Tips for eating protein?

MeggyO · June 2011

I know I'm not eating enough protein. Unfortunately, the idea of most protein makes me want to gag (eggs, most fish, most chicken, sausage, ground beef). I'm still good with steak, mostly. But I can't eat steak ALL the time! We're eating mussels for dinner tonight, which I'm looking forward to. Not sure what else I should try eating. Advice?

MommySteph2009 · June 2011

Peanut butter or an other nut butter?

Protein shakes like an Ensure?

Beans?

Tofu?

amyfelice · June 2011

bacon?

yogurt?

TVP?

Tempeh? (which to me tastes a lot better than tofu)

lmvierra · June 2011

Quinoa is supposed to be high protein also... Good luck!

ZoeMay06 · June 2011

A whole grain plus a legume equals a complete protein, so brown rice and beans/lentils/chickpeas etc is great. Greek yogurt has a lot of protein too.

green*eyes · June 2011

It's funny - as a vegetarian I couldn't stand any of my normal sources of protein (like beans, tofu or other soy products, sunflower seed butter) so I actually ate chicken breast for a while. It seems like people tend to not want the things they typically eat most, strangely. Other ideas might be nuts, seeds, roasted chickpeas, high-protein chips or crackers made of nuts, seeds, soy, beans etc (at natural foods stores), veggie burgers, fish sticks.... good luck!

Oh, and what about bars like cliff bars or other brands? Not sure if they are all pg-friendly but there must be some that are.

SarahCee · June 2011

I wouldn't worry about it too much, you'll want to eat those things again, eventually.

Nuts, pork, protein bars (Luna has some tasty ones), dairy products are all good in the meantime.

DandaLion · June 2011

Ditto what all the PP's said. I was exactly like you and the only protein I could handle was beef (steak, roast, etc). Turned out I was anemic and also think it was my body's way of telling me I needed the iron. Definitely look at protein bars or things along those lines (that was another way I got protein in). They tasted a lot better than chicken and eggs and other things I had aversions to.

f&s2006 · June 2011

I've been eating a lot of honey roasted almonds/nuts.... along with a healthy side of sour candy to combat the nausea. ha! unfortunately for me seafood is a huge turnoff for me when pg.... sigh.

mandy0505 · June 2011

MommySteph2009:
Peanut butter or an other nut butter?
Protein shakes like an Ensure?
Beans?
Tofu?

LOVE the Peanut Butter idea

MrsBeachCityCowgirl · June 2011

Cottage cheese?

lukaface · June 2011

Eat whatever you can keep down! The first tri sucks and hopefully you will feel better soon

I would seriously just worry about eating whatever sounds good in the moment. The baby will take what it needs from you.

StefandTodd · June 2011

My goal is 80-100gm/day and I get that from eggs (2 a day...they also make me gaggy from time to time, but I can generally still force them down...or put them into egg salad sandwiches, which aren't too bad), greek yogurt (Costco has the 0% Chobani and each one is a tasty 14gm of protein!), cheese (string cheese, or cheddar with apples), milk and high(ish) protein cereals (bowl of cereal every morning - miniwheats have good protein, as does Kashi GoLean cereal...plus good fiber! And milk could almost be considered a craving for me), peanut butter (either PB&J or on celery, etc). Chicken breast makes me gag since pregnancy. I do eat beef maybe 1-2/week. I also eat quite a bit of ground turkey...turkey burgers, or also if I am going to indulge in something like mac & cheese, I'll add a little ground turkey to it. Ground turkey can be added to any pasta sauces, etc.

Good luck! If you're interested, this spreadsheet is what we used in Bradley to keep track of our protein...I did it for several weeks, just to be sure I was consistently on target to hit 80-100, and now I just have a good idea of what to eat (that I like), how much, and what that means for my protein intake so I don't count anymore (cuz it is sort of a pain). Anyway, maybe it'll be helpful to you, but totally not necessary, of course. Just thought it might help. GL, again!

https://www.learntobirth.com/NutWSreg.pdf

Celyn · June 2011

I put hemp protein in my milk shakes every morning. When I was pregnant, I wanted red meat all the time -- which was a bit of shocker since I was a vegetarian at the time

ladipale · June 2011

StefandTodd:
My goal is 80-100gm/day and I get that from eggs (2 a day...they also make me gaggy from time to time, but I can generally still force them down...or put them into egg salad sandwiches, which aren't too bad), greek yogurt (Costco has the 0% Chobani and each one is a tasty 14gm of protein!), cheese (string cheese, or cheddar with apples), milk and high(ish) protein cereals (bowl of cereal every morning - miniwheats have good protein, as does Kashi GoLean cereal...plus good fiber! And milk could almost be considered a craving for me), peanut butter (either PB&J or on celery, etc). Chicken breast makes me gag since pregnancy. I do eat beef maybe 1-2/week. I also eat quite a bit of ground turkey...turkey burgers, or also if I am going to indulge in something like mac & cheese, I'll add a little ground turkey to it. Ground turkey can be added to any pasta sauces, etc.

Good luck! If you're interested, this spreadsheet is what we used in Bradley to keep track of our protein...I did it for several weeks, just to be sure I was consistently on target to hit 80-100, and now I just have a good idea of what to eat (that I like), how much, and what that means for my protein intake so I don't count anymore (cuz it is sort of a pain). Anyway, maybe it'll be helpful to you, but totally not necessary, of course. Just thought it might help. GL, again!

https://www.learntobirth.com/NutWSreg.pdf

Word! I followed the diet too, and ate lots of eggs, egg salad sammies, LOTS of greek yogurt and cottage cheese, both pack quite a bit of protein, nuts/trail mix was also on my daily menu, AND peanut butter (although i'm on an almond butter kick these days)

m&m818 · June 2011

Peanut Butter on bagels was a go-to for me. I really couldn't stomach much in the first 16 wks. Jamba Juice was my BFF during that time too.

DoxieGal · June 2011

I agree with a lot of the pp. For me, some things would work for a while and then all of sudden make me sick. So I had to change my eating habits for most of the pregnancy. String cheese worked for a lot of my pregnancy. It made a great snack when I was starting to feel bad. Cottage cheese worked for a portion of my pregnancy too. Honestly, sometimes it just came down to what I thought I could keep in me and not throw up. I got hooked on pb&j sandwiches. Something about the pb was amazing. Maybe there are some beans that you could add to some meals too.

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