I need more protein and calories but no more carbs...help!

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beazmomma5
beazmomma5 Posts: 5 Member
edited August 2015 in Food and Nutrition
I've had the lap band and my dr recommends 60+ grams of protein, no more than 50 carbs and watch my fats. MFP shows I need 1386 calories per day. On days I walk, it adds more calories to my daily intake. What foods can I snack on to help me stay in range? I snack on almonds, snow pea pods, grapes, cucumber dipped in Greek yogurt seasoned with homemade ranch ingredients. Thanks in advance!

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  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    Assuming you're an omnivore, the easiest way to increase protein is with meat.
  • FitMomOK
    FitMomOK Posts: 66 Member
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    cottage cheese, greek yogurt, edamame. beef jerky, pouch salmon/tuna. not sure of exact carb counts though but these have been helping me w protein
  • carolineloves
    carolineloves Posts: 27 Member
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    No sure if you're into protein shakes, but I'm in love with Isopure Zero Carb protein. 2 scoops = 50 g of protein, 0 carbs and sugar.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    Chicken breast cut up. Tuna or other fish with some seasoning. Even mustard is good in it.
  • TriCardinal
    TriCardinal Posts: 48 Member
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    I'm a sucker for PB. It's pretty high in fat and calories but it's also high in protein and keeps me full which is better than the other options. Gotta be careful with it but could help. Apples and PB
  • beazmomma5
    beazmomma5 Posts: 5 Member
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    Thanks for the ideas. I forgot about my protein shakes! Love pb but haven't tried with apples.
  • atiyah79
    atiyah79 Posts: 1 Member
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    Definitely tuna in a can that's 11 gram of protien. Also an easy high protien whey shake. Just make sure your not getting the the shakes with all the extra stuff and sugar in it. Try protienworld.com
  • tricielv
    tricielv Posts: 4 Member
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    Fresh turkey breast tenders, gr. Turkey patty, hummus/chickpeas. I use protein powder (vanilla flavor). Look at the nutrition label. Test different brands until you find the one you like best.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    Brazil nuts and they have a high nutrient content also.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited August 2015
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Assuming you're an omnivore, the easiest way to increase protein is with meat.

    This, also low fat or skim dairy, although that will have more carbs. Meat would have essentially no carbs, and leaner cuts wouldn't have much fat.

    60 g protein isn't very high, though, so I'm not sure where your calories are supposed to be coming from.

    60 g protein = 240 calories. 50 g carbs = 200 calories. That leaves 946 calories for fat or about 105 grams, which is a quite high-fat diet, which seems inconsistent with your doctor's statement to "watch fats."

    I'd probably ask for clarification.

    To compare, my base calories are about 1500 (I get more with exercise) and I tend to eat 110-115 grams of protein (I often go over, though), over 150 g carbs (more when I exercise), and still not low fat at all (about 30%). You really can't cut carbs to 50 without doing a pretty high fat diet, which is fine but I think the doctor's advise ought to be clearer on this (unless watch fats just means saturated fat or some such).
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    You can't go low carb and watch your fat at the same time. It's not possible... unless you're only eating protein.
  • br3adman
    br3adman Posts: 284 Member
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    Sardines,octapus in oil,yogurt,boiled eggs
  • discnjh
    discnjh Posts: 33 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    You can't go low carb and watch your fat at the same time. It's not possible... unless you're only eating protein.

    I mean, you could watch the fat as it goes into your mouth, so I guess there's that.
  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
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    I'm a sucker for PB. It's pretty high in fat and calories but it's also high in protein and keeps me full which is better than the other options. Gotta be careful with it but could help. Apples and PB

    Peanut butter is high in protein? What? What sort of peanut butter are you eating?



  • beazmomma5
    beazmomma5 Posts: 5 Member
    edited August 2015
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    Thanks everyone. I'm more concerned in getting my protein up I guess. I've never watched nutrition so that's why I'm where I'm at today. I want to lose as much as possible (up to 40lbs) by May 2016. I have started exercising. I'm just trying to learn the best sources of food intake to reach my goal in the healthy way. I really don't like Greek yogurt but I'm trying to be its such a good protein source. MFP says I need 195 grams of protein per day and I'm not even reaching 100 g.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I had the bypass. Getting the protein up is important. The easiest way to hit that target is to include protein in every snack, every meal. Greek Yogurt is good for texture and gentle on my stomach I find. If you don't include protein throughout the day, it is going to be very hard to top your calories at the end of the day on protein alone.

    On bad days I'd end my day with a high protein shake.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    60 grams isn't that high quiet honestly- not sure what the crisis is- I can hit that on a practically a veggie + egg diet.
    I'm a sucker for PB. It's pretty high in fat and calories but it's also high in protein and keeps me full which is better than the other options. Gotta be careful with it but could help. Apples and PB

    Compared to meat products- peanut butter is a piss poor source for protein. It's great for fat- but really it's a sad source for protein.

  • hockey7fan
    hockey7fan Posts: 281 Member
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    3.5 oz of chicken breast has 31 grams of protein. Eat chicken, lean beef, pork loin, seafood and you will hit that protein target in probably about 9-10 oz a day.
  • syndeo
    syndeo Posts: 68 Member
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    br3adman wrote: »
    Sardines,octapus in oil,yogurt,boiled eggs

    You forgot zero cal breath mints :)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    beazmomma5 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone. I'm more concerned in getting my protein up I guess. I've never watched nutrition so that's why I'm where I'm at today. I want to lose as much as possible (up to 40lbs) by May 2016. I have started exercising. I'm just trying to learn the best sources of food intake to reach my goal in the healthy way. I really don't like Greek yogurt but I'm trying to be its such a good protein source. MFP says I need 195 grams of protein per day and I'm not even reaching 100 g.

    100 is probably plenty. If MFP is telling you 195 (at 1390?), that's because you set it that way; that's extremely unlikely to be MFP's default goal. (I believe the default protein goal is 25%, which would be 25% of 3120 calories and only about 87 at the goal you mentioned above. However, it can be beneficial to get up to .6-.8 g/bodyweight in lbs (adjust to goal weight if you have lots to lose), so for most women 100 or so is a good number.)

    Cottage cheese and greek yogurt are good sources, as are egg whites (I don't like egg whites, as whole eggs are more nutritious, but for the protein per calorie you can't beat egg whites) and of course lean meat (including fish and shellfish) and tofu/soy.

    I find it easy to get over 100 just by making sure I have a protein source with every meal (with breakfast usually eggs and dairy, with lunch I'm less likely to have a sandwich and use the bread calories on more protein, stuff like that).