High protein diet, but trying to loose weight. Any suggestions??

Queen-Bee_2

Hi everyone,

To address some health issues, I've been advised to incorporate more protein in my diet. However, I am also trying to loose weight (I've piled on 3 stone over the last two years:eek: , so I have quite a way to go).

When I started to follow a low cost MSE diet last summer, I replaced a lot more of the more expensive protein foods I used to eat with cheaper carbohydrates (lots of veggie things, including pastas and potatoes). I love this sort of food, but unfortunately my metabolism and my body don't!!!

In the old days when I was told to up my protein levels, I simply upped my steak eating, not exactly a hardship, but beyond my current means!!!

I have started eating lots of eggs and quorn, but when I looked up the latter, it had much, much less protein that chicken. Mince is high protein, but seems to have a lot of fat in it. I know that there are different types of protein too - I think first and second class - but again, I am fuzzy on the details.

Does anyone have any ideas for low cost, high protein meals that will fit in with my need to loose weight?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Mr_Lahey

Queen-Bee wrote: »

Hi everyone,

To address some health issues, I've been advised to incorporate more protein in my diet. However, I am also trying to loose weight (I've piled on 3 stone over the last two years:eek: , so I have quite a way to go).

When I started to follow a low cost MSE diet last summer, I replaced a lot more of the more expensive protein foods I used to eat with cheaper carbohydrates (lots of veggie things, including pastas and potatoes). I love this sort of food, but unfortunately my metabolism and my body don't!!!

In the old days when I was told to up my protein levels, I simply upped my steak eating, not exactly a hardship, but beyond my current means!!!

I have started eating lots of eggs and quorn, but when I looked up the latter, it had much, much less protein that chicken. Mince is high protein, but seems to have a lot of fat in it. I know that there are different types of protein too - I think first and second class - but again, I am fuzzy on the details.

Does anyone have any ideas for low cost, high protein meals that will fit in with my need to loose weight?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Red meats such as beef have a lot of protein but also saturated fats. The leaner cuts of beef tend to be sirloin but its quite an expensive cut.

White meats such as Chicken and Turkey are very high in protein and also low in fat. White fish is also good for protein such as cod and haddock and is virtually fat free.

Potatoes are full of carbs but their problem is the same as bananas the carbs they have in them are slow burning ones.

A perfect, cheap high protein meal would be along the lines of:

Steamed chicken breast/turkey/haddock with veg.

The rule of thumb is generally don't eat red meat more than twice a week. But if you had Turkey, Haddock, Chicken, Chicken, Turkey then had Beef on Sunday as stew and threw all your left over veg in it you would be fine.

Other high protein foods although not particularly as good are cheese, eggs and nuts. You can add these in throughout the day, nuts are high in fat but it is good fat - but all fat is bad in excess.

A problem you might face is that the body can only process so much protein at once. Of the top of my heads its something like 40g. So don't waste time eating loads of chicken breasts.

You might also want to consider a lean protein shake?

misskool

Tofu is high protein and low cost but may not be to your taste.

Fish? Stuff like tinned tuna or cheaper types of fish (mackerel)

I think lots of the legumes are high in protein as well, so things like lentils, pinto beans, black beans

Quinoa is apparently high protein.

Bongedone

Potatoes are slow burning but it depends on how you prepare them.

Check the GI ratings here:

http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/

bexbex

eggs are great

motherhen2234

Bongedone wrote: »

Potatoes are slow burning but it depends on how you prepare them.

Check the GI ratings here:

http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/

I agree with this poster to loose weight and keep up reasonable protein etc try having a low GI diet. Its not as complicated as it sounds as the basic principles are low fat and good carbs.

For increasing your protein uptake consider investing in some protein powder (we get ours from myprotein.co.uk as they were cheapest and did just plain powder). We use the powder in smoothies for breakfast / pre training snacks and we also used the powder as a base for home made protein bars (which make a great mid day snack as you feel like your having a bit of cake but are actually having something quite healthy!).

Other users have also mentioned using beans and lentils. Great for bulking out dishes whilst still adding protein. Other than that try and get the best quality meat you can, keep it lean and cook it healthy. I'd have a look your local butchers, consider some of the sainsbury's basic range such as their chicken breasts (we use them to make snack pots and we can't tell any difference) and look at slow cooking methods to use cheaper cuts of meats.

