I just can't eat enough protein!

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2

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  • luv2ash
    luv2ash Posts: 1,903 Member
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    Nibble on grilled chicken. Why not? its better than nibbling on some unhealthy processed option :)

    Egg beaters
    Cold shrimp

    Having lean protein at every meal 6 times a day is an awesome option. Its how I did it :)
  • flajocar
    flajocar Posts: 37
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    Quinoa!!! Less carbs than rice with more protein.
  • Bobby__Clerici
    Bobby__Clerici Posts: 741 Member
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    Simply add a protein shake to each meal.
    Its 120-200cals and 16-36g protein.
    ^^^^^
    THIS
    I tried going with 100% whole foods but just could not stick with it.
    I take a few shakes every day, and getting my protein is easy.
  • nguk123
    nguk123 Posts: 223
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    http://nutritiondata.self.com/tools/caloric-ratio-search
    click around here at the bottom right of the triangle to get lists of high protein ratio foods.

    When it comes to processed foods , there are good and bad. Bad are loading up on sugars and fats and maybe chemicals that act as preservatives... goods are, "well, we processed it... we separated this component out from that, here is your whey isolated... "

    don't fear the whey, unless you have some sort of allergy.

    Supplement with whey protein shakes to make up any deficits towards the end of your day.
  • BryanBootka
    BryanBootka Posts: 8 Member
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    Fage and Chobani yogurt are high protein choices. Cottage Cheese that is low fat is another good choice. There are plenty of lean meats yet it takes planning to make it work. The truth is that all worthwhile goals take advanced planning. Keep it up and the results will be well worth the time investment.
  • phillipspage
    phillipspage Posts: 25 Member
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    I'm a vegetarian so I can relate to the difficulty of getting all of the required protein in. I have a protein shake every day--just frozen berries, low-cal low-carb natural fruit juice and soy protein powder. About 160 calories for one of those. And then I supplement with beans or chickpeas with at least one meal per day and snacks like yogurt and cottage cheese. I also have healthy meat substitutes (surprisingly not too bad on taste) like veggie burgers and sausages that are low in fat and sodium.

    You can do it, it just takes a bit of rearranging your meals and snacks.
  • bllplyr
    bllplyr Posts: 1
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    A neat little trick i came across for my breakfast was mixing one whole egg with 4 egg whites in an omelet or just scrambled. It skyrocketed the protein but didn't do much in the way of fat. i have also found that tilapia (fish) as well as salmon offer incredible amounts of protein with fairly low fat. It took me a while to figure out which foods are best for protein as i aim for 200g daily without much in the way of shakes. i limit my shakes to one post-workout. i eat about 1500 calories a day so even eating 8oz of salmon or 12 of tilapia is a good way to get a protein boost. obviously chicken breast grilled is another great high protein low fat food.
  • RobynLB
    RobynLB Posts: 617 Member
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    I don't care much for meat. The only way I can hit my protein goal is having protein powder and eggs for breakfast every morning. Try protein powder mug cake. I am obsessed with it :)
  • kodibear123
    kodibear123 Posts: 185 Member
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    I find that I can't get enough protein either unless I include my Whey protein powder protein drinks. I like my drinks mixed with whey protein, vanilla light soy milk, 1 tsp oil (flax,safflower or olive oil) and frozen strawberries. YUM! If I do heavy cardio I usually add some frozen banana to the mix. Best wishes! :)
  • ashesfromfire
    ashesfromfire Posts: 867 Member
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    eggs and tuna are my go to for protein -
    3 eggs for breakfast is about 200 calories and 15 grams of protein.
    2 cans of tune (in water) has only 300 calories and 66 grams of protein.
    yogurt is a great protein filled snack - so is a small glass of milk - both can have 8+ grams.
    Good luck :smile:
  • florymonde
    florymonde Posts: 261 Member
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    Low fat is fine if we are talking lean meat, what I am talking about is say "low fat cottage cheese" where sugar and/or artificial sweetners are added instead of fat for taste reasons.

    You might want to check your ingredients list more closely. Any low fat cottage cheese I've ever seen is made from skimmed milk (so just removing fat). Hence the fat and carb count are still quite low, and there are no unusual ingredients.
  • 1ConcreteGirl
    1ConcreteGirl Posts: 3,677 Member
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    Whey protein powder. It's the only way I can get my 45% protein; mine has no fats, no carbs, and 25g protein per scoop. I eat it mixed with almond milk or greek yogurt for an extra boost.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    Checking labels is vital - it varies from brand to brand and from country to country. Cottage cheese and yoghurt in particular.
  • DebiS1972
    DebiS1972 Posts: 23
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    yes you're right here - i was getting confused with some other low fat things where they put sugar in to enhance taste.
  • MightyDomo
    MightyDomo Posts: 1,265 Member
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    Quinoa!!! Less carbs than rice with more protein.

    I agree with this one :) You can use it also as a grain.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa

    This page can give you more info. But otherwise you will have to turn to thinks like greek style yogurt or egg whites, fish is another very nice souce but some fish can have fairly high fat.

