How much protein should I be eating?

LazyFoodie

At about 160lbs, I'm currently averaging about 90-110 grams a day on a 1350 diet during weekdays (not easy-I'm eating a lot of egg whites and chicken breast). I'm not sure about my protein on weekends since I get most of my calories eating out or at other people's houses. I do eat a lot more carbs/fat than I typically do on weekdays, however I also eat a lot more calories (2,000 or over). I'm guessing I get at least 100 grams on weekends since I tend to like eating meat.

My goals are to lose fat while maintaining as much lean body mass as possible. I do Stronglifts 3 times a week and cardio the rest of the time. Do I need to eating more protein? I have heard you should go for 1 gram of protein per lb of body weight or .8 grams per kg when in a calorie deficit. But 160 grams of protein would be almost 60% of my calories on weekdays (5 cals per gram, right?). Do I need to up my protein or is around 100 grams enough to preserve lean mass and recover from lifting?

If it matters, I'm trying to average about 1550 calories a per day for the week when combining weekday/weekend calories. This deficit might be a little aggressive but I'm going to give it a couple of weeks before deciding if I should up my calories since I guessitmate on some things.

williecampos

I would increase your protein intake just slightly. Try adding in a protein shake. Each gram of protein is about 4 calories so you have to ensure you total burnt calories with added exercise falls below your calorie intake. 130 grams of protein will put you at about 500 calories. It also depends on how much cardio you are doing and your type of activity throughout the day. Loosing fat while maintaining lean muscle is a slow process. You shouldn't expect to lose weight fast and should aim for about 1lb of body fat per week, which is a deficit of 500 calories per day. That's a significant amount while maintaining lean muscle. Hope that makes sense.

jaquelynny

i was 160...i am about 140lbs now i have averaged about 130-150 per day over the year while losing fat. if you eat the same most of the time you wont always have to figure it out,
layout your meal plan for example
4egg white
1 shake
5oz chicken
greek yogurt
6oz chicken
1 shake or cottage cheese
that with the trace amounts in other stuff like oats and spinach etc you should hit your numbers, thats a 6 meal a day plan but you can increase serving sizes and take in less meals, thats a matter of preference

LazyFoodie

Thanks all! Sounds like I need to increase my protein some more. Time to go buy some more Costco egg whites.

williecampos, I was calculating 5 cals per gram which concerned me because it seemed like too much % of my total calories but at 4 cals per gram, the ratio looks a lot better.

jacquelynny, your profile picture look great! I can only hope to look that good at 140 !