Low carb, high protein?

Options
humblemonkey
humblemonkey Posts: 576 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all--
I am looking for some "dairy" help- I am needing to be on a low carb diet (per my physician) due to my hormone imbalance and my inability to break down carbohydrates. That being said, I am really struggling to stay within my carbs and have enough protein. Calculating my macros, I should be taking in about 158g of protein. I ate what I felt like what a large amount of protein today and maxed out at 113. Meanwhile I am at 83 carbs (and doc wants me to stay below 90)....Any ideas? I'll include my totals (or you can look at my public diary if it's easier)-- I had more coffee than normal after no sleep so that killed some of my carbs ( :( )
Before 0900 Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Fiber
Red Bull (Canada) - Sugar Free, 250 mL 5 3 0 0 105 0
International Delight - Hazelnut Creamer, 2 Tbsp 70 12 3 0 0 0
Stewarts Shops - Coffee Regular, 21 oz 0 0 0 0 0 0
Aldi - Peanut Butter Creamy, 3 Tblsp 270 12 23 11 210 3
310 Protein Shake Vanilla - Protein Shake, 0.5 scoop 45 4 0 8 63 3
Dole - Frozen Strawberries & Bananas, 1 cup 100 22 0 1 0 3
Add Food Quick Tools 490 53 26 19 378 9
0900-1130
Nestle, Coffee-mate, Cafe Collection - Caramel Macchiatto, 2 tbsp 70 10 3 0 0 0
Stewarts Shops - Coffee Regular, 12 oz 0 0 0 0 0 0
svelte - Chocolate Protein Shake, 15.9 oz 260 29 10 16 190 5
Add Food Quick Tools 330 39 13 16 190 5
1130-1300
Egg - Hardboiled Egg, Whole, 2 Jumbo 160 0 10 14 160 0
Homade - Sweet Potato Quinoa Cakes, 1 cake 130 1 3 11 141 2
Kraft - Jalapeno Mozzarella Cheese Stick, 1 stick 70 1 5 6 180 0
Add Food Quick Tools 360 2 18 31 481 2
1300-1900
Chicken - Grilled Chicken Breast, Cubed, 140 g (1 cup) 231 0 5 43 90 0
Steamfresh - Broccoli, 0.5 container (4 cups ea.) 60 8 0 4 40 4
Add Food Quick Tools 291 8 5 47 130 4
After 1900
Add Food Quick Tools
*Overnight Food*
Add Food Quick Tools

Totals 1,471 102 62 113 1,179 19
Your Daily Goal 2,056 129 103 154 2,300 25
Remaining 585 26 41 41 1,121 5
Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Fiber
Totals 1,471 102 62 113 1,179 19
Your Daily Goal 2,056 129 103 154 2,300 25
Remaining 585 26 41 41 1,121 5
Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Fiber
*You've earned 472 extra calories from exercise today

Replies

  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    Options
    How did you calculate your needed protein? Could you add more fats instead?
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
    Options
    I typically go for lean cuts of meat like chicken or Turkey or seafood and fish.

    I am not a low carber but when I was I ate mostly veggies and stayed away from starches like quinoa and corn etc and didn't eat a lot of fruit.

    Try lettuce wraps and mashed cauliflower etc.

  • de7inhim
    de7inhim Posts: 31 Member
    Options
    I lived low carb under 20 for 2.5 years. No fruit, corn, quinoa etc. lean meats more eggs. Lost 140 pounds. No pasta, bread, sugar. Etc.
  • tlflag1620
    tlflag1620 Posts: 1,358 Member
    Options
    I'd ditch the flavored coffee creamers and switch to heavy cream or half and half, eat less fruit (and avoid high sugar fruit like pineapples and bananas, in favor of low sugar fruit like berries), careful with protein shakes (some are rather carby), go easy on the peanut butter, and avoid starchy veggies (sweet potatoes) and grains (quinoa and corn) and opt for fibrous veggies (greens, cruciferous veg).

    158 g of protein seems pretty high. How did you determine that number? Generally low carb diets are high fat and moderate protein.
  • LPflaum
    LPflaum Posts: 174 Member
    Options
    Agreed that 158g seems high. I generally do a high protein/low carb. I don't use coffee creamers (way too much sugar) and I generally don't eat any fruit, if I do, they're watery rather than fibery. As a (very) general rule of thumb, if you can make a smoothie out of it (bananas, pineapples, mangoes, passion fruit, strawberries) it's too much sugar. I prefer melons and berries almost exclusively.

