Oh, boy, this is going to be tough. I had two servings of meat for dinner and still managed only 60ish grams of protein. I bought a bag of something called Kay’s Protein Cookie Bites because it would be a high-protein snack – 12g for 125 calories. They are so gross. Taste like cinnamon packing peanuts. In good news, I’m choking them down with tons of water.
ETA: I also bought some of the higher-protein Lean Cuisines. I eat a lot of LCs.
Drink lots of water as high protein diet is hard on our kidneys.
I chuck down two glasses of water, about 900 ml, first thing in the morning. Then go do exercises for an hour, drinking another 1,500 ml. Pee color is always clear. Lol.
excerpts (plus my comments) from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/20-delicious-high-protein-foods#section3
That’s interesting, because some of those number don’t match up with what myfitnesspal says. I had two servings of shrimp for dinner, and I only got credit for 20 grams of protein. Hmmmmm. Same thing with the chicken breast; it shows only 26 grams of protein.
80 gram of chicken breast cousins about 25 gram of protein, so maybe that is about 1/2 chicken breast (compatible with one chicken breast has 53 gram of protein) which is a lot to eat imo in one meal.
^^contains, not cousins. Lol
Don’t eat anything that counts as gross for you. You should enjoy your healthy food and eating yuck is a sure fire way to get off the right track.
Why all the Lean Cuisine dinners? They may be the right amount of calories in number you are looking for but are they providing balance in terms of nutrition???
If you do eat meat how about something like chicken or turkey salad made with plain yogurt instead of mayo and add in veggies or fruit - onion, celery, grapes, etc. Or turkey roll ups? (a thin slice of turkey with lettuce around a pickle spear or something.
Good fat, unsaturated like olive oil or saturated like coconut oil r good for our body and mind. I don’t buy anything that has skim/light/fat-free/reduces fat labels.
Has anyone tried a Body Pump class? My gym is adding a few new classes this month.
We have Body Pump here. It wasn’t my thing, but many people just love it. The class fills up every time and people go to weekend Body Pump roll outs when new routines are revealed. It would be a great way to get some weight lifting in while in a group setting listening to music. The routines try to hit all your body parts. (Nothing wrong with it, I just prefer other activities. I can swim at the same time, so I swim instead.)
I have tried Body Pump, thinking I would like it more than just lifting weights. I was wrong! It was not my cup of tea. That said, I think it’s really beneficial to go at the beginning of a cycle - I think the class has a routine that changes quarterly. I did not feel confident enough in my lifting ability - not sure I could keep good form and I didn’t want to injure myself.
Thanks for the feedback. I think I’ll give it a try. I want to make an effort to try some new classes that meet on the weekend. My strength instructor is starting a 50 minute stretching class on sunday. I might give that a try. I’m one of the least flexible people I know though I’ve improved tremendously over the past year.
My gym is running a special today. If you join they waive the membership sign up fee and you get January for 20.18. I figure for the next month or so the gym parking lot will be packed.
My progress inspired my youngest who had gotten lazy and gained a lot of weight. She started a program in early December. She told me she has lost 10 lbs and has gained quite a bit of muscle already. It was a 28 day challenge that included a meal plan. She discovered she was eating a lot of sugar and lazy meals such as pasta. Her greatest change is learning the importance of meal prep and planning. Now that she plans her menu and shops on the weekend she doesn’t have those nights where she gets home from work starved with no plan for dinner. She also has discovered that by eating better and bringing a lunch versus eating lunch out she has a lot more energy in the afternoon.
I am trying a new class this week as well - a 30 minute Tabata training class. Definitely out of my comfort zone but the interval type training is having a positive impact on my weight, so I figure I might as well! In 6 months I’ve lost 20 pounds and a bit over 14 inches. I’m hoping for a retirement career modeling for Muscle and Fitness, lol.
I started wondering about daily protein needs, since 100g (upthread) sounded like a lot. And I’m reading a book from late 1800s, when admittedly life span was much shorter, where meat was less common.
This article was helpful … very active people and middle age women need more than I thought.
http://www.health.com/nutrition/how-much-protein-per-day
Yep, that sounds like all the reasons the nutritionist told me. Good article.
Meanwhile, yesterday I are more than 100 grams of protein for the first time. I think I ate too much broccoli because of … uh, side effects. I’ll stop there. 
@mom60 @sabaray @Lizardly body pump is a good strength workout imo, but I think its somewhat fast pace could lead to injury as folks might fail to pay attention to good postures.
I love TRX, or the variations of TRX (incorporating cardio into the mainly body-weight/strength/balance of TRX), it was supposedly invented by navy seals. Lol. If ur gym offers it, and if you haven’t already given it a try, I highly recommend it.
CXWORX is another choreographed strength training by Les Mills (I think so is body pump) that mainly uses dumbbells and bands and focuses on core strength. It is only 30’ long but quite tough. At my gym one of the mornings we have 30’ spin followed by 30’ cxworx and I think it is the best combo.
I do need to up my protein intakes too.
@sabaray that is amazing what u have achieved in 6-month! Very inspiring!
That is a good article on protein, thanks for posting it. The program I’ve been following doesn’t have me measuring or weighing food items in a conventional sense (using a scale) - instead I’m supposed to have lean protein at every meal that appears to be roughly the size of my fist. I do exercise a lot so I also have a snack post-workout that contains lean protein - for me that’s actually something like cottage cheese, Greek yogurt or a smoothie.
The protein discussion is helpful. I’ve liked the MyNetDiary app. (I am back now to the free version, and it gives me most of what I need). Since the app daily comments often include reminders about more calcium, I have not realized that I am low on protein . However not sure why it is suggesting such a high 129g target - that sounds like a lot for me (120lb).
DH was out with friends tonight, so I was able to indulge in sardines (which he detests). For other sardine fans, a can gives about 20g of protein.
https://www.livestrong.com/article/317267-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-sardines/