Too much protein?

jess932015

I am currently trying to get to grips with restarting calorie counting and getting to grips with my diet in order to lose some weight. I am undertaking HIIT and weight training 4 times a week and around 50% of my diet is protein. Is this too much?!

seska422

IMO, yes.

Optimal protein is about 1 gram per pound of your lean body mass (LBM) or 0.8 grams per pound of your ideal weight (the middle of normal BMI).

cwolfman13

50% sounds excessive...and expensive. I try to get around 0.7 - 0.8 grams per Lb of my body weight...which is basically double the RDA at 0.7 and 0.8 gives me right around 1 gram per Lb of LBM. Anymore than that, you're not really getting much added benefit.

rainbowbow

I'm going to say... yes.

In my opinion, most people who split around 30% of their total calories get the recommended .8-1.2 grams per pound of lean muscle mass required for active individuals.

Anything more than the required and you're not getting any extra benefit. Not to mention you could raise uric acid levels, have kidney issues, gout, etc. I personally know two men with gout from having such a high amount of animal protein in their diet, it's not pretty. Not to scare monger, just saying....

lemurcat12

I agree with everyone else so far. I also aim for about .7-.8 g/lb of my goal weight (now my current weight), which was about 25-30% of my goal when I was at my lowest calories when losing (I did 40-30-30), and is about 20% of my goal now (I treat it as a minimum and often eat more, but nowhere near 50%).

jess932015

Hmm thought you would all say yes! Thanks everyone. I'm not really sure how I'm eating 50% myself!! Looks like I need to rethink my omelette obsession hahah...