For lunch and dinner each day, you are allowed 3oz (or 100g, which is close to 3.5oz) of protein - I've seen some guidelines say that it the raw weight, some say it is the cooked weight - we've been starting with between 3-3.5oz of raw protein. The options given are lean beef (I use only extra-lean, 95% or more fat-free), veal, chicken breast, lobster, fresh white fish, crab or shrimp. I don't know why turkey is excluded but I figure it's because Turkey can be quite fatty, and at the time the diet was developed, I don't think extra-lean ground turkey was common. I haven't added turkey in (yet!) but I feel that using extra-lean will have the same benefits as chicken breast. I also find it curious that veal is allowed as it has about 6x's the fat as lean ground beef. Again, I think this goes back the original diet and maybe the "lean" beef of the day had about the same fat content as veal. The diet allows you to "occasionally" substitute 1/2 cup of fat-free cottage cheese, or 1 whole egg plus 3 egg whites. I've also seen that skim milk and fat-free/sugar-free yogurt can be used but so far I haven't looked to far in to that - but the thought of some yogurt with vanilla extract, stevia and and handful of strawberries would make for a nice lunch!
I've supplemented this list by adding Imitation Crab (which add carbs, but include fiber to off-set the small amount of sugar) as a lower cost substitute. We've also enjoyed Oscar-Meyer Rotisserie-Seasoned Chicken Breast (found in the pre-packaged deli-meat section) and the new Hillshire Farm Grilled Essentials - all 3 varieties are almost no sugar, and measure 99g - a perfect serving size. They are pre-cooked so they can be eaten cold (if you're not close to a microwave) or heated in 1 minute.
I haven't mentioned yet, but will here - that a digital food scale, that can measure in .1 of an ounce or .001 of a gram is a necessity! They can be found for around $20 at Target or Walmart.
I've found the biggest trick to the protein is using spices - salt is allowed but I try and limit salt by using brands like Mrs. Dash. You are basically allowed unlimited use of herbs and spices to season your foods - the more flavor, the less chance of getting bored with the limited selections. Also, I've added yellow mustard - it's a zero-calorie food and can be used as part of a marinade or condiment for a beef patty. I'll talk about this more in the vegetable post, but pickles are another zero-calorie food. Instead of grilling a plain 3oz of lean beef, season it with some ground pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and even a little citrus zest, then grill it and serve with a light squirt of mustard and a couple dill slices...a few added flavors make all the difference in the world!
***UPDATE*** Corned Beef!
St. Patrick's day was this past weekend, and what is St. Patty's without Corned Beef and Cabbage? Nothing I tell you! So I did some research and found that Brisket is a lean cut of beef - and what is Corned Beef? Brisket! BUT, when shopping for Corned Beef, there are two cuts...Point Cut and Flat Cut - the Flat Cut is a MUCH leaner cut of beef. So, I purchased a Flat Cut package of Corned Beef, trimmed all visible fat (another option is to start cooking it, and before it's done, remove it from the pot, trim the beef then return to the pot to resume cooking) and it could not have been better! Additionally, I steamed cabbage in a Zip-lock zip'n Steam bag (don't add it to the pot or it'll soak up all the fat that cooked out of the beef!) and added a side of horseradish (sorry, just the "prepared" non-creamy variety, you can't add sour cream or mayo to it!) and we enjoyed a "guilt-free" St. Patrick's Day meal - with no affect on the diet!
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