Reducing meat intake

Nutrition Discussion
1

After watching David Attenborough’s newest documentary me and my wife want to greatly reduce our meat intake - at least on 4-5 days per week.

My meat intake usually consists of at least a chicken breast with lunch and either another at dinner, or some other meat source at dinner.

I currently eat 170g-190g of protein per day mainly made up of meat and whey, with trace sources from other stuff - can any vegetarians out there chime in on how they make up their protein sources? I’d rather not make the majority up from whey, would much prefer protein from food.

Thanks

2

Lentils and quinoa are a great source of protein for me. Lentils are extremely cheap and versatile.

I cook quarts of them in a pressure cooker every other weekend and make meals out of them throughout the week.

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3

I personally get most of my protein from:
Beans (A can of beans has ~24grams of protein and is very cost efficient)
Tofu (it absorbs flavor well and can be made crispy)
Soy Milk
Higher protein cereal such as this: https://www.kashi.com/en_US/products/kashi-go-cereal-chocolate-crunch.html (tasty and easy)
Protein Bars (easy, but expensive)
Occasionally fake meat, lately this: Trader Joe’s SOY CHORIZO | Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) (there’s a lot of really gross fake meat out there, so in general buy a small quantity to taste first)
Occasionally a protein shake

Also eggs are probably more ethical than meat?

4

My local Trader Joe has these for just over $2.50 a pack. I think they’re delicious, and are a good quick source of protein.

5

Seitan, tofu, beans, lentils, think grains other than white rice (teff, spelt, kamut etc)
Pea milk or soy milk if you can tolerate it

If you are are ok with dairy then cottage cheese and yogurt are easy

6

Great stuff thanks all. Do you find you have to eat large quantities of the above to achieve your protein requirements? From a quick search it looks like chicken breast has 3x more protein per 100g then lentils for example.

7

I’d say the volume of food probably ends up being a bit higher, particularly with grains and legumes. With tofu (if you get firm tofu and cook some of the water out) and fake meat the volume to protein ratio is better. I eat a similar amount of protein as you (~180g/day) and I don’t have much trouble getting it in.

8

Yeah, most days I eat between 1.5-2.5 cups of cooked lentils across two meals. They’re not particularly dense in terms of calories but they do have a lot of bulk, and can make you feel full. It’d be hard to hit my goals without supplementing with whey.

9

An excellent source of protein for the former meat lover can be legumes, as well as any soy products. There are a lot of soy products in our city, which make up for my protein requirement. For example, I like to buy dried soy bars. Sure, they look like breadcrumbs, but you can soak them in water with tomato paste and then fry them in vegetable oil over low heat for a delicious meal. It will be very similar to a real cutlet, bro. You can also cook tofu. It’s vegan cheese. Of course, it doesn’t melt, but you can grate it into any dish. I like to dice it, soak it in soy sauce, and then bake it until crispy. If you don’t know how to press tofu, check out the youtube tutorial. Good luck on your veggie journey! I’m with you.

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10

Which documentary?

11

A while back but I think it was 'our planet ’