Ok who stole my protein??

Ok so this is really day 3 of "eating clean" and on the clean front im doing really well .... at least comparatively speaking when compared to my old diet.

I’ve found by cutting the bad carbs i suddenly have found it much easier to keep within my “calorie” limit as it seems its mostly those bad carbs that have tons of calories, and i can replace them easily with the good carbs in much more plentiful quantity’s for half the calorie cost which is seeming to keep me full for longer (pre-clean eating i was perma grumpy and hungry on my calorie limit)

However protein is becoming a royal pain in my butt, ive switched ham for cottage cheese, added more eggs and even bought protein shakes however im still not managing to push my protein intake anywhere near high enough, every day i think ive done better on the protein but when i add it up at the end of the day i find ive fallen Waaaaay short of the goal posts.

Yesterday i was at

• Fat - 15.2% (22 grams)
  Protein - 22.9% (73 grams)
  Carbohydrates - 32.1% (102 grams)
  Alcohol - 0.0%
  Other - 29.8%

The day before

• Fat - 15.5% (24 grams)
  Protein - 14.0% (48 grams)
  Carbohydrates - 45.4% (157 grams)
  Alcohol - 0.0%
  Other - 25.1%

Anyone know what “other” is?? I seem to be eating alot of it whatever it is??

But as you can see although i did better on the protein yesterday im still falling waaaaay short of my 119grams. Goodness knows how much protein i was eating pre eating clean because this is with me trying to up my levels.

My plan for today this should take me to my calorie limit.

• Breakfast – oatmeal + banana
• Snack – natural yogurt + raspberries
• Lunch – cottage cheese/salad wraps + pear
• Snack – Protein shake (after gym)
• Dinner – chicken/spring greens and other veg with 2 eggs

Any suggestions?? Anything i should replace with more protein??

I would eat egg whites instead of the whole egg.  I believe the yolk is around 70 calories and the white is 20 calories.  Almost all the protein is in the white. 

I also would avoid eating wraps since its very high in calories.  Try using 35 cal/slice bread and use it to make a chicken breast sandwich, which should add up to be about 200 calories and 30 grams of protein.

What kind of protein shake are you drinking?  There are 120 cal protein mixes with 23 grams of protein. 

Essentially, the sandwich, 3 egg whites, and a protein shake will take up 400 of your calorie intake and give you over 60 grams of protein.

you need to add a protein source in your breakfast. more eggs. all of the protein is not in the white. it's about half in the white, half in the yolk. eat whole eggs they are good for you. add some natural pb in there also.

Put a scoop of vanilla protein powder in the oatmeal.  Yummy!

I may be wrong so please correct me if I am...

when you are logging your food...are you entering an item that is not in the system?  well if you are and not putting all the additional info on it...like how much carbs, fat, protein in contains it automatically puts it in the "other" catagory, this may be throwing your numbers off.

If today is typical, you have plenty of protein. Some would say too much (where did you come up with 113 grams??)...and yes, it is very possible to have too much protein...it causes stress on the kidneys and dehydration among other things.

The problem is simply that some of your protein sources are not registering in the food log. "Other - 25.1%" means that CC doesn't know what is in 25% of your food. You've entered something mysterious (maybe that protein shake?) that is not in the database. I would start by looking at which foods log as "other" and replace them with an equivalent item from the database. Once you have the real numbers you can better evaluate your ratios.

Well for the most part i'm using stuff in the database, when an item isn't in the database i enter the nutritional details manually at which point i usually tag it so i can use it again in the future such as my protein shake.

Today i already have a fair amount of "other" and yet i had the nutritional info for it all ... maybe some of the pre-entered CC stuff isn't entirely compleate with its info.

I actually made a chicken wrap the other day that was very high in protein - I calculated it to be around 42 grams of protein and only around 360 calories.

I'm not a clean eater, so I'm not exactly sure what all it entails, but I think I understand the basis of it...here's the wrap I made (you can modify as needed to fit into eating clean)...

1 Whole Wheat Tortilla (100 calories) - the smaller size (not the huge burrito size)

Filled with...

3 egg whites scrambled

1 can of Valley Fresh (100% natural) canned chicken (only contains chicken, water, and a small amount of salt - no preservatives) - be careful with other big name brands like Tyson because they do have preservatives in them

1 serving of shredded 2% mexican cheese (could also be substituted for another can of chicken for even more protein)

A couple of tablespoons of fresh salsa

I actually laid the tortilla in a bowl and filled it with the ingredients above and ate the ingredients with a fork until it was small enough to wrap up and eat like a burrito or taco.

This makes for a good breakfast or lunch and I found it to be a quick and easy high protein, low calorie meal!

