Hitting Protein
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goodchapman
Posts: 26 Member
I’m struggling to reach my protein target. I’m only on day 2 but looking for advice to nail this moving forward.
I’m at 20% deficit.
5’6” F
SW 175, GW 130-140
20/5/70 (Protein/Carb/Fat)
1325 cals
20% protein for me is 89g. it’s tough. I had eggs & bacon for breakfast, chicken wings for lunch, and a quest bar mid morning. I forced myself to eat 7oz corned beef for dinner and I’m still 10g short and below my fats, but I’m out of calories. My carbs were a little high but only 24 net.
I feel good so I’m worried I’m doing something wrong bc I expected to feel like *kitten*. Looking for advice.
I’m at 20% deficit.
5’6” F
SW 175, GW 130-140
20/5/70 (Protein/Carb/Fat)
1325 cals
20% protein for me is 89g. it’s tough. I had eggs & bacon for breakfast, chicken wings for lunch, and a quest bar mid morning. I forced myself to eat 7oz corned beef for dinner and I’m still 10g short and below my fats, but I’m out of calories. My carbs were a little high but only 24 net.
I feel good so I’m worried I’m doing something wrong bc I expected to feel like *kitten*. Looking for advice.
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Replies
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I do a protein shake on weekday mornings. I use Lean fit protein powder and collagen. Low carb and helps fill me up until lunch.
Your protein choices are a bit higher in fat, not that there is anything wrong with that but it will be more calorie dense than say chicken breast. So to stay under on calories but reach your protein goals I would suggest incorporating some leaner proteins. Hope this helps
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Check the protein of your meat. Not all meats are created equal. For example, turkey breast has more protein per 100g than chicken breast. And two brands of meat might offer different quality and thus nutrition. We eat a lot of bison, venison, turkey and organic beef. All great protein sources!
I snack on nitrite-free deli meat, pepperoni, tuna & mayo, cheese and nuts. Yum 5 -
You’re out of calories before reaching protein because fat is too high.
Eat leaner meats.
I make a few eggs but some of them are egg white only. Eat some Canadian bacon. Tuna, sardines, smoked clams or oysters.
Fat is not a goal. Only protein is. Don’t add fat to already high fat food. Like eggs and bacon. Those are so high fat you’re better off to eat leaner the rest of the day and don’t add fat to your plate. You will use up your calories too soon and short change your body of protein.6 -
And you don’t need to have keto flu. It’s 100% avoidable if you’re getting enough sodium.3
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What Sunny_Bunny_ said...
Leaner meats are the way. I had 5 net carbs, 91 g of fat, and 159 g of protein today. I did it by eating just regular food - no protein powders or anything.3 -
im wondering where you got those 24 net carbs? Does the quest bar have that many carbs? If so i would cut that out of my daily intake right away.
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im wondering where you got those 24 net carbs? Does the quest bar have that many carbs? If so i would cut that out of my daily intake right away.
That's a good question. When I look up my meals that day, my net comes to about 13.5g. MFP shows 53g Total Carbs and then 25g Fiber, give me the 24 NET carbs by subtracting Fiber from Total Carbs. If I add up Total Carbs manually going item by item I get 40g Total, minus 26.5g Fiber. Very strange. Maybe it's a glitch in MFP?
Quest bar 4g NET
Celery 3.3g NET
Broccoli+Cauliflower steamed 3.4g NET
Whipped Goat Cheese spread .9g NET
Almond Milk Unsweet .5g NET
Half & Half 2.9g NET
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Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »You’re out of calories before reaching protein because fat is too high.
Eat leaner meats.
For this particular day, I'm not 100% sure about that. I think there's a problem with MFP calculations of my carbs. The Nutrients tab shows:
73g protein
53g carbs (but my calc was 40g as noted above)
25g fiber
83g fats
In retrospect, I should have cooked a couple of eggs or fried a chicken breast. I had about 100 calories left for the day. I needed another 10g of protein and I had another 20g of fat I could use.
I looked at another day and MFP doubled my Carbs, showing 31g when I calculate 18g. HMMM.0 -
BTW, yesterday I had a more lean protein day:
B: 2 egg omelet with .25oz deli roast beef + broccoli + shredded cheddar
L: Chicken Shwarma Salad (eating out) with Garlic Sauce, no pita chips, added Feta.
