Hi. I am new to fitness pal and wondering - Do I really need to eat this much Protein?

lelbarou

I am quite overweight right now and I am really surprised by how many grams of protein I have to consume according the table they are showing me for my daily intake. I am wondering if this is really necessary. I am meeting my calorie goals, but I am having trouble meeting the protein requirements. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Shawnee73

I eat mostly vegan and have been overweight my whole life. For the first time ever I have seriously paid attention to my protein intake. It has made a HUGE difference for me. I'm actually able to build muscle and daily tasks are easier than they've ever been, and I have more energy.

I am not going to say that I hit my goal every day but I get as much protein in as possile for the way I prefert to eat.

Here's some recommendations.

- Find a protein powder you like, I do two scoops daily. Try to find one with high protein, low calories, and low sugar. I would recommend Abouttime or Quest.
- Eat a protein bar daily. Again I recommend Quest. 170 cal, 20g Protein, 1g sugar, 19g fiber. The best thing. They taste like a candy bar and have clean ingredients.
- Dannon light and fit yogurt. Great flavors, 80 cal and I think 15g protein...the highest cal to protein ratio I've found.
- I eat an everything bagel( Franz -9g protein) with a mixture of a can of tuna (25 g protein), half an avocado, and plain greek yogurt ( I use tillamook farmstyle, 13g in 1/4 of a cup I believe) and I put a little lemon juice in it.

Hope this helps feel free to add or message me!!!!

gabrielleelliott90

Course not. Eat whatever you want. Just make sure you eat your calories.

lelbarou

Thanks both of you for your input. I will try eating more protein and see if it makes a difference in my energy. I am realizing that I eat very little of it. I think I might look into the protein powders or bar and see if things can increase. I think you also made a good comment Gabriel about keeping to the calories. I will try to do both

arditarose

How much is it saying to eat? Protein helps you feel full, and helps with saving lean muscle as you lose fat. As a 135 pound women my low days are 100 grams, and my high days are 140. It is very important to me personally.

auddii

Protein can help keep you satiated, which may make it easier to stay in a deficit. You'll have to find a level that works for you. Most people need 0.6 to 0.8 grams per pound of body weight. Unfortunately mfp uses percentages of total calories, so it takes a little adjusting.

njitaliana

The more lean muscle mass you have, the more calories you will be able to burn. When we diet, we lose lean muscle mass if we don't eat enough protein. So, yes, it's important to eat enough protein. Plus, it will help you feel full.

I don't always hit my goal, either. So, I keep Quest bars and Greek yogurt around. They both have a lot of protein, so when I'm low on protein, I add one or both. They are good and easy to have together for breakfast or individually for snacks.

Milk and protein shakes (even the ready-made ones in the can) are also good for adding protein. So, I have skim milk with breakfast every day.

ryanp_942

Thankfully chicken happens to be one of my favourite things to eat so I don't usually have an issue reaching my protein goal. As others have said protein rich foods tend to make you feel fuller for longer than carb/sugar or fatty foods. An added bonus is that your body burns more calories to digest protein than it does for the other nutrient groups.

AyaRowan

As others have said protein can help you feel full. Everyone's different though, I have friends who feel overstuffed if they eat a lot of protein. It can also help preserve some of your muscle mass, though doing a bit of exercise with weights is the best way to do that. I'm down to 219lb (highest weight in 2007 was 318lb) and I'm nothing but fat and squishy flab. I seem to have lost tons of muscle along with the fat so I'm starting to work on strength training now to try and preserve what muscle I have left.

dpd333

I had very similar questions when I started using MFP.

I found these articles pretty helpful in understanding what was going on and why MFP was recommending what it was...

http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/5-reasons-why-protein-is-good-for-weight-loss/

http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/ask-the-dietitian-whats-the-best-carb-protein-and-fat-breakdown-for-weight-loss/

slucki01

Protein helps you sustain muscle during weight loss, improve muscle fitness, immunity, and antioxidant function. It also affects your metabolic rate. More importantly, from my perspective, it helps you feel full which will helpyou stick with your plan longer.

