I’ve been working on trying to nudge my eating habits, moving more in the direction of the AHA recommendations. To make this happen, I started by developing a baseline of my daily calorie distribution, and what I discovered from this exercise is that my protein intake has been relatively low by most standards. While this has worked for losing weight, with protein being only ~15% of my calories, I’ve come to believe that number should go up, and the contribution from fat should come down slightly, which necessitates a search for alternative foods with lean protein. I’ve been using an online calorie calculator to track this information for several months now, and it has shown some interesting information.
Why Foods With Lean Proteins?
You may wonder why I picked the AHA recommendations. After comparing several diets, including the primal way of eating, I came to the conclusion that the AHA recommendations would be the easiest for me to implement, as they are currently the closest to my current eating habits. Furthermore, I’ve tried low carb lifestyle, (which is actually a high fat diet), in the past and found it hard to sustain.
What I’ve learned is, for me, its tough to follow the AHA guidelines, and still consume 30-grams of fiber daily, without the use of supplements. I’ve managed to hit the recommended distribution on a handful of days, but keeping protein consumption up while also decreasing fat consumption is quite difficult. I had started out by trying to include more almonds and walnuts, but that doesn’t work well due to the high fat content of nuts. I’ve also added more egg whites, primarily in the form of vegetable omlets, which are quite tasty. I’ve eaten quite enough chicken lately as well, and discovered that I actually like the taste of cottage cheese, when I throw in some pineapple or peaches. Nonetheless, I’m on the hunt for some high protein alternatives that aren’t high in fat. This led me to the following list:
- Venison – 3 ounces = 29-grams protein
- Tuna (in water) 3 ounces = 20-grams protein
- Shrimp Cocktail = 6 pieces = 15-grams protein
- Hummus 1/2 cup = 10-grams protein
- Pork (lean, white) 4 ounces = 33-grams protein
- Beans (of all stripes)
- Skim Milk
I know soy is an option, but prior experiences with soy products suggest they’re a food I should probably avoid. Of course, some of my sin foods don’t work too well with this either. For instance, my nightly 1/2-cup of ice cream doesn’t do much to help my cause. I doubt I’ll give that one up though. We all need our vices…
So, my search continues for alternative, real foods with lean protein. Any suggestions?
I liked your list of lean sources of protein. Another lean source of protein that I have found in my local grocery store (that may be easier than finding venison) is bison or buffalo. Bison burgers seem to be in most larger chain grocery stores and bison meat can be bought at a number of local butchers and specialty stores. I like bison burgers the best because they are pretty tasty and are lower in fat than regular lean beef.
I’ve tried bison before, but never buffalo. I’m a hunter, so venison is something I have in my freezer — if I can just remember to plan ahead and thaw it out…
I live in Norway which has more shrimp than I have ever seen. I therefore get a lot of my protein from fresh shrimp right from the sea. It is great! Glad to see that it has a high protein content.
I was on holiday in Port Douglas, Australia last month and came across a very lean meant – Kangaroo meat. It was ridiculously cheap too, maybe it’s something locals steer clear of, but we tried it and had no complaints. Not sure how easy it would be to get Kangaroo meat outside of Australia though… but if you’re ever visiting!
I’ve never seen it here, but its an interesting suggestion. Another reason to try talking my employer to send me over there!