I find I run at around 20% protein

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Sued0nim
Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Even when I make a concerted effort to eat more protein

Short of protein shakes or only eating hunks of meat, what am I missing - others seem to make it work, so what is your regular go-to high protein meal?

TBH it's working for me even though rather than 40/30/30 I seem to be 50/30/20 (C/F/P) so I don't even know if it needs changing

Replies

  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Meat, beans, Greek yogurt, nuts, eggs, peanut butter, quest bars.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Well meat, fish, cheese, eggs, Greek yogurt, protein bars, lately I've been eating 120+g of protein and I'm not even trying.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    i am at about 20% if i dont make an effort, so i try to make my week day snacks protein based - beef jerky is a good one, fat free greek yoghurt, protein shakes/smoothies.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    I run at about 20% too. it doesnt bother me any.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited October 2014
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    My protein seems to hover between 15% and 25%. People usually like to eat more protein to gain some protective benefits in terms of muscle mass. I tried to eat higher protein but it was too stressful and meant elemenating too many of the foods I like in favor of foods I barely tolerate. That's a recipe for throwing the towel.

    In my opinion, if you're comfortable at your current level and if increasing your protein intake proves hard, just stick to what you know. A slightly higher muscle mass (not even by a lot) is not worth the heartache.
  • BernadetteChurch
    BernadetteChurch Posts: 2,210 Member
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    I try and average around 100g of protein a day and find eggs, chicken and yogurts are what bumps the number up.
  • Cheyenne_K_
    Cheyenne_K_ Posts: 31 Member
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    My goal is 100 grams a day, eggs cooked of all variety, seafood, trying out new recipes helps a lot, not just eating the same old thing day after day
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    just saying you eat 20% protein tells us nothing. Basing your macros on percentages is not ideal, you should be doing it based off of grams and your lean body mass. I eat 130g, which is somewhere around 28% of my calories. But if I were eating maintenance, I'd be eating around 22-23% of my calories from protein. If bulking, I'd be eating about 20%.

    This is all just going off of NET calorie intake. If I were to base this off of GROSS calorie intake when including my exercise days? It would change the percentages because I always aim for 130g.

    But if I very stupidly ate 1200 calories, that'd be 60g of protein. So yes, that would really not be feasible for someone like me who lifts weights. I'd need to eat almost half of my calories from protein.

    Estimate your lean body mass or calculate .7 or .8 by your weight in lbs, and that can be your daily protein goal. Choose .7 if overweight or obese, .8 if you're not too far from goal.
  • Butrovich
    Butrovich Posts: 410 Member
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    Eggs, chicken, fish, lean ground beef.
  • morgan_mfit
    morgan_mfit Posts: 60 Member
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    Currently at 45% protein. Protein shakes and protein smoothies are a must. If you google or youtube protein recipes you'll get good ideas. Protein pancakes made with protein powder and egg whites are awesome and delicious. Try egg white scrambles and sandwhiches (with high fibre breads). Lean cuts of meat like chicken breast, turkey, and lean ham are excellent sources. Quest bars are yummy but have a pretty high fat content I've discovered. Low fat or fat free cottage cheese is good times. Just jump on board the protein powder party bus, it's nice over here. You can make a wicked assortment of desserts with protein powder (cheesecake, pudding, muffins, cookies, etc. etc.).
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
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    You don't really have to eat more protein than you're currently eating. I do 50% carbs/30-35% fat/15-20% protein and about 2200 calories a day. I have no problem maintaining my weight, energy levels and lean body mass. I'm 43 years old, 5'9", have 22% body fat, and have weighed around 135 for the past three years. I'm a regular exerciser.
  • blabrecque_xo
    blabrecque_xo Posts: 65 Member
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    protein bars, peanut butter, greek yogurt, cheese sticks, almonds... all quick and easy snacks
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    Recent research suggests at our age we should be careful not to have too much protein from animal sources.

    http://www.livescience.com/43839-too-much-protein-help-cancers-grow.html

    "The researchers looked at more than 6,000 people ages 50 and older, and followed them for 18 years. They found that people ages 50 to 65 who ate a diet rich in animal proteins during middle age were more than four times as likely to die of cancer during the study period than those who ate a low-protein diet, according to the study published today (March 4) in the journal Cell Metabolism."
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
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    ana3067 wrote: »
    just saying you eat 20% protein tells us nothing. Basing your macros on percentages is not ideal, you should be doing it based off of grams and your lean body mass. I eat 130g, which is somewhere around 28% of my calories. But if I were eating maintenance, I'd be eating around 22-23% of my calories from protein. If bulking, I'd be eating about 20%.

