Help with Protein Intake

BarbaraCarr1981
BarbaraCarr1981 Posts: 903 Member
edited January 26 in Food and Nutrition
Hello,

I am trying to meet 155g of protein per day. 1g per 1lb of body weight, although Im pretty sure i weigh 152lb. I need some help with ideas to up my intake. Anyways, I seem to only be getting around the 95-100g mark for protein per day. The bulk of it is from the following:
Meat at lunch and supper (beef, chicken, fish, pork)
1-2 boiled eggs
1 serving of greek yogurt
30g piece of light cheese
1-2 scoops of whey protein. btw - i would love to figure out a tasty LOW CARB protein shake!!! Suggests on that too please.....

Replies

  • Bowsa
    Bowsa Posts: 30 Member
    "the protein works"

    have some great tasting shakes.

    other than that.

    chick breast
    turkey breast
    tuna
    steak
    cottage cheese

    all good sources :)
  • BarbaraCarr1981
    BarbaraCarr1981 Posts: 903 Member
    What about protein snack ideas??? It feels weird to eat a piece of chicken for a snack in the middle of the afternoon. I usually go for a fruit and some nuts.
  • shannashannabobana
    shannashannabobana Posts: 625 Member
    What about protein snack ideas???
    I usually go with cheese. Nuts if I'm exceptionally hungry. Beyond that, high protein leftovers if you're home, maybe? I don't think there is anything weird about eating chicken during the day. Go for it.

    I don't know, I don't do too much snacking...
  • AnsiStar
    AnsiStar Posts: 165 Member
    Nuts and nut butters.
    Beef jerky.
    Some greek yogurt - I mis some whey into this too for a pudding or mousse like snack.
    Snack cheeses are good for protein too
  • Bowsa
    Bowsa Posts: 30 Member
    What about protein snack ideas??? It feels weird to eat a piece of chicken for a snack in the middle of the afternoon. I usually go for a fruit and some nuts.

    Just has a look at your diary, obviously getting thruogh a lot of salad, and so dumping a can of tuna or similar on top.
    cottage cheese.
    bolied eggs

    and to be honest feeling wierd might be something you need to get over, does it really fuss you eating chicken breast at lunch? cook it and cut it into bitesize chunks you can grab if your worried.

    Cheese and nuts are really calorie dense and not very filling, or massively high in protein so I would be wary of these as you only have limited cals you are better off getting something more filling for your cals
  • BeantownSooner
    BeantownSooner Posts: 254
    Often times the 1g per 1 lb gets confused as it's actually 1g per 1 kg of body weight. I saw your post and the 150 g stood out since I have 70 lbs on you and that's my target. To covert lbs to kg simply divide your weight by 2.2. This should be your protein target. Remember our bodies can only use so much protein at one time where the general rule of thumb is about 30g in one sitting. Otherwise it becomes waste and possibly stored fat.

    Now use this chart to reset your Protein target:

    The base level (assuming no activity and no desire to change body composition) is around 0.8g per kilogram body weight (50g for a 137.5lb person) or above. More is not harmful, but this seems to be the bare minimum

    An athlete or highly active person, or a person who is sedentary and looking to lose body fat would do well with a range between 1-1.5g per kilogram. For a 200lb person, this equates to 91-136g daily

    An athlete or active person who wishes to beneficially influence their body composition (lose fat and/or gain muscle) or a very highly active endurance athlete should be consuming in the range of 1.5-2.2g per kilogram daily (for our 200lb person, this equates to 136-200g daily)
  • BarbaraCarr1981
    BarbaraCarr1981 Posts: 903 Member
    What about protein snack ideas??? It feels weird to eat a piece of chicken for a snack in the middle of the afternoon. I usually go for a fruit and some nuts.

    Just has a look at your diary, obviously getting thruogh a lot of salad, and so dumping a can of tuna or similar on top.
    cottage cheese.
    bolied eggs

    and to be honest feeling wierd might be something you need to get over, does it really fuss you eating chicken breast at lunch? cook it and cut it into bitesize chunks you can grab if your worried.

    Cheese and nuts are really calorie dense and not very filling, or massively high in protein so I would be wary of these as you only have limited cals you are better off getting something more filling for your cals

    but a piece of chicken tastes better as a meal. what would i do with it for a snack. chew on plain chicken doesn't sound too appetizing.
  • SCSURaynmann
    SCSURaynmann Posts: 21 Member
    1oz of unsalted almonds is only 160 calories and has 6g of protein. This is ~25 almonds by weight.
  • mrmagee3
    mrmagee3 Posts: 518 Member
    I've seen protein intakes measured a bunch of ways. I've seen 1g/kg, and I've seen 1g/lb -- generally, though, if pounds are used, they go for 1g/lb LBM (lean body mass -- calculated as weight-(weight*percent fat)).

