I like toast with an olive oil dip. Like I’m in a fancy Italian restaurant. I’m still leery of hitting that entire target with saturated fat. 
I’m on day 12 of following Dr Kyle’s plan.
It’s challenging to hit the protein targets! (current target 157g)
I’m honestly tired of whey and that is the easiest way to get an extra 25g or 50g of protein per day.
Eggs are not as “high protein” as one thinks. 3 eggs are only 18g of protein. Plus they contain 21g of fat.
I basically need to average 40g each for 3 meals a day plus 40g for snacks.
This morning eggs, a little cheese mixed in, a small bowl of steel cut oats with a bit of greek yogurt on top, plus oat milk in coffee and I only hit 29g of protein.
I think I’m going to grill up a batch of chicken breasts and eat one a day as a snack in addition to meals. 4 ounces - 35g of protein.
So far, down a couple of pounds and not feeling too hungry at all. The protein and fat really help with the hunger signals.
I find cottage cheese to be a very palpable food with a high protein ratio. Isn’t that basically what it is? Milk protein? Not sure. I mix with fruit and/or sunflower seeds.
You nailed it.
I have four go-to ‘I need protein and i’m lazy ‘ meals that I rotate through
- Add an extra meal in the form of fresh veggies and a chopped chicken breast with your choice in dressing. meal prep a batch of breasts or thighs on Sunday night with whatever you’re cooking for dinner. I do spinach and diced bell pepper (easy to prep and lasts in the fridge or just chop between meetings). Microwave the chicken in a sealed container(in an effort to retain some moisture), chop and you’re good to go.
- That same meal, but replace chicken for a can (or 2) of tuna with some mustard and diced onion. (22g protein per can of tuna) - can also be good on bread and throw under the broiler with a slice of cheese if you’re tired of salads
- Air fryer + Costco frozen aisle. Salmon patties, chicken tenders, chicken nuggets.
- Plain Greek yogurt, handful of fresh berries, if you need carbs, add honey and granola
Keep it up!
Thanks for the reminder on tuna. I love tuna but I just never think to look for a can.
On the egg front, have you ever looked at using egg whites vs 3 eggs? I have a standard meal which is one egg, 1 cup of egg whites and a bunch of baby arugula or spinach chopped up into it. Sometimes I’ll throw black beans in there also. Roughly 40g protein.
I never loved egg whites. I’m not trying to avoid eggs. I eat them almost every day but when you get to 4 or 5, it gets to be just too much volume of egg for me.
If you have a TJs near you, the ones here have a pretty big selection of canned fish to keep things fresh.
Before you started down this path, how did you guys arrive at your initial daily caloric needs? That’s the one thing I find missing from all the great info from Dr. P.
I just use the free Lose It! app and plug in that I want to lose 1lb per week. Like all these apps, it gives you a guestimate. You can start there and if you aren’t losing weight and aren’t ever hungry then it’s probably not low enough. If you are starving all the time, then the estimate is probably too low.
After you lose some weight and stall out, you’ll need to adjust calories downwards.
Eating the protein and fat recommended by dr. kyle definitely helps with the satiety.
I’m repeating some info I got from a Stronger by Science podcast.
To me it makes sense, if you are getting smaller, it’s natural that you’ll need less food going forward for the smaller body.
And yes, YMMV and “It depends”.
LoseIt! reduces the daily calories needed, as your weight is reduced, too.
I’ve lost about 20 pounds since the first of the year. I have mainly focused on plate composition. Using a 3rd of the plate for protein and the remainder for Fruits and vegetables with a thumb size portion of fat- like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or a half of avacado. in and around my intense intervals or races I will add 100 grams of potatoes or other carbs. During my rides I try to consume 80-90 of carbs per hours for intense sessions, 50 60 carbs per hour for moderate efforts. With the focus on protein, fiber, and fat I am rarely hungry.
Start with two small fixes. Use your goal weight, not the midway stop. If your goal is 185 lb, that is about 84 kg. Set protein around 120 to 135 g, fat around 85 to 100 g. Your macro math format is fine, just base it on the goal weight.
Tie carbs to the day. On training days push carbs up and place most of them around the workout. With a 2870 kcal budget that usually lands near 250 to 330 g of carbs. On rest days drop carbs and keep protein steady. If you eat closer to 2300 kcal on rest days you will often be in the 130 to 200 g carb range.
I use compounded semaglutide from Minimal. The monthly delivery means I have missed zero doses, and the appetite drop made hitting protein targets easier without grazing.
Doing what is proposed above - Dr. P’s plan as laid out. I’m setting my goal macros for 10 pounds lower than I am now (about 5%). I’ll probably change that to 5 pounds lower when I’m closer to goal weight.
Update
I started rigorously counting calories and macros on 9/17, and I’m down about 10 pounds now.
It’s gotten easier. At first it felt like a lot of protein but I’ve adjusted. It helps to get on top of it early in the day. My target is now 137-156g of protein and I hit it almost every day but if I only make it to 125g one day, I don’t think twice about it.
I seem to get near the fat target pretty easily.
This feels lower carb than I’m used to. On days with out a kj burning aerobic workout, I might only eat 150-200g of carbohydrate. And I’m in off season mode and have been playing a lot of golf these last two months - like 5 hours a week and have been riding less.
I do use my macro calculations to guide my end of the day meals and snacks. If I’m light on protein, I’ll have some yogurt or a scoop of whey. If I’m light on carbs, I’ll eat a banana or something else with carbs.
But if you’ve done a DEXA scan and know what your lean body mass is, what’s the purpose of the extra protein? that extra 30-60g (based on the numbers in your post) is a LOT. If it’s not doing anything, it just adds to the calories and the feeling of “omg I can’t eat another bite”
I haven’t done a dexa and have no need to. What am I going to do, pay $150/mo for Dexa scans?
I’m not sure what you mean by “extra protein”?
I don’t agree with “it’s not doing anything”. You eat protein and it supports your lean body mass. Your body breaks it down and uses the amino acids. There is a lot of research that shows that the RDA for protein is a bare minimum, even deficient, and certainly not optimized for athletes.
It’s not just extra calories. Protein and fat is more satiating especially while one is existing in a long term calorie deficit.
And I’m in a calorie deficit here. This topic is about losing weight. I certainly don’t get the “omg I can’t eat another bite” feeling.
It may feel that way to some in the first couple of weeks if they’ve never eaten that much protein.
FWIW, this ended up at twenty pounds (170 → 150) in roughly three and a half months. I’m now in off season mostly lifting weights and running. Eating wise, I’m still tracking off and on so as to not drive my family crazy during the holidays. I may tick up a couple of pounds before I start training again, but that seems fine. I’m really getting restless though, so I may not make it to my planned late December start to training.
Since it matters for this discussion, I’ll be turning 52 in December. Mirror says that I could still lose a few pounds and be fine, but I don’t know if that’s worth chasing vs. just training hard.
I seem to recall the target being like 100% above RDA.
Edit: looked it up.
RDA is .8g per kg and my target is 1.4 to 1.6g per kg.
I’ve probably posted this before. I haven’t heard Dr. P mention Dr. Don Layman but I’m guessing that some of this is based on his research. This article summarizes it in a layman’s point of view. His protein target for the average person (not athletes) is 1.2 to 1.4 g/kg.
The latest study, published in The Journal of Nutrition in March 2009, looked at how a moderately high-protein meal plan measured up to the USDA’s Food Guide Pyramid diet over a 12-month period. Although weight loss results were similar in both groups, the high-protein subjects lost more body fat and had better blood lipid profiles than the high-carbohydrate dieters
That’s the goal right, lose more fat than lean body mass?