High protein on a veggie diet

[Recoverymoreprotein]

DH is recovering from an OP. He is going to need some more over the coming months. His BMI was within the lower side of the healthy range but he lost 5 kg in less than 2 weeks at the start of his illness.

Consultant says he needs a high protein diet but he is veggie. He is on lot of pain meds and can use crutches inside the house but isn’t allowed out so is worried about lots of eggs adding to constipation. He does eat fish. Normally he doesn’t have enough protein and has lots of carbs. He does eat fish.

Does anyone please have any food suggestions. Ideally ones with low effort/time as it the school holidays and we have young children and DH isn’t able to do what he normally does at home.

I could google but I have lots going on at the moment.

Do you know exactly what he eats eg by weighing and tracking on an app like MyFitnessPal or similar? As a pescatarian I'd have thought that fish would provide enough protein alongside other sources, unless he only occasionally eats it.

Otherwise you're looking at pulses, dairy, tofu etc so could he have something like Skyr or similar higher protein yoghurt with breakfast, include hummus, avocado, beans, cheese with lunch and so on.

I'd go with lots of eggs plus veg and less carbs. So green beans and scrambled eggs, quiche with veg in it, etc.

It is a good time of year for salads and peas and beans, then add a poached egg on top.

Thanks guy. He needs at least 75 g protein a day and 2 eggs is 10g of protein. 100g of greek yoghurt with 25g of mixed seeds or nuts is 15g of protein. I think he is going to need to eat a lot more fish. A fillet of hot smoked salmon has 20g and 2 bassa fillets has 32g of protein.

Does he like tuna? That's my high protein go-to. You could also look at protein powder supplements and make smoothies etc.

cheese and beans on toast/baked potato

Handful of nuts every day as snacks

Don't forget there is protein in milk, rice , bread - all the little extras can add up quickly

Tofu stir fry - hairy bikers have a great recipe

I am veggie and try to eat a high protein diet. I do use protein powders to up this.
I have a protein iced coffee every morning.

I eat a lot of eggs, Greek yogurt, seeds, nuts, halloumi, tofu, peanut butter (with cucumber sticks yum!), cheese etc.

I am mostly veggie with occasional fish and trying to increase my protein for weight loss/peri purposes. I usually get about 75/80g a day - more with effort.

I do eat a lot of dairy. I do a breakfast bowl of cottage cheese and eggs plus a veg (tomatoes or avocado or mushrooms) with a sprinkle of seeds. Filling, hits about 25g.

Eat a lot of greek yoghurt (fage 0% has a good protein content) tofu, chickpeas and lentils.

Basically I have to think of my protein source in every meal and throw in a tin of tuna or a salmon fillet every couple of days.

Lidl and Aldi do high protein shakes in bottles for a quid each.

Fish (including tinned tuna), nuts, cheese, eggs, Greek yoghurt, beans and lentils. And any vegetable protein he eats, like tofu or quorn.
Also remember to add the protein in vegetables themselves, 100g of broccoli and a single courgette both have about 4g of protein.
It should be fairly easy to hit 75g.

Just have protein at every meal.

Skyr (icelandic yoghurt) is highe rin protein than most yoghurts. Add a scoop of vanilla protein powder, some chopped muts, granola and fresh fruit for breakfast.
Or egg on wholemeal toast
Or beans on toast
Milkshake/smoothie with banana, berries, a spoonful of nut butter and a scoop of protein powder

Lentil soup with high protein wholemeal bread and peanut butter
Sardines on toasted seedbread or a tuna sandwich if he will eat either of those at lunchtime

Stir fry with tofu and cashews, served with egg noodles

Curry with lentils or chickpeas, served with flatbreads made from chickpea flour.

In the heat:

Salad nicoise with tuna, egg and white cannelini beans as well as green beans, leaves, olives etc.

Greek salad with feta and flatbreads made with yoghurt stirred into the batter (easy to make and delicious)

Snack on pistachios or bombay mix - the noodles are made from chickpea flour and the mix also contains lentils and nuts.

It could be worth looking at some protein powder.
There are loads of recipes on insta for breakfasts and stuff with high protein like overnight oats etc all different flavours and easy to prep.

For anything sweet/snack wise then Lidl/Aldi do protein puddings. 20g per pot. And Aldi's protein pancakes are amazing heated with maple syrup.

Bulk/Myprotein have a large range of protein powder, foods and ingredients etc.

To maybe help reduce fat/cholesterol from lots of eggs, egg whites can be brought for a good price from the supplement sites... or in stores "Two Chicks" I believe.
There's a good recipe from Greg Doucette for Anabolic French Toast using plenty of egg whites.

My Protein do this powder squash that is really nice and helps me hit my protein goals. Really nice over ice! There’s always discount codes floating around.

does he have milk in hot drinks? BOB milk has more protein, and you can add Marvel milk powder for even more protein.

Also don’t buy into things like ‘protein bread’ and ‘protein wraps’. The difference from the normal kinds is usually very small.

He's not veggie. He's pescetarian.

Vegetarians don't eat fish.
What a weird thing to claim

Claim that he is vegetarian.

I hope he feels better soon

Yes. When I tell someone I’m vegetarian & they think that means I eat fish, it’s always because they’ve met a pescatarian who’s got their terms wrong.

Thanks for that helpful reply. I was trying to get as much advice as possible, my husband is fairly poorly, needs multi operations and I’m trying to hold the household together, provide suitable foods for husband while looking after and entertaining and a school aged child who is very worried about Daddy and upset she can’t have friends over to play and and I have a pre schooler who seems to have re discovered tantrums.

@SwankyPants I’m sorry that was rude of me.

Tortilla quiche - blend 4 eggs and a half tub cottage cheese, pour into a tortilla that you have pressed into a cake tin, sprinkle with cheese and bake for 25-30 mins. add smoked salmon for extra protein.

Make curry or dhal with beans and lentils - add a piece of white fish if he likes but should provide reasonable protein eaten with rice.

Ive seen people make a chocolate protein pudding with silken tofu, melted dark chocolate and maple syrup, blend.

chia seeds are a complete protein source and can be mixed with milk, left overnight to thicken and eaten with fruit and Greek yoghurt (I love vanilla protein powder and frozen blueberries mixed in). Add honey or maple syrup to make them a bit sweeter. Also help constipation. If he doesn’t like the texture, you can blend to make them smooth but I don’t mind the texture as long as it’s broken up with some fruit.

peanut butter or nuts in general - not super high protein but if he’s trying to put on weight as well could be helpful.

babybel - 5g of protein each and a nice snack or addition to lunch.

Aldi have a decent high protein range. Things like the yoghurts which have 20g of protein in which he could have as pudding after meals or for breakfast.

They have other protein snacks too, like little packs of nuts and berries which have the protein listed on the outside. I can’t remember all of them but I’ve noticed when I call in on my way home from the gym and have protein in mind.

Here’s a link…

https://groceries.aldi.co.uk/en-GB/high-protein-foods

Sorry but he is not vegetarian he is pescatarian.
Not meaning to derail but I get fed up of people asking or presuming vegetarians eat fish. We don’t.

Would he eat things like tinned sardines? Low effort. Cottage cheese?