Appetite down 70%: how do you hit protein on lifting days?

What's everyone aiming for in g/kg? 1.6 seems to be where most people land, but if your food log is showing 1.2 on the low days, might be worth looking at the weekly average instead of sweating each individual day.

The 'protein snack plate' idea is solid. I prep 4 containers of 200 g Greek yogurt mixed with a scoop of whey and frozen berries. That's 45 g. Two of those plus a normal dinner = 130 g. I'm 74 kg and lifting 3x/week, appetite down maybe 60%. Labs: creatinine 1.02, eGFR 84. Not saying it's for everyone, but the volume is low enough that I don't feel stuffed. Also, sipping slowly over 30 min beats slamming it for me.

I disagree on shakes. They bloat me and kill dinner. I'd rather do 2 eggs + cheese and sip milk.

Eating by clock was the only thing that worked for me.

Front-loading helped me. I lift at 6am, so I do 30 g whey with oats, then 200 g cottage cheese at lunch. When appetite crashed I stopped trying to eat a normal dinner and just made a 'protein snack plate' with boiled eggs and edamame plus yogurt. Hit 140-150 g at 80 kg most days. My albumin stayed 4.3. The biggest shift was not waiting until I felt hungry, because that stopped happening. Eating by clock instead of appetite was the only thing that worked. But if solid food makes you miserable, don't force volume; make every bite count.

Do you count liquid protien same as solid? I feel fuller from whey than from 150 g turkey, weirdly.

78 kg here and I got tired of choking down chicken. A ready-to-drink shake plus 0% Greek yogurt lands me 55 g before noon. Not glamorous, but it works.

Genuinely think 1.6 g/kg is the wrong hill to die on with a suppressed appetite — I dropped from chasing 1.6 down to about 1.25 (84 kg, lifting 4x) around week 8, and my log got better: squat held 3x5 at 110 kg for six straight weeks and I stopped dreading meals, which fixed my sleep, which fixed the rest. What actually got me there wasn't another shake, it was a flat 30 g floor at four points in the day so no single sitting had to carry 60 — 200 g cottage cheese, or a tin of tuna on a rice cake on the nights dinner clearly wasn't happening. Curious what your weight trend and waist are doing though, because if you're dropping fast and the bar is still moving, your protein number isn't the bottleneck.

I quit trying to make every single day hit the number and started scoring my weeks instead — I track carefully maybe 4 days out of 7, then eyeball the rest, and my last four weeks averaged out around 105-110g a day at 74kg. What actually flipped it for me: the days my lifts felt like garbage weren't the low-protein days, they were the ones where I'd eaten basically no carbs, so now I make sure a big chunk of whatever I can actually get down lands within a couple hours of training and I let dinner be whatever it is — a 25g dinner is 25g, not a moral failure. Also a fail worth mentioning: I spent two weeks forcing a third shake at 9pm and my sleep went to hell, which did more damage to my sessions than the missing protein ever did. Weird side note, my waist is down about 4cm while the scale has only moved ~1.8kg in 7 weeks, so a good chunk of what I was panicking about was water and glycogen, not muscle. Are your actual working weights sliding, or is it just the tracking app yelling at you?

Savory liquids were the weird unlock for me when shakes started feeling like cement. Instead of another sweet shake, I’d sip warm egg-drop soup or broth with shredded chicken while cooking dinner. I

What fixed it for me was logging protein per 100 kcal, not per meal. At 1500 kcal, 131g protein means 8

I’m in a similar spot, and the thing that helped wasn’t more shakes — it was flipping the order. I do a small solid protein “anchor” first (eggs or cottage cheese), then use the shake later only if I still need it. When I had the shake first, everything after felt like a chore too. I also started tracking protein per 100 kcal, not just grams, because my appetite seems to quit around volume. Gentle q: are you hitting your 1.6 mostly at one meal or spread out? If it’s spread, maybe one 35–40 g anchor earlier would take pressure off dinner.

dinner was my dead zone too. what worked was flipping it: 35g protein within an hour of waking, then 3 mini 20g hits instead of one big dinner. cold stuff goes down way easier for me — cottage cheese + sf pudding mix, tuna packet with mustard, egg whites microwaved in a mug with hot sauce. none of it is pretty but it's ~20g in 2 min. i also log protein first in the app, then fill carbs/fat around it. are you actually appetite-stopped at dinner or just sick of chewing? if it's texture, cold/smooth might beat another shake.

