Can't balance my nutrition- please help!

zestyzesty
zestyzesty Posts: 57 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello Fitnesspal people,

I am a newbie here and I was hoping some of you might have some advice on balancing my nutrition. I keep ending up in the red minus numbers for carbs, fat and sugar, but still way in the green on calories and protein. All the proteins I eat seem to be high in sugar and carbs! (Alpro fruit yoghurts, cous cous, bread).

Oh and I am a veggie, but tend not to eat much dairy or many eggs, so would prefer fruit/vegetable/soya/nut/wholegrain protein suggestions, if you can? Thanks a bunch!

Replies

  • hooyip
    hooyip Posts: 2 Member
    Beans! Tofu/tempeh/seitan! Replace cous cous with quinoa- it's chock full of protein, and fiber too! Hummus! Throwing chia seeds into your yogurt would be an easy way to up your protein/fiber as well. And of course, always nuts and nut butters, but sadly they're high in fat so in moderation.

    I'm vegan, so I understand your plight. Good luck!
  • JessiBelleW
    JessiBelleW Posts: 831 Member
    As a 'veggie' beans need to play an important part of your protein consumption. Lentils are great too they are also high in iron. They are an incomplete form of protein and need to be eaten with a grain.

    Edaname beans (unprocessed soy) are a good source of protein and easy to cook but tend to be high in salt.

    Oats tend to be higher in protein than other kinds of breakfast foods.

    Nuts are a great source but tend to be high in fat.

    If you are going over on carbs and fats try eating more Veggies :)
  • zestyzesty
    zestyzesty Posts: 57 Member
    Thank you very much hooyip and JessieBelleW! I appreciate your advice. I will definitely start eating more quinoa and lentils and beans. I love the bags of fruit and nut mix but unfortunately as you say they are high in fat (and sugar, too, because of the dried fruit), so I am going to try and make some lentil/bean casseroles with lots of veggies. :-)
  • ublanchard
    ublanchard Posts: 47
    On the topic of beans: have you ever made a bean chili? I'm a meat eater but I have bean chili pretty much everyday for lunch. It's great: high in fiber and protein so it's filling, cheap and easy to make, can sit at room temp safely so you can take it with you, also very tasty, and very customizable. You can add tofu (if you freeze then defrost tofu it gets a really nice chewy texture) and you can add greens like kale or spinach, and probably other vegetables that I haven't tried yet.

    Edited to add: I'll share my recipe if you like. You can also Google for vegetarian or vegan food blogs and get ideas from them.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    Why don't you try Greek yogurt? I use Fage 0% fat or the 2% version. I mix in a little raspberry jam, sometimes half a banana too, especially before a workout. It's lowfat, high protein and very filling.
  • zestyzesty
    zestyzesty Posts: 57 Member
    Hey, sorry for the slow reply- thanks for the advice ublanchard and snowflake954- much appreciated!

    Since I wrote this, I decided to go vegan partly since I seem to feel better if I avoid dairy totally.

    I used to make chilli a lot actually, but haven't for ages- don't know why. I guess I just have phases of cooking things. I will definitely rustle one up again soon. Which beans do you tend to use, ublanchard? I'd be interested to know.

    Snowflake, I can't eat greek yoghurt (the dairy kind) but I have started buying alpro plain yoghurt which has a natural/greek yog kinda tasta. It's a lot less sugar and fat than the fruit yogs!
  • KylaDenay
    KylaDenay Posts: 1,585 Member
    Try to get most of your proteins in first. Another good method is to pre-log your meals for the following day or days. I do that to make sure I am hitting my macros. Do not worry so much about fat and sugar intake. If you go over that is fine.

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