I'm a vegetarian but need more protein. HELP!

What most people mean by "protein" is the essential amino acids that help the body function. Some of them our body produces, some our body needs from the outside. If you eat a green smoothie each day and cooked beans 3-4 times a week, you're fine. We need to focus less on protein and more on veggies and fruits. Go to YouTube and search for raw food athletes - you will be AMAZED what a vegan diet can do for hte human body.

I don't eat a lot of meat so I eat protein bars for breakfast.

Apart from my friend who is a bodybuilder I have never seen such an obsession with protein until I joined MFP. I don't really concentrate on it myself but here are what I eat for protein:

greek yoghurt
cottage cheese
nuts and lentils
tofu
quorn burgers and sausages
quorn chicken style pieces
soya mince or quorn mince
Homemade seitan sausages

I think seitan is one of the highest protein things I have found and it's quite tasty.

1/4 cup of unsweetened, natural pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp of pumpkin spice (or cinnamon)
1/2 cup egg beaters OR 2 egg whites and 1 whole
1 scoop of Whatever Protein Powder You Use

Blend all ingredients, and cook on medium heat! Yum!

Protein Pumpkin Pancakes!

Go lift heavy things if you want to put on real muscle. More protein really does diddly squat except inflame them because it spikes insulin levels. It won't give you real functional muscle, just the appearance of it. And it's not particularly healthy either (nor is dairy or eggs). I guess if you don't care about your health and are just in it for aesthetics, eat more protein at least from plant sources like sunwarrior protein in a shake or something. Wouldn't recommend that though.

Hold. The. Phone.

Don't listen to any of this silliness. I am a vegan and all of the above is a load of ridiculous.

If you feel like you need more protein, tempeh is a REALLY good source and doesn't wreak havoc on your tummy like some other unfermented soy products. True Nutrition will also custom blend protein shakes for you - I recommend 70% Gemma Pea Protein/30% rice protein. It's surprisingly affordable.

I am a HUGE fan of fake meat because I have no worry about sodium (blood pressure is way too low as it is) and I still have fond memories of meat even though I no longer eat it. Tofurky Italian sausages are DELICIOUS and have 29g of protein.

Again... Don't listen to this nonsense. ALL FOOD CAUSES AN INSULIN SPIKE. Protein IS required - but many of us plant based people don't feel compelled to eat as much as omnis. If you're strength training 100g a day for a woman should be totally fine. I routinely hit 75-90g of protein without protein shakes (and my calorie goal is about 1500)

First, my fitness pal overestimates protein requirements. You only need 11-12% but if you are really active 13% will do you. For example an 1800 calorie diet would require 50-60g of protein. Requirements may vary slightly due to age and sex. MyFitnessPal suggests 68g for inactive 1800 calorie diet, for comparison.

My food suggestions:
LENTILS! (and other legumes) Try adding beans to soups, salads, making burgers/meatless neatballs with them.
NUTS! If you eat oatmeal, add some walnut pieces. They go great with maple and banana! Have almonds for a snack!
LEAFY GREENS have a high percent protein! Threy are low in calories so you need eat a lot. Spinach and arugula are excellent salad greens. Eat a bigger salad with more greens!

Where are you getting these recommendations from because based on all the research around, they actually underestimate for the majority,

You can MFP search this because I can't at the moment (on my phone) but even one of the mods, Psulemon, posted that MFP's protein macro was set at a minimum.

Go lift heavy things if you want to put on real muscle. More protein really does diddly squat except inflame them because it spikes insulin levels. It won't give you real functional muscle, just the appearance of it. And it's not particularly healthy either (nor is dairy or eggs). I guess if you don't care about your health and are just in it for aesthetics, eat more protein at least from plant sources like sunwarrior protein in a shake or something. Wouldn't recommend that though.

What in the what? :noway:

I am a huge fan of quest nutrition bars and spirutein protein shakes, check them out!

