Newbie poll: what makes a high/good protein food?

Cool, good job, sounds like your always working on something positive.  TGIF to ya!!! 

OK I'm past your cutoff mark, but only by a couple of months. Hard to put my finger on just what I look for because it varies from product to product.

Yogurt, I chose Greek because it just makes sense since it has twice the protein. I'm a Fage addict now and it is so easy to mix it into all the Tex-Mex I eat (WL friendly homemade Tex-Mex, not that goopy lard laden stuff you find in most restaurants).

My pouch doesn't like ground beef. It does, however, not have an issue with ground chicken (store-bought ground turkey is just gross IMO). I buy natural boneless, skinless chicken breasts and grind them up with boneless skinless chicken thighs at a 3:1 ratio. The little bit of fat from the 1/4 of the thighs is just enough to keep it moist and grills up nicely (strangely I hated dark meat before surgery). I eat them as patties, in italian sauces, anywhere you'd expect to find ground beef. I'm indescriment when it comes to cheeses.

I'll eat any and all cheeses and I don't factor in things like low fat (I monitor my fats everywhere else). I do know that white cheeses tend to be healthier, in general, so usually stick with mozarella varieties.

Other beef products, I'll eat any lean steak-like meat. YUM!

Fish/seafood. I eat shrimp because they are low in fat and high in protein and honestly don't have a lot of flavor plain so they mix into things super easy. I avoid fishes like Tilapia because of the Omega 6 but I do eat Trout, Salmon, and other pink fish. I also adore crab meat but since I'm not made of money, I don't buy it these days (just order it out) and I don't eat fake crab.

Pepperoni - I skip it. I have a link sausage that has more flavor and less fat per serving that I can slice up thin and it makes the best pizza topping ever.

Lunch meats - I tend to avoid because of the chemicals and high salt content. However, I do occasionally treat myself to the uber expensive chemical free low salt stuff at Sprouts.

Did I cover everything? For me, it's a very individual thing that is assessed each and every time I chose a protein.

Beans. I love beans. Never been a fan of pork and beans and other sugary types, but I love Ranch Style Beans and Black beans so I use those fairly regularly. When I buy refried beans I look for the fat-free organic ones. HEB/Central Market has an Organics brand that is to die for and I buy pretty much everything they offer from chips (soy/flaxseed) to beans to sauces.

You covered everything...and then two more things!

So what I'm hearing from you is that you judge the better choices by your own knowledge of the general content of various foods. You don't necessarily consult with the hard numbers so much as your own knowledge of food? Would that be fair to say?

Remember there is no right or wrong answer. I'm just trying to understand thought processes.

Thanks!

I would say that's a fair statement.  I'm not measuring the ratios of carb versus fat versus protein but more of what would be a healthy option in XYZ catagory.  I also always go with the least tampered with as well.  I can tamper to my liking (and in a much healthier and tastier way than anything I find in stores).

As an aside, after a brief forray into the idea of protein bars, etc. I have finally decided that if I need additional protein in my diet that I would prefer to supplement with one of those readi-packs of tuna  or adding an additional cottage cheese and fresh berries than a protein bar. 

With the exception of a few (like two) protein bars...I would tend to agree. There are two I really like. But I would much rather have "real food."

Nik, I'm almost 4 months out and still not hungry 90% of the time. So I get a lot of my protein from shakes. (I puffy heart my shakes!) I start EVERY morning with my CLICK drink. Since I'm not usually hungry, I tend to stick to foods I know the protein value of that are within my calorie/carb/fat content range. I learned very early on to read labels....of everything! On foods that I don't know the protein value, I will look at the label. If it has little to no protein value, I may add something to it that DOES have protein (cheese, beans, etc.) However, I don't limit myself to only protein foods. If I want a SF jello, I haz it. I might drink another shake before the day is done. But I have NEVER had an issue getting in all my protein. Being fat since I was 7, I know that not every protein forward food or drink is a good choice (did you see my comment on a recent post about a chocolate milkshake? UGH!) It drives me crazy when people tell me it's okay to have something with 900 calories because it has a ton of protein. Are you serious? But I digress. To summarize, I read labels. Every. Single. Time. I will eat a food with no protein from time to time. But more often than not, I choose something with at least 5 grams.

Sounds like you've got your head on straight.

I should have said in my message I'm asking this for a piece I'm doing specifically on protein. I hear folks responding that they eat other foods besides protein and that's great. I'm really honing in on protein and how folks are making their choices with respect to that particular thing.

And your post helped. Thanks!

 I'm currently on a week vacation right now visiting family. I'm just over a month out and I can eat meats as long as I chew them well. Every meal is eating out so it's a bit hard for me to find the best protein choices. We went to Ihop for breakfast yesterday and I had one egg and two pieces of turkey bacon (even those were greasy...ugh). Last night, we went to Texas Roadhouse. So much meat but I just wanted to be able to pick off of someone's plate. I ended up eating one of my dad's baby back ribs and moistened the meat by 'dipping' it in a sweet potato. I didn't use sauce or butter. I guess right now, eating out for every meal, I'm trying to make the choice of eating some kind of lean meat before I eat anything else. Barring that I go for a cup of chili. So far it's been easier then I thought it would be. I know there's probably other ways I could make good protein choices at restaurants but I really don't have any good guildines on doing so. 

I consider a great protein source something that contains enough protein to be ten percent of the total calories or as close as I can find.  For example my string cheese has 60 calories and 6 grans of protein so I consider it a good source.

Specificity! God bless you!

Thanks this is really helpful.

:)