    As a 150 pound woman, I'd think you need no more than about 120g/day at the top end. TrueNutrition sells protein powder with zero carbs -- they have a Chocolate Peanut Butter mix that's fantastic.
  • SCSURaynmann
    SCSURaynmann Posts: 21 Member
    My favorite Smoothie recipe which I have every morning.

    1 cup of Almond Milk
    3 tbsp French vanilla creamer
    1 scoop Chocolate Protein powder (Whey Protein)
    3 tsp Chia Seeds
    1 handful or ~2cups of Raw baby Spinach
    4-6 baby carrots
    1 Cup of Ice cubes

    Put it all in my Vitamix and a minute later, it tastes like a frozen coffee icecream.
    295 Calories
    31g carbohydrates
    8 g Fat
    25g Protein
    275mg Sodium
    25g sugar

    This helps me feel full for about 3-4 hours each morning before I have my almonds as a snack.
  • Alta2000
    Alta2000 Posts: 655 Member
    1-2 scoops of whey protein. btw - i would love to figure out a tasty LOW CARB protein shake!!! Suggests on that too please.....

    Optimum Nutrition Gold standard whey double chocolate
  • grandevampire
    grandevampire Posts: 242
    1-2 scoops of whey protein. btw - i would love to figure out a tasty LOW CARB protein shake!!! Suggests on that too please.....

    Optimum Nutrition Gold standard whey double chocolate

    There is unflavoured whey too, which tastes fine on its own with water or mixed with other things and doesn't have all those artificial sweeteners/flavouring. Hemp protein or hemp seeds as well. Someone else mentioned tuna above. Cod and mackerel are high in protein too...

    Also,
    Often times the 1g per 1 lb gets confused as it's actually 1g per 1 kg of body weight. I saw your post and the 150 g stood out since I have 70 lbs on you and that's my target.

    They are all calculations to estimate, but I have seen 2g/kg, which is just a touch less than 1g/lb. (I have also seen 1.4g/kg, 1.6g/kg, 1.8g/kg, etc etc). Again, they are just estimates to make sure you are getting "enough" to repair and grow your muscles, and I don't think "enough" is an exact science, it depends a lot on what you do everyday.
  • LongIsland27itl
    LongIsland27itl Posts: 365 Member
    What about protein snack ideas??? It feels weird to eat a piece of chicken for a snack in the middle of the afternoon. I usually go for a fruit and some nuts.

    Just has a look at your diary, obviously getting thruogh a lot of salad, and so dumping a can of tuna or similar on top.
    cottage cheese.
    bolied eggs

    and to be honest feeling wierd might be something you need to get over, does it really fuss you eating chicken breast at lunch? cook it and cut it into bitesize chunks you can grab if your worried.

    Cheese and nuts are really calorie dense and not very filling, or massively high in protein so I would be wary of these as you only have limited cals you are better off getting something more filling for your cals

    but a piece of chicken tastes better as a meal. what would i do with it for a snack. chew on plain chicken doesn't sound too appetizing.
    . Plain chicken not so much, but I salt and spice it up on a cast iron fajita plate with some onions and put it on broil, comes out awesome.
    Ps, you need better protein powder, 14g a scoop is bad news and probably loaded with trash fillers.
  • dieselbyte
    dieselbyte Posts: 733 Member
    What about protein snack ideas??? It feels weird to eat a piece of chicken for a snack in the middle of the afternoon. I usually go for a fruit and some nuts.

    Just has a look at your diary, obviously getting thruogh a lot of salad, and so dumping a can of tuna or similar on top.
    cottage cheese.
    bolied eggs

    and to be honest feeling wierd might be something you need to get over, does it really fuss you eating chicken breast at lunch? cook it and cut it into bitesize chunks you can grab if your worried.

    Cheese and nuts are really calorie dense and not very filling, or massively high in protein so I would be wary of these as you only have limited cals you are better off getting something more filling for your cals

    but a piece of chicken tastes better as a meal. what would i do with it for a snack. chew on plain chicken doesn't sound too appetizing.
    . Plain chicken not so much, but I salt and spice it up on a cast iron fajita plate with some onions and put it on broil, comes out awesome.
    Ps, you need better protein powder, 14g a scoop is bad news and probably loaded with trash fillers.

