Protein - how important?

fruity2

My logging isn't the best (have not been consistently logging, which I plan to change), I do eat meat yet when going over the days I have logged, my protein appears low, however, I'm not even sure how much protein I am suppose to be eating.

I have opened up my diary to view. After seeing the before and after photos of the ladies who lift, I have been inspired to do just this! Lift weights. However I'm under the impression that in order for me to be successful (build muscle) I need to up my protein?

I'm also determined to drop the alcohol (the one thing that keeps me fat and throws all my good efforts out the window), so combining this with lifting and being more consistent with logging - I'm hoping that this will be enough to see me finally reach my goal (for good this time!).

PS. I have no idea if you are able to view my reports for the past 90 days in order to get a better picture, however, the last day logged has been a typical day - the days not logged contain alcohol and crap (basically when I have not been inspired enough to make a change for good, which means I don't even bother logging my food - yes I know, not good enough! Because one benefit of logging is that it helps keep me on track).

Thanking you for any advice

yarwell

from memory 50 grams a day is about the minimum protein. 1 to 2 grams per day per kg of ideal body weight is another guideline. There are many. An EU VLCD guideline just out says 75 grams a day.

fruity2

yarwell wrote: »

from memory 50 grams a day is about the minimum protein. 1 to 2 grams per day per kg of ideal body weight is another guideline. There are many. An EU VLCD guideline just out says 75 grams a day.

Thank you for this info.

This is going to sound really naff, but my goal (as set by MFP - I think) says 122, so I'm actually aiming too high?

yarwell

sounds like you tweaked it as MFP defaults to 20% of calories which in your case is 70 grams. Did you use Custom goal setting ?

122 might be a bit high, but probably doesn't have adverse effects.

kommodevaran

The numbers can naturally get skewed when they are based off percentages and not exact amounts. Don't know if that is the case here, or I understand correctly You can set percentages yourself in MFP, or download foodfastfit addons to make it possible you set macros in grams.

mymodernbabylon

I try to eat a minimum of 100 grams of protein as that is close to 1 gram of protein per lb lean body mass, and have it set to more as a higher goal (which I try to eat on training days).

KarenJanine

If you are lifting weights, protein is important to help with muscle repair and recovery. This is especially important if you are eating at a deficit (losing weight) to ensure weight loss comes from fat, not muscle.

(ETA - even if you're not lifting weights you still need a good protein intake for general health maintenance, but the requirement is not so high).

MFP automoatically sets protein intake at 20% of your total calorie goal. For many people this can actually be a little low. A commonly used guideline is to aim for 0.8g protein per lb of body weight (so for example a 140 lb person would aim for around 112g protein per day).

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neanderthin

Protein becomes more essential when in a deficit, so you do want more than if you were eating at maintenance or bulking for that matter. Try around .8 grams per lb of lbm....a minimum and I would recommend 1.2 imo.

tennisdude2004

0.7g - 1g per lb of lean mass is more than adequate (the more exercise you do, or if recovering from injury the nearer the 1g you need to be).

However if you have healthy kidneys it's very difficult to eat too much (when in a deficit) so aiming for the top end or just over is never a bad thing.

fruity2

yarwell wrote: »

sounds like you tweaked it as MFP defaults to 20% of calories which in your case is 70 grams. Did you use Custom goal setting ?

122 might be a bit high, but probably doesn't have adverse effects.

Thank you for that, I did tweek it as I was trying for TDEE(something) which I still don't fully understand. I know to eat back my exercise cals. The setting I had it on was off a site that gave me the cals to eat and my guess is, they weren't maintenance cals, which also gave me my protein amount. So for a 169 lb gal (goal 132lbs - but then that kind of goes out the window given I'll be working on building/toning, so have no idea what my ideal weight should be) then perhaps my protein should be 60?

Sorry, just wanted to add, I had forgotten that I changed the settings, it wasn't until I used the MFP recommended settings that it dawned on me.

fruity2

Yay! I went to bodybuilding.com to use their LBM calculator and it says 116 lbs - so then perhaps my protein range should be 92-116 (in general?) - this is so confusing! I went and checked my TDEE/BMR from IIFYM

TDEE 1774 (for fat loss)
BMR 1518
Maintenance 2087

GRAMS per day
CARBS 221.4
PROTEIN 116.9
FAT 46.8
FIBER 34 - 42
CALORIES 1774

So....... BIG question, and assuming I change my totals once I sign up at gym and get started on programme, do I change my totals on here to 1774 cals? Like seriously??? That sounds like a LOT of cals, and then we go back to my protein problem of not getting enough