Like others mentioned, you probably need to try and incorporate more eggs or egg whites into your meals.  I had never really tried this too much until reading these forums, but I'm finding it MUCH easier to get the protein I need by eating eggs and egg whites on a daily basis.  And if you aren't a big fan of egg whites only, try eating a couple of egg whites mixed with one whole egg to keep the calories down but get the benefits of the protein.  Eggs are great for you and the yolk has a lot of Choline which is great for the brain...so the yolk isn't all bad but I try not to eat more than 1 whole egg each day.

 

Yeah i think i'm gonna have to go with more eggs .... *sigh* is it just me or does throwing away half the egg just seem a terrible waste??

*Oh god i sound like me mother!!!!*

 

there's "eating more unprocessed food" with lots of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, protein, healthy fat -- which is a great idea for everyone.

then there's eating lots of plain egg whites, protein supplements, ultra-low-carb, food timing, which is specialized bodybuilder diet. That may work for some people but I'm iffy about those things as general rules for all people.

when eating clean turns into: how much protein powder should I add to each meal, something has gone weird.

If you are looking for egg whites, you can buy them in a carton.  That way you don't need to throw out a ton of yolks.  My husband and I eat almost a cup of egg whites per day (each).  It is huge for protein and really helps to keep you full.  We buy them at Costco in a double pack for $4. 

I eat egg beaters, too!  Great protein, low calories...eat them every day!!!!  Yum!

Original Post by jennymac1:

If you are looking for egg whites, you can buy them in a carton.  That way you don't need to throw out a ton of yolks.  My husband and I eat almost a cup of egg whites per day (each).  It is huge for protein and really helps to keep you full.  We buy them at Costco in a double pack for $4. 

 You can definitely buy egg whites in a carton, but I've found it's cheaper to just buy eggs and seperate the whites.  Also, if you're worried about throwing things away, the carton that the whites come it has to be thrown out and will sit in a landfill WAY longer than the biodegradable egg shells/yokes.

When you enter food manually, you have to enter the grams as well as the nutritional info.  The only time I ever get "Other" is when I forget to enter grams.  If I don't know the grams, I look at a similar portion of similar food and estimate. 

Your "Other" should definitely not be that high and is skewing your numbers.  Your protein % is probably a lot higher than it's saying right now.  Try this for a couple of days and recheck your Analysis for those days only.

hey leila- i've been swamped & hit by trying a stupid melatonin supplement to increase sleep hours- it's dragged me down-- DONE with that! i hate supplements anyway!

with the protein, you've got good advice going above- and listen to alevin too- do NOT make this all complicated for yourself!

by doing egg whites w/a whole egg you're going to increase your protein-- listen to the advice on chicken breast, and don't forget omega 3s in your tunas, salmons, and other fish. Try adding in some nuts too! or PB!

Up that breakfast protein a lot-- it's the best meal of the day to jumpstart your metabolism after sleeping. options could look like this--

1. 3 egg whites/1 egg, toast, peanut butter, skim milk
2. oatmeal, protein powder, non-fat yogurt, raspberries
3. eggwhites, cottage cheese, 1/2 or whole can of tuna, greens (olive oil)
4. Protein shake w/skim & toast w/pb OR 1/2 can tuna, greens (olive oil)
5. 5 oz chicken, greens/vegs, 2 egg whites, 1 egg or 2eggs (olive oil)

just tweak the amounts/totals of foods to stick within your kcals-- and yes, it stinks to have to use protein powder- i admit that- but sometimes, it is just easier than actually making food!

add in some more good fats to the diet too-- you need EVOO or peanuts have good oils, and of course, the omega 3's from fish!

menu planning can be hard, but you can get it down to a science once you have it figured out-- just don't make it hard on yourself!

I question on Protein shakes/powders / bars etc

I've been to a few stores now including the one at my local gym and i have found loads of different varietys, i've found 2 small packs one is a powered you can add to pretty much anything and one is a whey based one (which i added to my porridge this morning).

However when i look at the ingredients im not sure they are "clean"  which is why i bought small packs, they seem to have alot of ingredients and don't sound 100% natural... or at least they sound like they are very processed natural ingredients.  

Are they ok to have??

 

 

 

i'm gonna repeat what Alevin & myself & others have said!

DO NOT MAKE THIS TOO HARD! YOU'RE THINKING WAY TOO MUCH! Any 100% protein or other good protein (soy, egg white, goat whey, whatever) is used to supplement your protein grams-- you DO NOT have to worry extensively about the contents/ingredients other than cals, carbs, pro grams giving you the best bang for your buck! Unless you plan on going totally organic, clean beyond a tibetan monk or just plain want to-- and as you are NOT a body builder - just incorporate as much in natural foods in your diet-- don't go to details like you are! You will set yourself up for failure as it's impossible to maintain with a normal everyday life unless you want to!