    Looked at your diary and I agree. Getting a better quality whey protein will help. MTS nutrition Whey from tigerfitness.com has 25 g of protein in 1 scoop. If you are worried about carbs, GNC wheybolic or Optimum nutrition hydro whey are very low in carbs, and its about 20g of protein per scoop. Also, more chicken or throwing tuna in your salad is also an option. Look at protein as a need, not the food. Doesn't matter when you eat chicken, as long as you get your protein in. Egg whites in addition to your whole eggs are also an option.

    Also, realize what a protein source is. Others mentioned cheese or almonds. Those are fat sources, not protein sources. There is nothing wrong with fats, but you'll be increasing your fats well over your macro nutrient goals if you are trying to get more protein from those sources.

    Lastly, depending on your goals and training situation, there is nothing wrong with keeping your protein at 1g per body pound. Don't worry or stress that you are getting too much protein at 150g. That being said, unless you are primarily focused on weight training and building muscle, you can lower your protein to .8g times body weight, and increase your carbs from micro nutrient dense foods like sweet potatoes, or fun foods like cookies, to hit a higher carb goal. And don't stress about lean body weight vs body weight for protein intake. Higher protein won't kill you.
  • BarbaraCarr1981
    BarbaraCarr1981 Posts: 903 Member
    My favorite Smoothie recipe which I have every morning.

    1 cup of Almond Milk
    3 tbsp French vanilla creamer
    1 scoop Chocolate Protein powder (Whey Protein)
    3 tsp Chia Seeds
    1 handful or ~2cups of Raw baby Spinach
    4-6 baby carrots
    1 Cup of Ice cubes

    Put it all in my Vitamix and a minute later, it tastes like a frozen coffee icecream.
    295 Calories
    31g carbohydrates
    8 g Fat
    25g Protein
    275mg Sodium
    25g sugar

    This helps me feel full for about 3-4 hours each morning before I have my almonds as a snack.
    Whoa! I would NEVER use that many carbs on just a drink!
  • BarbaraCarr1981
    BarbaraCarr1981 Posts: 903 Member
    What about protein snack ideas??? It feels weird to eat a piece of chicken for a snack in the middle of the afternoon. I usually go for a fruit and some nuts.

    Just has a look at your diary, obviously getting thruogh a lot of salad, and so dumping a can of tuna or similar on top.
    cottage cheese.
    bolied eggs

    and to be honest feeling wierd might be something you need to get over, does it really fuss you eating chicken breast at lunch? cook it and cut it into bitesize chunks you can grab if your worried.

    Cheese and nuts are really calorie dense and not very filling, or massively high in protein so I would be wary of these as you only have limited cals you are better off getting something more filling for your cals

    but a piece of chicken tastes better as a meal. what would i do with it for a snack. chew on plain chicken doesn't sound too appetizing.
    . Plain chicken not so much, but I salt and spice it up on a cast iron fajita plate with some onions and put it on broil, comes out awesome.
    Ps, you need better protein powder, 14g a scoop is bad news and probably loaded with trash fillers.

    Looked at your diary and I agree. Getting a better quality whey protein will help. MTS nutrition Whey from tigerfitness.com has 25 g of protein in 1 scoop. If you are worried about carbs, GNC wheybolic or Optimum nutrition hydro whey are very low in carbs, and its about 20g of protein per scoop. Also, more chicken or throwing tuna in your salad is also an option. Look at protein as a need, not the food. Doesn't matter when you eat chicken, as long as you get your protein in. Egg whites in addition to your whole eggs are also an option.

    Also, realize what a protein source is. Others mentioned cheese or almonds. Those are fat sources, not protein sources. There is nothing wrong with fats, but you'll be increasing your fats well over your macro nutrient goals if you are trying to get more protein from those sources.

    Lastly, depending on your goals and training situation, there is nothing wrong with keeping your protein at 1g per body pound. Don't worry or stress that you are getting too much protein at 150g. That being said, unless you are primarily focused on weight training and building muscle, you can lower your protein to .8g times body weight, and increase your carbs from micro nutrient dense foods like sweet potatoes, or fun foods like cookies, to hit a higher carb goal. And don't stress about lean body weight vs body weight for protein intake. Higher protein won't kill you.

    Thanks for info. Im focused on heavy lifting for body comp and fat loss. Minimal cardio but work is very busy running around all day but just for July and August. Other months are just in the office or unemployed for the winter. Things are seasonal here in PEI.
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