to incorporate some dairy, i.e. Greek Yogourt depending on how strict you are, that should help. Probably 20% of my protein comes from dairy, (skim milk, greek yogourt).

Also, you can try eating Quinoa which is a grain that you cook that one of the lowest glycemic indexes and also one of the ONLY plants that has a COMPLETE protein, 10 x better than oats and other grains.

Good luck

fenrirGrey

I had the same question when I started. I am a male weighing in at 180 pounds. For males they say 1-1.5 gms per pound of weight. When I heard this, I was around 30 grams of protein on a GOOD day. But eventually, I've figured out what works for me and I am trying to cross 180 grams of protein per day. It is a conscious effort and eating out is completely taken out of the picture if you want to stay within your macros.

BUT take my word for it, eventually you *will* figure it out and wont find 130 grams as a ridiculous figure.

As most people have recommended absolutely include
1) Casein Protein (if money is not an issue) else Whey Protein shakes
2) Eggs
3) Cottage Cheese
4) Nuts
5) Seitan* (I had no idea what this was until a week ago and am now a huge fan of it, look it up if you dont know what it is)
6) Fat free Milk
7) PB2

My diary is fairly up-to-date and vegeterian, if there is any meat it is only chicken (no seafood or any other meat). It should give you some idea of where to start.

Sabine_Stroehm

My breakfast was 38 grams of protein (vegetarian)

Greek yogurt with a tablespoon of peanut butter and chia seeds mixed in

A green tea latte

nelsaphine

Sorry I don't have any suggestion I've been wondering about this as well...thank you all for the suggestions

Sarauk2sf

Yeah looking at a few days of your diary it looks like you're mostly vegetarian, except for the egg protein. So without meat it will be next to impossible for you to get to a high enough protein content daily. The goal for most meals (for weight training and athletes) is around 50g per big meal, if you look at my diary that's what I'm usually around 50-70g per big meal.

If you are vegetarian you could also try to incorporate some dairy, i.e. Greek Yogourt depending on how strict you are, that should help. Probably 20% of my protein comes from dairy, (skim milk, greek yogourt).

Also, you can try eating Quinoa which is a grain that you cook that one of the lowest glycemic indexes and also one of the ONLY plants that has a COMPLETE protein, 10 x better than oats and other grains.

Good luck

Vegeterians eat eggs and it is not next to impossible:

See below (and I have not even included any tofu, seitan and other products that are also high in protein, or any whey protein that can also be used to supplement)

1 cup quinoa : 24g
1 serving of greek yoghurt: 18g
1 oz almonds: 6g
2 eggs: 12g
2 oz cheese: 18g
3 cups milk: 24g
2 tbsp peanut butter: 9g

Totals 111g

Elen_Sia

Sorry, misread your post so my suggestions were useless.

HeatherWestgate

I'm a Vegan and generally have not had a problem getting adequate protien. I also lift heavy and have been able to cut my body fat in half while still adding lean muscle while eating a vegan diet.
If you have enough variety in your diet, you will get enough protein.
If you don't like oatmeal for breakfast try quinoa instead, cook it with some almond milk, raisins and a little sweetner.
I also eat a lot of almond, walnut, pumpkin seed and nut and seed butters. They are higher in calories but they are nutrient dense calories.
I usually cook up two different kinds of beans at the beginning of every week such as chickpeas, lentil or black beans that way I can throw them into salads, wraps and soups to add protein.
Make sure your eating brown rice and not white rice to increase protein, combined with beans they make a complete protein.
I try not to eat too many soy product, usually twice a week I'll eat some sprouted tofu or tempeh. Usually it's to make sure I'm getting enough complete protien on days I lift.
Add things like chia seeds and hemp hearts to your smoothies, cereal and salads.
Also Vega protein powder is a good one.
Hope this helps.