How do you get your protein?

rshaw11
rshaw11 Posts: 25 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I hit woefully short of my protein target, every day. I'm sitting here, writing out a new grocery list and would love some suggestions on what regular people do to get their protein. Inspire me with your diet.
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Replies

  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    I struggle with getting enough protein while also staying within my calorie goals, so a high protein:calorie ratio is important to me. For that reason, I aim for lean and low-carb proteins. That often includes chicken, Quest bars, and protein powder/shakes. I suppose it could probably include fish too, but I live in the midwest where fish is expensive unless I'm catching it myself (and I haven't had time for that for quite awhile).
  • KiyaK
    KiyaK Posts: 519 Member
    edited March 2016
    Interested in responses too...
    There's only so much chicken I can stand in a day. I don't want to pay for expensive powders, and in my experience protien bars just taste gross. Can't stand that gritty texture some have.
  • amyjane_g
    amyjane_g Posts: 33 Member
    I am vegan and get most of my protein from huel shakes. You make them up with water.. They work a treat in providing me with a good amount of protein and are very tasty and filling..

    http://huel.com/
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    Not an exhaustive list, but a good place to start and/or get ideas.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/926789/protein-sources/p1
  • talialinn
    talialinn Posts: 30 Member
    I'm a vegetarian, so this may or may not help you:

    -Lowfat cottage cheese
    -hard boiled eggs in my salads
    -protein powders (my fave is Allmax Chocolate Peanut Butter Whey Protein Isolate)
    -Plain Fage greek yogurt(it's like 22g protein per cup) in lieu of sour cream or mixed with a little almond butter to dip apple slices in (or I mix berries, almonds, honey, whatever, I just don't really like sweetened yogurt)
    -I eat eggs for dinner a lot. I like omelets.
    -unsweetened vanilla almond milk
    -black beans
    -Quorn mycoprotein products
    -Cheese :)
    -Thinkthin protein bars
  • talialinn
    talialinn Posts: 30 Member
    Oh, also, organic mukimame (shelled edamame). I get it in the frozen food section at the grocery store. I just roast em in the oven with just a touch of coconut oil and salt and pepper. It's a good snack.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Eggs, beans, meat (chicken, lean pork, venison, fish, seafood mostly), cottage cheese, greek yogurt.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    I have some eggs every day.
    I have fish: Tuna/Mackerel/Salmon are the most frequent a couple of times a week.
    Pork chops once a week.
    Cottage cheese or greek yoghurt a few times a week.
    Once twice week we eat something based on ground (minced) beef - Chilli/brugers/tacos/etc
    I often make huge stews of chicken or cubed beef
    We have a roast dinner every Sunday

    I still eat plenty of chicken (although eating a fair bit of turkey at the moment) but I prepare it in different ways each time. Fried with a dry rub one time, then curried the next for example.

  • scolaris
    scolaris Posts: 2,145 Member
    I have had to learn to 'layer' my proteins. It's never a one & done process for me.
    Yesterday I had cottage cheese, a hummus sandwich studded with shelled edemame, 7 nut butter on celery, homemade split pea soup with ham, and sunflower studded whole grain bread with brie. All contributed to my 86 grams. That was on the low side too. I average between 100-120 but I wasn't feeling great yesterday so I cut my calories to match my missed workouts better. You've got to think 'where's the protein?' at every meal & snack.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Always on hand:
    Ground hamburger
    Eggs
    Cheese
    Nuts
    Chicken breasts and a whole chicken
    Ham
    Black, red, and white beans
    Garbanzo beans
    Tofu
    Edamame

    Eaten often:
    Cod
    Pork chops
    Steak

    Experimenting with:
    Buckwheat
    Lupin
  • harr3mi
    harr3mi Posts: 87 Member
    I'm usually well above my Protein intake. Some of my staples are as follows:

    Hard Boiled Eggs, Nuts, Fish, Chicken. If you are vegan/vegetarian you could do Beans, Nuts, Tofu, Seeds, Quinoa.
  • rshaw11
    rshaw11 Posts: 25 Member
    Thanks, so much, for all of the responses. I'm adding to my list.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    scolaris wrote: »
    You've got to think 'where's the protein?' at every meal & snack.

    Yep, that's what I'm doing 95% of the time. Protein - Fibre - Fat - Carbs in that order. Which usually means I can fit in something sweet at the end of the day.



  • kwtilbury
    kwtilbury Posts: 1,234 Member
    A majority (75-80%) of my protein comes from:

    Chicken
    Beef
    Protein powder
    Greek yogurt
    Protein bars
    Eggs
  • thatldopig
    thatldopig Posts: 2 Member
    Sardines in olive oil
  • Meganthedogmom
    Meganthedogmom Posts: 1,639 Member
    Greek yogurt
    Chicken
    Fish
    Shrimp
  • krisalexine
    krisalexine Posts: 78 Member
    canned tuna in water and all-whites (liquid egg whites). cheap, low(er) calorie, lots and lots of protein
  • AigreDoux
    AigreDoux Posts: 594 Member
    breakfast: eggs, greek yogurt, smoothie with protein powder
    lunch: leftovers from dinner, chicken breasts on salad, premade grilled chicken burgers
    dinner: salmon, cod, shrimp, tuna, ground turkey, chicken thighs, beans