    One of my favorite ways to get more protein is to have 2 ground turkey meatballs in a tomato and cheese sauce (pasta sauce but lightly coated, turkey balls baked and about 1 inch in size) on a slice of multigrain bread, you can even just eat the turkey meatballs by themselves with or without sauce. But it does come down to your own tastes as well. I sometimes search allrecipes.com and put in keywords and that helps me find some good healthy recipes that others have created or used.
  • WanderingCavalcade
    WanderingCavalcade Posts: 15 Member
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    The best protein comes from animal products. The best is meats, like chicken breast, fish, and lean red meats. Then is animal products, like eggs, cottage cheese, and yogurt. Finally, there are plant-based products, like beans, some grains, and soy.

    As far as meats go, what I've already listed are the best options. Just make sure you check fat content.
    -My favorite of these are chicken breasts because of all the ways you can "dress them up" with seasonings and veggies.
    -I also really like lean ground beef (if you can find it, go for 95% lean), but because there often isn't enough fat to bind it into patties, I usually brown it in a pan with seasonings or diced tomatoes with a little bit of basil and oragano.
    -Venison, if you can handle the game-yness works similar to really lean ground beef.
    -I don't particularly like fish, but tuna is pretty versatile.
    -I don't eat much pork, but as long as you get lean cuts, you can treat them like any of the other meats, really.
    Almost any of these go well with rice, quinoa, or on a sandwich.

    Next, by-products:
    -Eggs are really good, and you don't HAVE to skip the yolk if you really like the flavor (or you can use one yolk to for every three whites for a little less fat).
    -Greek yogurt is my favorite of the yogurts. I don't know precisely how you discriminate when it comes to "low fat/fat-free" foods, but here's I'd recommend fat free. One small (single-serving) container of 0% PLAIN fat greek yogurt is usually 80-90 calories and has roughly 14-16 g of protein. I stress plain, because it has no sugar added. WARNING: it's like really thick sour cream plain, so I recommend adding fruit/honey. My favorite thing is a packet of low-cal carnation breakfast powder (Contains splenda, though) because it leaves the final calorie count at around 140 calories with around 20 g of protein, and tastes like frozen yogurt. With a side of fruit, it makes a great breakfast!
    -Cottage cheese is another thing I'd recommend you purchase fat free, as it has around the same amount of protien for around 20 cals more than the greek yogurt. The plus side? It's MUCH more palatable plain than the yogurt. If you want, you can add fruit/honey to it to sweeten it, or veggies, pepper and a little olive oil to make it savory. One of my favorite things to do with this is to add about 1/4 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice to it. It REALLY tastes like pumpkin pie!
    -With the exception of low-fat mozz, other cheeses fall pretty "meh" for me on the protein/fat ratio department.

    Finally, plant-based protein sources. These are a little different than animal products. A lot of people say that the protein is absorbed poorly from these sources, but I think the issue lies more in the carb/protein ratio of the foods. I'm listing some of my favorites:
    -Quinoa is really a wonder food. It has a better protein/carb ratio than many other grains, with the added ability to be treated as several kinds of food. I've seen it work well in place of rice, pasta, and even white potatoes in some dishes! It's really versatile and really healthy!
    - I don't personally like beans/lentils as a protein source because a lot of them have many more carbs than expected. If you look around, though, you'll likely find a few types with decent ratios. I strongly recommend buying them raw and seasoning them yourself rather than canned unless they're caned in only water.
    -Soy products can also be deceiving, but if you shop around, you'll find what you're looking for, just as with beans.
    -EDAMAME! This is one of my favorites. They're raw soy beans, and easy to find in the health food section of your local grocery store. A 3/4 c serving is around 100 calories, with around 10 g of protein, and 2g of fat. They're great fr an afternoon snack. You can add a little salt or other seasoning for flavor, but I like the taste of them plain!

    I know I didn't cover everything, especially since I've never used protein powder/shakes/bars, but these were a few of the protein sources that I particularly like!
    Good Luck! :D
  • janeite1990
    janeite1990 Posts: 694 Member
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    Easiest way is whey protein powder in skim milk. That doesn't help if you avoiding processed stuff really, but it tastes good, it is fast to prepare, and it gives you lots of protein fast. Good luck.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Trying a 40-30-30 but I just can't get that much protein, without going over fat content unless I have chicken or turkey or fish at every meal....any suggestions.
    Thank you

    Why not have meat at every meal? I usually do. Bacon or sausage for breakfast, chicken or turkey at lunch, beef for dinner...
  • LisaROGrady
    LisaROGrady Posts: 6 Member
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    I can't believe that sometimes I actually eat too much protein!
    I like to add black or kidney beans to some of the salads I eat. I also really like quinoa. It is very good for you and personally I like the texture. Last week I made a quinoa salad I found online which was basically cooked quinoa, cubed butternut squash, a small bag of dried cranberries and then you add an orange juice/honey mixture (not much) to flavor. It was really good! (Google "quinoa salad" and you will find it and other good recipes!)
    You can also try protien shakes. My trainer pushes them on me. She suggested Six Star whey protein shake mix because it has a lot of protein and the least calories. Look for the one with 52g of protein. I do the vanilla shake mix with water and it actually tastes good. I add some ice and sometimes some fruit. However, someone gave me some chocolate mix they didn't like and it is good too.
    Good luck!!! :)
  • LisaROGrady
    LisaROGrady Posts: 6 Member
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    (to wandering cava) : Nice info!! Thanks!! I like the pumpkin pie spice idea! :) Gonna try that

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