What foods do you get your Protein/Carbs/Fat from?

G

Gobias

Cathlete
Hi All,

Background: I do not track my food intake (calories, fat, protein, carbs, fiber, etc.) I tried once in my life - I tracked my food in a journal, but that was very easy because I ate almost 100% processed food and I could get all the info from the side of the box. The box even spelled out serving sizes so I could easily measure. A couple years ago, I read Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle and a few other books telling me how important it was to track food. But, I got overwhelmed because every book had a different recommendation of % P/C/F. The books also recommended foods I just didn't/can't eat.

I currently eat a super clean plant based diet. Absolutely zero boxed, canned, jarred, frozen, pre-made foods. I will have eggs, shrimp, lobster, crab, chicken from properly run farms and delivered pretty fresh to me. This works for me. I eat when I am hungry, I don't when I am not (mostly...). I do have all of my food delivered from a farm and change my order weekly so that I get a wide variety of foods.

However, I don't know how much protein/carbs/fat I am getting. I am sure there are online sites spelling out each, I think it will just be overwhelming to figure I have 1 oz kale +1 oz arugula + 1/2 avo + 5 cherry tomatoes + 1/8 cucumber + sprinkle pistachios + 1 corn cob + 5 squash blossoms + Jerusalem artichoke + 0.5 oz alfalfa sprouts + etc. (That is made up, I have no clue how much the stuff I eat weighs). I hardly ever follow recipes, and eat something different all the time, so I won't keep a journal of the P/C/F amounts for each meal to reference for a future meal.

Questions: All that background just to ask - what foods do you get your P/C/F from? Is it doable with just plant based foods? (I just won't be able to have protein shakes or bars or anything pre-packaged.) Is there a 'loose' online/book tool in which to count the P/C/F values of plant foods? (Meaning I just won't weigh every single item in every single meal I eat and then calculate it - not an excuse, just a fact!) I will do some calculations and planning, but like I stated above, it was overwhelming when I had to count and weigh and then look up each and every item in each salad, stew, soup, roast, 'burger', etc. I made. (it seems that my plant based dishes have 10 or more items per dish - and I hardly ever replicate a dish)

Also, I see the term "lean protein" thrown out there a lot. What is that? I can't eat deli meats (I read in a few places that lean proteins meant deli meats). I don't really eat much beans/legumes but am willing and able. I do love nuts.

When I am told to carbo load, does that mean I have to eat 2 pounds of Kale?!?

(I have many food sensitivities and a plant based diet has made an 180 degree difference in my life)

Thank you all for reading my looooong thread!
 
This website may be worth looking at:
https://gokaleo.com/faq/
which is a plant-based diet for people who work out (although she does use protein powders).

I don't touch protein powders - nor do I measure the things I eat. I just try to make sure every meal contains a good helping of protein (NOT deli meats - too processed) and make up the rest of my food intake with (mainly) vegetables. I've heard it said that the most important thing is to get enough protein, and the rest sort of falls into place. For me (about 135-140lbs) that seems to be about 100g per day. I don't eat bread / pasta etc, but otherwise I don't worry about carbs / fat. If I tracked my food, I'd be a nervous / OCD wreck! Others probably cope with tracking much better, and will have more helpful suggestions.
 
Thanks Justinef. I love the name of that site!

That is what I was hoping - eat the proper foods and I will automatically get the required P/C/F. I am reading that veggies are pretty packed with complete proteins. I may tally my protein up for a couple days just to see if I am close and on the right track. But I just can't see myself doing that on a regular basis.

I would still love other input.
 
Hi Gobias,

I love this thread of yours. Just as it is said, I know it sound as a cliche muscle are also made in the kitchen and
I am glad you have posted.

To add to what Justine has advised, I suggest you read BodyBeast nutrition section from the Booklet.
There must be a vegan and no grain meal plan. I am not hundred per cent sure.:):) off course you do not
have to follow the nutrition plan to the letter to get result. Neither are you complied to consume Protein powder.
IMO, meal plan is really personal.

For me personally i will at some point re-track my meal cause at this point I need to do it. On long term I won't.
I have a desk software to track my calorie consumption. Last time I tracked religiously;)/to the letter my scale
budged and I lost fat, gain some "cuts" and definition. I want to gain even more of it:p:p:p
I was at about 1800-2000kcal per day.

