High Protein Diet?

Jerzeebabie04 · January 2010

Okay my problem is that no matter what calorie counter I use when I put my heigh, weight, age, and goals in, it calculates that I should eat 1200 calories & the carbs are about 130g or more. My bodybugg program set me at 1100 calories and once again quite a bit of carbs. It seems like a lot of carbs to me and I always see better results when I do more of a high protein diet. I'm on diet pills prescribed by a weightloss Dr and he had given me a 1000 calorie diet I could follow, but it also has about 134g carbs. I'm not sure if I should switch my percentages in the goals area.

I'm a vegetarian so I eat a good amount of seafood, I'll eat eggs sometimes, and I do skim milk or sometimes soy milk. I also like protein shakes and had followed a soy/whey protein diet once and felt pretty good on it because I was losing weight and had some more energy, although because 2 meals of the day were shakes, when I would get cravings or cheat, I would cheat much more than I should on any diet.

Is it bad to follow a high protein diet? Will changing my goals and percentages make losing weight harder?

erickirb · January 2010

A high protein diet isn't bad as long as you aren't cutting our complex carbs or increasing your fat intake by much. I changed my gaols from MFP's suggestions by increasing protein by 5% and decreasing carbs by 5%, not much of a change but I am near the amount in all 3 now that I made the change. The only way to know what will work for you is trial and error.

caristear · January 2010

I'm a vegetarian like you...or a Pescetarian. I eat a lot of protein but the carbs I eat are whole grains. I don't like the low carb diets because once you lose the weight and eat some carbs, you gain it right back! Try eating most of your carbs (whole grains) before 5pm and see if that makes a difference!

Jerzeebabie04 · January 2010

Thanks! I will definitely try that! I plan on eattin some carbs each day, I don't think I could ever fully give them up, but I do think I need to lower the percentage a little, because I can easily go over my protein but never can finish my carbs.

Jaewest · January 2010

I have been doing some research on this and this is what I have found; Carbs increase a hormone in your body that makes you hungry. You should eat less then 50 percent in your daily diet. But those carbs should be (like the others before me have stated) whole grain and vegetables. (High Fiber stuff) Also, eating nuts such as almonds or walnuts (serving size usually 30g) as one of your snack items decreases your hunger by increasing the hormone Leptin in your body, which makes you less hungry and your cravings very little or even non-existant.
Also there is a good vegan protein source out, that I have found called "Gardein". If you are interested, look the company up on the internet they can tell you where to get it in your area. I am in California and found it at Ralphs Grocery.

Jerzeebabie04 · January 2010

Thanks for that info I will definitely look it up. As of right now I have been using a whey protein powder with soy milk whenever I need extra protein in my diet. I was thinking of setting my goals to 40% carb, 30% protein, 30% fat but I'm not sure that still seems like a lot of fat to me. But knowing that it should be under 50% carbs is helpful, I think it's set on like 55% for me and I don't like that many carbs in my diet. Everyone suggests nuts but I always feel like they are fatty when reading the serving size and calories. I also like peanut butter, but I know that it isn't the best for you either.

Jaewest · January 2010

It is a misconception that Fat makes you Fat. Your body needs fat to function properly. It is all a balancing act. Just like there is good carbs (whole grains and veggies) and bad carbs (enriched white flour and sugar) there are also good fat (olive oil, nuts) and bad fats (buttered popcorn, and ice cream). Fats are divided into 2 groups. Youthful and aging.

On the youthful side you have your monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated is your Omega 3 and Omega 6 which is thought to help improve your brain and arterial function. You find it in fish, nuts, avocados, flaxseed, olive oil. You want to add these to your daily intake.

On the aging side you have your Trans fats and Saturated fats. The are the fats that make you gain weight and clog your arteries. Trans fat is the worst. This will actually keep you from losing weight. Buttered popcorn, cookies, margarine, and chips fall into this category. Saturated fat is more animal product fat like dairy and meat. Either way, these are the fats to eliminate.

Bottom line is listen to what your body is telling you. If you are having cravings look at what you ate that day.
Did you eat enough?
Was it balanced?
How much processed food did you eat?

For example; I got some of those mini caramel rice cakes and had a serving size 6-7 cakes. These made me have cravings the rest of the day. (had something to do with the sweetener they use, it just shut off the part of my brain that tells me I’m not hungry anymore.) I ate 400 + more calories that day then I would have if I hadn’t eaten those. So I eliminated them from my diet and replaced with walnuts. I have not had a craving since. And the walnuts were 100 calories more then the rice cakes but in the long run save me 300+ calories a day.

High Protein Diet?

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