Protein?

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HaleyxErin
HaleyxErin Posts: 94 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have been vegetarian since the start of the year and I've been tracking my food again since yesterday and I've been way short on protein. Like I'm 100+ shy. Even before going veg I hated eating meat I only ate it for dinner for lack of another option now I don't even before going veg I was crazy short. How do I get it in?
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Replies

  • cole_ashleyy
    cole_ashleyy Posts: 104 Member
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    Quinoa, bulgar, barley as your grains will add some protein to your meals rather than using something like rice.
    Peanut butter, almond butter... things like that.
    Yogurt.
    Nuts.
    Cheese.
    Eggs.
    Soy products (soy milk, edamame, tofu)
    Seitan and tempeh.
  • TravelDog14
    TravelDog14 Posts: 317 Member
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    For starters:

    Yogurt (my Fage 0 fat greek yogurt has 18 grams per 100 calorie serving)
    Cottage cheese
    Nuts
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
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    You only need like .6 per lb of lean body mass, so it's not as much as people think. You can just get protein shakes that are made from rice and mix it with a pea protein. Mixing different protein powders is only necessary when you're not getting it from a source of whey. Animal byproducts just have a different nutritional profile... if you're vegetarian and not planning to go vegan ever you can still have whey.
  • moonsforeyes
    moonsforeyes Posts: 228
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    Eggs, cheese, soy, almonds, yogurt (especially greek) beans, veggie burgers.. there are SO many vegetarian protein options out there. So many. Just spend a little more time at the grocery store next time you go and look at nutrition facts and try new things! you'd be surprised.
  • sanura
    sanura Posts: 459 Member
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    beans and lentils are excellent
    whole grains have protein too
    tofu, and other soy products are high in protein
    if you can't seem to get enough from food, which is rare because as someone else mentioned you only need 0.6 grams per kg of body weight, there are some great vegetarian protein powders like SunWarrior and Vega
  • szarlotka717
    szarlotka717 Posts: 85 Member
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    The foods that I've found that give me the biggest protein/calorie bang for buck are light string cheese (in particular, 365 light string cheese from Whole Foods), low fat cottage cheese, and Alvarado Bakery California Style Complete Protein bread.
  • bdamaster60
    bdamaster60 Posts: 595 Member
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    You only need like .6 per lb of lean body mass, so it's not as much as people think.

    i begged a differ.
  • sanura
    sanura Posts: 459 Member
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    You only need like .6 per lb of lean body mass, so it's not as much as people think.

    i begged a differ.

    based on nutritional training from Human Kinetics and CanFit Pro, what's your source?
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
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    You only need like .6 per lb of lean body mass, so it's not as much as people think.

    i begged a differ.

    based on nutritional training from Human Kinetics and CanFit Pro, what's your source?

    You know as well as I do (I hope) that one's protein needs are based entirely upon what they are doing to and with their body. The 0.5-0.6 g/lbs. is for an average person doing average things. In this case, we do not know enough about this person's training regimen (if they have one), so we have absolutely nothing to base their protein requirement on.
  • sanura
    sanura Posts: 459 Member
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    You only need like .6 per lb of lean body mass, so it's not as much as people think.

    i begged a differ.

    based on nutritional training from Human Kinetics and CanFit Pro, what's your source?

    You know as well as I do (I hope) that one's protein needs are based entirely upon what they are doing to and with their body. The 0.5-0.6 g/lbs. is for an average person doing average things. In this case, we do not know enough about this person's training regimen (if they have one), so we have absolutely nothing to base their protein requirement on.

    proteins needs are based on your structure (weight), not your activity, with the exception of those few athletes engaged in serious endurance training, in which case it may go up slightly to 0.8 for 1 hour of intense training or 1.0 for even more lengthy training.
  • HaleyxErin
    HaleyxErin Posts: 94 Member
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    yeah the closest thing I do to training is going up and down the stairs at school and walking the block every now and then.
  • Lovable12
    Lovable12 Posts: 34
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    Edamame - soybeans
    http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/9873/2

    (i think this might be an overestimate for it but it still does have a lot of protein)
  • MorgueBabe
    MorgueBabe Posts: 1,188 Member
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    Hemp Protein Powder
    Peanut Butter
    Lentils
    Beans
    Split Peas
    Quorn, Bocca and other fake meats

    Even eat protein at every single meal and everytime I eat I am still under my protein too.
  • Hadabetter
    Hadabetter Posts: 942 Member
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    You only need like .6 per lb of lean body mass, so it's not as much as people think.

    i begged a differ.

    based on nutritional training from Human Kinetics and CanFit Pro, what's your source?

