How do I get enough protein?
RidingTowardEverywhere
Posts: 33 Member
I'm trying out MFP's "High Protein Plan" and it seems hard to achieve that much protein. I'm also not sure if I *need* to go this high with my protein? I have PCOS and have been far more successful at 20% carb, 45% fat and 35% protein than I have with higher carb macros so that's been good but certainly not fast. I was also told that I might benefit from lowering my fats and increasing the protein percentages by a doctor. Following the mfp plan, that's 145g a day (which really sounds high to me). How can I eat healthy while still hitting that goal and keeping the fats in check? I find it hard to eat more than 4 oz of chicken breast at a time, I can handle low fat Greek yogurt sometimes but more than a cup makes me feel sick. Otherwise, I feel like I'm kinda stuck with protein powder :-( I am going to add isopure unflavored to my almond coffee creamer too but that only adds about 8g a day.
Protein fills me up so much that I feel stuffed well under 1200 calories a day so it's even a push to get that much. Any ideas for ways to increase proteins while also not overly stuffing myself? Or thoughts on not going this high with protein? Thanks in advance!
Protein fills me up so much that I feel stuffed well under 1200 calories a day so it's even a push to get that much. Any ideas for ways to increase proteins while also not overly stuffing myself? Or thoughts on not going this high with protein? Thanks in advance!
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Not doing this but I'm mostly dairy free as it doesn't agree with me and find that if I want to hit 20% of calories from protein, I end up eating large portions of meat or fish twice a day. What I do find helpful, though, is sticking to small portions of wholegrain carbs, as much as possible (I love brown rice but can take or leave wholemeal pasta!) and having a portion of pulses or lentils, pretty much every day.
When I consume dairy substitutes, I go for soya based ones, they tend to be higher protein - the oat and rice based ones give me an horrific sugar crash and the newer pea protein ones end up with me opening all the windows 🤢1 -
RidingTowardEverywhere wrote: »I'm trying out MFP's "High Protein Plan" and it seems hard to achieve that much protein. I'm also not sure if I *need* to go this high with my protein? I have PCOS and have been far more successful at 20% carb, 45% fat and 35% protein than I have with higher carb macros so that's been good but certainly not fast. I was also told that I might benefit from lowering my fats and increasing the protein percentages by a doctor. Following the mfp plan, that's 145g a day (which really sounds high to me). How can I eat healthy while still hitting that goal and keeping the fats in check? I find it hard to eat more than 4 oz of chicken breast at a time, I can handle low fat Greek yogurt sometimes but more than a cup makes me feel sick. Otherwise, I feel like I'm kinda stuck with protein powder :-( I am going to add isopure unflavored to my almond coffee creamer too but that only adds about 8g a day.
Protein fills me up so much that I feel stuffed well under 1200 calories a day so it's even a push to get that much. Any ideas for ways to increase proteins while also not overly stuffing myself? Or thoughts on not going this high with protein? Thanks in advance!
IMO, whether that's a lot of protein depends on how tall you are, how much lean mass you have (or an estimate of it, which is close enough), what your exercise activities are, and what your goals are.
This is a site, generally regarded as neutral and science-based, that suggests protein goals based on recent research:
https://examine.com/nutrition/protein-intake-calculator/
The research they used is summarized here:
https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/
If you want to eat more protein than you are, IMO the way to go about that is to revise eating gradually. Every day or two, take a look at your food diary. Find things that "cost" relatively many calories, don't have much protein, and aren't essential to you for feeling full, or for taste reasons. Those are foods you can consider reducing or eliminating, to make calorie room for more protein foods.
To find candidate foods, this is a great resource:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also
It links to a spreadsheet that lists many, many foods in order by protein efficiency, most protein for fewest calories. Look through that spreadsheet, and find foods you enjoy that have more protein, and use those to replace the calories you freed up in the step above.
You'll find protein foods in almost all categories, from drinks and veggies to grains and even fruits. If you read labels at the store, you can find products with more protein (such as bread or crackers with more protein, for example.) Even replacing a food that has no protein with a food that has a small bit, for the same calories, is a help: Small bits through the day add up.