Night shift here. What fixed lifting days for me was moving the meal, not forcing more food. I lift right after I wake, then eat a real plate before my shift. Eggs, rice, some meat. Shake only if I’m short at 4am. Trying to cram protein after work was useless; I was already full and fried. Are you lifting before or after your sleep block? That timing might matter more than the number.

Six weeks in is when that switch flipped for me too. What finally helped wasn’t another shake — it was going savory. 1/2 cup egg whites scrambled with one egg plus a spoon of cottage cheese, cold or warm, sits way easier than sweet whey. I also stopped trying to eat dinner as one full plate on lifting days; I do two mini savory plates, one around 5 and one around 8. Pre-log them as meals, not snacks, so I stop negotiating. Are you finding it’s the whey specifically that kills your appetite, or just any volume after training? Curious because that changed my whole plan.

My protein trendline nosedived on lifting days too — I just score the week now and call it a win.

The bottleneck wasn’t hunger for me — it was volume/texture. Cold shakes made solid food aversive. I switched to warm, savory, low-volume protein: egg-drop soup with shredded chicken, cottage cheese stirred into marinara,

I’d stop fighting dinner. At 1500 kcal, 130 g protein is ~35% of energy, so distribution matters more than the shake. I front-load: 30–35 g at first meal, 25–30 g at lunch, then dinner can be 20 g and I’m still at floor. Concrete hack: weigh cooked chicken or lean beef into 25 g protein portions and freeze; thaw in broth. Chewing is the limiting factor, not appetite. Are you tracking protein per 100 kcal? Greek yogurt and cottage cheese are efficient; most “protein” snacks are not. What’s your first meal look like?

Not a lifting-day answer exactly, but when appetite vanished I stopped trying to make dinner a meal and made it a “protein floor” of 25 g per eating occasion. Cold shrimp with cocktail sauce, cottage cheese + everything bagel seasoning, turkey roll-ups. Weirdly, cold/salty chewing woke my appetite up better than another shake. On lifting days I put 30–40 g within an hour after the session, then coast. Are you training fasted? If I lift fasted, my appetite is toast all day; a small pre-lift snack changed that for me.

Same, solid food after a shake is a no-go; hotel breakfast eggs are my MVP.

Same, dinner was my dead zone. Flipped it: protein first, then whatever I can actually

Man, solid food after a shake is brutal. I started eating my big protein meal first.

Cafe owner here, so I feel you on the food-business temptations. What finally moved the needle for me wasn’t a bigger dinner, it was a “closing shift protein” I actually want: ½ cup cottage cheese whipped with a spoon of pesto + cucumber (about 20g), eaten standing at the sink before I clean up. Then dinner can be 20–25g and I’m not forcing it. Also track weekly average, not daily—one low day doesn’t wreck the cut. Are you lifting fasted or after eating? Tht changes what I can tolerate.

