High protein?

Hi there hope ur well am looking to hit my protein better I'll try add

I read that I need 25-30 g protein at each meal to start getting some my pre-COVID muscle and energy back. Now I've had 2 bouts of COVID plus COVID pneumonia. Here's the thing: I don't much like meat. Any help with recipes or food suggestions, low sugar/low calorie protein sources, ways to serve meat would be greatly appreciated.

TooTiredToKnit wrote: »

I read that I need 25-30 g protein at each meal to start getting some my pre-COVID muscle and energy back. Now I've had 2 bouts of COVID plus COVID pneumonia. Here's the thing: I don't much like meat. Any help with recipes or food suggestions, low sugar/low calorie protein sources, ways to serve meat would be greatly appreciated.

If you haven't already seen it, this thread may be a help (it helped me):

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also

I'm ovo-lacto vegetarian, have no difficulty exceeding my 100g protein minimum every day now that I'm in maintenance (usually hit 110-120g). That's on 1850 base calories + exercise. I don't use protein powder, protein bars, or standard commercial faux meats. (There's nothing wrong with eating those, IMO - I just don't personally find them tasty or satisfying.)

When I was losing, it admittedly was lower, but at least 80s and more often 90s grams daily, once I got a solid routine dialed in. That was mostly 1400-1600 calories plus exercise.

Two things that helped me, one a process, the other a tactic.

The process: Early on, I reviewed my food diary every day or two. I was looking for foods that
"cost" relatively many calories, didn't have much protein, that weren't useful enough to me personally (in terms of satiation, other nutrition, general happiness) for that calorie cost. Those were foods to reduce (frequency or portion size) to free up calories for other foods I liked that would better help me meet my calorie goal. (The thread I linked above was helpful in that specific process.)

The tactic: It's always sensible to go for one big protein contributor in each meal. In
addition, I thought about how I could add little bits of protein in most every thing I ate: Breads, grains, sides, veggies with more protein than others (even some fruits), protein snacks, even flavoring ingredients with a little protein (nutritional yeast, miso, peanut butter powder, etc.), beverages, etc.

Analyzing my diary and looking for those happy tweaks was really useful, because those small added bits of protein add up over the course of the day. Many of those are not as high-quality protein (in essential amino acid (EAA) completeness or bioavailability), but varying the sources and aiming for a high-side protein goal compensate somewhat for that.

If you're not starting from a situation of notable deficiency, you can take a week or few to use diary review and tweakings of eating patterns to improve the situation. IMO, a key idea is to revamp routine eating patterns so that adequate protein happens almost automatically, without continuing conscious attention.

I'm betting you can get your protein intake where you want it, with a little analysis, attention, and remodeling of routine habits.

Best wishes!

If you're having trouble hitting your daily protein goal it pays to have high-protein snacks around to much on like low/no sugar jerky, or grab some ham steaks or rotisserie chicken from the butcher/deli that you can pick on right outta the fridge.

Canned fish (tuna/sardines/mackerel/salmon, etc.), are fantastic for upping daily protein while adding healthy fats and few to no carbs. They're also easy to keep in a bag and just eat on the go, pop a can open and keep some plastic forks in the glove compartment lol. You don't even need to heat them, just be careful of what they're packed in (I like spring water or occasionally olive oil).

And of course eggs are great so just make a batch every week so you can grab them out of the fridge/freezer. One week I make an egg scramble with whatever else I find in the kitchen, then put it in small Tupper wears & freeze them in portion sizes so I just have to nuke them. Next week I might simply leave a big bowl of hard-boiled eggs in the fridge. Week after that, mini crustless quiches, week after that devilled eggs. I eat 3/4 eggs per day on average, sometimes as many as 6. Been a great way to up my protein.