    This is all just going off of NET calorie intake. If I were to base this off of GROSS calorie intake when including my exercise days? It would change the percentages because I always aim for 130g.

    But if I very stupidly ate 1200 calories, that'd be 60g of protein. So yes, that would really not be feasible for someone like me who lifts weights. I'd need to eat almost half of my calories from protein.

    Estimate your lean body mass or calculate .7 or .8 by your weight in lbs, and that can be your daily protein goal. Choose .7 if overweight or obese, .8 if you're not too far from goal.

    I'm the same. My protein works out to around 20%, but it's still anywhere from 110-130 g daily. Percentages are a good place to start, but if you're really concerned about it, aim for a particular number of grams per day.

  • galprincess
    galprincess Posts: 682 Member
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    I rarely hit my protein but I feel healthy so im not fixing it I lose lbs ok and have energy and can lift and seem to recover ok
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    ana3067 wrote: »
    just saying you eat 20% protein tells us nothing.

    This. Also your goals matter, as well as the fact that you feel like you are doing fine at 20%.

    If 20% means 60 grams and you are 6', I'd think that was too low. If you are doing lots of exercise, especially but not only strength training, you might want more than otherwise. If you are eating at a deficit (I assume you are), you will likely want more than otherwise, but it depends and in reality there's a range that works for most people until you start getting into really specific goals.

    I eat 30% because I tend to do best with about 40% carbs currently, and that's one way to have my diet break down the way I like, and tends to lead me to getting a nice balance of nutrition, but given my LBM and the number of calories I'm eating, I would be fine at 25% or even a bit less, even under my own view that when exercising and at a deficit it's better to have at least or slightly more than your LBM in protein grams. Other recommendations are somewhat lower, but for me this seems to work better, especially since I currently am trying very hard to maintain my LBM.

    So for many, aiming for 30% or 40% of protein may work best, but not because they really need that amount of protein according to the usual gram-based projections. Thus, I wouldn't assume that there's anything wrong with your 20%.
  • CaitlinW19
    CaitlinW19 Posts: 431 Member
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    trying to eat more protein and less carbs is a good thing, but not an absolute must so don't beat yourself up over it. Cottage cheese and greek yogurt are both good sources of protein that can be used a lot of ways. I use greek yogurt in place of heavy cream in sauces and use it in baked goods. For breakfast, I like to have toast topped with cottage cheese and low sugar jam.
  • brittanyoneill37
    brittanyoneill37 Posts: 12 Member
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    Flavoured cottage cheese is a good one, I eat 150g tubs with a spoon as a snack lol love them, tuna buttys are good to have for lunch too, I have about 85-100g of protein a day x
  • independant2406
    independant2406 Posts: 447 Member
    edited October 2014
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    Meat is a logical choice. An 8oz chicken breast has 51g of protein per the USDA database.

    If your looking for non-animal product sources:

    A cup of kidney beans = 25g of protein.
    A cup of black beans should have 15+ g of protein.
    Peas (7.9 g per cup), Lentils etc are also great.
    Spinach added to a fruit smoothie adds very little calories and 3+g of protein.
    Quinoa 8 grams per cup.
    Almond/peanutbutter (the natural kind) 5 or 6 grams of protein per ounce.
    Chickpeas/hummus 7.3 grams of protein in just 1/2 a cup
    Tempeh 15g per 1/2 cup
    Tofu 20 grams per 1/2 cup
    Edamame 8.4 grams of protein per 1/2 cup
    Hemp seeds (10 g of protein in 3 tablespoons)- add them to smoothies, pestos, or baked goods.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    I think in the back of my head I know I need to up my protein because I'm beginning to feel hungrier on higher cals after having dropped MFP to 0.5lb a week loss. I think seasonal change to cold and rainy is putting me at risk of losing my way as I'm carb-craving and it's harder to drag myself out of the house

    So I think I will chill this week as I'm away for a few days and come back and refocus on protein macros and getting my mind set right for winter

    Thanks all for sharing thoughts and advice

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