M x

mlz1413

Try mackeral - i'm fussy about fish but this is really meaty texture but be careful its high in protein & calories.

I love mince but it can be fatty so I brown mine in water and then throw the water away - means you aren't adding oil and it gets rid of a lot of the fat & starch. Then just add flavourings as normal, no one I've cooked for knows the difference.

VenusFlytrap_2

Queen Bee - I lost 3 stone a few years ago doing the Atkins diet, did the very intense first stage where the only carbs you're allowed is 30g a day of salad veg, everything else is protein. It was hard but it really agreed with me (healthy skin and hair, bags of energy) and I lost weight very quickly, but it's too restrictive in the long term so I switched to 'normal' healthy eating, still keeping an eye on carb intake, and lost a further 5 stone, which I have managed to maintain for the last 5 years! :j

You can still eat steak on a budget if you like braising/stewing steak - just stick it in the slow cooker or a casserole dish in the oven with some gravy granules or a sauce mix (or make your own with stock and veg etc) and let it cook on very low for a good few hours, the meat is beautifully tender and it makes a very satisfying meal with veg and sweet potatoes (lower GI than white ones, so good if you want to lose weight - also switch to brown rice and wholemeal bread and pasta, you get full eating less of them, stay fuller for longer and they help prevent sugar cravings).

As others have said, choose the leanest cuts of meat and get creative with how you cook it - I buy cheaper chicken thighs and drumsticks rather than expensive chicken fillets and then cook them with marinades and sauces, even a whole free range chicken is better value than a pack of fillets, it's easy to remove the breast meat and use it in a stir fry, curry etc or have it as a traditional roast (skip the Yorkie pud and only have couple of spuds, fill up on veg and meat) and then use the leftovers to stretch it out into more meals.

Eggs are brilliant for protein and scrambled/poached/boiled eggs and omelettes can all be made very healthily - a Spanish omlette with whatever veg you have in the fridge and bit of shredded leftover chicken/ham is delicious and doesn't need any carbs to accompany it.

As long as you aim to eat mostly meat, fish, veg and wholegrains and go easy on the refined carbs (white bread, pasta, potatoes, rice) and sugar, you can't go far wrong and should start to lose weight and feel better generally. Do allow yourself the odd treat though, the occasional chocolate bar or chip butty isn't going to kill you!

Queen-Bee_2

Thanks guys...!!
Mr Lehey, I didn't know that about red meat, thank you and I'll keep the 40g in mind
MissKool, I'll give Tofu a whirl, but don't actually know what do with it, so any ideas would be welcome!!
Bongedone, didn't know that spuds had protein in them, but the GI bit is interesting
BexBex, I eat lots of eggs, that's the one thing I do know about
Motherhen, I'll check out the protein power thing - do you know where they source it from though? ie that it'd not made from anything revolting like boiled up sinews/animal bits (sorry, hope you don't mind me asking!!! :rotfl:)
Miz, great tip about the mince, thanks!
Venusflytrap, that is one amazing journey you've been on to loose that lot. Well done! :T thanks also for the tip about the slow cooker! I've always thought that drumsticks didn't have much meat on them. Maybe I should look at them with new eyes!!
QB

Please keep the suggestions coming, it's all useful and I am learning such a lot..

VenusFlytrap_2

Queen Bee - Drumsticks and thighs have a suprising amount of meat on them - not if they're from some scrawny little chicken, obviously, but the ones you buy in packs tend to be quite meaty, especially if they're free range which I always try to buy. And the darker meat on the leg is actually more flavoursome and moist than the breast meat, which can be dry and bland.

I'm going to cook drumsticks with reggae reggae sauce tomorrow, not done it before so I'll let you know how it goes, should be nice served with cous cous.

And before I go - you haven't said anything about what you eat for breakfast, but my favourite part of the Atkins diet was eating eggs and bacon every morning, and if you grill the bacon and don't fry the egg it can be very healthy and really sets you up for the day. Not very MSE to have every day though, so what about beans on toast? Not a fan of beans myself but they are a reasonable source of protein and with brown bread would be filling in the morning and stop you snacking til lunch.

Just some ideas for you - hope it helps.

northwest1965

Have you tried soya mince? I've just started using half & half with my normal mince. Its the dried that I'm using. You really cannot tell and its cheaper!
Also if you like porridge or cereal, try soya milk (unsweetened of course)