Vegetarian - meeting protein targets

[ba66e77]

How do you guys meet your protein targets without going over in other areas?

I’d been having a ridiculous amount of protein shakes to hit my targets (talking 4-5 a day) but decided that probably wasn’t a good way of doing it. I’ve recently had a plan made by a personal trainer and he’s got me eating a tonne of quorn, but that’s packed with salt so I don’t think this is a good idea either.

I know there are plenty of protein rich foods (e.g. almonds, soya and various other beans, cheese, yoghurt, etc) but they’re all high in something else that I don’t want them to be high in, especially as I’m also trying to lose weight. Do I need to go back to the shakes?

I’m looking to hit around 200g of protein, no more than 50g of fat and then however many carbs get me to my calorie count. I’m no expert on this by any means so any advice you can give would be welcome!

 

[phdjones]

@ba66e77 Lentils in everything. Due to lentils being virtually flavourless, you can slip em into anything undetected. I mix them into rice, beans, curries, pasta sauces etc. I also use pastas made from peas to add some extra protein. Good luck

 

[rockworx]

@phdjones I think red lentils have a really nice taste, I eat them plain sometimes but yes lentils are a safe addition to almost anything

 

[s010]

@phdjones deleted [sup][sup][sup]What[/sup][/sup][/sup] [sup][sup][sup]is[/sup][/sup][/sup] [sup][sup][sup]this?[/sup][/sup][/sup]

 

[tery]

@ba66e77

I’m looking to hit around 200g of protein, no more than 50g of fat

This doesn't add up, at all. It's either too high protein or too low fat.

 

[personalizedbook]

@ba66e77

I’m looking to hit around 200g of protein

....

I weigh 90kg

A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults

With protein supplementation, protein intakes at amounts greater than ~1.6 g/kg/day do not further contribute RET-induced gains in FFM.

Even if you want to shoot a bit higher to give yourself an extra buffer, I can't see going past 1.8 g/kg/day which would be 160 g/day for someone your size.

 

[ba66e77]

@personalizedbook Yeah the comments here suggest I’m probably not doing that right, which is a relief tbh as it’s a nightmare to try and do.

 

[personalizedbook]

@ba66e77 Vegans tend to understate protein needs while gym bros tend to overstate protein needs. As with most things in life, the truth is somewhere in the middle. I think you would do just fine on 1.6 g/kg. Some people get away with much less even, so you just have to experiment for yourself and find the level that works for you.

 

[dawn16]

@ba66e77 Fuck lentils bro. Seitan all day. A seitan field roast has 100g of protein.

 

[ba66e77]

@dawn16 Where do you buy that? Doesn't seem to be on any of the big supermarkets here e.g. Tesco, Asda, etc. Is it these guys? https://www.loveseitan.com/shop/

 

[donovb]

@ba66e77 Cheapest and most control is to make Seitan yourself, store bought contains salty soy sauce. Get a 1-5kg bag of "Vital Wheat Gluten" online. It's finicky to cook, start with this recipe: Mix gluten matching your protein target with onion powder and/or garlic powder and/or nutritional yeast and/or paprika and/or red beat juice and/or salt, knead sparingly, roll into log, fix into cooking bag and compress tightish with string, boil for an hour, chill until next day. High protein vegan lunchmeat for you. If you want to go gourmet, try Connie's RAWsome kitchen on YouTube.

 

[dawn16]

@ba66e77 Try vegan sausages in the tofu section. They usually are made of seitan.

 

[fanymv]

@ba66e77 We occasionally buy seitan from https://www.thevegankindsupermarket.com/pages/search-results-page?q=seitan but it may get expensive if you're eating a lot.

We make it more often though. It's quick to prepare and very cheap. It can be made with tons of different flavours has a huge amount of protein. It takes a while to cook but we haven't found that to be a big issue.

