Protein - Supplements Vs Food when losing weight

I eat roughly around 1500-1600 cals a day and aim to do 100+g of protein (atleast on weekdays). Being a vegetarian, its a struggle but I tend to do it through mainly foods and one odd protein shake.
There are some excellent souces of protein apart from protein powder though, e.g. Egg whites, Lentils, milk (n dairy) etc....

If you eat all your burnt calories you will just remain at a constant weight. By not eating them or too many of them you will lose weight.

This is also rubbish! (using that term since it seems to be a favorite around here)

MFP calculates at a deficit. If you eat all your calories plus workout calories you are still at a deficit.

Do not listen to this person.

Protein supplements can be very bad for your body. They are very hard on your kidneys and liver. If you continue to use them you need to drink more then the standard 64 oz of water a day. Have you considered talking to a registered dietician?

I have been more thirsty... but thought it was the exercise. Dieticians are too expensive I'm afraid.

You need to drink more water with higher protein intake anyway. It doesn't matter if the protein is from a shrimp or a shake.

Unrelated to above but related to shakes; protein shakes are only fortified in vitamins and some minerals to enchance protein absorption. Most importantly what they usually (and they have) lack compared to a common meat dish is potassium and iron, both are essential for body so while taking protein powder, make sure you do get those micronutrients via something else in your diet.

I eat roughly around 1500-1600 cals a day and aim to do 100+g of protein (atleast on weekdays). Being a vegetarian, its a struggle but I tend to do it through mainly foods and one odd protein shake.
There are some excellent souces of protein apart from protein powder though, e.g. Egg whites, Lentils, milk (n dairy) etc....

Why just the whites? What's the deal with people eating only part of their egg? Most of the nutrients are in the yolk. (Which is why it is yummier, imho)

Egg White is only protein and water. So I meant egg whites only to up the protein content with the minimal calories intake (from a natural source). Although, I am with you that yolk has all the other goodies. But I limit it to 1 whole egg and rest egg whites.

I use hemp protein powder daily....hemp protein powder is 11g protein for 80 calories...

That's only half its calories from protein. There are many protein powders available that have 25 or so grams of protein for 110 or so calories. That's almost all protein in every scoop.

I would prefer to get all my protein from whole foods but I usually have a shake or two every day. I actually like them and it makes it a whole lot easier for me to reach my goal of 180 to 200g of protein a day.

Getting the protein from food is the easy part, just eat like a half pound of chicken breasts with lunch, It's 200cals for 50g protein. The hard part is getting your fat macros in while staying under cals. Fish oils are like 1g of fat. You need like 30-60 in order to not feel like garbage every day. And putting olive oil on stuff sounds really gross to me.

So, I try to eat lean beef and ground turkey. They both have a decent amount of fat, and taste good too

Lauraloubell,
You are more than welcome to use the spreadsheets here: https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B3kFzsaVmRjmd1k4YjA1SlVWaFU/edit
They will help you figure out really how much you should be eating.
Hope this works for you!
Mike S

Greetings!

My first thought : why only 1200 cals? that is pretty low cal especially if exercising ...I assume you are working out if concerned about upping protein intake

In regard to protein:

I only use protein powder post workout for a veggie fruit protein smoothie. So, roughly 3 x week. I don't rely on supplements for my protein. Eggs, egg whites, tuna, fish, low fat dairy ( cottage cheese and Greek yogurt), chicken, occasional lean beef, Quinoa, lentils, beans .....

nothing is better than real food. Plenty of protein sources without relying on protein supplements

Good luck !

I use hemp protein powder daily....hemp protein powder is 11g protein for 80 calories...

That's only half its calories from protein. There are many protein powders available that have 25 or so grams of protein for 110 or so calories. That's almost all protein in every scoop.

I would prefer to get all my protein from whole foods but I usually have a shake or two every day. I actually like them and it makes it a whole lot easier for me to reach my goal of 180 to 200g of protein a day.

It also comes with essential fatty acids, fiber, and healthy fats. Hemp protein is the most complete vegetable source of protein you can get.

But again, it's about the price. I am fine on calories. Powder is cheaper. I would rather eat more meat and nuts, but I don't have the money to include them right now, except in smaller quantities.

I'm not worried about going over calories but I cannot possibly meet the P90X protein requirements b/c I just can't fit that much food into me so I'm doing 2 scoops per day of egg white protein powder and I'm still not meeting my requirement but I'm stuffed to the gills every day as it is lol

Meat heads and bodybuilders have been using protein supplements for years and they seem to be doing alright.

What is the differentiation betweeen Meat heads and bodybuilders? LOL!

Protein supplements can be very bad for your body. They are very hard on your kidneys and liver. If you continue to use them you need to drink more then the standard 64 oz of water a day. Have you considered talking to a registered dietician?

Have YOU considered talking to a RD?

The title of “personal trainer” doesn’t give you the power know-all of information pertaining weight loss. Specifically so because everyone’s body is different. A baseline of information can be established, but that doesn’t mean everyone will net the same results. I’m say that to say drink your damn shakes :drinker:

DP