I do not eat complex carbs on a regular basis. I am planning to cut out completely any commercial pasta, rice etc...
I will be baking my own tortillas bread, high content low carb bar (made with oat). I feel I need some complex carb
as an energy source mainly during hypertrophy. if I do not consume a little bit It affect my training an that is a Grrr time:rolleyes::rolleyes::mad:
Consuming 30-40% protein from lean meat, poultry and fish works for me to keep snacking at bay. Proteins and healthy fat help
in keeping the hunger at bay. For me to achieve this, I really have to cook in bulk and get busy in the kitchen. My issue is I am not
a legume/vegetable lover :):):). I do eat some though, I am selective: Asparagus, brocholi, squash i love squash, soya beans.
I love bean such black beans.

I am not against Protein powder consumption at a minimal gr level per day, while on intense weight training.
My main protein source is plant-based Pea protein. I am not a big fan of whey. My protein are isolate with no flavour.
A macro ratio which work for me is 40 40 20. What i do is play around this ratio depending on the training program I am on.

All the very best,
 
I eat lean meat, poultry, fish and beef. I eat all veggies, I love them raw. However I have been diagnosed with Hashimoto's Syndrome, and my endocrinologist has told me to eat certain veggies cooked (steamed or roasted) only. Such as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. I also have to stay away from gluten. Evidently, it exacerbates my Hashimoto's. So my diet is mainly fruit, veggies and meat. I guess basically I'm Paleo. I love full fat greek yogurt, but right now, I'm reading Whole 30, and doing the 30 day cleanse. So, I am eating just the fruit, veggies and meat. After 30 days I will add in dairy, and a few other things, and see how I feel. Unfortunately I will never add in bread, or pasta, and I make a mean whole wheat bread. (Even grind my own wheat) I have two weeks left on my 30 days. We'll see how it goes.

I tried to count calories, and macros for awhile. Just made me nuts.
 
Gobias said:
Questions: All that background just to ask - what foods do you get your P/C/F from? Is it doable with just plant based foods? (I just won't be able to have protein shakes or bars or anything pre-packaged.) Is there a 'loose' online/book tool in which to count the P/C/F values of plant foods? (Meaning I just won't weigh every single item in every single meal I eat and then calculate it - not an excuse, just a fact!) I will do some calculations and planning, but like I stated above, it was overwhelming when I had to count and weigh and then look up each and every item in each salad, stew, soup, roast, 'burger', etc. I made. (it seems that my plant based dishes have 10 or more items per dish - and I hardly ever replicate a dish)
Click to expand...

if you are trying to workout roughly how many calories you should consume per day.
Simple calculation is 10-12 multiply by pound of your weight plus about 1200kcal.
links below are helpful in getting the most accurate calorie for your activity level.
This is way much more the 1200kcal we get from "feminine, women friendly" magasines.

http://www.fitnessrxwomen.com/nutrition/break-through-your-plateau/

http://fitnessrxformen.com/nutrition/diet-is-a-4-letter-word/

The article below is interesting IMO cause I believe in cycling calorie intake. We can not let, for a
lifetime period, our body accustomed to a specific number of calories! Of course this is not
realistic and would drive me personally nut!

http://fitnessrxformen.com/nutrition/tips/4-ways-to-eat-for-lean-muscle-gains/

Now there are various diet on trend. Some people seem to be content with carb cycling and other prefer intermittent
fasting, paleo etc.... Everyone is entitled to choose what works the best for themselves.

The truth is we can all grow our own legumes and veggies. Put in place farms to ensure to get lean meat etc...
not chemically processed but this won't guaranty a "PERFECT" food consumption! Just my opinion:)
Feel free to look at my fitness pal. It is an application mentioned many time here on the forum.
This could be the tool you need to count those P/C/F. In my opinion Bodybeast booklet does cover basic nutrition
information you need to answer your question.

Sorry for the length of my post.;)
 
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I must add, I have a new addiction. I had a couple of cans of coconut milk lying around, close to their expiration date. The milk had separated. Cream was on the top, I ate both cans of cream. Yup I'm addicted. I haven't had sugar for ages. This stuff was just sweet creamy goodness. I think Amazon has jars of this for sale. Pulling out the credit card.
 
desertambrosia said:
I must add, I have a new addiction. I had a couple of cans of coconut milk lying around, close to their expiration date. The milk had separated. Cream was on the top, I ate both cans of cream. Yup I'm addicted. I haven't had sugar for ages. This stuff was just sweet creamy goodness. I think Amazon has jars of this for sale. Pulling out the credit card.
Click to expand...
[/QUOTE]

:D:D your post has made me laugh karen, It was funny

I have just made salmon with green curry sauce. I do cook it with Coconut cream. yes it is yummy:D
 
While we are on macros topic, here is a picture of macros I purchased from the local market.