Keep doing that, gradually shifting your eating in pleasant ways in a more protein-y direction, and you'll get there.
When I was first losing weight (2015), I did a lot of this. Now, in year 5+ of maintenance, I'm finding it easy to hit my daily protein goal even as a vegetarian, and usually exceed it. (Personally, I've decided 100g daily is a good goal for me, at 5'5", 125 pounds, active, maintaining weight, age 65. It's a bit over a gram per pound of my estimated lean body mass. It's in the range recommended by the calculator I linked above. But different people have different preferences and needs. )
Best wishes!7 -
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Nutritional yeast - 8 grams per 2 tablespoons - I use it on eggs and salad.. also in baked goods. I wish I had found it earlier!
I eat a lot of fish - high protein.. I also take collagen peptides in morning - adds about 14 grams .. 40 cals .. it’s helped .. adds up. 😉2 -
Should be titled, "How do I get copious amounts of protein". 145 grams of protein is more than "enough"...like way more than "enough".
Protein is important...and eating more protein over the RDA during weight loss is certainly recommended...and more protein is recommended for active individuals, particularly active individuals who are engaging in numerous bouts of high intensity and/or strenuous training...but IMO, we're at the point with protein where it's just marketing...every stinkin' food label makes sure you know "PROTEIN" is in this food thingy.
Pretty much every study I've ever looked at ultimately says there is little to no point in protein in excess of 1 gram per Lb of LBM...you will here some bodybuilders and the like talking about 1 gram per Lb of bodyweight...but they're also sub 10% BF and all muscle...and training competitively. What's good for the goose isn't always good for the gander...or necessary as the case may be.
Nothing particularly wrong with more protein if that's the way you like to eat...but you do reach a point where you're just making expensive glucose. In the past decade I've seen recommendations go from fairly good...as in more than adequate, but not excessive to people just eating copious amounts of protein and having to supplement multiple times per day, etc. Little silly IMO.
For reference, I'm a 5'10" male...maintenance is around 180 Lbs. I'm in pretty good shape with decent muscle mass and on average I get in around 110-140 grams of protein depending on the day at roughly 3,000 calories per day...probably more consistently around 115-120 grams or so...140 grams would be a very meat heavy day...I'm certainly not muscle wasting.7 -
I'm eating 70-80 grams of protein on 1500-1700 kcal per day - it's definitely harder to build more in without constipating yourself when you're a small, soft woman.1
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Safari_Gal_ wrote: »Nutritional yeast - 8 grams per 2 tablespoons - I use it on eggs and salad.. also in baked goods. I wish I had found it earlier!
I eat a lot of fish - high protein.. I also take collagen peptides in morning - adds about 14 grams .. 40 cals .. it’s helped .. adds up. 😉
I love fish and used to be pescatarian but, despite living in an island nation, it's really expensive.1 -
Safari_Gal_ wrote: »Nutritional yeast - 8 grams per 2 tablespoons - I use it on eggs and salad.. also in baked goods. I wish I had found it earlier!
I eat a lot of fish - high protein.. I also take collagen peptides in morning - adds about 14 grams .. 40 cals .. it’s helped .. adds up. 😉
Can whoever disagreed with me explain why? Wasn’t the topic ways to increase protein in diet?3 -
Safari_Gal_ wrote: »Safari_Gal_ wrote: »Nutritional yeast - 8 grams per 2 tablespoons - I use it on eggs and salad.. also in baked goods. I wish I had found it earlier!
I eat a lot of fish - high protein.. I also take collagen peptides in morning - adds about 14 grams .. 40 cals .. it’s helped .. adds up. 😉
Can whoever disagreed with me explain why? Wasn’t the topic ways to increase protein in diet?
Sometimes people accidentally hit "disagree" when thumb-scrolling on a phone. If it's a single one, that's even more likely as an explanation.
As an aside: What brand of nutritional yeast is giving you 8 grams for 40 calories? The ones I've used have more like 5 grams protein per 40 calories.
