Anyone tracking JUST protein? How?

[mistysj 1,940]

As a vet with more than 2.5 years out, I can eat plenty enough calories to gain even while hitting my Protein goal. I cannot rely on getting enough protein to keep me in my calorie range. For me, those are two separate tasks. Calories: Say no to the cookie! Leave the doughnut there! Do not open hubby's can of mixed nuts! Use less mayonnaise! Protein: eat two ounces of firm protein at Breakfast and lunch. Have a cup of Greek yogurt or two cups of soy milk every day. Eat three ounces of dense protein at dinner. Raving hunger? Eat protein, not carbs. I, like GMAT, have spent years tracking and I tend to eat the same things, so most days I stick to a plan that I know is in my calorie range and protein guidelines. If I've been going off the rails, I often track with a whiteboard on the fridge or a little notebook when traveling. I count cups of Fluid and grams of protein. Quick and easy. Lynda

As an aside, what firm protein do you eat for breakfast? eggs? I struggle with breakfast and often just have a shake.

[mistysj 1,940]

Yup - I think just tracking the basics in your head makes for a much easier time. Tracking is not for me. I found a set of simple rules that work and are easy to follow. The way I have been managing since reaching goal 8 months ago is to start by eating 30-40 g of Protein a meal. Before goal, rules were a little different, but still did not track. After eating protein, I try an eat 1-2 ounces of vegetables like red pepper or mini cucumbers if snack or lunch and broccoli if dinner meal. Protein for me has to be quick and easy to deal with as I do not have much prep Time. I like to eat chicken meatballs, herb chicken breasts or sliced chicken pieces, all pre cooked and ready to eat. I take a good vita pak (animal pak) daily and supplement with calcium chews, magnesium citrate (1 tbsp), Vitamin C crystals (4000 mg) and Vitamin D (5000 iu). I never have room for carbs that are not specifically planned, so never have a problem eating them as the rule (holiday time was an exception and I slip on the carbs now and then). I eat a meal every 3 hours starting at 6 am and ending at 9 pm. I always eat my carbs for my first meal @ 6 am, a 2pm meal proceeding a workout @ 3:30 pm (sometimes 4 or 5 pm depending on when I get out of work) and post workout meal (either an AMRAP refuel bar (17 G protein, 22 g carb) or a scoop of ON Hydrobuilder shake ( 30 G protein and 8 g carb). The carb meals in morning and before working out will be a mix of 1/2 cup steel oats, scoop of Protein Powder and 1/4 cup of Fiber Cereal. It is a ghoulish bowl of mush, but tastes fairly decent and provides slow burn energy for working out. I use a 32 oz bottle and drink at least 1 every 2-3 hours. Typically, I go through about 8-9 refills a day. I always add flavor to make it super easy to drink. I will hydrate extra before and after working out everyday with bcaa powder added (xtend watermelon if you are interested). I do not count calories nor do I pay attention to fat, but I do make an effort to eat low fat and to take 4 g fish oil 2x a day (good fat). I Am in charge of all my meals except 7 pm dinner time. I eat what my wife prepares. This is always safe because she too is sleeved and she cooks sleeve friendly. My last meal is at 9 pm or so and is 60 g of casein shake. 3 scoops with Water. This night time casein is important to help the muscles repair over night and keep the metabolism burning until I eat breakfast. These are all easy rules or patterns that feel natural every day. And I do not ever write anything down because the rules are easy enough to follow every day. These rules have not failed me and I am not dealing with hunger. It is fairly easy to follow this plan second nature. It is good for people like me to follow a set of personalized rules rather than tracking (too tedious).

Holy moley! I think your plan seems harder than tracking!

[mistysj 1,940]

Sorry guys. Hard to see the Vet designation when I'm using the laptop.

Um why is this in vets? I am not even a vet yet. I posted this in the General Sleeve forum.

[LipstickLady 25,682]

I will start by saying that I know this thread might get controversial. I would like to know what you are doing but I don't want anyone to tell anyone else they are doing it wrong. I also don't want anyone to deviate from the plan that their surgical team has worked out for them. I strongly feel like you need to follow the letter of the law, at least until at least one year post-op. I have actually been deviating from my surgical team's plan BY rigorously tracking.

I'm finding MyFitnessPal a little bit "heavy weight" and thinking about trying to track my food in a lighter weight, easier way. It seems to me that if I follow the "rules", and get enough Protein, I will have a tough time screwing things up because I won't even have room for many carbs. It seems overkill to track calories because again, if I get in my Protein I am never very high. I might get some value in tracking carbs along with protein.

I can't hide calories in MFP. I'm also just tired of tracking every bite, honestly. I have been tracking every bite for most of the last 12 years. My nutritionist and my therapist have actually both encouraged me to work toward tracking in my head. I would like to find a middle ground. I'm not quite ready to let go of the security of some kind of tracking and don't know if I ever will.

As you know, I am on MFP with you. I really don't track as well as I should or as well as I want to. I also don't get in all the protein I am supposed to and I was doing much better when I did track.

I did customize my MFP to my caloric/protein goals and I made protein my first category after calories because we don't have a choice. Even though it auto tracks everything else, I really only pay attention to my protein. I love that all my favorite foods are there as well as my frequent foods. I just click on them, put in the amount and fly out of there. I rarely even look at the social side of it all.

The fact that I can track on my phone, ipad and computer make this the best app FOR ME, and again, I really only look at what I want to look at which is protein.

I do track my exercise for vanity reasons. It makes me move more.

