Strength training and protein

johnhenry883

Hello people. I have been active with myfitnesspal and fitbit for about a month now. I started at 260lbs and have lost 12lbs.
I did this by staying in my calorie range and walking 10000+ steps a day plus occasional 1/2 hour on elliptical.
I have 2 questions as I plan to step up a notch and now incorporate strength training.
1. My fitnesspal says I require 98grams of protein per day as of now. If I incorporate strength training, should that be higher and if so, by how much? I plan to do 6 exercises, 3 sets of 10 reps each....3 times a week.
2. How can I add enough protein in my diet? As it is I don't always hit my protein target now. Is a protein supplement a good idea?
Thanks in advance for all your help. I appreciate advice from this community!
You can add me if you'd like. I don't have anyone on a friends list yet.

nordlead2005

MFP defaults to 20% protein I believe, which is of course completely dependent on your intake goals instead of what is healthy for you. 20% will typically land you in the good enough range for the average person.

The USDA recommendation is 0.37g/lb of protein per day. If you get that, then you have sufficient protein for normal daily activities. However, there are benefits to eating more, especially if you want to build muscle. The max shown to provide any benefit for drug free users is 0.64g/lb and allowing for different genetic potential 0.82g/lb is considered the most anyone could benefit from. So, eat somewhere in the 0.64-0.82g/lb of protein a day range every single day. If you miss one day it isn't the end of the world though. On my son's birthday I barely managed 0.27g/lb because I junked up on cake and candy.... I was hungry by the time I went to bed though.

Protein supplements are useful. I personally use Optimum Nutrition Whey Protein to help me meet my goal a few times a week. If you find it is a convenient way to get the protein you need, then go for it. If you prefer to eat more chicken (which is cheaper, it just requires cooking), then do that. I've also just grabbed a can of tuna and ate that to get more protein. My plan once I stop trying to lose weight is to cook up a bunch of chicken on the weekend and then I can just grab some and eat it during the week if I need more protein. I'm not doing that now as restricting calories would probably lead me to wasting the chicken (I may just be making excuses for myself). There are lots of ways to get more protein, just pick whatever works for you.