We make a big batch of it which lasts around a 3-5 days. This is one of my favourite recipes: https://www.thebuddhistchef.com/recipe/seitan/

 

[afhvacigg]

@ba66e77 Beans are definitely your friend here! Especially lentils; not only are they higher in protein than most legumes, they're also lower in fiber and will be less filling/bloating, so it's easier to eat more (compared to other legumes).

You could try Seitan, assuming you don't have Celiac's. I've heard it's relatively easy to make at home too, once you get started.

Nuts/Seeds really aren't high protein foods, they are high fat foods. So if your goal is lots of protein without overdoing fats, be mindful of the ratio here (around 2:1 to 3:1 grams of fatrotein).

Regarding the Quorn, it's worth saying that salt isn't actually as bad for you as you think; there's a lot of conflicting research out there, but it seems that what we're told is "high sodium" is actually perfectly fine -- in the range of 3,000-5,000 mg per day seems optimal, according to some. Others will claim this is too high, and lower is always better, but there are studies showing that lower is worse. Hard to say what is truly optimal.... but I believe the real problem isn't high sodium itself -- though it of course can be overdone --but rather high sodium combined with low potassium. The potassium to sodium balance is critical, and most Americans are considerably deficient in potassium. You may want to do your own research, but consider that the high salt in Quorn may not be so problematic, as long as your potassium intake is high; some of the best potassium sources are Potatoes. Sweet Potatoes, Bananas, and legumes in general. Even if you cut back on salt, it's wise to check how much potassium you're consuming (I like cronometer.com personally).

 

[ba66e77]

@afhvacigg Thanks, that's interesting stuff. I had never heard that "high" salt might not be as bad as it's made out to be. I do have sweet potatoes and bananas both in my diet. I'll have to look into it more.

It's tricky though, I've been looking up stuff online for years now and I still feel like I know very little, as evidenced by a lot of what I've said in this thread. Even then, there are conflicting opinions and there never seems to be a correct answer, so I never feel confident with my choices.

 

[believing2015]

@ba66e77 What is your calorie count?

200 is easy. If I were you I would go

2 x 250 g lentils (125g protein) for lunch and dinner.

35 g of protein powder (20-25 protein)

100 g of oats (15g protein)

100 gr of peanuts/nuts (30 something).

 

[ba66e77]

@believing2015 I’m looking at about 2100 calories ideally as I want to lose weight currently.

I’ll have to look into lentils again then. When I looked before, I looked at those plus a range of beans (e.g. black, borlotti, etc) and whilst they all had good protein counts, they also seemed to be full of carbs, which I presume I want to avoid?

Is it bad to have tinned lentils/beans maybe? That’s what I was buying.

 

[believing2015]

@ba66e77 tinned lentils are full of water and cooked. those are their dry measurements.

100 g of lentils = 300 g cooked. So If you eat 100 g of canned lentils, your protein is really only 8g.

Btw, 2100 is super low. I am 5'4 and my cutting diet is 2100. How tall are you? I am at 2100 and aiming 120-130 P per day.

 

[ba66e77]

@believing2015 Right, that makes sense. I'll have to have a better look into that as I was buying everything in that area tinned.

I'm 5 foot 11 and yeah it is low. i weigh 90kg (no idea what my body fat % is unfortunately). I always read a good estimate for protein required to bulk is your weight doubled essentially, but maybe that's not accurate.

 

[believing2015]

@ba66e77 BTW I am not the one who downvoted you just so you understand.

I always read a good estimate for protein required to bulk is your weight doubled essentially, but maybe that's not accurate.

I am not understanding you correctly here. So do you want to bulk or cut?

The general consensus - even among honest omnivore scientists - is that you only need .82g P/lb (roughly 1.84g / kg) per lean mass.

I went above just because Lentils is such a convenience food for me to eat. It's not because I think more protein is more muscle after it's past 1.84g/kg LBM.

You don't need 200g of protein, or even 166g, as your LBM is probably more in the 72-78 kg. So your minimum protein intake is really 132 - 135g.

To answer your question:

At 2100 Calories, you will get that 132g protein really easily.