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

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.

You don't have to cut them out completely though, just cut back. Your diary isn't open so I don't know what your portions are like, but if you're having 80g of porridge for instance, try having 50 or 60g instead, or use skim milk instead of full to free up calories. Instead of 200 calories worth of carbs at dinner for instance, have 150 calories and make up the difference in protein.

Bumping to see what other suggestions come up, as I'm working with a nutritionist who has asked me to eliminate all grains and starches (basically bread, crackers, rice, oats, pasta, potatoes - everything carbohydrate except fruit & veg) from my diet. Protein is fine and dandy, up to a point, but it just doesn't fill the gap, and I'm finding the complete absence of oats in particular really problematic - I need something to really chew!!!! Quite apart from that, I have actually gained weight, rather than lost it, in the first two weeks, so I'm increasingly skeptical.

ETA: This is an attempt to break a nine-month-long plateau...I would never even consider this otherwise, but I'm absolutely desperate to lose the remaining 20-30lbs.

Contrary to popular belief, women can get toned, cut, and gain a moderate amount of muscle without eating 100 grams of protein a day. At 36 (female), I did it on oatmeal, tons of veggies, and 1 chicken breast a day while lifting weights and doing cardio 3-4 times a week. I even ate brown sugar with my oats and full fat ranch dressing on my salads! Going to extremes (i.e. cutting carbs completely or inhaling insane amounts of protein) isn't always necessary, what is necessary is consistency over time.

100g of protein is not an insane amount, it's a minimum guideline backed up by studies, which say it's needed to prevent muscle loss as the person is cutting. Some muscle will be lost, but if we can minimize it, we should. It's much easier to keep muscle, than build it.

I enjoy carbs as well. I'm not a fitness professional by any means, but what I am doing is working for me so I'll give you advice based on that. Instead of just having eggs for lunch, have an egg sandwich. There's nothing wrong with throwing your eggs on two slices of whole wheat bread. You don't have to cut carbs to lose weight! The key to losing weight is finding what works for you so that you can ultimately make a lifestyle change. Meaning, you will learn to satisfy yourself while keeping the weight off instead of constant feeling restricted. Restricting yourself may work for a week or two, but it's not a long-term solution. Sure, you will need to restrict yourself to a certain extent, but if you are allowed to have the things you enjoy in moderation, you won't feel the need to splurge on a regular basis.

Edited to answer your question directly:

Yes, protein is important, but there is nothing wrong with eating your protein on a yummy carb-filled piece of deliciousness if that's the way you enjoy it.

Can you make your diary public? Or add me so I can take a look and offer better suggestions?


As far as carbs go, I would incorporate them into your meals, but try a half portion. Like I might have tuna salad, but instead of making a sandwich with it, I'll have one slice of toast on the side.

this sounds like a classic example of somebody on a 1200 (or lower) calorie diet finally understanding why 1200 (or lower) calories is too low because it's difficult to meet your macros on such a small amount of calories.

nowhere has the OP mentioned her calorie goal and her profile is locked, but i'd wager that's the problem in a nutshell.

if you can't meet your protein macro on your current calorie goal then you can use protein shakes, change your diet, or increase your calories.

she has had no reason to suspect her macros WEREN'T working for her so far, I was the same way,
and i completely understand. I think not worrying about the fat as much, would work well, plenty of healthy fats out there-
flax seeds, different kinds of nuts. eggs yes yolk included, sardines and other fatty fish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFObr7rc1kA

this video is very long winded, i'm trying to remember where they answer the question, how much is really needed.

around 11 mins in they talk about the minimum for someone on maintenance. (1.2g protein per kilogram)

and 13 min in 1.5g/kilo for someone on a deficit, if they are not very low on bf%, just your average person, not highly trained
body builders and such

Is that per kg total body weight? (at work, can't get to youtube)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/925464-fitting-it-in-giggity

Learn to enjoy the protein supplements on the market. We quit buying bread, pasta, crqckers, etc-and had the money for the supplements.

i get 1.5-2g per lb of weight pretty efficiently, and my progress has been more dramatic since i added it.

Contrary to popular belief, women can get toned, cut, and gain a moderate amount of muscle without eating 100 grams of protein a day. At 36 (female), I did it on oatmeal, tons of veggies, and 1 chicken breast a day while lifting weights and doing cardio 3-4 times a week. I even ate brown sugar with my oats and full fat ranch dressing on my salads! Going to extremes (i.e. cutting carbs completely or inhaling insane amounts of protein) isn't always necessary, what is necessary is consistency over time.

100g of protein is not an insane amount, it's a minimum guideline backed up by studies, which say it's needed to prevent muscle loss as the person is cutting. Some muscle will be lost, but if we can minimize it, we should. It's much easier to keep muscle, than build it.

My point being...100 g of protein a day is not necessary for a woman to get toned. Been there without it. You?

this sounds like a classic example of somebody on a 1200 (or lower) calorie diet finally understanding why 1200 (or lower) calories is too low because it's difficult to meet your macros on such a small amount of calories.

nowhere has the OP mentioned her calorie goal and her profile is locked, but i'd wager that's the problem in a nutshell.

if you can't meet your protein macro on your current calorie goal then you can use protein shakes, change your diet, or increase your calories.

... and this is a really helpful response, because ...?

1. If you had read the posts carefully before bringing out the pitchfork, you would have noticed that I have mentioned my calorie goal - which is exactly where it ought to be.
2. If you don't have anything productive or helpful to say, why say anything at all? Are you bored? There are tons of nice free games on the internet that you can waste your time with, instead of making pointless comments that nobody needs.

It was quite helpful, actually, but your response is quite rude. The poster missed where you posted your 1500 calorie goal but that is all. He is right that you will eventually need to make choices about your diet. You cannot continue to eat a high carb diet and fit in the protein you want. It's that simple.

I appreciate all the great suggestions made in this post and they will certainly help me figure out how to lose the last couple of pounds and eat healthily. Making assumptions without knowing anything about me is not helpful. Simply telling me to change my diet is not helpful. There is no need for that.

honestly, responses like yours are the reason i wonder why i even bother to try and help. i wasn't rude with my initial response. i am tired of people on this site accusing everyone of being rude or mean or both when they get a response that isn't sugar-coated. i'm not a mind reader. your profile was LOCKED. it was nowhere in your OP that you were on 1500 calories. i'm not going to do more than that trying to figure out that key piece of information. what i wrote is correct. not only for you but for anyone else in a similar situation... first consider adding protein supplements, then considering drastic changes to your diet, finally looking and seeing if your calorie goal is too low. instead of being on the defensive and looking for reasons to be offended, why not just consider that the information may be useful and that the person who wrote it (who has no history with you whatsoever) isn't actually being "rude" or "mean", just direct and to the point?

here's another bit of information. 1g of fat = 9 calories. 1g of carbs = 1g of protein = 4 calories. use this information to really figure out exactly why you aren't meeting your macros and what minimal changes you need to make to get your macros back in line. in your case, it really is just a matter of swapping just enough carb calories for protein calories.

OP, try Nancy's Organic Nonfat Probiotic Greek Yogurt. It's 120 cals for 22g of protein and 0g of fat! I LOVE it! I can easily eat the whole tub, which is 88g of protein. I'm a little addicted, lol!

http://nancysyogurt.com/index.php/probiotic-greek/nonfat-organic-probiotic-greek

if money is the issue, as she said, she's better off making her own protein bars. i can give many suggestions on increasing protein, but they are already in the list in my previous posts.