The important things to do are:

1. Eat your kcals over the 5-6 meals a day as evenly spaced as you can
2. Eat high protein/complex carb meals
3. Eat natural foods you like & want have access to that fit within "non-processed" (white breads, flours, sugars, chips, processed diet foods/dinners w/high sodium & funky ingredients)
4. EAT FOODS YOU LIKE AND WANT & HAVE ACCESS TO WITHIN THE COMPLEX CARB HIGH PROTEIN REALM!!!

ok, sorry - just don't want to see you fail, but don't get yourself worked up- eat & enjoy your decision to eat healthful & more natural-6 times a day- you can't be 100% all the time, but try to stay within the dotted lines!

;) T

Original Post by librarygirl:

If today is typical, you have plenty of protein. Some would say too much (where did you come up with 113 grams??)...and yes, it is very possible to have too much protein...it causes stress on the kidneys and dehydration among other things.

The problem is simply that some of your protein sources are not registering in the food log. "Other - 25.1%" means that CC doesn't know what is in 25% of your food. You've entered something mysterious (maybe that protein shake?) that is not in the database. I would start by looking at which foods log as "other" and replace them with an equivalent item from the database. Once you have the real numbers you can better evaluate your ratios.

 this bothers me as it's a blanket statement with no references- and i'm not picking on you! just the fact protein is misunderstood...

I just feel that ANYTHING in EXCESS leads to problems from exercise to krispy cremes to roller coaster rides

excess sodium leads to high blood pressure/hypertension- that's a blanket statement too- bc NOT in everyone! it's the individual and their genetics & body machine!

that being said- unless you have serious kidney, liver problems, MORE than the daily recommended protein allotment will NOT damage you! You're more likely to excrete it than park it as fat on your body if anything- and by eating it over 6x a day with a complex carb- you are taxing your body less than in three giant high protein meals at one sitting!

the average person can get by with less than .25-.5 grams per lb of body weight for sure, we all have in the US & abroad for years-- but isn't it possible that that low protein range has contributed to the rising overweight & obesity levels as we eat more junk, simple carbs, and good carbs & FATS through our diets vs lean protein?

Protein is essential to living - it builds your body- as much as carbs & fats- and eating more than recommended on the RDA is fine, again, unless you are compromised.

Actually, I think leiela's question was extremely valid because these protein shakes seem to go against the advice to "3. Eat natural foods ... that fit within 'non-processed'...".

I'm no expert but there seems to be a disconnect that goes along with what alevin said: "when eating clean turns into: how much protein powder should I add to each meal, something has gone weird." I think it's the difference between eating clean for health and eating for muscle building. It's like there's a difference between eating healthy and eating low-calorie: a lot of things that are added to low-calorie foods may be chemicals, foreign compounds, etc that they body may or may not know how to deal with, at least in large enough quantities.

So yes, protein powders are processed and do have unclean ingredients; at the same time, the protein in them is lean, and if you have them in liquid form, your muscles can absorb the protein very fast. Whether to include the powders in your diet is YOUR CHOICE. If you'd rather get the protein from "clean" foods, then go for your egg whites, lean meats, etc. If you like the convenience/taste/variety of the protein powders and don't mind the other ingredients in them, then do that.

You will find people who tell you that the "other" ingredients will hinder your progress, and you will find people who tell you they won't. And it may not just be a difference of opinion; I'm guessing people's bodies actually respond to these things differently. So I guess I would say if you're eating clean for health (i.e. strictly unprocessed), then you may want to skip the protein powders. If you're trying to get tons of protein, then maybe you like the protein powders. At the end of the day -- your call.

In the book "In Defense of Food", Michael Pollan makes suggestions for healthy eating (some of which I agree with more than others) but one of his suggestions that stuck out in my mind was, "Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food." Now, I have a very forward-thinking grandmother... but I'm guessing protein powder was never a part of her diet growing up! :-P

And iamme I'm not out to knock your advice, I really appreciate you taking the time to help so many people out! Just had a different opinion here that I wanted to get across. And sorry for the long-windedness :)

I am over complicating things i always do

Im a perfectionist its my biggest flaw i've always been an all or nothing girl... i'd love to take a relaxed back seat attitude to this but its just not in my nature, i micro manage everything always have always will my hubby thinks im slightly OCD and he's right i am.

I've cleaned up my diet tons, fairly easily without too much stress on me or the family, your right im not a body builder and i doubt i ever will i don't want/need to get my body fat down that low or my muscle that high ... but i like to have a plan.