I get 130-150 per day.

Breakfast: eggs with toast or nancys greek yogurt with fruit (22g per serving) or cottage cheese pancakes. Aim for 25-30g for breakfast.

snacks: protein shakes, almonds, cheese sticks, rx bars, etc. I have a snack plate every night of 2 string cheese, almonds, a raw veggie, dark chocolate easy 15-20g protein. 2 snacks: 1 with 30g protein plus PM snack plate @ 15. Honestly my first AM snack is 40g protein. So total 45-55g from snacks.

Lunch: tuna, leftovers, salmon, chicken salad, chili, etc Min 20g, closer to 25g.

Dinner: salmon, cod, beef, chicken, pork- some type of meat. Min 30g.

25+45+25+30= 125minimum
30+55+25+30=140

150 is unusual but it happens 1x week. Without eating meat, you need a large volume of non-meat sources and to be VERY specific about your meals.

So a few of these common posts on DCUM on Diet and Exercise got me thinking....I'm someone who lifts weights 3-4 times a week. I'd also like to lose 5-10 pounds while increasing muscle so I need to be in caloric deficit but still keep my protein up. Outside of that I'd also like to lower my cholesterol and increase my fiber. And it's hard to navigate this but I thought to use ChatGPT and it worked pretty well. I entered the following: What is a 7-day meal plan that does not contain fish or tofu that will lower my cholesterol, provide at least 120 grams of protein, increase my fiber, and be about 2000 calories? It spit out a meal plan plan for each day of the week with each day having three meals and two snacks and how many grams of protein, fiber, and calories where in each meal and the total for the day. Pretty interesting. Try it. Obviously, you can pick different protein and calorie goals and what to exclude. I excluded fish because kids are very, very allergic so it's not really practical to have it in the house.

I eat a lot of beef. Pretty much every day

have more protein shakes, and put multiple scoops in when making them

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, meat has always grossed me out. I hated eating hamburgers and hotdogs as a kid and when I turned 14 I told my parents I wasn’t eating anything like that again and I would eat chicken and fish a few times a week but still don’t crave or really enjoy it. Pepperoni and salami would make me vomit, so no and I don’t do any deli meat ever. This is more physiological I think for me. I’ll try adding in more chicken/shrimp fish too.

You are concerned about calories.

My snacks are mostly protein focused.

Hard boiled egg whites
Nuts
Bean salad
Nut butters on apples
Cottage cheese

Honestly, meat has always grossed me out. I hated eating hamburgers and hotdogs as a kid and when I turned 14 I told my parents I wasn’t eating anything like that again and I would eat chicken and fish a few times a week but still don’t crave or really enjoy it. Pepperoni and salami would make me vomit, so no and I don’t do any deli meat ever. This is more physiological I think for me. I’ll try adding in more chicken/shrimp fish too.

Is there a reason you won’t eat more lean meat? I get 130+ grams of protein daily — no shakes bc of all the additives and fake sugar — but I eat a ton of lean meat. I also have calorie goals and try to keep protein in grams at 10% of calories consumed. Anyway, my high protein foods are: chicken breast, Turkey bacon, chicken sausage, ground Turkey, high quality cold cuts, Turkey pepperoni, chomps, edamame, skyr yogurt, 1 egg+2whites, beans of all varieties, cheese but choose wisely and watch high cal cheeses, chickpea pasta in place of regular pasta.

Thanks, pps. I’m trying to build more muscle and get stronger as I approach 50. My physician recommended strength training and increasing protein but no real food suggestions on how to do it. I am going to try regular yogurt again and flax and I definitely eats lentils and beans so that’s good to know they provide good amount. I didn’t know their was a protein shake at 46 grams!

I love how so many people don't answer the question and just like to give their opinions or judge...or totally go off the track. Actually, I think one person answered with nuts, seeds beans and another answered with protein cereals. They were the only two answers. Anyway...it is hard without meat, eggs, and yogurt and you are already supplementing with a protein shake, so you can obviously google high protein foods for vegetarians, but since you asked, in addition to what others have said, I eat lentils.

Go to the grocery store and spend more time there looking at the nutrition facts. Are you eating pasta? Pick the brand that has the most grams of protein per serving. Instead of regular chicken broth, use bone broth. Add lentils to your soup. Cottage cheese. Yogurt. Hemp seeds. Mozzarella. You need to find the foods that are the most protein for the least amount of calories.

Anonymous wrote:What do you all do that necessitates all this protein?!?

If you're exercising intensively, please beware that you're wearing out your joints. You can attain a healthy cardiovascular system without joint wear.

My physician, who I am working with to improve my overall health an promote longevity, has suggested 110g of protein per day. She has also suggested that a certain amount of exercise that specifically puts stress on my joints is a good thing to strengthen them and my bones. I ruck (hike with a weighted pack), swim (no joint stress), and lift.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you all do that necessitates all this protein?!?

If you're exercising intensively, please beware that you're wearing out your joints. You can attain a healthy cardiovascular system without joint wear.

Yes, everybody should just walk super slowly as their form of exercise. Anything else is too high of a risk. Your “joints” will definitely explode otherwise.

No need to ever elevate your heart rate. All the science on VO2max and superior cardiovascular health relationship to longevity and healthspan is fake news.

Well I lift slowly and do my push up slowly. So I guess it’s ok?

Sounds like OP is going to have to get acquainted with more foods to achieve the protein target. I achieve what I need with lean meat at lunch and dinner, and a boat load of non fat Greek yogurt at breakfast and at nighttime. I usually buy two whole cartons of the 48 ounce containers at Costco (so a total of 16 at a time). I am turning into Zorba.

Anonymous wrote:What do you all do that necessitates all this protein?!?

If you're exercising intensively, please beware that you're wearing out your joints. You can attain a healthy cardiovascular system without joint wear.

Yes, everybody should just walk super slowly as their form of exercise. Anything else is too high of a risk. Your “joints” will definitely explode otherwise.

No need to ever elevate your heart rate. All the science on VO2max and superior cardiovascular health relationship to longevity and healthspan is fake news.