Something that helped me: temperature. Cold or room-temp protein goes down way eaier than hot food when I’m full. I keep chilled peeled shrimp or rotisserie chicken in the fridge and eat a few bites whenever I walk through the kitchen, not at a formal meal. Also, are you logging the yogurt and whey in your total, or just solids? I was accidentally 20–25g short because I only counted meals. Curious whether your lifting days feel harder or easier for solids than rest days?

yo, similar spot. what helped me was separating “protein” from “meals” entirely. i keep a cold plate in the fridge: rotisserie chicken, cottage cheese, edamame, hard boiled eggs. no cooking, no reheating, just graze 15-20g at a time while i game between matches. appetite still sucks but cold/salty stuff slides down way easier than a warm dinner. also switched to sparkling water + lime instead of soda becaue the carbonation made me feel full without calories, so i had more room later. how’s your hydration/sodium on lifting days? when i underate salt my appetite got even flatter.

late night gamer here too. sweet shakes were nuking my appetite for anything solid, so i flipped to salty/cold stuff: chilled shredded chicken with hot sauce, tuna packet + pickles, cottage cheese with everything bagel seasoning. sounds gross but it cuts the “nothing sounds good” wall way better than another shake. also swapped diet soda for sparkling water + electrolytes before dinner—carbonation bloat was making solids impossible. i track weekly average protein

I’m an empty-nester too, and what finally helped was separating protein from “meals.” On lifting days I keep shredded chicken in the fridge and eat ~3 oz with hot sauce straight from the container while I’m still in gym clothes. No plate, no decision fatigue, about 25 g. Then dinner only has to be 20–25 g. Are you training later in the day? For me, the longer I wait after lifting, the less I want anything solid.

Not a numbers guy, but the thing that broke my low-appetite wall was moving the shake. I used to slam one right after lifting, then wonder why dinner was impossible. Now I lift, eat a real anchor meal first (eggs, cottage cheese, salsa), and only use the shake if I’m short at night. Cold protein is easier for me too—deli turkey roll-ups with pickles, tuna packets, cottage cheese with hot sauce. Weirdly got a solid dinner in without cooking. What time do you lift relative to dinner? If it’s late, the shake might be stealing your only solid-food window.

One weird thing that helped me: I stopped trying to make dinner carry protein. I keep a small “cook’s plate” — a few slices of turkey, some cottage cheese, or shelled edamame — and eat it while I’m making food. It’s not a meal, so the fullness signal doesn’t hit the same way, and I often get an extra 15–20g before I sit down. Cooking smells seem to prime appetite for me. Curious whether your 25g dinners are volume-limited or more of a total aversion by that point? That changed what I prepped.

Dinner was my dead zoe too — front-loading protein at breakfast fixed it for me.

Same—solid dinner after a shake is a chore. Hotel fridge eggs are my sneaky fix. 😅

For what it's worth, fellow cafe owner here. The only thing that worked when my appetite tanked was separating protein from “meals.” I microwave 1 cup egg whites with salsa and a little cheddar—warm, savory, ~30g, and it slides down without the sweet aftertaste. Then dinner can be just 3 oz chicken or fish and I still land near 135g. I also pre-bag turkey slices in the deli fridge; every time I plate a pastry I eat one, otherwise I’m at 20g by 6pm. Are you lifting before or after your cafe shift? Moving mine to late morning made my post-lift window actually usable.

I’m the same—sweet shakes kill my appetite for hours. Weirdly, savory goes down easier. On lifting days I keep a pot of “sipping soup” in the fridge: chicken broth, shredded rotisserie chicken, frozen spinach, splash of soy. It’s not exciting, but I can sip it warm and get a decent hit without feeling stuffed. Cold boiled shrimp with mustard is my backup when cooking smells turn me off. Are you finding temperature/texture is the blocker, or is it total volume? That changed everything for me.

Fellow dorm rat here. The only thing that broke my 25g-dinner wall was making protein the side that needs zero chewing: cottage cheese + canned tuna + hot sauce scooped with seaweed snack packs. Sounds gross, tastes like a spicy tuna roll, and no stove required. Also microwave liquid egg whites in a mug with salsa — savory protein soup, weirdly easier than meat when appetite is dead. My question: are you lifting fasted? I had to stop siping shakes before the gym because it made real food impossible after. Moving the shake to after helped me actually eat dinner.

Bro same, my trendline shows dinner protein flatlines every lift day 😂