Protein making me crazy
peggymdellinger
Posts: 151 Member
Trying to up my protein... I've got seafood, chicken, hummus, yogurt, avocado, nuts, peanut butter, etc... My biggest problem is getting in veggies while still getting in protein and staying under my calories. Suggestions?
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Replies
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I think you pretty much have to go with protein powder. Greek yogurt helps, too.0
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Veggies have very little calories. You can eat a pound of carrots for like, almost nothing.0
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I think you pretty much have to go with protein powder. Greek yogurt helps, too.
Yup, had Fage today... forgot to list that.
Oh yeah... and I got some Luna protein bars and high protein cereal. Still under... *sigh*0 -
Pork, lean pork. I was surprised at how little calories for how much protein...0
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Boneless Skinless chicken breast is almost 100% protein with minimal fat, it even has a better protein to calorie ratio then some protein powders.0
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Spinach and broccoli?
For the dairy side of it, I've found cottage cheese offers a good amount of protein while being decently low in calories.0 -
Feel free to look at my diary. The last couple days I've put in pretty minimal effort...but go back back a few days or weeks and look at the "good" days. Sat/Sun usually are NOT good days for macros.:laugh:0
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Maybe open your diary so people can see what you're eating and offer you feedback instead of randomly guessing?0
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Fall in love with cottage cheese. It's great with a little fresh fruit or (any)nut butter.0
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Maybe open your diary so people can see what you're eating and offer you feedback instead of randomly guessing?
My diary is open...
Ooops... sorry, opened it a while back on my Kindle. Guess it didn't sync...0 -
egg white veggie omelets! Lots of protein, lots of veggies, very few calories!0
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I work with 1200 to about 1400 calories a day, eat lots of fruit and veggies and have plenty of protein in my diet without resorting to powders, "protein bars" or similar processed supplements..
Without being able to look at your diary it's impossible to tell what your issue might be. What amount of protein are you trying to get in a day?
Avocado, nuts and peanut butter have protein but they have a lot of fat with it, so the calories per gram of protein in them is quite high. Lean meats, fish, eggs, poultry ( all prepared without fat), non fat milk, non fat cottage cheese or other fresh low fat cheeses or even regular cheese in small quantities, bean, lentils (and other legumes) are better to make up the majority of your protein choices.
Oh, PS> if you are going to eat a pound so some veggie, make it a green leafy one (or celery or cucumber) - carrots actually have a lot of sugar in them and a pound would really add up calorie wise!0 -
i think for the ratio of protein to fat and calories, you simply cannot go wrong with more chicken.
thighs, breasts, drumsticks, wings...OH MAI!
let that be the main source of protein and like others have said, veggies are so minimally caloric so eat em up!
i have recently fallen in love with frozen sugar snap peas. nuke up a cup of those badboys and dump em in whatever youre eatin. great flavor and its green!
some of the things you mentioned like nuts and nut butter all have pretty high calories in terms of serving size.
i love pb as much as the next guy, but at ~200 cals for 2 TB, i tend to eat it sparingly unless i have some wiggle room with cals and fat (also quite fatty...yum).
i have also found that lately im eating lots of eggs/egg beaters. the egg beaters are low in calories, have a decent amount of protein, and fill me up like crazy...all that fluffy yellow goodness sittin in mah belly help me sleep and the farts that follow are nothing short of an amusement park in my pants.0 -
Maybe open your diary so people can see what you're eating and offer you feedback instead of randomly guessing?
My diary is open...
Ooops... sorry, opened it a while back on my Kindle. Guess it didn't sync...
I looked through your diary for a bit. Couple things stood out:
Your protein goal is pretty high to begin with. I don't know your stats but most people aim for about 1g of protein per 1lb of lean body mass. Given that you are a 5'5" woman with a goal weight of 135 I'm guessing you don't have that much LBM. Maybe 100lbs. As a result, maybe reconsider your protein goal to something more like 100-110g a day?
Secondly, getting in sufficient protein is easy but requires a little forethought. I get in 175-225g a day in under 2000 calories so it's very doable. You pretty much have to be eating protein at every meal though and fit it in however you can.
Your breakfast seems to a problem, you eat a lot mof carbs for breakfast (cereal, pancakes, etc) and when you do get some protein it's not much. Instead of eating one egg, eat two. Or eat one/two with a couple egg whites. That protein cereal, don't bother. It's not even 15% protein, it's just marketing nonsense. Make sure you're reading labels to ensure that they are backing up their claims. Instead of pancakes, make protein pancakes maybe?
It looks like you like celery and apples for snacks. Make them with PB2 instead.
It looks like you've added a Luna bar as a snack. Don't waste your time with these, they are glorified candy bars (mostly fat and carbs). If you want a bar, get Quest bars (lower calories and almost double the protein). If you want to supplement, use a powder instead. You can get 20-25g of protein in 100 calories worth of protein powder, easily. That could really boost your numbers.