    As for tricks to add in more protein- eggs, precooked chicken/turkey, smoked salmon, shrimp cocktail, Krab stick, turkey pepperoni, beef jerky all work well for me.
  • QuilterInVA
    QuilterInVA Posts: 672 Member
    Options
    Low carb like Atkins is actually low carb, moderate protein and higher fat. I keep net carbs to 50, protein to 100 and eat the rest in fat (avocado, olives, nuts, healthy oils). Those flavored creamers are sugar bombs. Use Heay cream. Melon and berries should be your first choice for fruit.
  • solieco1
    solieco1 Posts: 1,559 Member
    edited June 2016
    Options
    Go for more frequent smaller meals. 4-6oz lean protein with veggies each meal. I find I get more protein that way since its never a lot at once. Add some egg whites to your eggs. Use whole scoop of protein powder instead of half. Keep cooked lean proteins easily accessible like grilled chicken, cottage cheese etc
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
    Options
    Protein is IMO way too high for low carb, do some research on possible kidney, heart and artery problems
  • kniquy
    kniquy Posts: 1 Member
    Options
    Yes the protein sounds very high. Your body dies not need more than 0.8gm/kg of protein the highest really should not need go more than 1.5 gm/kg and . I am not sure where your doctor is coming up with that number. You would be better off seeking the advice of a dietitian. Unfortunately MD's have very little nutrition education.
  • CarolynNickles
    CarolynNickles Posts: 12 Member
    Options
    I'm switching to Keto at the moment, so I'm trying to keep my daily carb count under 20. 14 today, so go me. Your creamers and your fruit are your biggest problems at the moment. Just eliminating them would take your carbs down to 39.

    I'm assuming that the peanut butter is in some sort of smoothie. If that's the case, replace it with PB2, a powdered peanut butter, or eliminate it entirely. Eliminating it would bring your net carbs down to 27. Use a full scoop of protein powder to make up the difference in protein. The powder I use has 27g of protein per scoop

    For your creamy morning coffee, try this. 8-12 oz of a good quality coffee in a blender. (I use a little one designed for smoothies) Add a teaspoon or two - depending on your macros - of coconut oil. Now add in a full scoop of a low carb vanilla protein powder and blend the heck out of it. If you absolutely have to have it even sweeter, add a small amount of sugar free syrup, the kind they use at coffee shops.

    Replace your pre-made protein shakes with ones that are low-carb. I buy some to take to work and they have less than 4 or 5g depending on which brand I get.

    I'd also suggest making food ahead so that you can just grab and go. I make a big batch of a veggie and sausage soup and portion it out for the week. 2 1/2 cups per serving and only 5 net carbs. If it were colder out, I'd make a big batch of baked egg and bacon muffins for mornings.

    Hope that helps. If you want low carb recipes and help, shoot me a friend request.

  • ladipoet
    ladipoet Posts: 4,180 Member
    Options
    OP, I strongly suggest that you check out the main low carber forum group here in MFP. It's where most of us Ketofiles tend to hang out:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group
  • humblemonkey
    humblemonkey Posts: 576 Member
    Options
    I guess yesterday shouldn't have been the day I chose to share, as I ate many things I don't normally eat.
    I do usually use PB2, althought I was out until I went to the store yesterday so I swapped in some regular PB.
    I don't normally eat tons of berries but being out of my normal Protein shake, I used a sample shake which was vanilla and needed some help bc it wasn't great. NORMAL DAY looks more like this:

    2 cups coffee w/ skim milk and splenda or 2 tbs sugar free vanilla creamer
    1 scoop Juice Plus dutch chocolate in 12 oz unsweetened almond milk

    4-6oz lean meat (usually chicken)
    2 hardboiled eggs
    carrots, peppers, or broc

    dinner varies- usually a meat of some kind with a veggie. Maybe once a week we have sweet potatoes or corn, as they are everyone in the family's favorite foods.

    If it is a gym day I usually add in either a yogurt (oikos zero) or a fit elite bar in the morning. I am on Victoza and it really curbs hunger and affects my taste buds so a lot of foods I used to eat I don't anymore. My "normal" foods put me at 100-120g protein. On days where I am going to the gym, MFP bumps my protein from my usual 119 to 150s. I guess it's not as bad as I thought, but I am somewhat bored.

Categories