Good source of protein ideas?

FL_Hiker wrote: »

Ruatine wrote: »

FL_Hiker wrote: »

AJB1014 wrote: »

I have the exact same issue - need a ton of protein in the afternoon and was miserable with my shake!

I started having a sunkist tuna creations packet. I'm not the biggest fan of tuna and hate bringing stinky things to work. These don't smell offensive - have about 16-20g of protein and 70-100cals/packet and taste great! Add a hard boiled egg or cheese stick and you should be pretty close to 30g? Or throw it in a low carb high protein lavash bread so it's portable? I also started food prepping extra grilled chicken and eating just that for a snack, or some low sodium deli meat if I'm really desperate.

Thanks for the ideas! Those Sunkist things are really good, especially the tomato one. I'm still trying to find something easy to carry, I hate prepping lunch since I spend so much time making dinner (working college student here lol!) an egg, bread and tuna might be too much for me to juggle while running all over the place 🙁. I like the chicken breast idea though, how many grams of protein are there in a chicken breast ?

100 g of roasted boneless, skinless chicken breast has 31 g of protein (USDA). I didn't suggest meat, since you said you don't really care for it, but meat is definitely the most "bang for your buck" that you'll get for protein.

Yeah meat isn't my favorite but I don't completely balk at chicken, although carrying around a giant bag of chicken would be pretty weird lol! How many calories are in 100 g of chicken , that's the perfect amount of protein! Nothing some BBQ sauce couldn't fix up either...

Around 165 calories for 100g of chicken breast

vvake wrote: »

You might try looking online for high protein ("protein-fortified") versions of things you already like. You'd be surprised at what companies will throw extra protein into. Of course you might not be able to find something that has 30g per serving but you could up your overall intake if you find multiple foods.

For example I have found high-protein cereals, breads, pasta, chips, ice creams, nut milks etc.

I have tried a lot of those and there are some I am good with, but with every one of them you can tell it's a little (or a lot) different.

I mix up protein powder with bananas and almond milk. Freeze it. Also yasso frozen yogurts are good.

Kashi cereals
Macadamia nuts, Pistachios, Brazil nuts
You said you don’t like nuts, but there are many kinds!
Ezekiel breads (I like Sesame)
Hummus (Boar’s Head single serves are easy)

Frozen cooked shrimp is fast!
Egg frittatas or quiches?

And yes, cheese!

Here's another super post with good sources of protein:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/926789/protein-sources/p1

Blood sugar 101. All foods convert to glucose, and granulated sugar is about the fastest to metabolise.

If you have a low blood sugar moment, glucose in sugar, juice, or glucotab form will bounce you back out the fastest. But it is very short acting. To stay out of the low blood sugar you need to follow up with protein.

Whey protein is metabolised fastest
Sugars - within minutes
Starchy Carbs
Protein
Fats can take up to 12 hours to metabolise.

That's why protein is ideal and you should have some on hand all the time. A protein bar is about perfect because it also has fast acting sugars and fats.

I’ve been eating boiled eggs. Good peanut or almond butter is not expensive at Trader Joe’s or Costco (those are cheap sources for nuts). I put them on celery or apples. Chicken with a bbq sauce or rub may be tasty. If you’re okay with tuna, try egg or chicken salad as well. I have been doing the whole 30 diet - which is basically paleo. And I feel so much better. I always have nuts with me. They seem expensive but you eat them by the 1/8 cup - they are super filling.

CarvedTones wrote: »

FL_Hiker wrote: »

hroderick wrote: »

The price of your pickiness may be your health.

Well thanks captain obvious.. that's why I was asking for ideas lol 😂

I think he may have been getting at the point that you might revisit all these decisions about foods you don't like and won't eat. Maybe something prepared a different way or maybe give some things more of a chance. You aren't leaving many good protein sources as possibilities.

Especially when price is also an issue.

In many decision-making situations, if you have three or more criteria, you're going to need to decide which criteria are most important for you.

his is similar to the problem frequently seen on these boards, that you can eat nutritionally dense foods cheaply, and you can eat nutritionally dense foods that are convenient (usually this means they take little prep or work on your part, but in your case it means that it needs to be portable), and you can eat convenient food cheaply, but it's much more challenging to eat nutritionally dense food cheaply and without any prep/cooking. And you're adding in a fourth criteria list of food aversions that right off the bat cover almost the entire field of foods that meet your first criterion of protein-dense (no meat, no beans, some resistance on tuna, no greek yogurt, no cottage cheese, no protein powders).

I think somebody suggested hard-boiled eggs, which is cheap and portable, but aside from needing four eggs to get close to 30 g of protein, it will also "cost" close to 300 kcal. I don't think OP ever said directly how many cals are available for this mid-morning snack, but that might be too much. What about one or two whole eggs smushed up with four egg whites and some mustard/cayenne/hot sauce for deviled egg salad? You could eat it in a lettuce wrap. That would run through a dozen eggs every two days (although you could repurpose the extra egg yolks in some other dish, or maybe mix into scrambled eggs for someone else in the house), which, if you buy conventional eggs, would work out to about a dollar a day in my neck of the woods.

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

What about one or two whole eggs smushed up with four egg whites and some mustard/cayenne/hot sauce for deviled egg salad? You could eat it in a lettuce wrap.

That sounds delicious!