Another thing in that same realm as an add-on is peanut butter powder (like PBFit or PB2) or almond butter powder (like Barney Butter powder ), defatted. Those are in the 5-6g protein per 35-45 calorie range, too, usually. I don't like them rehydrated as a spread (I'd prefer real nut butter), but they're good in pseudo-Asian-style nut-flavored sauces, or mixed with yogurt or in smoothies, etc.
I like both those and nutritional yeast, but the flavor profile is very different, so both can be useful for a tasty protein bump-up.
There are also some pasta types that are decent, too, with 2 to 3 times the protein of wheat pasta. IME, chickpea and red lentil pastas have a texture similar to wheat pasta. I prefer them with a hearty sauce, especially chickpea, which I think has a slightly flatter flavor. A good sauce is tomato sauce, mushroom powder (pulverize dried mushrooms in a food processor), and lentils, with herbs/seasonings of choice - hearty, filling and protein-y in itself. The edamame/soy and black bean pastas I've found to be more chewy (but higher in protein, up to 24-25g protein per 2oz dry serving, for 180-190 calories). I like those in stir-fry type combos with veggies, and they're good with a peanut or almond sauce made with the nut butter powders, chile sauce if you like spice (soy sauce if you don't), and rice wine vinegar plus any seasonings of choice.1 -
Safari_Gal_ wrote: »Safari_Gal_ wrote: »Nutritional yeast - 8 grams per 2 tablespoons - I use it on eggs and salad.. also in baked goods. I wish I had found it earlier!
I eat a lot of fish - high protein.. I also take collagen peptides in morning - adds about 14 grams .. 40 cals .. it’s helped .. adds up. 😉
Can whoever disagreed with me explain why? Wasn’t the topic ways to increase protein in diet?
Sometimes people accidentally hit "disagree" when thumb-scrolling on a phone. If it's a single one, that's even more likely as an explanation.
As an aside: What brand of nutritional yeast is giving you 8 grams for 40 calories? The ones I've used have more like 5 grams protein per 40 calories.
Another thing in that same realm as an add-on is peanut butter powder (like PBFit or PB2) or almond butter powder (like Barney Butter powder ), defatted. Those are in the 5-6g protein per 35-45 calorie range, too, usually. I don't like them rehydrated as a spread (I'd prefer real nut butter), but they're good in pseudo-Asian-style nut-flavored sauces, or mixed with yogurt or in smoothies, etc.
I like both those and nutritional yeast, but the flavor profile is very different, so both can be useful for a tasty protein bump-up.
There are also some pasta types that are decent, too, with 2 to 3 times the protein of wheat pasta. IME, chickpea and red lentil pastas have a texture similar to wheat pasta. I prefer them with a hearty sauce, especially chickpea, which I think has a slightly flatter flavor. A good sauce is tomato sauce, mushroom powder (pulverize dried mushrooms in a food processor), and lentils, with herbs/seasonings of choice - hearty, filling and protein-y in itself. The edamame/soy and black bean pastas I've found to be more chewy (but higher in protein, up to 24-25g protein per 2oz dry serving, for 180-190 calories). I like those in stir-fry type combos with veggies, and they're good with a peanut or almond sauce made with the nut butter powders, chile sauce if you like spice (soy sauce if you don't), and rice wine vinegar plus any seasonings of choice.
Thanks @AnnPT77 🤗🙏
I prefer Sari non fortified - (that has 5 grams of protein per 2 tablespoons).. but I also have Anthony’s fortified Nutritional Yeast and it’s 8 grams per 2 tablespoons.
Great ideas and wise words! Thanks!
Ps - meant 60 cals - oops 🙊
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cwolfman13 wrote: »[...] IMO, we're at the point with protein where it's just marketing...every stinkin' food label makes sure you know "PROTEIN" is in this food thingy. [...]
This struck me today in the grocery store: 2 packages of trailmix, side by side. One was labeled "energy"-something and had 13,4g, the other said "protein" and had 13,2g. What?!? 😯4 -
I'm eating 70-80 grams of protein on 1500-1700 kcal per day - it's definitely harder to build more in without constipating yourself when you're a small, soft woman.