Dinner: 3.5oz cooked Chicken breast + 2 c roasted kale with olive oil + 1 c steamed broccoli + 1/4 c avocado
Dessert: Whipped cream cheese + natural PB + a dash of half & half (i was hankering and this worked in a pinch)
Totals for yesterday:
89g protein
49g carbs
16g fiber
83g fat
Which still seems CRAZY high to me for net carbs (33g) because I had some broccoli and kale? The salad dressing (i estimated) added 5.9g carbs. Broccoli had 9.2g carbs with 3.6g fiber. 3 cups raw kale had 18g carbs with 7.8g fiber. It all adds up. But seriously, I need some vegetables in my life so I'm not sure what else to do there.
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Personally, if my carbs were coming from good leafy green vegetables like yours are I wouldn't stress about the 20 net limit. 20 net is guaranteed for everyone to be in ketosis, but some have a higher threshold. Some people may disagree, this is just my personal opinion.
On a side note, MFP doesn't take away the sugar alcohols in those quest bars, so for things with sugar alcohols I'll use a "net carbs" entry from the database.3 -
On a side note, MFP doesn't take away the sugar alcohols in those quest bars, so for things with sugar alcohols I'll use a "net carbs" entry from the database.
Good tip. Thank you!
And OK, so if i'm not worrying about leafy greens counting against my net carbs, does that leave me room for some ice cream?!
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goodchapman wrote: »On a side note, MFP doesn't take away the sugar alcohols in those quest bars, so for things with sugar alcohols I'll use a "net carbs" entry from the database.
Good tip. Thank you!
And OK, so if i'm not worrying about leafy greens counting against my net carbs, does that leave me room for some ice cream?!
We all work out macros out to suit us. I am not eating ice cream, but you will have to figure that one out for yourself.0 -
fair enough.
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This may sound wierd and it does in my mind also but here it is. You maybe eating to much veggies 😂. Like banana said though don’t worry to much about being over 10g on carbs if it’s from kale or broccoli. I would be more worried if you where over 10g of carbs because you had that ice cream 😉.1
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Five cups of sauteed broccoli is 17 net carbs. I am too lazy to look up kale, but it would take more than you would want to eat.0
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I just track total carbs.
At the end of the day keeps me lower...2 -
It’s definitely not ice cream!
I’m learning this. I have lost weight before on WW, with unlimited veggies and fruits...so limiting veggies and barely any fruits is definitely new to me but I’m figuring it out thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet. 🥰1 -
Just a quick scan of what you ate remember that whipping cream, cheese, peanut butter and some lunch meats all have some amount of carbs. If you are new to keto it looks like you are doing a pretty good job! It takes a while to hit your stride.
I second the lean protein! I started off with fattier cuts of meat but realized my old friend boneless skinless chicken breast is the standard of protein for me. Also I make jello from natural gelatin with stevia and no carb fruit flavoring as a low carb protein snack.
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IronGiant0 wrote: »I just track total carbs.
At the end of the day keeps me lower...
Are you tracking all vegetables? Including lettuces, leafy greens, broccoli, cucumbers, celery?
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There are different forms of Keto and everyone has to find what works best for them. I do a lower fat version of keto, but just focus on getting enough fat for satiation and nutrition absorption. The reason is because our bodies still require a calorie deficit to lose weight/fat and eating too much fat causes the calorie count to skyrocket. But you still need to get enough fat though so you are not dealing with cravings and feeling hungry.
Many people track their macros by percentages and count their calories. I find it easier to track my macros by grams. So, for example, if I meet my macros daily which are 100p/68f/20c with the plan I'm on, I will never go over on calories so I don't need to bother with counting them!
As was pointed out previously, fat is a limit (but does not have to be met), carb is a limit but protein is a goal.
I sometimes supplement protein with Premier Protein Shakes, because they are 30g of protein and not too bad on carbs. Some people find that their weight loss is faster if they steer clear of protein shakes.
Tuna is a great source of protein as well as lean meats.
I only deduct fiber from carbs from avocado and leafy greens.
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