[mistysj 1,940]

As you know, I am on MFP with you. I really don't track as well as I should or as well as I want to. I also don't get in all the Protein I am supposed to and I was doing much better when I did track. I did customize my MFP to my caloric/protein goals and I made protein my first category after calories because we don't have a choice. Even though it auto tracks everything else, I really only pay attention to my protein. I love that all my favorite foods are there as well as my frequent foods. I just click on them, put in the amount and fly out of there. I rarely even look at the social side of it all. The fact that I can track on my phone, ipad and computer make this the best app FOR ME, and again, I really only look at what I want to look at which is protein. I do track my exercise for vanity reasons. It makes me move more.

You actually can change the columns. It is in the website under Settings I think. Then you have it restart the app to see the change. On the phone it only shoes you calories though because of limited real estate. I have mine set to Calories, Protein, Carbs. For the others I chose None.

[LipstickLady 25,682]

Mine is changed, but calories is always first. Protein is second.

[lsereno 2,525]

As an aside, what firm Protein do you eat for Breakfast? eggs? I struggle with breakfast and often just have a shake.

Usually low fat ham. I don't like eggs. Sometimes I eat turkey little smokies, or another type of meat such as turkey or roast chicken. So, at goal, my breakfast is generally a couple slices of low fat ham, a slice of whole wheat bread or oats (1/4 cup cooked with 3/4 c. Water), And later either yogurt with berries or a soy latte. Sometimes I eat cold Cereal with soy milk instead of the other grains and dairy, but not very often.

Lynda

[kvlasy 195]

I like tracking and have since my old Weight Watcher days. I started on MFP, but didn't like it, though I know a lot of people do. I tried other apps, and ended up using MND, synced with my Fitbit and Aria scale. I really only pay attention to three things - Protein, Water and calories. Protein first, then water and calories tie for second. I will note the carbs and try to keep them below the protein each day. Most everything else is turned off. It is a good working combination for me, but my daughter is very successful just tracking in her head. Maybe I'm just more gadget-oriented, LOL!

[CBT 450]

I track my food and exercise in MFP. I track everything but only look at whether I hit my Protein goal.

I do not believe (not does science) that all calories are processed in the body equally. So the calorie in and calorie out of MFP is bunk as far as I'm concerned. I like have a general idea of calories but I do not think eating a snickers and then running it off is healthy tracking. KWIM? I'm not suggesting anyone here is doing that, I just think that MFP can be misleading this way.

I also get lazy about building recipes so I sometimes cheat :-0 and log something close. Like split pea Soup from a restaurant versus the one I made. The point is, I do this sometimes. Otherwise i'd be overall misleading my self.

Blah blah blah. I pay attention to protein.

[mistysj 1,940]

Thanks Butterthebean for getting this moved back to the right place.

[CBT 450]

Also I should like to say that I did not read through the thread. I only answered the OP so as not to appear to be challenging anyone with my opinionated self

[mistysj 1,940]

Also I should like to say that I did not read through the thread. I only answered the OP so as not to appear to be challenging anyone with my opinionated self

Lol thanks I appreciated your opinion!

[Fiddleman 4,376]

For me, it tends to be easier because these are ingrained habits that solidified after a few weeks. It would feel weird not to do these habits. Also, you are looking at the net result of my game plan. There was a lot of tweaking up to the point of settling on these rules. The only thing I really need to figure out is how am I going to source my 30-40 g of Protein at a meal. Since we make sure to have protein options available at the beginning of the week, it is really easy to grab 5 meatballs, a chicken breast and so on for meals that do not involve shakes.< /p>

[Zakura7477 14]

I am 3 weeks post op and all I am tracking is Protein. I know there is no possible way right now that I could get that many calories in, so I don't worry about that. I do have an idea of what I am taking in calorie wise, and for giggles, I added it up the other day and it barely hit 600.

The problem I am having is I have not eaten anything else (applesauce, pureed veggies, mashed potatoes, etc) because the mindset I am stuck in is if there isn't a high protein count, why fill up by eating something that is not benefiting my body? Right now my days consist of a rotation between tuna, tofu, cottage cheese and of course my Protein Drinks. Any ideas how I can break this? I know fruits and veggies are just as important for my overall health, but I just can't bring myself to eat them when I see 1 or 0 grams of protein

[lsereno 2,525]

I am 3 weeks post op and all I am tracking is Protein. I know there is no possible way right now that I could get that many calories in, so I don't worry about that. I do have an idea of what I am taking in calorie wise, and for giggles, I added it up the other day and it barely hit 600. The problem I am having is I have not eaten anything else (applesauce, pureed veggies, mashed potatoes, etc) because the mindset I am stuck in is if there isn't a high Protein count, why fill up by eating something that is not benefiting my body? Right now my days consist of a rotation between tuna, tofu, cottage cheese and of course my protein drinks. Any ideas how I can break this? I know fruits and veggies are just as important for my overall health, but I just can't bring myself to eat them when I see 1 or 0 grams of protein

I wouldn't worry about fruits and veggies now. After your capacity increases, you can slowly add them back in. At three weeks out, I added a splash of OJ and a frozen strawberry to my yogurt shake (1/2 cup of Fage 0 with a splash of Water and Splenda) and I had a bite of applesauce on occasion when I really missed fruit. To get my veggie fix, I ate Anderson's Split Pea Soup (10 grams of protein per cup).

As I was able to eat more, I added a bite or two of frozen veggies. I bought the mix and just heated them however I heated my protein. I also used a mandolins slicer to add a few bites of zucchini or yellow squash to a meal. One of the first fruits other than applesauce and frozen berries I ate was watermelon. Of course, I was sleeved in May so it was more available. All other fruit was too acidic for me at first.

Are you taking Vitamins and other supplements? My program recommends several that I still take.

Best wishes on your journey.

Lynda