My work caters breakfast/lunch because we can't leave the building. Unfortunately, the food is always very oily/buttery/salty, so even options like fish and veggies are quite caloric.
I maintain around 1900 calories/day so I'm eating about 1500/day and exercising.
Most people have the problem where they feel hungry all day... I have the opposite. I have to force myself to eat lunch (I don't get hungry since I eat a filling breakfast) and struggle to hit my daily target since I choose the few less oily options that are available at work.
Sometimes I eat dinner, sometimes I don't. I am often full from lunch. My appetite naturally staggers my calories - some days I eat 1900, some days 1200. This month's daily average is 1540cals, 68g protein.
I still feel like my diet is incomplete, even though I am not hungry. I have lost about 2 1/2 pounds in 4 weeks, but this seems really slow and I want to avoid muscle loss. I am having a hard time upping my protein intake, because I physically can't eat more than I already am.
Any advice on how to get more protein without much volume increase? Should I look into powders?
Breakfast (usually 1 or 2): average 500 calories, 20g protein
1) whole wheat english muffin + peanut butter, hard boiled egg, 1 cup milk = 525cals, 26g protein
2) raisin bran, 1 cup milk, multigrain bread and jam = 450cals, 17g protein
Lunch (varies, similar to 1 or 2): anywhere from 200 to 600 calories, 20 to 40g protein
1) garden salad (some dressing) + brown/wild rice or potato + beans, salmon, or chicken + carrots, green beans, and/or squash/zucchini/etc + fruit (pineapple and strawberries or melon)
2) soup (usually vegetarian, like tomato, vegetable minestrone, black bean, etc) + garden salad (some dressing) + small/half sandwich (like ham & cheese on croissant or TBM on multigrain)
any takers?
I would suggest getting more protein. I'm a vegeterian and so I tend to mix a scoop of whey protein powder in my oatmeal in the morning, or I'll have a milkshake with protein powder before bed. I believe you can even mix it with coffee. Or there's always other natural sources like greek yogurt or cottage cheese, but those are higher in calories.
Besides that, your meals look complete to me (option 1 is better for breakfast). I'm surprised you don't get hungry for dinner though. It might be best to have a protein shake at night as a replacement for the days you dont eat dinner.
I use body fortress super advanced whey protein from walmart it is 14 $ per tub. Not yummy... tastes like protein powder but not bad either. I just learned how to melt a banana in the microwave in a coffee cup & add a scoop of vanilla & yum 26 grams protein, tastes like super sweet pudding. Good luck.
Tjlo
