Protein doesn't do it for me - what should I do?

Izzwoz

I am confused. I am almost at goal weight (45 lbs lost, 3 lbs left to go) - got here by controlling portions and logging everything exactly, with only a little bit of exercise on the side. Although I am happy with my progress, I would now like to focus on toning up a little and shaping my newly found body. Following a lot of reading through the posts, I have decided I am going to try and stick to my macros which I have set according to some further reading, with protein set to 1g per lb lean body weight (not sure if that is right, but that's what I figured so far).

My problem is: I am a carb girl. I love carbs. And now that I am trying to curb my carbs, I am struggling to stick to my goals. Firstly, I can never get to my protein goal (not keen on using powder, for a number of reasons, one being money), secondly, if I do, I am way over on fat and mostly carbs and quite frequently on my cals.

I have now had my lunch, mainly consisting of eggs and milk - and I don't feel like I have eaten anything. I am soo hungry. I want toast. Or a bread roll. Or a cereal bar. Anything carby would do it just now.

So what do the experts suggest? Does it matter in terms of shaping up whether I stick to my macros or can I carry on like I did the last 10 months? How important is protein and if very - how do I get it without stuffing my face with cow or protein powder every day and going over my other targets?

ahamm002

You're used to eating processed carbs and therefore you're getting carb cravings when you don't eat them. You can try and minimize refined carbs for about 45 days until the cravings go away and then start eating them again in moderation. Or, you can just keep eating carbs but try find ways to fit in enough protein and fiber.

Izzwoz

Explain: what do you consider "processed"/"refined" carbs?

katy_trail

you can't really say protein doesn't work for you, if you haven't really tried it. 100g a day is a good minimum.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/926789-protein-sources

JenAndSome

Tuna sandwich on whole grain bread?

3laine75

you will really struggle with weights if you can't get the protein in. as if there's nothing to repair themuscles with its just not going to happen for you.

i don't really worry if i go over on fat but i try not to go over on carbs.

i know you don't want to but i'd say, whey would be a good solution for you - or the atkins bars are quite nice if you want something sweet.

feel free to have a nosy at my diary for ideas - but its certainly not perfect!!

TavistockToad

you had eggs and milk for your lunch? like scrambled egg or an omlette?

how many cals do you have to work with? i get about 125g protein with NET 1800 cals without too much trouble.

agdyl

I used to have that problem, but I cut out grains, starchy foods and sugar completely for a couple months and no longer crave them at all. In fact, I noticed recently that I felt like I wasn't even smelling fresh bread anymore, but after 4 months of not eating it, it's not that I don't smell it, but my body doesn't react with this emotional adrenaline rush of "OMG I HAVE TO HAVE THAT RIGHT NOW", so I barely even notice it anymore.

It takes discipline at first, but I know personally, I noticed enough health benefits (not just weight loss) that it's totally worth it for me. I was having a lot of knee and joint pain before that is gone when I cut the gluten and sugar. And I don't have too much trouble eating well over 100g of protein a day (and I don't even eat dairy). Meat/eggs and veggies at each meal. Chia has protein in it and I eat those chia "shots" every once in a while. Eat hard boiled eggs or raw nuts as a snack...

Izzwoz

you can't really say protein doesn't work for you, if you haven't really tried it. 100g a day is a good minimum.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/926789-protein-sources

Thank you, that is a great link to start with ... BUT, even with all those foods, if I take a few as an example of what I would like to eat and add up the cals to reach 100g of protein, I would not be able to fit much else in - and be left with a rather limiting choice of foods ...

Izzwoz

you had eggs and milk for your lunch? like scrambled egg or an omlette?

how many cals do you have to work with? i get about 125g protein with NET 1800 cals without too much trouble.

Yeh, like an omelette :-)
How do you do that? I am on 1500 net at the moment (very much sedentary) and can hardly scrape into the 70ies ...

phatguerilla

Your op kind of confuses me, what sort of meals do you have generally? Cereal for breakfast, bread with no filling for lunch and pasta or rice with no meat for dinner? You must be eating some protein in your regular diet, what do you normally eat? You don't have to cut out all carbs just to increase your protein, although obviously to balance out your macros either fat or carbs will have to be reduced in order to bring up protein.

myofibril

Keep doing what you have done before.

If you can raise protein then it will be beneficial but as long as you are getting a reasonable amount (which it seems you are) it won't make a massive difference to your stated goals.

ArroganceInStep

If money's the issue, there are lots of cheap brands out there that you could use. I use two generally, Dymatize (quite cheap at $27 US per 5 lb container) and Trutein (a lot more expensive at $55 US per 5 lb container). These jugs last me a month or so a pop, and actually save me money on food since they're cheaper than chicken or tuna or whatever.

My wife is in a similar boat you are, and here's the steps we're taking to help her increase protein intake:

Oatmeal. One of her two weekday breakfast options is oatmeal (I cook breakfast during the week). We get the store brand low sugar apple cinnamon instant packages, and I'll use two of them for her breakfast. I'll also add a little bit more water than is called for before microwaving it and add in a half scoop of banana nut dymatize and some extra cinnamon after the fact. At 110 calories an oatmeal packet and 120 calories a scoop, her breakfast is under 300 calories and has 18 grams of protein. As long as you use a vanilla or banana type flavor of protein, I bet it would work for you too.

