Upping protein - impact on calories

[BrunchBarBandit]

Hi, I’ve been on WLI for 17 months and have been a slow loser, but down 35lb in that time. Switched from MJ to Wegovy recently and now back on MJ.

I started strength training with a PT about 6 weeks ago and for the last 2 weeks I’ve been following her advice re protein : 1.6g protein per 1kg body weight which equates to about 140g protein each day. I was previously having about 1g per kg. It definitely helps with the post exercise muscle aches!

Maybe I’m too new to this and haven’t figured it out yet but I have found that adding another 40-50g protein is adding 400-500 cals a day and I’m putting on weight again - about 3lb in 2 weeks.

Does anyone have any advice on how to achieve that much protein without overloading the calories?

(for info, I eat low carb, mostly non-upf, high fibre diet - and a good range of protein sources : Greek yoghurt, eggs, meat, fish, peanut butter, beans and pulses, soya, etc)

Is anyone else taking up weights and upping protein and still losing on WLI?

I've just gotten 77g protein on 900 cals today, highest I've got is 105g protein on 1300 cals. If you cut out the carbs and focus on protein, you can do it with less cals. I weight 58kg currently. I start my day off with a protein shake with added collagen and peanut butter powder.thats around 35-40g protein there. The rest is dietary through meals. A high protein yoghurt card ad 20-25g protein

Me. Going to the gym 3 times a week for 30-40 mins of weights. I've got the Emma Bardwell 30g Protein book - although loads of the recipes are on her Instagram. She advocates 30g of protein per meal (as well as 30g of fibre a day.) Aiming for 1200 cals a day but usually end up with on 1300. It's a slow and steady loss, I'm 4st down in 6 months.

Your maths doesn't add up
You say 140g protein equates to 1.6g per kg

So, I calculated your weight to be 87.5kg
140 / 1.6 = 87.5

So, because you previously ate 1g per kg then you've increased your protein by 52.5g
140 - 87.5 = 52.5

A gram of protein is 4 calories, so you have increased your calories by 52.5 x 4 = 210

Chicken and egg white omelette would get your extra protein for under 200 calories. 100g chicken or turkey is 165 calories and 31g protein, 2 egg whites is 40 calories and 7g protein.

Food Source - Protein/calories per 100g (approx.)
Egg whites 11 g 52 kcal
Dried fish (cod, haddock) 63 g (very low fat)
Cod/White fish 18-20 g 80-100 kcal
Tuna (canned in water, drained) 25-29 g 116-140 kcal
Shrimp/Prawns 24 g 99 kcal
Skinless Chicken Breast 31 g 165 kcal
Skinless Turkey Breast 29-30 g 147-189 kcal
Nonfat Greek Yogurt/Skyr 10-11 g 59-62 kcal
Low-fat Cottage Cheese 11-12 g 80-98 kcal

Crikey, excellent maths and thanks for the calculations.

Thats still 200 extra cals for the protein and then there’s whatever I eat with it. I have pretty much introduced an extra meal where there wasn’t one before when I look at my notes. I think I’ll need to be more conscious of that

Thanks for this 🙂

Thats a useful list

I have been conflicted about messaging re low fat options not being great choices and generally allowing myself the 10% fat Greek yoghurt, the nuts and seeds, the avocado and so on. I have cut down the Greek yoghurt to 2% fat though.

I’ve never made an egg white omelette! (Goes off to look up the cals in egg yokes…)

Just be aware that eating very high protein can seriously damage your kidneys. I know protein is very fashionable at the moment, and some populations can benefit from increasing protein. It's not a completely benign intervention and can have consequences itself. Ask your trainer to talk you through the risks. If she can, great. If she cannot, then don't take her dietary advice.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7460905/

Thanks

What protein shake do you use? And you use peanut butter powder? Why not peanut butter itself?

I look up that book. Thanks for mentioning it

You can’t get that protein for 210kcal by eating extra, protein dense food, because no food is purely protein. So it doesn’t add up that way in practice.

i guess the best way is to replace lower protein food with higher protein ones but without adding extra meals (basically as you said before)

Noted. Will do

thanks

The yolk is the best bit of eggs, but what I’ll do is split it, so 1 full egg and 1 white only for example so I have a 2 egg omelette but less calories.

I have clear whey protein (from myprotein) its around 90 cals and 20g of protein, I add nutrition geeks collagen glow up which is 50 cals and 12g of protein.

Peanut butter powder has had the fat removed and is concentrated, so low fat and higher protein. I get it from holland and barrett. I use myprotein origins protein powder with creatine in it, currently but have used meal replacements previously. I prefer the whey protein better as more smooth than plant protein

That’s really good to know about, thank you for mentioning the peanut butter powder. I’ll get some of that

Peanut butter is way too high in calories. I do have at least one protein shake a day but main sources are - chicken or turkey breast, white fish (cod haddock) tins tuna, cartons of egg white. 0% Fage / Skyr and fat free cottage cheese also ok. I was on 140g protein at 1,200 when I lost weight.

Collagen does not contain all the amino acids so does not count towards the total.

I don’t know why anyone thinks fat free Fage yoghurt is a bad option, nothing healthy about milk fat - the negative comments are around low fat yoghurt with sugar added. I didn’t have any nuts during my fat loss phase and the only seeds were 5g of chia seeds per days.

Pulses quite high in carbs, egg yolks high in fat, meat high in fat (I’ll have occasionally, also occasion salmon)

Not at these levels though. 120g a day is not “very high protein”. Maybe at 250g a day.

Some of my go to options..... Huel protein powder 20g 90kcal, collagen 12g 50 kcal, Biotiful kefir protein yog 30g 165kcal, Lidl seitan 24.9g 149kcal, tablespoon cooked lentils 2g 28 kcal (cook a batch in the slow cooker with stock the add spoonful to soups, sauces and salads)

Strength training makes your muscles repair and grow which causes water retention and higher blood volume, my weight always increases when I use weights. I eat more protein to feed the muscles and just accept a higher weight during this time. BUT once the muscles are used to it or you have a rest from exercising, your new slimmer more toned physique is revealed and weight will drop.

1.6g protein per 1kg is what the OP reported and I linked her a paper that explored this range. From the text: "Within this range, protein consumption >1.5 g/kg per day is generally considered to be a high-protein diet. "

Egg white can be added to lots of things to boost the protein, aside from the obvious (1 whole egg and 100-150g of egg white in an omlette or scrambled). I stir 100g egg white into porridge on the hob for example.

This is what I am hoping for!

You don't add an extra meal, you add protein to your existing meals and tweak them so you remove something else.
I drink clear protein at 60cal per serving and 11g protein so it's pretty good 'value' and I have two a day that adds a good chunk to my protein with very little calorie outlay. I also changed my meals so I have more protein and less carbs with each meal.

I read the paper, thanks again for posting it. I chatted to PT about it too.

I took from it that as I am aiming for the low- end of what counts as high protein and as I don’t have any existing kidney issues then I am at low-risk of causing problems for myself.

Yeah this is what I am starting to realise. I had added a huel high protein shake to which I added Greek yoghurt and peanut butter to get the protein up to 50g but it was 550 cals. I was using up a pack of huel that I had but I’ve ordered some lower cal protein powder now