There's so little logic to being a vegetarian. why not revisit that entirely and eat meat? makes life and your goals much easier. If you're vegetarianism is some kind of moral issue with killing animals, find an animal to eat that you don't feel sorry for. Shark meat maybe? or shell fish? or shrimp? something.

:noway:

There's so little logic to being a vegetarian. why not revisit that entirely and eat meat? makes life and your goals much easier. If you're vegetarianism is some kind of moral issue with killing animals, find an animal to eat that you don't feel sorry for. Shark meat maybe? or shell fish? or shrimp? something.

Right. Just eat ugly animals. Problem solved.

I've been a vegetarian (pescetarian though) for about 3 years, and I can definitely identify with struggling to squeeze in enough protein given my substantial mileage.

My go-to items are greek yogurt (freeze it, make parfaits, use in place of sour cream, whatever), PB2 powdered peanut butter (perfect for shakes), whey protein powder (current favorite is Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold, chocolate flavor), and homemade protein bars. A good recipe--as well as a great site overall-- is here: http://www.nomeatathlete.com/homemade-energy-bar-recipe/

I try to sneak protein sources in whatever I'm cooking, too -- protein pancakes/waffles (lots of recipes online), sprouted bread in sandwiches or sprouted tortillas in wraps/quesadillas/pizzadillas (love ezekiel bread and the trader joe's version), baked goods made with protein powder or greek yogurt, and pretty much anything made with edamame or chickpeas.

You do not need to overdo the protein. Only weight resistance builds muscle. Your kidneys will work very hard to flush out excess. Just make sure there is a protein rich food at every meal. You'll be good .

The main thing for showcasing your muscle groups is to get your body fat below 18% (female) or under 10% for men. I was a vegetarian for 13 years and vegan for 1 year. I got really sick because I was eating less than 25g protein per day. As long as you are not being a total dummy like me, you are probably doing ok. The dietician I met with was absolutely appalled by my diet (mostly frozen vegan burritos, trail mix, and salads while I was in college). She explained that I needed to pick either eggs or fish and start including those in my diet to get adequate protein. When I moved to Alaska I started catching and eating fish and shellfish, especially salmon and halibut which are loaded with protein and nutrient-rich, especially potassium. You don't have to consume fish if you don't want to. Good luck and I'm happy you are keeping such a close eye on your nutrient intake.

I use Jay Robb protein powder, it uses stevia instead of artificial sweeteners like sucralose/aspartame. He makes a whey protein and an egg white protein powder that are both amazing. I use both. Each one is about 25g protein per scoop. It is about $38 for a 2-lb bag which lasts me an entire month. I also buy protein bars that have 20g protein and usually eat one per day. From there, the rest of my mostly-vegetarian diet can usually get me to 80g or more of protein per day. I have a high body weight, currently 215lb so my requirements are probably higher than yours.

Scrambled egg whites or whole eggs in a vegetarian breakfast burrito with black beans is also amazing. I like to make brekkie burritos ahead of time and freeze them. I'm sure that as a vegetarian you are already familiar with "protein combining". If you can combine proteins to get a complete amino acid profile, that is even better (like beans & quinoa, or peanut butter on wholegrain toast). You don't have to eat them at the same time, just during the same day.

There's so little logic to being a vegetarian. why not revisit that entirely and eat meat? makes life and your goals much easier. If you're vegetarianism is some kind of moral issue with killing animals, find an animal to eat that you don't feel sorry for. Shark meat maybe? or shell fish? or shrimp? something.

You are.....not worth the strike....

There's so little logic to being a vegetarian. why not revisit that entirely and eat meat? makes life and your goals much easier. If you're vegetarianism is some kind of moral issue with killing animals, find an animal to eat that you don't feel sorry for. Shark meat maybe? or shell fish? or shrimp? something.

If you produced this response by typing your actual thoughts on a keyboard rather than rolling your face across it and clicking post, you should feel ashamed.

LMAO!