Egg whites. My wife likes omelettes, so with this I'll cook up about a cup of egg whites, a fistful of spinach, and a couple tablespoons of low calorie sauce (we have a teriyaki ginger soy sauce that she likes that's 10 cals per tablespoon). I'll then put it on a toasted english muffin. Once again, under 300 calories, and almost 30 grams of protein.

For lunch it's often shrimp over shiritake noodles and veggies. I can keep the meal under 400 cals with a full serving of shrimp, again over 20 grams of protein in the meal.

She likes Ostrim bars too for snacks. They're a bit expensive, but have 14 grams of protein for 80 calories.

Little things add up. You don't have to stop eating carbs or ignore your cravings or whatever, just learn to work items that meet your nutrition needs into those cravings.

Morninglory81

I was a carb addict and now I never hit the carb goal. I usually am over in protein goal. I started by setting a min of protein in each meal. I had to carefully plan and eat the protein first than I would eat the fiber rich veggies and only after that would I eat the carbs. I found I was usually too full to finish the carbs I had planned. I now no longer crave the carbs and only use them when I need a quick energy source. It took about 3 weeks to notice I no longer craved them. Chicken breast has become my go to snack I cook up 6 breasts Monday and use it through the week. Tuna has also been helpful. I find that protein keeps me satisfied longer than carbs ever could. Hope this helped. Good luck!

Bride2Be_122713

If your having trouble staying under grams of fat, then try substituting regular milk for almond milk. I did this and I seriously couldn't be happier! I have no idea why I haven't been drinking almond milk my entire life!!! Tastes just like regular milk but with a little nutty taste, which I like! Not to mention sooo much healthier in the fat department. But also don't have to worry about all those hormones and antibiotics they put in the poor dairy cows. Silk almond milk is also GMO free. Try a hard boiled egg for breakfast with almond milk. For lunch make yourself a salad with some spinach and/or kale. They surprisingly are packed with protein. Top your salad with another hardboiled egg and some beans and chicpeas. Try finding weight-watchers string and stick cheeses at your local gorcery store in the shredded and block cheese aisle. They are between 50-70 calories a piece and have protein. After a work out, if you don't like the powder, I found breakfast carnation mixes in the cereal aisle. My favorite is the chocolate ones. They are generally advertised for kids, but I've been drinking this after a work-out because its much cheaper than buying protein powders and doesn't have much fat. Mix that with almond milk instead of regular dairy milk. And for dinner make yourself some lean meat (chicken, fish, beef) and splurge a little bit on your carbs at dinner time with some potatoes, bread, noodles, whatever. This is what I have been doing and I've been getting a good amount of protein and staying under my calories. Just some tips!

BeachIron

From what I've read, the 1 gram per pound of lean body mass does exaggerate your needs even if strength training. I'll have to dig around a bit but I remember at least one study on the subject mentioning it's more like .7 grams per pound of lean body mass. That said, the 1 gram figure is easy to remember, you'd rather get too much than too little, and for people eating at a deficit the extra protein may help. My point is that you have some wiggle room there.

ETA: Frozen chicken breasts and frozen fish are cheap and efficient sources of protein.

Izzwoz

Your op kind of confuses me, what sort of meals do you have generally? Cereal for breakfast, bread with no filling for lunch and pasta or rice with no meat for dinner? You must be eating some protein in your regular diet, what do you normally eat? You don't have to cut out all carbs just to increase your protein, although obviously to balance out your macros either fat or carbs will have to be reduced in order to bring up protein.

I normally have cereal (grape nuts) or porridge with fruit for breakfast, omelette, salad or soup for lunch, then normally a cooked meal for dinner is anything from stir fry to fish burgers to falafel to pasta to goulash to curries.

You are saying that to bring up protein, I have to reduce carbs or fat - well, that's exactly part of my problem because I find it difficult to eat more protein without eating more fat/carbs and therefore overall cals.

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

It sounds like cravings, not hunger.

xiamjackie

I used to be the exact same way. I used to be 100% carbs all the time (not really, but I loooooooooved carbs. still do.) and when I first started eating eggs for breakfast I would think "WTF IS THIS??? How do people only eat eggs for breakfast and not go nuts!?" I realized it was mainly cravings I was experiencing, and the longer I tried to cut carbs out of my diet, eventually my cravings got less and less. Now I crave eggs. It's hard at first but the cravings will go away if you decrease your carb intake.

ahamm002

Explain: what do you consider "processed"/"refined" carbs?

Mainly I'm referring to things bread, cereal, chips, pretzels, etc. A lot of people seem to really get bad cravings for them if they're used to eating them and then stop. I know that I used to. After minimizing them for awhile the cravings went away and now I eat them in moderation.

That said, I generally try and get most of my carbs from fruits, veggies, and other types of whole foods. You get much more food per calories, and many more nutrients per calorie that way. When I have extra calories left over I'll at night I'll usually fill the void with some good old simple processed carbs.

claireydafairy

I often have quick cook turkey steaks for lunch. Cook em up the night before and have them at work cold with cold steamed green beans and sweet potato. They seem to dry out less than grilled chicken so are still nice and juicy and because they are thin I have two which comes in at 43 protein on here.