Your problem doesn't appear to be what, but rather how much.

And where's the protein?

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https://markmcdermott.substack.com

Agreed, need to add a protein shake or food source with higher protein. What would you suggest?

Yeah that doesn't seem like very much food...or maybe I'm eating too much. Here's my typical day:

Smoothie w/ protein powder about 6:45am
Kashi bar about 8:30
Non-diary yogurt about 10:00
A roughly 300 calorie lunch about 11:30
A larabar about 2:30
An apple and almonds about 4:00
Then dinner post workout about 7:30

No expert....but +1

What protein powder do you prefer in your smoothie?

I use a plant-based protein powder from Arbonne - http://www.arbonne.com/...r-2070,1476,274.aspx

I'll also mix it with water and drink it after a long weekend training ride or especially intense weekday workout.

I predominately do my workouts after work (~6pm)

I typically have around 4:30pm at work a banana and orange -- maybe some nuts. Sometimes I splurge with a piece of dark chocolate.

To put some numbers to it....you ought to get about 1.2 g/kg of protein per day. I weigh ~150lbs or 69kg, so I plan on 100g per day. I like regular foods versus high-tech stuff. You know, meats and eggs and stuff.

I'm mostly a 3 meal a day guy, and I try and keep my meals pretty even (800-1000 cal per meal). So I try and get 30g of protein at each meal. That's about 5oz of meat, if nothing else has ANY protein.

That said, on early swim days I do have some protein powder. I make overnight oatmeal and add 2 heaping tbsp. of whey protein.

Lunch is typically left-overs from the night before. If not, I have a cafeteria at work. They always seem to have small portions of meat (chicken breast, pork loin, etc), so I usually get two, plus starch and veg.

On really big days (typically Wed and Sat), I might have a snack in the afternoon of mostly carbs. This snack might be fruit or it might be something prepackaged depending on time.

I'm no dietician but pay very close attention to my diet and eat the same things most days.
My breakfast is eggs, full fat yogurt and almonds and strawberries.
Lunch is salad and one of 3 meats with it.
The same for dinner.
I have usually 1-2 fruits a day, either oranges or pears.

My thinking is your diet appears to mostly made up of carbs, and not the best ones either.
Also your diet appears to be lacking good fat and a bit of protein.

I'd try this for ap2 weeks. Ditch the oats and have eggs. Keep the banana if you have trained before.
Lose the sandwich and try a chicken salad with avo.
Ditch the peanuts as that fat type is not the good type, rather try almonds.
Keep dinner similar to lunch. More good fats in your diet will keep you fuller for longer and keep blood sugar stable. Works well for me.
Oh and always olive oil in that salad !!!!

I tend to skew towards more protein than most. I've found good results by eating more than what most places say is needed.

I weigh 156 pounds at 5'9" and generally get about 200g protein a day. When training, I burn about 1000-1500 calories a day on average, and use 2500 calories as a baseline. I don't track anally, so I don't know if I eat 3300 or 3800, but I generally keep track in my head of where I am roughly.

A day for me will be similar to the following (trying to remember a specific day this week):
4:30am, trainer workout and a run around noontime

breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs (made with a little milk and butter) and 2 pieces of toast
snack: muscle milk pro, i scoop with water
lunch: romaine salad that has a bunch of veggies (tomato, broccoli, carrots, etc) along with chicken and a SMALL amount of real dressing with fat. Also may include some sort of "bad" carb source like pretzels, but I limit it
snack: more muscle milk, a quest bar or something similar (not the best)
dinner: a small veggie salad with oil/vinegar and cheese pizza
night snack: popcorn and some graham crackers (have kids and their stupid crackers always draw me in)

That's ALOT more than you're eating.

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https://markmcdermott.substack.com

Man, looking at everyone else eating clean makes me feel bad. My typical day is
Breakfast nr 1: Greek yogurt with müsli and honey
Breakfast 2: 3 eggs on crispbread with Swedish caviar
Snack: banana and barebell protein bar
Lunch: huge serving of pasta with some type of meat sauce
Snack: a couple of clementines + protein shake
Dinner: Chicken or fish with potatoes or pasta with a lot of sauce.
Snack: pretzels or whatever else I'm craving
Eat too little greens and quite a bit of fatty foods. However I'm 170lb and 6'3 so I'm pretty slim.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

I'm with you.
I can't believe it how people manage to train hard while eating "huge salads with some chicken" and oranges.

I usually eat a couple pieces of toast before my AM workout, which is usually my hardest/longest of the day.
Then oats + protein powder for breakfast.
Workout #2 which is usually an easy 1h run or an easy 2-3km swim.
Lunch is a big serving of rice, potatoes or pasta + meat (usually salmon).
A banana or an apple as a snack if I feel hungry. Usually don't.
Dinner is usually two big cheese sandwiches with some cream cheese.
Greek yogurt with protein powder and a banana before bed.

Plant based proteins generally have lower amounts of leucine which, in layman's terms, is the magic muscle repairing/building protein that athletes need. That's why cliff gets ripped on by so many athletes. Soy is low in leucine and has higher amounts of estrogen.

If you lack energy you need more carbs. Try having a snack that's composed of high glycemic index carbs before your workout.

I'm not claiming to be an expert in this space, but one study I saw related leucine only studied soy and wheat plant based proteins, not all the other plants that have protein. That study suggested several methods to overcome the deficiency. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26224750

I think eating is really individual, though there are obviously some broad strokes that are true. As a preference I know I like bigger dinners, so I limit my lunch. But my dinners are usually in the 12-1400 calories range so they're big. I've found that is what works for me.

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https://markmcdermott.substack.com

Boiled eggs are an easy way to sneak some protein in the mix. Boil a dozen on Sunday and you have an easy snack that's moderate in protein.

It looks like you are high in carbs so I would suggest adding some natural fats (avocados, eggs, nuts like almonds or cashews) etc.

Seems like most folks on here are doing this:

AM Oats + Serving of Fruit
AM Snack - Protein Powder, Bananna
Lunch - Some salad, some turkey sandwhch, Avocado, Carrots
PM Snack - Almonds, Power Bar of sorts, Apple
Dinner - Individualized
Before Bed - Milk, Yogurt, Cereal, Cheese

Would folks agree this is pretty decent for the majority?