Struggling to get enough protein

shaysullivan07
shaysullivan07 Posts: 4 Member
edited December 24 in Food and Nutrition
I have my macros set to 30% carbs, 40%fat, and 30% protein. Even though I eat meat and eggs almost everyday. I am still struggling to get enough protein in my body. Any ideas on how to increase protein intake? I'm trying to stay away from protein shake/bars...

Replies

  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    Add egg whites to your eggs - they are pure protein

    What is your protein goal?
  • Kidnp795
    Kidnp795 Posts: 8 Member
    I have same problem. I need help. There is a high protein food thing that comes up after I hit done with calculations, or something like that. I don’t know how to find it though the article.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    What meat do you eat? Chicken breast will give you the most bang for your buck. Seafood of all kinds is also great (farm raised salmon will be pretty high in fat but other than that, most seafood is majority protein)
  • Kidnp795
    Kidnp795 Posts: 8 Member
    Thanks, I keep forgetting about chicken. Only wild caught salmon - farm raised, especially imported - nope. Swims around re-eating it’s own waste. I guess, not much different from other animals. Unless they are open-pastured, grass fed, then I get a piece a year, or take out a loan to go to Whole Foods!
  • shaysullivan07
    shaysullivan07 Posts: 4 Member
    My goals is 83g of protein
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    shaysullivan07 wrote: »
    My goals is 83g of protein

    Probably bigger portions of meat will do the trick. How many ounces do you consider to be a serving?

    What's your calorie goal? If I did the math correctly, it's around 1200, which, unless you are very very short AND sedentary is unnecessarily low.

    https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/

    Also, how many pounds do you have to lose and what rate of loss did you select?

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  • shaysullivan07
    shaysullivan07 Posts: 4 Member
    Yes I’m doing 1200 calories per day. Which is kinda low but I feel like that’s what my body needs in order to lose weight
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    shaysullivan07 wrote: »
    Yes I’m doing 1200 calories per day. Which is kinda low but I feel like that’s what my body needs in order to lose weight

    Based on?

    What are your stats (age, height, weight), and how much exercise do you do (you should be eating any calories burned through exercise on top of your MFP calorie allowance).

  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    shaysullivan07 wrote: »
    My goals is 83g of protein

    This shouldn't be difficult if you eat meat. I'd just look over your diary, see what your protein sources are and how much you are getting per meal. Often it's an issue of not having protein in all meals or if one snacks, using cals on low protein snacks. You can then switch to or add lower fat sources of protein or increase serving size of protein providing foods and cut back servings of others (such as higher carb).

    Chicken breast, turkey breast, shrimp and other shellfish, white fish (although salmon is a perfectly good source too, including wild caught, it just has a little more fat but the fat is good for you), lean cuts of pork (loin, chops), and beef, game meats are all usually quite lean. Also egg whites (I don't personally eat them as I prefer to fit in whole eggs, but they are easy), low or no fat dairy, and various vegetarian sources that will often have more carbs for the protein if you don't want so much meat (tofu, tempeh, seitan, beans and lentils).
  • errollmaclean
    errollmaclean Posts: 562 Member
    Why are you trying to stay away from protein supplements?

    The easiest way I've found (other than supplements) is to add egg whites to your eggs. You can increase protein without adding too many extra calories.

    The general recommendation is 0.6 to 0.8 x your bodyweight = grams of protein per day.
    0.4 x your bodyweight for grams per day of dietary fat.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    edited January 2020
    MikePTY wrote: »
    What meat do you eat? Chicken breast will give you the most bang for your buck. Seafood of all kinds is also great (farm raised salmon will be pretty high in fat but other than that, most seafood is majority protein)

    Side note: Venison actually gives me my best protein numbers from a meat source. I realize that venison isn't an option for everyone. But if it is, add it!
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    meat is basically just protein and fat.. whatever meat that has the lowest fat% is going to give you the most protein for the fewest calories regardless of the animal. Egg whites are the easiest though, as others have said.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    I like shrimp for protein. 24% protein by cooked weight.
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