These are: Fresh muschrooms, lemon, tomatos for salad, avocado, cucumbers, courgettes.....:):)
All fresh from local business.;)
 

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Gobias said:
Hi All,

Background: I do not track my food intake (calories, fat, protein, carbs, fiber, etc.)

I currently eat a super clean

Questions: All that background just to ask - what foods do you get your P/C/F from? Is it doable with just plant based foods? (I just won't be able to have protein shakes or bars or anything pre-packaged.) Is there a 'loose' online/book tool in which to count the P/C/F values of plant foods? (Meaning I just won't weigh every single item in every single meal I eat and then calculate it - not an excuse, just a fact!)

Also, I see the term "lean protein" thrown out there a lot. What is that? I can't eat deli meats (I read in a few places that lean proteins meant deli meats). I don't really eat much beans/legumes but am willing and able. I do love nuts.

When I am told to carbo load, does that mean I have to eat 2 pounds of Kale?!?

(I have many food sensitivities and a plant based diet has made an 180 degree difference in my life)

Thank you all for reading my looooong thread!
Click to expand...
Long answer for a long thread :)
Excellent questions:
My opinion on non-starchy foods is eat at will. Don't worry about the fat/carbs/calories etc in vegetables.

The ones that I count as carbs, fats, and proteins are as follows:
Fats: avocados (yum!), olive oil (organic is great), butter (organic is a must), nut butters (peanut, almond, cashew), coconut (go organic here).
Carbohydrates: fruits, starches (rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, bread, pasta)
Proteins: meat, fish, chicken, eggs,
Nuts and legumes are a little special because they contain both protein and carbohydrate.

If you cook for yourself, its easiest to just use a scale. If this is important to you, do that. Its ok to pre-weigh and prepare portions for yourself and save in individual portion size ziploc boxes in either the freezer or fridge. Also, for nuts get snack size baggies and weigh out 1 oz portions. You can reuse those bags for a while before you need to dispose of them.

As for carb loading: here is the thing, you can't really carb load just the day before a race. You need to train over several months, and train to the point that you empty your glycogen stores and then refuel. Your body will over time increase the amount of glycogen you can store. You can train your body to fuel itself in addition to training your muscles to perform (including the heart too, not just your legs/arms). It takes time and patience. I like rice and potatoes for my carbs to load with, as well as bananas (great source of starch!). But, hey, you eat what works for you.

I'm not as big a fan of the 'percentage' concept. The body needs absolute values of nutrients and calories. People tend to talk about calories, but really its nutrition. Your body will be somewhat individual: how much carbs, when you eat them; how much protein and what kind and when you eat it; and how much fat, (fat source for me is incredibly important!). You will just have to keep a journal to see what is best for your body.

I'm not going to lie: this can be annoying and is not compatible with fly by the seat of your pants cooking. Its not gourmet. But, it all depends on what your end goal is.

BFFM did not work for me. I am one of those gals that puts on muscle easily, I do better with less protein than many people do (not that I fear it lol), and I avoid omega 6 oils most of the time, I do use olive oil, and I avoid corn oil and peanut oil (seems to plump me, no good reason. ) I like coconut oil for frying. I only eat organic eggs/dairy but you seem to have a really good diet.

In Weight Watchers now the fruits/veggies are often low or no points. I don't think you need to count artichokes!! Eat as much as you want. I do count my fruits, but its hard to eat too many. There is so much good nutrition in fruit that I eat it anyway. I do not eat presweetened yogurt, it gives me a rash. I also avoid all preserved meats, they give me rashes. But, again you seem to have that covered.
 
Great post, Rapid Breath -- absolute quantities rather than ratios makes so much sense.

desertambrosia said:
I must add, I have a new addiction. I had a couple of cans of coconut milk lying around, close to their expiration date. The milk had separated. Cream was on the top, I ate both cans of cream. Yup I'm addicted. I haven't had sugar for ages. This stuff was just sweet creamy goodness. I think Amazon has jars of this for sale. Pulling out the credit card.
Click to expand...

Karen - putting a can of coconut milk in the fridge speeds the separation ;) I always reckon a spoonful is the chef's reward for making the Thai chicken curry.....
Also, have you tried keeping coconut cream in the fridge? It goes hard enough to 'peel' it with a vegetable peeler....the flakes are yummy!
My secrets are all coming out now.
 
Hi Gobias,
Yes! 100%, totally, you can do it on a plant-based diet without protein supplementation.
I currently consume dairy and eggs (no meat or seafood), but have in the past eaten a 100% plant-based diet.

I highly recommend the Thrive book series by Brendan Brazier. He's a vegan athlete and there's tons of great info in there. Maybe check out his website first -- I think it's thrive.com but just google his name.