Khukhullatus

Shawnee73 wrote: »

I eat mostly vegan and have been overweight my whole life. For the first time ever I have seriously paid attention to my protein intake. It has made a HUGE difference for me. I'm actually able to build muscle and daily tasks are easier than they've ever been, and I have more energy.

I am not going to say that I hit my goal every day but I get as much protein in as possile for the way I prefert to eat.

Here's some recommendations.

- Find a protein powder you like, I do two scoops daily. Try to find one with high protein, low calories, and low sugar. I would recommend Abouttime or Quest.
- Eat a protein bar daily. Again I recommend Quest. 170 cal, 20g Protein, 1g sugar, 19g fiber. The best thing. They taste like a candy bar and have clean ingredients.
- Dannon light and fit yogurt. Great flavors, 80 cal and I think 15g protein...the highest cal to protein ratio I've found.
- I eat an everything bagel( Franz -9g protein) with a mixture of a can of tuna (25 g protein), half an avocado, and plain greek yogurt ( I use tillamook farmstyle, 13g in 1/4 of a cup I believe) and I put a little lemon juice in it.

Hope this helps feel free to add or message me!!!!

haha, Is it just me, or was there not one vegan thing on that list?

Chieflrg

Protein is an important in your diet. As others have stated it helps retain muscle. It very important when you are trying to lose weight. Unfortunately you cannot build muscle while eating at a deficit, but you can build strength. You might want to consider resistance training also as it will help you with retaining muscle.

I suggest grilled chicken, fish, or steak as you can eat quite a bit of it without a ton of calories and the protein is very high. I'm in the camp to eat food for protein over a shake though if you want to go that route there is nothing terrible about it, just not as efficient in my opinion.

lishie_rebooted

FoCoAlphaNerd wrote: »

Shawnee73 wrote: »

I eat mostly vegan and have been overweight my whole life. For the first time ever I have seriously paid attention to my protein intake. It has made a HUGE difference for me. I'm actually able to build muscle and daily tasks are easier than they've ever been, and I have more energy.

I am not going to say that I hit my goal every day but I get as much protein in as possile for the way I prefert to eat.

Here's some recommendations.

- Find a protein powder you like, I do two scoops daily. Try to find one with high protein, low calories, and low sugar. I would recommend Abouttime or Quest.
- Eat a protein bar daily. Again I recommend Quest. 170 cal, 20g Protein, 1g sugar, 19g fiber. The best thing. They taste like a candy bar and have clean ingredients.
- Dannon light and fit yogurt. Great flavors, 80 cal and I think 15g protein...the highest cal to protein ratio I've found.
- I eat an everything bagel( Franz -9g protein) with a mixture of a can of tuna (25 g protein), half an avocado, and plain greek yogurt ( I use tillamook farmstyle, 13g in 1/4 of a cup I believe) and I put a little lemon juice in it.

Hope this helps feel free to add or message me!!!!

haha, Is it just me, or was there not one vegan thing on that list?

Unless vegan was redefined...

earlnabby

FoCoAlphaNerd wrote: »

haha, Is it just me, or was there not one vegan thing on that list?

lishie_rebooted wrote: »

Unless vegan was redefined...

Or the poster was giving suggestions in general, rather than vegan suggestions.

Iron_Feline

earlnabby wrote: »

FoCoAlphaNerd wrote: »

haha, Is it just me, or was there not one vegan thing on that list?

lishie_rebooted wrote: »

Unless vegan was redefined...

Or the poster was giving suggestions in general, rather than vegan suggestions.

Except she says I eat...

3dogsrunning

cosmo_momo

Unless you are a growing child, or are body building you do not need to eat an excess of protein. I repeat, YOU DO NOT NEED TO EAT AN EXCESS OF PROTEIN. Having said that, if protein helps keep you full longer, by all means eat it. I eat very little protein (averaging 9-15% of my daily calories, usually 30-50g) and have done so for the last two months. Unless you are literally starving yourself, you WILL NOT have a protein deficiency. That is not a thing.

calories in/calories out.

disneygirl626

Protein is actually one of my macros I hit consistently without even trying just because of the foods I love. I eat a lot of cheese, cottage cheese, grilled chicken, and tuna. However, for weight loss itself all that matters is calories in/calories out.

