Trying to revamp my diet

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Permalink Reply by Kat on February 10, 2010 at 5:46am

I am famished and eat too much if I don't get my protein. I eat more like 100 grams a day. But I use whey protein for part of that in smoothies. I eat lots of lean protein, turkey, chicken, etc. I stay away from soy, I like unsweetened almond milk. I also eat a lot of veggies to balance that. I work out quite a bit, maybe that is why I get hungry without my protein? Anyway, I think it's all about balance, we need a balance of a lot of different foods to be healthy. Hope that helps?

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Permalink Reply by Celeste Schwab on February 10, 2010 at 9:01am

I don't think soy is the evil monster that some private interest groups are making it out to be. Neither do I think it is the miracle food the soy industry makes it out to be. The biggest problem with soy is that most of what is grown is not fit for human consumption. Organic non gmo soy is ok for most people to incorporate into their diet. There are many non soy sources of protein powders, rice, hemp, vegetable. I love those for making smoothies in the morning. I listened to the veg camp for years and ate the low protein diet. I can tell you I feel so much better on a day to day basis incorporating more protein into my diet. I just try to vary my diet throughout the day and from day to day. I don't do soy for breakfast lunch and dinner. I try to eat it only once or twice a day. I like the unsweetened almond milks, and oat milks, but the bad point on those is no protein in them.

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Permalink Reply by Robearsgirl on February 10, 2010 at 10:33am

Mmm... I love the unsweetened almond milk too :) I'm just leary of almonds since they're all irradiated these days.

Here's what I'm currently doing and liking:

Breakfast -- fruit smoothie with soy protein powder in it (I get my soy stuff from the Shaklee corporation, which is really the only company I trust when it comes to soy because they're SUPER-DUPER picky about where their soy comes from and making sure it's non-GMO and organic and all of that). I also add flax seed meal and peanut butter to that.

Lunch -- a big greens-and-veggie salad usually with hard-boiled eggs in it, occasionally some chicken or strong cheese like feta or blue.

Snack -- soy protein shake or apple with peanut butter

Supper -- salad, veggie, meat (fish, red meat, chicken, or eggs), and a small serving of carbs (beans, potatoes, quinoa, etc. I try to stick with non-flour carbs as I've been having some trouble with baked goods even 100% whole wheat).

Does that seem balanced enough? I want as many fruits and veggies as possible, but I DO still want to get ENOUGH protein and good fats and carbs too. Of course, we DO "cheat" once every week or two because I'll have mutiny on my hands if I don't let my hubby have pizza on occasion ;)

I guess I'm just not sure WHAT the proper ratio of protein-to-grains-to-veggies should be. I want to lose weight and feel good without depriving my body of all the essentials it needs. I don't believe vegan is the way to go anymore, but neither is the opposite spectrum of a total meat-based diet.

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Permalink Reply by Kat on February 10, 2010 at 10:44am

there are so many schools of thoughts on ratios. Listen to your body and what you feel best with. I know my body does better if I up the protein and drop the carbs a little. Everyone is different.

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Permalink Reply by Patricia on February 11, 2010 at 8:05pm

A serving of meat or fish is 4 ounces, about the size of a deck of cards. I couldn't live without my kitchen scale. Try using an online program to count calories, carbs, protein, fat. I use Fitday, but others recommend sparkpeople.com, dailyplate.com and I'm sure there are others. Then you will know which days you can add a treat into your daily calories. I have a major sweet tooth and yet I still have candy, pudding, cake, etc. every so often.

I don't eat soy. Since most soy is genetically modified, as is most corn, you only want to eat organic. Seems to me there are other plant proteins (hemp, quinoa) and combining plant foods such as beans and rice to give you more protein. How about eggs? Can you have whey? Some allergies are strange. A friend of mine is lactose intolerant but can have cream because it is mostly fat. I'm lucky if I can manage eating 60g of protein per day.

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Permalink Reply by Robearsgirl on February 12, 2010 at 2:15pm

Yeah, I've tried both Fitday and Sparkpeople, but I make EVERYTHING from scratch, which makes it really hard to enter all my foods. Like HOW do you enter a homemade banana muffin? And entering my breakfast smoothie is a nightmare because I have to enter each ingredient separately. I know, though, I NEED to keep a food journal so I can keep track of my calories and not OVER-eat. I WILL do it!

I haven't experimented with whey. I'm always leary of milk products that have been heated because I'm really sensitive to free-glutamates (glutamic acid, an amino acid in protein, that has been subjected to heat such as in drying processes to make powdered whey is "freed" and turns into a neurotoxin). The soy protein powder I get is non-GMO, organic, and has been cold-processed to retain all the enzymes and keep it as close to natural form as possible. Like I said, I'm really picky about the soy I get.

I do eat eggs. Love them hard-boiled and tossed into salads or just plain :)

Ideally, I'd like to do this every day:

soy at breakfast
eggs at lunch or supper
chicken, beef, or fish at the other meal

Then have snacks that are "animal-free" LOL :) Like veggies with hummus or apples with peanut butter.

I DO want to get ENOUGH protein, but I think I've been eating TOO much of it in the last two years. I've literally had meat (including eggs, milk, and cheese) at every meal AND for snacks, which adds up to ALOT of animal protein. That's what I'd like to get away from.

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Permalink Reply by Patricia on February 13, 2010 at 11:48am

I have the Fitday software program and I just go into Food Explorer, create a New Custom Food and it's done. It can be a bit frustrating until you get the hang of it. I also make most of my meals from scratch and I can do this very quickly now.

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