    You know as well as I do (I hope) that one's protein needs are based entirely upon what they are doing to and with their body. The 0.5-0.6 g/lbs. is for an average person doing average things. In this case, we do not know enough about this person's training regimen (if they have one), so we have absolutely nothing to base their protein requirement on.

    proteins needs are based on your structure (weight), not your activity, with the exception of those few athletes engaged in serious endurance training, in which case it may go up slightly to 0.8 for 1 hour of intense training or 1.0 for even more lengthy training.
    Few athletes? We had 30,000 people run the Houston Marathon recently.

    Also, you neglected to mention that the people who need protein more than endurance athletes are the people who are engaged in weight training. They need protein more than endurance athletes, and there are vast numbers of them.

    So basically, if all you do is some light cardio and so-called "toning" exercises, yeah, 0.5-0.6 g/lbs is fine, but the people who are not in this group are not "few".
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
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    You only need like .6 per lb of lean body mass, so it's not as much as people think.

    i begged a differ.

    based on nutritional training from Human Kinetics and CanFit Pro, what's your source?

    You know as well as I do (I hope) that one's protein needs are based entirely upon what they are doing to and with their body. The 0.5-0.6 g/lbs. is for an average person doing average things. In this case, we do not know enough about this person's training regimen (if they have one), so we have absolutely nothing to base their protein requirement on.

    proteins needs are based on your structure (weight), not your activity, with the exception of those few athletes engaged in serious endurance training, in which case it may go up slightly to 0.8 for 1 hour of intense training or 1.0 for even more lengthy training.
    Few athletes? We had 30,000 people run the Houston Marathon recently.

    Also, you neglected to mention that the people who need protein more than endurance athletes are the people who are engaged in weight training. They need protein more than endurance athletes, and there are vast numbers of them.

    So basically, if all you do is some light cardio and so-called "toning" exercises, yeah, 0.5-0.6 g/lbs is fine, but the people who are not in this group are not "few".

    What's YOUR source?

    and 30,000 is nothing compared to the over 300 million people who live in this country, so yes, it's a few.
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
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    re: weightlifters needing more protein:

    http://grist.org/article/protein-how-much-do-we-need/
    If you’re a serious athlete, that’s where it gets a little tricky. Athletes’ protein needs are widely debated, but the ADA has established guidelines that can at least help get you in the right ballpark. If you regularly do endurance training — like running medium-length races or going on long bike rides — you should aim for 1.2 to 1.7 g per kg. For a 150-pound person, that would be 82 to 116 grams per day. If you’re in heavy training — think preparing for a marathon or an Ironman competition — then you’ll want to get 1.4 to 2 g per kg. That works out to between 95 and 136 grams for our 150-pound athlete. If you’re into lifting weights and other strength training, you’ll need 1.6 to 1.7 g/kg.

    confusing because it's comparing grams to kg instead of pounds, but note that it doesn't recommend higher than 136g protein for a 150 pound athlete. If you're 6'5" it'll be higher, but in no way does anyone need 1.5g/pound.
  • deb3690
    deb3690 Posts: 59 Member
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    Take a look at some of the writings of Dr. John McDougall....with McDougall program. He endorses a vegan lifestyle and cites our RDA for protein based on .8 grams per KILO of body weight.

    He recommends that all protein come from whole foods rather than powders ...as you look closely at your veggies and beans for nutritional value you will see a lot! Further he recommends adults, men and women, will range between 30 and 80 grams per day.

    I find that eating whole foods I can easily make that...if I focus on high protein foods I can get close to 80 without too much trouble. Nuts and soy bring a lot of fat along with the protein...look at beans and TVP as some options.

    Remember that more protein also demands more calcium for metabolizing the protein... take a look at his book "Starch Solution" for more discussion....he presents an alternative opinion as compared to ketogenic diets!
  • aelunyu
    aelunyu Posts: 486 Member
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    1g per pound of bodyweight if you're trying to gain muscle, and want to dot your i's and cross your t's. it's probably you don't need this much.

    eating protein is not about the abundance of aminos needed to repair tissue...that's probably well taken care of within 0.3g/lb.

    we eat protein in abundance upwards of 1g/bodyweight to assure positive nitrogen balance and continued anabolic states. protein synthesis is in large part driven by the presence of animos in our bloodstream. go too long and we will be in a negative protein balance, and therefore not synthesizing protein.

    that being said, if you are not a bodybuilder or a professional strength athlete, how much protein you get to supply your daily functions is almost irrelevant. But I would agree that the RDI is way too low and what you'd read on bodybuilding sites like 2g/lb is way way too high.
  • reid95
    reid95 Posts: 18 Member
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    whey.....duh
  • GoTeamMeaghan
    GoTeamMeaghan Posts: 347 Member
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    I've been vegetarian for over 2 years & manage to get between 110-140g of protein a dy with no trouble. Feel free to look at my diary for ideas.

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