Need suggestions for increasing my protein

Uselessly_Irrelevant
Uselessly_Irrelevant Posts: 58 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My diary is open, the last few weeks is a pretty good snap shot for how I eat. I would like some suggestions on how to up my protein. I'm having a hell of a time.

My main sources of protein seem to be hamburger, cheese & protein shakes/bars. I am a bit picky with meat, I can tolerate boneless skinless chicken breast, tuna & hamburger - I can't eat eggs in significant quantities. I like peanuts & sunflower kernels. I would like to start substituting my cookie & sweets consumption with nuts & other protein rich snacks. I feel most comfortable cooking meals and snacks ahead of time too, if that helps with suggestions.

I'm at a loss. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Do I even need to up my protein? I'm not exercising and I am highly sedentary 4 days out of the week. My main focus is on improving my diet at the moment.

Replies

  • azwen
    azwen Posts: 237 Member
    I would definitely try to get more protein. Some whole wheat products have pretty good protein, so make sure when you have a sandwich to choose a whole wheat tortilla or bread. Your breakfasts don't seem to have hardly any protein; do you like Greek yogurt? Or Kashi cereal with milk? For snacks, maybe apple slices with peanut butter or a piece of fruit and a small portion of nuts?
  • Patttience
    Patttience Posts: 975 Member
    I strongly suggest you do not substitute cookie and sweets for nuts . Substitute it with fruit only. There is too much fat to be eating lots of nuts and seeds

    Ihaven't looked at your diary yet but i am as vegetarian i can which is to say I'm pescetarian and i had your problem before but have figured it out now.

    first off i try to eat about 54g of protein a day which is about the right amount for my current 61kg.

    So my main protein foods are milk yoghurt fish and seafood, cheese, lentils and beans and chickpeas but also some comes from vegetables and fruit. It all adds up. Nuts and seeds but in smaller quantities. Not for nibbles because these are fattening.
  • Basilin
    Basilin Posts: 360 Member
    I'm kind of in the same boat. I've been trying to figure out how to get more protein (without raising the fat too much) that is yummy, healthy and also just works as part of a diet. If I eat a bunch of nuts or random "protein rich" foods for instance it just makes me feel sick. It needs to be balanced.

    I've been finding I can get a lot of protein in for breakfast. Milk, eggs, yogurt, peanut butter are my main sources. Eggs are lean so it's a good option to keep the fat down (peanut butter has a lot of fat). This might work for you if you like those foods. It seems like you're really busy... so hard boiled eggs might be a good option.

    You can also choose grains that are high in protein like quinoa, and if you like cookies try oatmeal cookies with walnuts (and chocolate :blushing: ) Lean meats like fish for dinner can be a good source, I'm finding. I've just been looking up different nutritional contents of foods and looking for ones that have a ratio of protein to carbs as close to 0.4 as I can get (the ratio given for calorie goals) and try working them into the diet and see what makes sense and what doesn't.

    Can't wait to hear more responses.
  • Zerodette
    Zerodette Posts: 200 Member
    Breakfast is a great time to get your protein in. I like Greek yogurt with oats and nuts mixed in. Hard boiled eggs are also good, as is nut butter on toast.
  • katrinadulce
    katrinadulce Posts: 61 Member
    I would try to do things like exchange your 80/20 ground beef for a leaner cut. Don't go above 10% fat.
    If you are melting cheese in eggs or soups, use nutritional yeast instead.
    Look for PB2 instead of peanut butter or nuts, and add it to your shakes.
    Grab snacks like beef jerky - expensive and high in sodium, I know - but for a quick fix of solid protein that you can stash in your glove compartment, it's hard to beat.

    Cut down on your fat a bit.
    Nothing wrong with it, necessary for brain health
    But if you take out SOME of the calories you spend on bacon and full fat cheese and TacoBell and PandaExpress, You would find QUITE a bit more that you could use on turkey and yogurt and lentils.
    It's not about eliminating fat, it is about normalizing your ratios.
  • Patttience
    Patttience Posts: 975 Member
    I just want to add i'm not against fat. Low fat is a problem but not fat.

    however you can't eat unlimited fat and fat can blow your calories budget hence why i suggest not nibbling on nuts. I do it sometimes when my defences are down. For me peanuts are the best choice if i'm going to do - about 1/4 cup of peanuts.

    Certainly raw peanuts are a much better choice than peanut butter. But you can put them on oats or fruit salad.

    For breakfast when you have fruit salad, try putting some whole milk unsweetened yoghurt on it, a tsp of seeds or 1 tbsp of nuts of this or that sort.

    Its great to see you have counting fibre. You might enjoy the you tube show called catalyst - gut reaction which is about the health benefits of fibre. It was all new to me when i saw it and now i'm trying got spread the word. Not even people here give any attention to fibre.

    I would say that its when people don't cook for themselves that their who diet gets out of whack. It certainly makes a mess of mine and i don't even buy hardly any processed food. I gave up junk food quite a while go as a regular occurrence.

    I think people trying to eat a diet of bought meals will always struggle to both lose weight and eat healthy. The two just seem inherently incompatible.

    I also learnt the other day something about diet drinks (which i never drink). They may not make you put on fat, but they do seem to make you retain water. It would be good if you could wean yourself off these. And people say that while you are drinking these they have a negative affect on your appetite for sweetened foods. I find that since quitting sugar this year, fruit is pretty much all i need. I've even started making sugarless desserts and although high in fat and calories, i can eat them moderately so they are great. But it was 8 months of dieting before i started making these.
  • p_emmel5
    p_emmel5 Posts: 39 Member
    I second the Greek Yogurt. About 33 grams in a 1.5 cups.
  • threnjen
    threnjen Posts: 687 Member
    Greek yogurt, cottage cheese and jerky are some of my protein boosters.
  • mbauer013
    mbauer013 Posts: 34 Member
    I know some people really don't like it, but fat free cottage cheese is a big part of my protein. When you are as big as me and trying to get 1g of protein per lb of lean body mass, it gets Really hard and this helps a lot without adding to much in the way of carbs like some greek yogurts can do. I use this and just pure whey protein, but again, some people can't stomach one or the other or both. The other thing I do is when grilling checken bresets I throw a couple extra on the grill and these then become my snacks throughout the week.
  • WVprankster
    WVprankster Posts: 430 Member
    Greek yogurt? I was put off by the texture at first, but after I youtube'd a little I tried adding some protein powder to it and it thickens it into pudding.

Categories