A couple great sources of 'lean' plant-based protein are tempeh and seitan. It's easy to make your own seitan, too.

If you like nuts (and you mentioned you make your own milks), check out Ani Phyo's raw food cookbooks. Lots of nut-and seed-based recipes there. And of course, you can always lightly cook 'raw' recipes if you prefer.

HTH and let me know if you have other questions! This is something I've done a lot of research on.
Roz
 
Justinef said:
Great post, Rapid Breath -- absolute quantities rather than ratios makes so much sense.



Karen - putting a can of coconut milk in the fridge speeds the separation ;) I always reckon a spoonful is the chef's reward for making the Thai chicken curry.....
Also, have you tried keeping coconut cream in the fridge? It goes hard enough to 'peel' it with a vegetable peeler....the flakes are yummy!
My secrets are all coming out now.
Click to expand...

I just read in Whole 30 to keep it in the fridge. I was reading about what a yummy treat it is. Had to give it a try. It is a big favorite now!
 
Wow, thanks to all of you for info, advice, and links.

First off, the most important info - What is this coconut cream you eat off a spoon? I use coconut milk/butter/oil in so many of my meals already, but haven't eaten the milk as a snack. Do you just put the can in the fridge and wait for it to harden? How long does that take? Once it separates, what do you do with the bottom liquid portion? What brand(s) do you buy? I have my credit card ready. I buy a lot of my coconut items from TropicalTraditions.com (properly run organic farm for meats and other products), but they don't have coconut milk. Mmmmmmmm.

If I can't have gluten, can I eat tempeh or seitan? I am not familiar with either product but will research.

I am going to check out "THRIVE" and Ani Phyo. Sounds like I can get everything I need from my current diet. I may tweak it a little and increase meats (currently, I am very sporadic/rare on meat eating) and beans/legumes (hardly ever, but can increase). I will probably research what produce is highest in protein and just add a bit more. The latter is more likely since I don't like to cook (meat/beans) in the hot summer.

On a side note - I am in the middle of a knee injury and have some free time on my hands. I decided to start a garden and unfortunately everything died or is about to die. Granted, I live in the hot desert where it is already in the 110's with a cool balmy night of 101. But, I bought seeds made for my climate and followed the instructions. Just last night I built a shade for the garden and will try again. I am really hoping this takes so I can *really* monitor what goes in my body.
 
Gobias said:
What is this coconut cream you eat off a spoon? I use coconut milk/butter/oil in so many of my meals already, but haven't eaten the milk as a snack. Do you just put the can in the fridge and wait for it to harden? How long does that take? Once it separates, what do you do with the bottom liquid portion? What brand(s) do you buy? I have my credit card ready. I buy a lot of my coconut items from TropicalTraditions.com (properly run organic farm for meats and other products), but they don't have coconut milk. Mmmmmmmm.
Click to expand...

Hi Gobias,

Living in Europe, I can not advise any brand. What I would advise is to look for Asian wholefood market.
They do sell exotic products from almost the entire globe!

Link below would just give an idea on the difference between coconut milk and cream.
The difference is the consistency ;-)

https://www.google.be/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=YzV_VdvZN46BbNLLgcAJ#q=coconut cream

I do like cooking with coconut. Milk, cream, water, Coconut powder/shreds, coconut flour, oil...
off course I do warm up the cream to remove extra fat. Saturated fat from coconut is not harmful
as it was known in the past. Happy shopping:)
 
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desertambrosia said:
I must add, I have a new addiction. I had a couple of cans of coconut milk lying around, close to their expiration date. The milk had separated. Cream was on the top, I ate both cans of cream. Yup I'm addicted. I haven't had sugar for ages. This stuff was just sweet creamy goodness. I think Amazon has jars of this for sale. Pulling out the credit card.
Click to expand...
Karen, next time at you're at WF, grab yourself a jar of Artisana raw coconut butter (give it a stir, the oil sits on top) -- it's soooooo good! I'm addicted.
 
desertambrosia said:
I just read in Whole 30 to keep it in the fridge. I was reading about what a yummy treat it is. Had to give it a try. It is a big favorite now!
Click to expand...

MomInVT said:
Karen, next time at you're at WF, grab yourself a jar of Artisana raw coconut butter (give it a stir, the oil sits on top) -- it's soooooo good! I'm addicted.
Click to expand...

Karen, Roz is so right on! The Artisana is pricey but well worth it. Nothing in the world of coconut treats compares to it.

But now I have a question for you two: where do you get the CALIFIA (sp?) almond milk mentioned in another thread? Is that a WF item as well? My local store doesn't carry it in the organic section.

Llisa
 
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