Protein making me crazy

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peggymdellinger
peggymdellinger Posts: 151 Member
in Food and Nutrition
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

  • AbbeyDove
    AbbeyDove Posts: 317 Member
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    I think you pretty much have to go with protein powder. Greek yogurt helps, too.
  • GetSoda
    GetSoda Posts: 1,267 Member
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    Veggies have very little calories. You can eat a pound of carrots for like, almost nothing.
  • peggymdellinger
    peggymdellinger Posts: 151 Member
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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*
  • StinkyWinkies
    StinkyWinkies Posts: 603 Member
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    Pork, lean pork. I was surprised at how little calories for how much protein...
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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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.
  • TeachTheGirl
    TeachTheGirl Posts: 2,091 Member
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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.
  • calibriintx
    calibriintx Posts: 1,741 Member
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    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:
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    Maybe open your diary so people can see what you're eating and offer you feedback instead of randomly guessing?
  • chefwrx
    chefwrx Posts: 59 Member
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    Fall in love with cottage cheese. It's great with a little fresh fruit or (any)nut butter.
  • peggymdellinger
    peggymdellinger Posts: 151 Member
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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...
  • spaingirl2011
    spaingirl2011 Posts: 763 Member
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    egg white veggie omelets! Lots of protein, lots of veggies, very few calories!
  • koshkasmum
    koshkasmum Posts: 276 Member
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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!
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,323 Member
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    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.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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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.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    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.
  • IIISpartacusIII
    IIISpartacusIII Posts: 252 Member
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    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.
  • T1DAnna
    T1DAnna Posts: 7
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    Dip raw veggies(celery, carrots, broccoli) in the humus instead of crackers
  • peggymdellinger
    peggymdellinger Posts: 151 Member
    Options
    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!
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Options
    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 :)
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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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.

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