It can be hard to get higher on a low calorie budget, yeah. - exercise calories included, I tend to eat around the same amount of calories as you Additionally, I don't eat animal products. This means I had to really remember to have one protein source in every meal (f.e. oatmeal has added peanut butter or at least seeds, lunch is a stew with lentils, dinner a tofu scramble) AND use soy milk for coffee and hot chocolate (no oat, even hough I prefer it). If I follow all of that I can hit 70 to 80 (sometimes even 85) grams of protein per day now.
Luckily I tend to get so much fiber without even paying attention I at least don't usually have to worry about constipation.0 -
Safari_Gal_ wrote: »Nutritional yeast - 8 grams per 2 tablespoons - I use it on eggs and salad.. also in baked goods. I wish I had found it earlier!
THANKS, @Safari_Gal_ ! 🌹 I almost forgot about the package in my cupboard. It does have a lot of protein, who would've thought! 🤔
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Nutritional yeast - 8 grams per 2 tablespoons - I use it on eggs and salad.. also in baked goods. I wish I had found it earlier!
It's also good on popcorn!4 -
Excellent! I'll make some 🍿 tomorrow. Thanks for the idea, @LisaGetsMoving . 🌻2
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I find it hard to eat more than 70-80 gr per day without putting a lot of effort into finding ways to up the protein without going over calories. Too hard, so I'm good with 70-80 gr with the occasional day of more. Same goes for carbs, I try to keep them lower but allow for the occasional day of more.2
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I big myth when doing protein per body weight lb is that you need 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight when its simply not true. A good goal is to aim for 0.6-0.8 grams of protein per lb of body weight ultimately dropping how much you need.1
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JCardenas912 wrote: »I big myth when doing protein per body weight lb is that you need 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight when its simply not true. A good goal is to aim for 0.6-0.8 grams of protein per lb of body weight ultimately dropping how much you need.
Another myth (IMO) is that an obese person should use obese bodyweight in these estimates. IMO, there is no need for *proportionately* more protein because of substantial fat mass, and shooting for it makes well-rounded nutrition harder to get on lowered calories.
If one does the arithmetic, 0.6-0.8g per pound of healthy bodyweight works out to be close to 0.8-1g per pound of lean body mass, for a middling body fat percent (highish OK bodyfat for a man, lowish OK bodyfat for a woman . . . and the gram numbers that result from calculating based on an actual target BF% aren't IMO meaningfully different, for a large range of typical people).2 -
Whenever I am cutting, I drink a protein supplement. My supplement of choice is whey protein. I’m not brand loyal, so I get which ever one Costco has on sale ( there always seem to be some brand on sale). For me, I find this is the only way I can reach the protein target and get anywhere close to 30% of calories.1
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RidingTowardEverywhere wrote: »I'm trying out MFP's "High Protein Plan" and it seems hard to achieve that much protein. I'm also not sure if I *need* to go this high with my protein? I have PCOS and have been far more successful at 20% carb, 45% fat and 35% protein than I have with higher carb macros so that's been good but certainly not fast. I was also told that I might benefit from lowering my fats and increasing the protein percentages by a doctor. Following the mfp plan, that's 145g a day (which really sounds high to me). How can I eat healthy while still hitting that goal and keeping the fats in check? I find it hard to eat more than 4 oz of chicken breast at a time, I can handle low fat Greek yogurt sometimes but more than a cup makes me feel sick. Otherwise, I feel like I'm kinda stuck with protein powder :-( I am going to add isopure unflavored to my almond coffee creamer too but that only adds about 8g a day.
Protein fills me up so much that I feel stuffed well under 1200 calories a day so it's even a push to get that much. Any ideas for ways to increase proteins while also not overly stuffing myself? Or thoughts on not going this high with protein? Thanks in advance!
35% protein is already on the high end. How much higher does MFP's "High Protein Plan" want you to go? Can you link to it? Is this something that is for Premium member only?
You are correct, you don't need to go higher than 35%, and depending on various factors, that could be higher than necessary as well.0
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