You don't eat a lot of meat it seems which is really going to hurt you. When you do eat meat, for example don't do 4 ounces of chicken - do 8. I don't think I eat any meals with less than half a pound of meat, ever.
That should get you into your desired range easily. Lots of people do protein supplements to make it easier and simpler as I mentioned, that might be an option if you don't want to change your diet much.0 -
Your protein is pretty good as it is. Don't sweat it. The cereal and honey are the only things letting your protein down a bit.
DopeItUp has it right if you need more detail.0 -
Trying to up my protein... I've got seafood, chicken, hummus, yogurt, avocado, nuts, peanut butter, etc... My biggest problem is getting in veggies while still getting in protein and staying under my calories. Suggestions?
Larger portions of lean chicken breast, turkey, fish or lean beef will do it. Also as already mentioned get some tasty whey protein for at least one smoothie a day which in and of itself will settle the issue. Hummus, yogurt, nuts, and peanut butter have some small amount of protein per gram/ounce but are not mostly protein like lean white meat chicken would be.0 -
Dip raw veggies(celery, carrots, broccoli) in the humus instead of crackers0
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Maybe open your diary so people can see what you're eating and offer you feedback instead of randomly guessing?
My diary is open...
Ooops... sorry, opened it a while back on my Kindle. Guess it didn't sync...
I looked through your diary for a bit. Couple things stood out:
Your protein goal is pretty high to begin with. I don't know your stats but most people aim for about 1g of protein per 1lb of lean body mass. Given that you are a 5'5" woman with a goal weight of 135 I'm guessing you don't have that much LBM. Maybe 100lbs. As a result, maybe reconsider your protein goal to something more like 100-110g a day?
Secondly, getting in sufficient protein is easy but requires a little forethought. I get in 175-225g a day in under 2000 calories so it's very doable. You pretty much have to be eating protein at every meal though and fit it in however you can.
Your breakfast seems to a problem, you eat a lot mof carbs for breakfast (cereal, pancakes, etc) and when you do get some protein it's not much. Instead of eating one egg, eat two. Or eat one/two with a couple egg whites. That protein cereal, don't bother. It's not even 15% protein, it's just marketing nonsense. Make sure you're reading labels to ensure that they are backing up their claims. Instead of pancakes, make protein pancakes maybe?
It looks like you like celery and apples for snacks. Make them with PB2 instead.
It looks like you've added a Luna bar as a snack. Don't waste your time with these, they are glorified candy bars (mostly fat and carbs). If you want a bar, get Quest bars (lower calories and almost double the protein). If you want to supplement, use a powder instead. You can get 20-25g of protein in 100 calories worth of protein powder, easily. That could really boost your numbers.
You don't eat a lot of meat it seems which is really going to hurt you. When you do eat meat, for example don't do 4 ounces of chicken - do 8. I don't think I eat any meals with less than half a pound of meat, ever.
That should get you into your desired range easily. Lots of people do protein supplements to make it easier and simpler as I mentioned, that might be an option if you don't want to change your diet much.
Thanks! Those are a lot of great tips. I TRIED to make protein pancakes... using greek yogurt. Perhaps I'll add whey and flax seeds next go around. I got a few Luna bars just to see if I could stomach a "protein" bar; I'll get a few Quest bars from GNC. I suppose I'll hard boil some eggs for a quick breakfast, maybe with a banana, during the week. Thank you so much. I really appreciate the advice!0 -
Maybe open your diary so people can see what you're eating and offer you feedback instead of randomly guessing?
My diary is open...
Ooops... sorry, opened it a while back on my Kindle. Guess it didn't sync...
I looked through your diary for a bit. Couple things stood out:
Your protein goal is pretty high to begin with. I don't know your stats but most people aim for about 1g of protein per 1lb of lean body mass. Given that you are a 5'5" woman with a goal weight of 135 I'm guessing you don't have that much LBM. Maybe 100lbs. As a result, maybe reconsider your protein goal to something more like 100-110g a day?
Secondly, getting in sufficient protein is easy but requires a little forethought. I get in 175-225g a day in under 2000 calories so it's very doable. You pretty much have to be eating protein at every meal though and fit it in however you can.
Your breakfast seems to a problem, you eat a lot mof carbs for breakfast (cereal, pancakes, etc) and when you do get some protein it's not much. Instead of eating one egg, eat two. Or eat one/two with a couple egg whites. That protein cereal, don't bother. It's not even 15% protein, it's just marketing nonsense. Make sure you're reading labels to ensure that they are backing up their claims. Instead of pancakes, make protein pancakes maybe?
It looks like you like celery and apples for snacks. Make them with PB2 instead.
