Tips to lower my protein


#1

I feel like over all I’m doing great! I just can’t seem to drop my protein :confused: being this early on will I naturally drop as time goes on or is there some trick to lowering it?


(Marc Blythe) #2

Are you eating a lot of nuts and/or cheese ? I find it easy to overdo it with nuts or cheese, whereas eating meat/eggs seems to be easier to limit.


#3

The range of 1.0 to 1.5 gm/kg of LBM is just the range that seems to meet the body’s needs for most people, but maybe you just need more.

If the protein is being used for gluconeogenesis (GNG) to fuel your brain, it will go down over time as it switches to ketones.

My suggestion is if you’re hungry for protein, eat it, and when you stop being hungry for it, it will naturally go down.


#4

Here is what I ate today no cheese or seeds let em
Know what ya think!


#5

By eating animal-sourced proteins with higher fat, you will naturally eat less protein. For example, chicken thigh with skin as opposed to skinless chicken breast. Or hamburger patty as opposed to tuna packed in water. Or, add more eggs (boiled, fried, scrambled) to your meals to replace lean proteins.


#6

ok! will try that I have a bunch of ground pork in my Freezer im wondering if that would be another good one?


(Marc Blythe) #7

Don’t be too hard on yourself either, you never hit every number every single day :slight_smile: Your macros are probably pretty close to where you want them, if you are just starting out, pat yourself on the back for a job well done (those carbs are really low, great work). Focus on tuning into how you feel and trying to understand your hunger (eat when hungry, stop when full) Think about how each meal makes you feel and learn from that.

Maybe try pushing breakfast back a little later in the day, coffee or tea first thing and eat a bit later when you feel hungry. At some point, perhaps you can combine breakfast and lunch into one larger meal (but smaller than the current breakfast + lunch). Don’t force this, listen to your body.


#8

Ground pork makes great fatty meatballs. Better when fried in lard, too. Heres a recipe that is a personal favourite…not sure if you might like it?


(Todd Allen) #9

If you are trying to maintain or increase weight and you want to cut protein you should be upping your fat intake to produce satiety and have less urge for protein.

If you are trying to lose weight increasing the amount of low energy density foods can increase satiety while keeping your calorie count low. Increase the amount of water you are consuming before and during your meal. Start with a glass of water or tea. Make soups, stews and other dishes that have more water.

Use ingredients that retain a lot of water and bulk up your food without many calories. Mushrooms are a good choice. Greens such as kale, chard and spinach are low carb and can add some bulk to a meal and provide magnesium and other nutrients that can be lacking in a muscle meat heavy diet. Shirataki noodles are made from a largely indigestible yam flour and can provide nearly calorie free bulk. While grains are typically avoided on keto diets due to their high carb to protein and fat ratios there are several choices of seeds and even grains that can be used in moderation to provide some bulk while staying within a very low carb budget. For example, 3 tablespoons of chia seed has 9 g fat, 5 g protein and 13 g carbs. The carb amount sounds high except it is 11 g of fiber and 0 g of sugars making it fairly keto friendly. Soak the chia and it absorbs a lot of water producing a thick gel. Ground flax seed is a good source of omega 3 fat and it also has a lot of highly absorbtive fiber. You don’t want to cook with it as that can degrade the fat quality but it can be added to cooked dishes near the end to thicken them. Quinoa, barley and rolled oats all have higher amounts of digestible starch but in moderation can be used to thicken and add some bulk while still staying within a keto carb budget. For example barley has a terrible macro nutrient ratio, it’s mostly digestible starch. A single tablespoon has 13 g carbs about 8 of which are starch. But one tablespoon can do a lot to thicken bone broth and help make it a hearty soup.


(carl) #10

My trick is to eat one meal with protein, breakfast or lunch, where I can control the amount of protein. Then next meal time I eat macadamia nuts to get my fat up. I did that during the low-calorie leg of Dave Feldman’s cholesterol protocol, about 1200 calories a day, and it worked great.


(David) #11

On a side note, I would say alter your goal amounts in MFP, it looks like you have default values.


#12

I also find it really easy to go over on protein. You can rack it up really easily with things like cheese, nuts and cured meats, mostly because you easily eat a lot of them.

I would echo what others have said about fatty cuts and bulking meals with low carb veg that you can load with fat to fill you up.

Early days though, I wouldn’t sweat it too much. Switch up your meats to the fattier cuts but just keep going. Your appetite will start to drop as you get further into keto. You could go lower carb on breakfast with eggs. There are options to bring the protein down but maybe you don’t need to. It really depends on your lifestyle and health history. Do you know what your LBM is? What is your actual protein target range?


#13

I believe my LBM is 106-110 depending on formula :slight_smile: