think i went over this somewhere else...

actually, as a college student, you might be at an advantage...

Firstly, Canned fish will work -- Tuna, Salmon, Anchovies...

They bag it now too, they also bag chicken.

Beef Jerky is ok.

Both of those can be used when you are in a pinch.

Raw eggs work well, if you don't have a problem with that.

What you really should do is get extra meat on your meat plan...when you go to the store or the dining hall, get an extra serving and take it back to your room for use later.

No real good source of protein comes in a package.

this is semi-related..

i love eating tuna because it's tasty, lowish in calories and high in protein, but i've been told (and did a quick bit of research) that there are higher levels of mercury in fish that are from the ocean/have longer life spans as this allows them to swim in contaminated water for longer. River and hatchery fish are safer, but i just really enjoy tuna-apparently chunk light has less mercury than albacore tuna.

any thoughts?

and to the OP, keep a variety of cheeses and spreads around-they will definitely help with keeping things fresh. I know that you don't have a huge budget, so i won't start suggesting buying cuts of deli meat or bunches of different breads, but varying the flavor will make it easier to enjoy consuming more protein.

I am not too compelled by these mercury claims.  After discussing this issue with people even more versed in nutrition than I am, i am fairly certain that the mercury content is nothing to really be concerned about...unless maybe you're eating 5lbs of tuna a day, every day.


Protein shakes are not better than real food.  Never will be.  Ever.

Meat/Fish has less of an absorption rate than very few foods.  Namely, milk, eggs and soy.  Soybean, however, along with high protein counts and a relatively high protein score, has an ample amount of fat and protein.  If you isolate the protein into a powder, you reduce the absorption rate.  In a balanced diet, a balanced meal just consists of soybeans.  That gets boring fast.  Isolations of proteins drastically reduce the absorption.

Meat/Fish and eggs are pretty much all protein with extremely high absorption rates (especially eggs) which allow them to be part of a balanced and enjoyable diet.

Milk and soybeans (not really soymilk..) are good snack alternatives since they is a relatively balanced meal in and of itself.

Awesome suggestion.

I may just do that this weekend.

Never said it was. However, what do you do if your vegan? (ie: Christian Bale BULKED up for Batman)
Meat/Fish/Poultry/Eggs/Milk..   all gone.
For that matter, most protein shakes would be too as to their whey content.
Soybeans do hold more value than the milk so I agree with you there.

Theres also supplements, bars, drinks other than shakes, etc...
theres ways to get it.
In short the best way to get it would be what works best for your lifestyle and individual health.

As previous poster said, this is horribly off topic.

All I can say is that protein supplements and soy protein sources are not good sources of protein.  Soy isolates bring the absorption rate from 90%+ down to 50% or less.  If you eat soy beans, that better be all you are eating as a source of carb, too...with a great amount of fat...they are very carb rich.

Its a little known fact that vegans cannot be successful as everyone else on the scale of human performance.  Their lifestyle is an extreme in which they sacrifice human performance abilities and muscle mass.

Why not soy milk?  Assuming that it's plain, unsweetened soy milk (the other kinds taste like crap to me), isn't it just soybeans and water?  Is there something about the process that upsets the absorption of protein in soy milk?

Related topic: lactose free milk.  Does lactose play any major role in digestion and absorption?  That is, does the introduction of lactase to milk before ingestion have any any effect other than the stated one?