It looks like you've added a Luna bar as a snack. Don't waste your time with these, they are glorified candy bars (mostly fat and carbs). If you want a bar, get Quest bars (lower calories and almost double the protein). If you want to supplement, use a powder instead. You can get 20-25g of protein in 100 calories worth of protein powder, easily. That could really boost your numbers.
You don't eat a lot of meat it seems which is really going to hurt you. When you do eat meat, for example don't do 4 ounces of chicken - do 8. I don't think I eat any meals with less than half a pound of meat, ever.
That should get you into your desired range easily. Lots of people do protein supplements to make it easier and simpler as I mentioned, that might be an option if you don't want to change your diet much.
Thanks! Those are a lot of great tips. I TRIED to make protein pancakes... using greek yogurt. Perhaps I'll add whey and flax seeds next go around. I got a few Luna bars just to see if I could stomach a "protein" bar; I'll get a few Quest bars from GNC. I suppose I'll hard boil some eggs for a quick breakfast, maybe with a banana, during the week. Thank you so much. I really appreciate the advice!
You are very welcome. Best of luck to you
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Each of these pancakes have about 5 to 6 grams of protein in them and are delicious!
http://foodideasforfamilies.blogspot.com/2012/04/egg-pancakes-with-raspberry-sauce.html
I also tried a Yoplait 100 calorie Greek Yogurt today and it was good. 10 grams of protein for 100 calories.0 -
Humapro EAA supplement 1 scoop is 25 protein and only 5 calories.0
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I suggest you look towards proteins for getting your protein in, Not nuts, avocado and peanut butter, which all barely have any protein.
Once you've had your limit of meat that you can stomach daily, hit the plain no fa Greek yogurt with some Splenda, it's about 22g protein/11g carb for 8oz, 2 cups of that is nearly 50g protein for less than 300cal.
For even less cals and carbs you can buy a whey protein isolate, which is about 27g protein and 110 cals for one serving. With all of the options out there, it should be hard to not hit protein0 -
I think you pretty much have to go with protein powder. Greek yogurt helps, too.
Protein powder IN greek yogurt! yum! 0 -
I have a salad just about every day for lunch, and add a hard boiled egg (whites only) or 1/4 cup of garbanzo beans, sometimes 1/2 a can of drained tuna. If I have leftover chicken or steak from dinner the previous night, I'll add 1-2 ounces to my salad. I also started using protein powder the other week and making a shake for after my workouts.0
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Just curios why do you need to up your protein?
Personally, if you feel you have to sacrifice your veggies for your protein stick with your current level and have more veggies.0 -
I looked through your diary for a bit. Couple things stood out:
Your protein goal is pretty high to begin with. I don't know your stats but most people aim for about 1g of protein per 1lb of lean body mass. Given that you are a 5'5" woman with a goal weight of 135 I'm guessing you don't have that much LBM. Maybe 100lbs. As a result, maybe reconsider your protein goal to something more like 100-110g a day?
Secondly, getting in sufficient protein is easy but requires a little forethought. I get in 175-225g a day in under 2000 calories so it's very doable. You pretty much have to be eating protein at every meal though and fit it in however you can.
Your breakfast seems to a problem, you eat a lot mof carbs for breakfast (cereal, pancakes, etc) and when you do get some protein it's not much. Instead of eating one egg, eat two. Or eat one/two with a couple egg whites. That protein cereal, don't bother. It's not even 15% protein, it's just marketing nonsense. Make sure you're reading labels to ensure that they are backing up their claims. Instead of pancakes, make protein pancakes maybe?
It looks like you like celery and apples for snacks. Make them with PB2 instead.
It looks like you've added a Luna bar as a snack. Don't waste your time with these, they are glorified candy bars (mostly fat and carbs). If you want a bar, get Quest bars (lower calories and almost double the protein). If you want to supplement, use a powder instead. You can get 20-25g of protein in 100 calories worth of protein powder, easily. That could really boost your numbers.
You don't eat a lot of meat it seems which is really going to hurt you. When you do eat meat, for example don't do 4 ounces of chicken - do 8. I don't think I eat any meals with less than half a pound of meat, ever.
That should get you into your desired range easily. Lots of people do protein supplements to make it easier and simpler as I mentioned, that might be an option if you don't want to change your diet much.
This^
Your macros are set at 45% carbs, 30% fat and 25% protein. It should be easy to hit that 25% without much trouble if you cut back on the carbs.
Try eggs for breakfast. They have lots of protein and will keep you fuller longer than a bowl of cereal. If you're low on time, do what I do: Hard boil a dozen eggs at a time and keep these in the fridge for quick breakfasts and snacks.
Cook a batch of chicken breasts up at the beginning of the week. Freeze them individually and keep a few thawed in your fridge. Make them one of your go-to snacks instead of a protein/candy bar.
Try some lean pork and lean beef like sirloin. Lots of protein with low fat.
With the tips posted here, hitting 25% protein should be easy. Remember, do it at the expense of grains, not vegetables.0
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