    hefty helpings of veggies with all meals, some fruit with breakfast or snack, small portions of carbs (rice and pasta are difficult for me to control, so I limit but don't completely avoid)
  • DanyellMcGinnis
    DanyellMcGinnis Posts: 315 Member
    I don't like a lot of high-protein foods (they make me feel sluggish and sick to my stomach if I consume too much) and am a vegetarian, but I try to spread my protein intake out among:
    • dairy (skim milk, string cheese, occasional full-fat cheeses, haven't had much cottage cheese or yogurt lately but I like these as well; I usually make my own yogurt from leftover milk)
    • nuts and nut butters (the natural ones without sugar added) and seeds (hemp seeds and chia seeds are great but also sometimes pumpkin seeds, etc.)
    • legumes (I eat lentils or beans for dinner most nights, and also things like hummus that are prepared with legumes, occasional PB2 (peanuts are legumes, not nuts...)
    • eggs maybe once or twice a week (that's really all I can take)
    • occasionally tofu
    • occasionally Morningstar Farms fake meat products (I don't like the Quorn ones at all, Tofurkey is hit or miss for me, the Gardein roasts are good at Thanksgiving) or veggie burgers at restaurants
    • protein powders (I use a small amount in smoothies most mornings, usually whey or else something vegan)
    • random protein bars I receive in subscription boxes (sometimes I will eat only half, and I really don't care for the ones with uniform/homogeneous textures)
    • whole grains (as well as things like quinoa, which are not actual grains)

    So I am rarely getting much protein from any one food item, based on serving sizes, but with a combination of these different types of foods throughout the day, I am getting plenty.
  • Dominicj569
    Dominicj569 Posts: 30 Member
    Its hard to beat a protein shake for cost/calorie/protein ratio.
    Low fat greek yoghurt is fairly cost effective, Tuna, Chicken, Prawn are fairly calorie effective, but cost a lot more.

    TBH, I dont really worry about it, unless I'm getting some sort of excessive muscle soreness.
  • missy7979
    missy7979 Posts: 5 Member
    I saw start with meal planning- eat a protein with every meal and snack building them around the protein source.
  • youdowant
    youdowant Posts: 69 Member
    I eat humans. Cut them up and put them in soup.
  • llbrixon
    llbrixon Posts: 964 Member
    Coytage cheese, almonds, eggs, beef....found out yesterday, salmon (leftover from yesterday)..I only needed an ounce to bump it up to perfectly balance my protein yesterday. And, I juggle with amounts of serving sizes of protein within my food log.

    If your Carbs are too high, eat more protein to balance down rhe Carbs. I pre-plan my meals, so I can juggle the numbers before I eat them.

    I juggle with Carbs, Protein, Fats...everything has to equal out to a total of 100%..
  • kcdambuster
    kcdambuster Posts: 217 Member
    edited March 2016
    wrote:
    I eat humans. Cut them up and put them in soup.

    Human Beans?

    B)
  • jacklifts
    jacklifts Posts: 396 Member
    These are my main sources typically


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  • AmazonMayan
    AmazonMayan Posts: 1,168 Member
    I stack my proteins most of the time too. Some breads and tortillas, etc will have more protein than others. Read packages.

    So a sandwich could have the bread, a lean slice of cheese or smear of cottage cheese (weighed) and a good hunk (again weighed) of whatever meat and then a veg to bulk it up if you like big meals. Fresh baby spinach would be a good lettuce to use.

    Breakfast I love making burritos or tacos. I use 1/2 to 1 serving of refried beans to smear on the tortillas (some whole wheat flour low carb tortillas have low calories or use corn tortillas) 2 eggs scrambled to split between them, some kind of lean meat shredded like chicken or turkey then top with plain greek yogurt mixed with some hot sauce or salsa. You can bulk up the quantities by adding chopped leafy greens or bell peppers. Calories depend on how much you make. Good protein start to the day as well as moderate carbs and fat.

    A lot of my meals end up like that. Pair a meat with reasonable cheese - some lower cal than others - and plain fat free greek yogurt.

    My current fat free greek plain yogurt has 22g protein and 120 calories per cup (227 grams). Yogurt doesn't have to be sweet. I mix it with lots of things to make savory sauces. Or just a dollop (weighed) on top to mix in like a sour cream.




  • lisaloolovesblue
    lisaloolovesblue Posts: 30 Member
    I have the same problem, and have started eating a lot of peanut butter and other nuts. I've started focusing on the snacks in between meals to try to get some protein in little bits throughout the day.
  • thatrabidgirl
    thatrabidgirl Posts: 32 Member
    Lentils! A 1/4 cup will have about 11g of protein... I've gotten into the habit of cooking it as a side and eating it like rice.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited March 2016
    I'm not vegetarian, and find it quite easy to get protein.

    For breakfast mine usually comes from 2 eggs, plus something else (either cottage cheese or plain greek yogurt or smoked salmon or last week I made a tofu stir fry with extra vegetables). Occasionally I feel like oats instead, and I add protein powder to the oats.

    For lunch either beans/lentils or falafel/hummus (doesn't have a lot, that's a lower protein option), or some sort of meat (for example, salad with chicken on it or a shrimp wrap or turkey sandwich or dinner leftovers). I also often have either nuts or greek yogurt with fruit in the afternoon, which add to protein.

    For dinner I usually have fish/shell fish or some other kind of meat. Sure, chicken, but also pork chops or a leaner cut of beef or turkey or lamb. I also might have tofu instead or a bean-based dish (although I typically add tofu or meat to this if it's at dinner) or, if I didn't have my omelet for breakfast I might have it for dinner. I also sometimes enjoy cottage cheese as a side or post-dinner snack. (Regular cheese or ice cream, which I also sometimes eat as a dessert after dinner has a little protein too, although not a lot for the calories.)
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    Apart from Fridays in Lent, I tend to eat meat on many/most days. Beyond that you can always use protein bars or shakes. I'm not a big fan of the higher-protein veggies myself,

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