How to manage high protein intake but keep calories low

[Mini1977]

Started a diet recently and decided rather than just calorie counting i was going to make sure i was getting my correct macronutrients.

So for my body weight, age and height i should be eating 123.8g carbs, 185.7g protein, 45.9g fat over 1651 calories per day.

Can anyone help me with meal ideas in how i can reach these goals or if there is any supplements etc.

so far today i have had protein pancakes & protein yoghurt i have consumed 528 calories 62.6g carbs, 14.9g fat & 36.7g protein.

Really not sure how i am going to reach my protein intake and stay under calories.

TIA

I struggle with protein but my favourite meals are salmon with broccoli and carrots and Pesto Chicken with salad. Pretty low cal but high protein.

Phd plant protein powder has 93 calories and 20g of protein. You can mix that with Greek yogurt, low fat if you are watching calories.
Kvarg has 93 calories and around 15g of protein
Tofu has 117 cals and 13g protein per 1/4 block (cauldron)

Did you make the pancakes or buy ready made? Flour is ridiculously calorific for a bit of dust!

186g is a lot of protein!
I aim for around 120 on a bodyweight at about 65kg

What was the calculation you used to get that?

@ThirdStorm I am not a fan of salmon unfortunately which is a bit annoying because i know salmon can be good for protein, i keep trying it over the years in the hope one day my taste buds change but no luck so far, Pesto chicken sounds lovely though i normally make chicken, pesto and rocket wrap for lunch but opted for pulled pork today.

@FlaminHeckAilsa Thanks for that info i will look into these, i haven't actually tried tofu the look sort of puts me off, What sort of flavour does it have? I bought the pancakes (Myprotein) 382 calories with 26.1g of protein.

I am not convinced that non body builders need this much protein. I will be honest when I went too hard trying to eat 130g of protein a day it gave me really bad stomach upsets and my IBS flared up. There is a lot of whey in these products and too much can upset your gut. Swapping to vegan powders does help but these have less protein in them (about half I have found). Agree pancakes are made of flour which is always a frustrating waste of cals

I think eating 0.8g of protein per kg of body weight is the minimum and getting in a bit more than that is good but you don’t need to go mad. Protein is great for satiation and muscle growth but to get it all in you end up eating just ploughing through UPF’s and drinking the powders it’s really tough. The yoghurts I do like but the milkshakes have over 200 cals in them.

I tend to eat a lot of lean meats, eggs, salmon, eggs, Greek yoghurt and get in about 100g and it’s not too hard

@DecayedStrumpet https://www.bodycalculate.com/your/macro-calculator
I'm 78kg and 5ft 8

@Mini1977 i looked at that myprotein stuff, I think it’s all in Iceland right now in frozen section and the cals in the foods were mad high so I didn’t buy them. The stuff in Aldi also is pretty high calorie because of the protein.

If you want protein in meat don’t bother with pork tbh

@Menora I did think myself it was a bit much, trying to work it out but stay under calorie intake is near impossible. was also considering doing fasting but then i was thinking if i fast its going to make it harder to reach the protein goal.

@Menora some of the stuff isn't too bad i've had a few low cal meals from my protein slightly over 500. It was just some pork with cheese and rocket but tbh after my yoghurt and pancakes i don't think i will be eating anything until tea time. I'm stuffed

Just switch out pork to turkey, chicken and beef. Pork can be a tricky one as it’s often super salty, which will hold onto water in your body and it’s often not very lean so can add on a load of calories where you can eat more white meat for the same calories. Lean pork unprocessed is good but hams and sausages you can swap them for white meats.

I know I had the same dilemma it was easier to switch back to 35% protein in my macro

The research evidence suggests that 1.6x target body weight for protein is ideal, This is still 2 x the WHO guidelines of 0.8 per kg of body weight. If you go too high it will have adverse health impacts without much benefit to muscle mass.

How much strength training are you doing? If you are in the gym doing heavy weights 5 x a week you could possibly go to 2x ideal body weight.

I'm big on consuming protein, but that's an extremely high target and not realistic on that calorie total.
I have male friends who are six foot and strength train (bodybuilding without the extreme competition angle) and they're rarely going above 200g consistently and they're on 3000 calories!