Best advice I can give is to find what works for you. It'll take some trial and error but you'll get there.

amf0324

I think the short answer is no, but there will come a day (probably) where more protein is going to be the solution to the problem of wanting to eat your own arm. Now that I'm getting down toward my goal, protein is my best friend. I judge all calories by it.

happyfeetrebel1

My dietician recommended one gram of protein per inch of height. IE, I'm 71 inches tall so I should aim for 71 grams. Some cottage cheese, greek yogurt and a chicken breast will do it for me.

I think the USRDA for protein in general is around 50 g per day.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

How much are you trying to eat? Protein paired with resistance training will help preserve your muscle mass as you lose weight. Most people find it sating as well, which might make it easier to stick to your deficit.

I eat a lot of dairy because I don't like meat. Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, milk, cheese, etc. are all good.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Sarauk2sf

cosmo_momo wrote: »

Unless you are a growing child, or are body building you do not need to eat an excess of protein. I repeat, YOU DO NOT NEED TO EAT AN EXCESS OF PROTEIN. Having said that, if protein helps keep you full longer, by all means eat it. I eat very little protein (averaging 9-15% of my daily calories, usually 30-50g) and have done so for the last two months. Unless you are literally starving yourself, you WILL NOT have a protein deficiency. That is not a thing.

calories in/calories out.

You realize that we need protein to maintain/build muscle and for a bunch of other stuff like cell turnover. 30 - 50g of protein, especially on a deficit and if active is too low to be adequate to maintain muscle mass, particularly if not significantly overweight.

You do not need an excess of anything, but having a sufficient amount is beneficial.

segacs

You don't have to eat a ton of protein, no. If you're currently eating very little, there may be some benefits to increasing your intake, especially if you're strength training at the same time. But as long as you're getting your RDA of protein in (0.8g/kg of body weight according to Health Canada -- note, that's your weight in kilograms, not in pounds), then you're probably fine.

When you're new here, the most important thing to focus on at first is staying under your calorie goal. You can refine macros later based on specific goals or your personal preferences.

Sarauk2sf

billieljaime wrote: »

the USDA recommends 49 grams per day for an adult woman

This number assumes that the person is not particularly active and not on a deficit.

Sarauk2sf

OP: how much protein are you eating on average and what is your weekly deficit. How active are you?

earlnabby

happyfeetrebel1 wrote: »

My dietician recommended one gram of protein per inch of height. IE, I'm 71 inches tall so I should aim for 71 grams. Some cottage cheese, greek yogurt and a chicken breast will do it for me.

I think the USRDA for protein in general is around 50 g per day.

billieljaime wrote: »

the USDA recommends 49 grams per day for an adult woman

Wrong. The USDA gives a recommended range which is 10-35% of your daily calories which, based on a 2000 calorie diet, can range from 50 to 175 grams a day.

azulvioleta6

Not getting enough protein and getting too much of other things might be part of why you are overweight in the first place.

runnrchic

No you don't need that much protein. I get about 1/2-2/3 of what mfp says I need. I eat mainly brown rice, legumes, veggies, and fruits. All of that food contains protein. Unless you are aiming to be a bodybuilder, just focus on satisfying foods within your range and lift heavy weights.

DYELB

cosmo_momo wrote: »

Unless you are a growing child, or are body building you do not need to eat an excess of protein. I repeat, YOU DO NOT NEED TO EAT AN EXCESS OF PROTEIN. Having said that, if protein helps keep you full longer, by all means eat it. I eat very little protein (averaging 9-15% of my daily calories, usually 30-50g) and have done so for the last two months. Unless you are literally starving yourself, you WILL NOT have a protein deficiency. That is not a thing.

calories in/calories out.

Lol