Getting enough protien while maintaining a deficit

Have a look at my diary, it's public

My diary is public as well...go back to april for my winter breakfast....

But right now I add protein powder to my smoothie in the morning.
I eat meat...lots of it....mainly lean cuts.
Seafood and fish.
Greek yogurt is your friend as is cottage cheese.

When looking at something for protein my rule of thumb is that it has to have one gram of protein for every 10 calories...that's a good source of protein...

Don't let the "protein" cereals trick you either...they aren't good sources.

Neither are nuts or spreads

They are okay but not good esp for the calorie content.

What's your protein goal? "Required" protein isn't very high.

The RDA for adequate protein for most adults is 0.8 grams per kilogram of ideal weight. That's about 46 grams of protein per day for non-pregnant, non-lactating women and 56 grams for men.

Dietary Reference Intakes: Macronutrients

The recommendation I've seen for optimal protein (especially if body building or losing weight) is 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass or 0.8 grams per pound of your ideal weight (middle of normal BMI).

If your goal is higher than that, you may want to reduce your goal a bit.

I've been drinking a protein shake (Premier Whey Protein powder - 30 gr protein per serving) for one of my meals. It's 180 calories per scoop. I mix it with mostly water and about 3/4 cup of skim milk making it about 263 calories. It's really tasty, especially when it's refrigerator cold.

I center most meals around some kind of lean protein source and vegetables with grains and starches in the AM. Basically every meal involves some kind of lean protein source...egg white omelettes for breakfast along with some oats and PB...some kind of lean protein for lunch along with veg and some grains...lean protein for dinner with a crap ton of veg. I also usually have a greek yogurt snack with some fruit in the afternoon and usually also supplement with whey about once daily.

My "trick" is that I plan my meals around protein. Especially while maintaining a deficit or really anytime you're on a calorie budget, it's helpful to look at the foods you commonly eat in terms of a protein g :: calories ratio. While I generally don't think much of getting anxious about meal timing, protein is more helpful when it's spread out in every meal rather than all at once, so I have a minimum target protein g :: calories percent for every meal. For me, rule of thumb is I feel successful planning my meal if I've done 10 g protein :: 100 calories (and knowing that this gives me a little calorie leeway for less protein-dense snacking on fruit or chocolate).

Then I'm very aware of individual foods that are high or low on this ratio. Greek yogurt is roughly 15g:100 calories (give or take, depending on fat and sugar content of the brand and line). Chicken breast is roughly 20g:100 calories; shrimp, lean pork, tilapia and cod are all in that family. If I'm eating a meat that has a lower ratio (salmon, steak, tofu, sausage), then I'll make sure that other parts of the meal have better-than-average protein ratios in their categories (e.g., more likely to fill up on spinach, mushrooms, broccoli than tomatoes, eggplant, onions, carrots; less likely to have a carby side like polenta or potatoes).

I dunno, maybe that sounds like a lot of work and math for some people but really it's just a habit. I rarely eat a meal I haven't had a chance to at least roughly think through the day before. It's pretty easy once you get a back-of-the-envelope sense of the numbers for your most commonly-eaten foods and recipes.

What are your macro goals? When I'm in maintenance at 35-40% of my calories coming from protein, I can usually get that from meat and dairy sources. When I'm in weight loss mode I up protein to 45-50%. That's when I add more whey and extra dairy sources. Example: in maintenance, I will have my supplement smoothie with maybe some extra fruit added. When in weight loss, I add 1/4-1/2 cup cottage cheese or nonfat yogurt to the smoothie along with 1 scoop of whey or pea protein powder. I always mix mine with water, not milk and the cottage cheese adds extra protein and give it a smooth milky taste, too! Be careful enough of what brands you buy. They are not all created equal! Ready and compare labels very carefully!

justincooper405 wrote: »

@seska422 yes my goal may be out of wacky.... I'm at 200 LBS and 17% body fat. I use body building to aid my fitness journey.
MFP has my goal setting 160 grams of protein

So the 160 grams is in thr ballpark for .8 gm per pound of lean bodyweight.

If not mentioned already Greek yogurt is good. Found some butterball turkey patties that are high in protei as are chicken brest. .

justincooper405 wrote: »

jdb3388 wrote: »

What are you eating day to day? If you are centering your meal around chicken, fish, or steak it would be very difficult not to hit your protein goal.

I'm eating a lot of protein supplements... whey protein powder.... protien bars to hit my goals and then whole foods for my daily macros ... tons of spinach and kale because I get hungry on a deficit and you can eat greens by the bucket lol

As you haven't mentioned being a vegetarian I'm curious as to why you're not eating meat.

A note on Greek yogurt- it's a highly individual thing. If you try one brand and don't like it, try another because they are all so different. My personal favorites are Yoplait greek and Dannon Fit and Light (only 80 calories) though some prefer not to have artificial sweeteners.

SezxyStef wrote: »

When looking at something for protein my rule of thumb is that it has to have one gram of protein for every 10 calories...that's a good source of protein...

Don't let the "protein" cereals trick you either...they aren't good sources.

Neither are nuts or spreads

They are okay but not good esp for the calorie content.

Agree about nuts and peanut butter- don't know how they ever got a reputation as being "high protein"- but if a person likes cereal and would like to include it in their diet sometimes, it's nice to have a higher protein option (ie, Special K Protein.) There is also a high protein version of milk called Fairlife, though it's rather pricey.

Easy (and cheap) Protein lunch for me three times a week is:

Drink:
2 scoops chocolate Cytosport (Costco) 100% Whey Protein in water = 54g protein

Main:
1 can of solid white tuna (5 oz.) = 35g protein

Side:
1 can Garbanzo Beans (15.5 oz) = 21g protein


840 Calories with 110g protein for lunch