Best protein sources for a flagging appetite?

[Zer]

I'm having a tough time eating as much as I must to get my protein grams in. According to a formula - (wt# / 2.2) x 0.8g - my protein needs are 148g/day. I'm beginning to see that just about every mouthful I manage to get into me OUGHT to have some protein value, so I am looking for something like this:

NECTAR™ once-and-for-all breaks the mold by combining Promina, the highest quality whey protein isolate ever developed, with a flavoring system that is so fruitilicious that you will never drink another whey protein shake ever again. If you like the refreshing taste of fruit juice, you'll love NECTAR™! You can even eat it right out of the container.

* Best Tasting Protein on the Market
* Mixes Instantly
* Zero Carbs
* Zero Fat
* Promina™ Whey Isolate - 20g protein per serving
* Refreshing Fruit Juice Flavors (Apple Ecstasy, Caribbean Cooler, Fuzzy Navel, Strawberry Kiwi, and Very Cherry Berry)

I'm thinking this is a better bet - because it offers protein - than the Stevita fruit-flavor powder that I've been using to make my water more interesting. Anybody have any feedback on this product? Guess I'll have to order some to see for myself if I can get my full day's quota of protein in.

What sweetener is in it?

Roadside Lemonade (23g protein; 90cals) Ingredients: Whey Protein Isolate, Citric Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Lecithin, Acesulfame-K, Sucralose, Gardenia Extract Powder.

Oops, it looks as if acesulfame-K is problematical for thyroid:

The public is waiting for an artificial sweetener that is unquestionably safe. But this one isn't it. Even compared to aspartame and saccharin (which are afflicted with their own safety publems - see below), acesulfame K is the worst.

So much for this short-cut to filling my protein requirement. At what cost to my thyroid and other health issues? What to do? Dr.Atkins kept saying to keep it simple. Fawn keeps reminding us to go organic.

[Zer]

Sardines? Yep, a sure 20g of protein. Little fishies swimming in olive oil. Reliable. Tasty.

Stinky? You bet! Not as tasty as a fruity punch or lemonade. Guess there's no free lunch!

[jezzie]

I'm having a tough time eating as much as I must to get my protein grams in

Did that formula for 'how much protein' you need come from Dr. Atkins?
I didn't count protein grams on Atkins.
My impression it was more about the amount of sat fat ... than protein.

I didn't drink shakes when on Atkins either and that found eggs, cheese
were my cheapest protein sources.

Now mine mostly comes from vegetable sources (brown rice, beans, soy)
so I can't be much help to you.
Hopefully another Atkid will answer. (Atkins has changed again since I did it.)

[CarolynF]

I don't think 148 grams of protein is too unreasonable..according to your weight, etc. and your goals..Of course, as you lose, this amount will go down. However, I think you could go a bit lower and not "sweat it" too much.

You can get some unflavored whey protein and add it to your puddings..make your own shakes with it with frozen berries/cream/water.

My "protein" formula that Barry Groves gives has to do with lean body weight...Which in your case might be around 150 pounds..So, divide that by 2.2..and you would get 72ish, then multiply it by 1 to 1.5..So, if it was multiplied by 1.5, your protein allotment would be around 100 plus. Divide that by 3 meals and a couple of snacks..You could take in 4 ounces of protein per meal and have several snacks with 2-3 ounces of protein...

[Zer]

I can see the logic to using lean-body weight or goal weight to figure how much protein anyone probably needs. Fat does not need protein. Muscles do need it.

I start off with 40g of protein from WPP. Some days that's about it for me.

Other days, I get some eggy-mayo salad or fishy-mayo salad into me. Lately I am just not inspired to fork food into me. Might pry open a can of sardines for a fast 20g of protein. But I am looking at an average intake of protein that is pretty dang low. I've heard older people explain that they are not hungry, but I am just now discovering how this can interfere with adequate nutrition. Agh!

Thanks for your help computing by lean body weight. At 5'10", 150# is right.

For now, my 408# will have to manage on what protein I can shovel into me. I hate food. I hate eating. I hate feeling this way about food and the whole digestive process. It's more bother than it's worth. But...I must fuel up!

[CarolynF]

Zer: 40 grams is way too low for you, my dear!!!!

You aren't that old.. Yup, my minlaw (alot older than me) barely eats anything and has reaped the results of malnutrition. The less she eats, the less she wants to eat. Of course, she only weighs 88 pounds now.

I wish I hated eating..Did you always "hate" food? Or don't you like to prepare it?

[Zer]

Originally Posted by CarolynF

Zer: 40 grams is way too low for you, my dear!!!!

You aren't that old.. Yup, my minlaw (alot older than me) barely eats anything and has reaped the results of malnutrition. The less she eats, the less she wants to eat. Of course, she only weighs 88 pounds now.

I wish I hated eating..Did you always "hate" food?
Or don't you like to prepare it?

Food so early became an issue in my life that I keep drifting back to how I originally viewed it - as a reward or as an awful mess that I had to somehow eat before I could leave the table. I was a child who sat for hours in front of a plate of inedible stuff. My nature was not to clean my plate, apparently, but I was forced to grapple with that as a child. That sort of discipline led to eating in secret to fill an aching emptiness in me.

With that relationship to food, it's hard to hold steady in regarding food as fuel and not as an emotional matter. I think I slip back into that as I fear (ch)eating, fear the easy carbs that lie in wait in our kitchen.

Fact is, eggy-mayo salad and fishy-mayo salad is a favorite of mine, from a long time before I heard of Atkins. Now I eat it on celery instead of bread. So it's not the food itself that I fear. Not so much the food as the old fears that I associate with eating. So I sometimes skip eating, divert myself from facing a fear that overwhelms me. Adding my hot slosh with its 40g protein from WPP has really impacted my life positively. Sad as it is that I do not get a lot more after that initial slurp, if I get caught up in avoiding food, it's still a strong point for my LC life that I start up with that and can do so with no complications that I associate with solid food. Might be that I should do a 2d hot slosh daily, after 8hrs of so of not being able to address any food. It's not a habit, but an occasional way of dealing with what I identify as hunger.

Oh, I still have sardines handy - a sure hit of 20g of protein in a savory snack that I enjoyed even before I was doing Atkins. Used to eat sardines on carby crackers, but have adapted to having sardines in olive oil with no crackers or with bran-rye crax from a Scandinavian country that eats cardboard crax.

It's 3am and I'm thinking I might like to start a wash and boil up some eggs and maybe toss together a fishy-mayo salad as well, to provide me some LC choices for noshing during the day. I could get quite a lot done before day breaks, if I get off my duff and off the computer. I could. I could. Shall I?

Thank you for this dialogue, for allowing me to study my disinclination to fix food and to have food on hand. That is an essential part of a successful LC plan, having tasty LC snax on hand. Why is it such a hurdle? Emotions!!!

[CarolynF]

I had some good friends who went to OA and got great relief with their eating "concerns"..
It's hard when things start in your childhood and continue all your life, but you are doing great!!!

[Zer]

Fact is, WHAT'S EATING ME is more often the problem than what I'm eating, as a subliminated rage can create the sense that I am empty inside or seething so that I need to quell feelings that are boiling up inside me. AGHHHHH!