@Thegreatgiginthesky3 days exercise no weight training at the monent. Currently doing 5k walks 3x a week along with 1-2 cardio workouts so i would say my exercise is light to moderate.

@Proteinpud This is the type of information I'm looking for :) i did think myself 187g is high given the fact it seems impossible to get that amount in on a day and without going over my calorie intake.

That's an insanely high protein target for so few calories. Try this calculator instead. www.jamessmithacademy.com/macro-calculator/

@radishpatch checked on that and it's given 1864 Calroies with 119g protein

Just looked mine up using the 1.6 and it’s bang on, around 105g a day which is not too unrealistic. The 0.8 is the minimum amount but it is low but I think it’s a good guideline for people as the basics

I think that amount of protein would be very very hard to consume on those calories without huge amounts of v low calorie protein like prawns, egg whites, protein powder. I just try and keep protein above 100g a day and try and get some protein into all meals/snacks (I dont really snack though). Otherwise I think it's just going to be really hard to maintain.

I like 0% greek yoghurt mixed with vanilla protein powder and frozen berries for a snack/breakfast. Also a tortilla quiche like this: https://reallifenutritionist.com/tortilla-quiche/ (I make a big one using a protein tortilla and cut into 4 for breakfast and have with a bit of chilli sauce).

Also good are protein bagels from Aldi and light babybels (5g protein for 50 cals).

I agree with others that that’s an incredibly high protein target, especially if you’re not doing resistance training.

But also if you want to prioritise protein I don’t think it’s helpful to go for higher-protein versions of carbohydrate based foods. The pancakes probably have roughly equal carbs and protein, which is more protein than a regular pancake but it’s still a pancake.

A 2-egg cheese omelette would have say 15g protein and almost no carbs. You could add some additional egg whites to it to get more protein without many more calories.

@Workawayxx Thanks for this :)
I sometimes don't have breakfast and only have lunch, dinner & snack. had those pancakes and yoghurt for breakfast this morning and i actually feel full enough i could potentially skip lunch. The quiche looks lovely could be batched cooked for lunches for a few days also i suppose.

@Mini1977 if you break it down, 186g protein a day would mean 3 meals a day of 50g protein plus two protein heavy snacks. 50g of protein is one meal is heavy for most people - that's a large steak + an egg, or two chicken breasts type per meal type territory. Including breakfast. Every day.

Firstly, for most people that would leave them feeling uncomfortably full and with some digestion issues. Secondly, to do that on 1600 calories your diet would have to be almost entirely turkey, chicken breast, lean beef, egg whites, and a small amount of veg. You wouldnt have space (calorie wise) for much else.

Higher protein helps most people with feeling full, and therefore eating fewer calories overall. And it's needed if you're strength training.
If you're not strength training then personally, id take the approach of centering your meals and snacks around protein, add in vegetables, eat those first and keep the carby portions small and eat them last. Thats easier and more sustainable than long term tracking and usually results in s deficit for most people.

To give you an example, I'm 60kg, aim for 110g protein a day, tend to average 100g, and under 1700 calories unless I'm socialising. To do that I eat a high protein yogurt + fruit for breakfast, lunch might be something like a marinated chicken breast chopped up into a pitta with salad, dinner will Bolognese or chilli made with lean meat, added veg and smaller portions of pasta or rice. Snacks do include chocolate, but also babybels, measured portions of nuts, ready cooked chicken. That tends to keep me at my calorie target (which for me is a slight deficit due to my exercise levels and history of strength training)

@fairlygoodmother Yeah it's seeming like it.
Just checked the packet and the carbs are actually double :/. Just about finding the right protein foods and taking the protein goal down make it more manageable.

It is really worth considering the impacts on mortality (including cancer) of a very high protein diet in middle age. It is of more benefit when you are over 65 when sarcopenia is more of an issue and you are less able to extract nutrients from your food.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/protein-consumption-linked-longevity#:~:text=A%20high%2Dprotein%20diet%20during,increases%20longevity%20in%20many%20animals.

@Proteinpud This is completely get between the yoghurt and pancakes i was 36g of protein and now feeling as if i have eat a full steak dinner. Thanks for that, gives me an insight into where and how i can get some protein in and your meal examples don't actually sound too bad :)