What if i dont eat enough grams of PROTEIN

Shadyhuero805

Im 5'9 male. 206lbs. Down from 213lbs. Doin INTERMITTENT FASTING and 1000 deficit. 1650 intake goal. ( which seems low ) anyways... I only consume around 60-70grams of PROTEIN a day.. Should reach 180-200 g or so... But if i do that..i go over on calories.. Can i still build muscle eating low grams of protein. ??? ( My weight loss is my main focus )

capaul42

With a deficit that high, you're probably not going to build muscle at all. To build muscle you need to be in a surplus.

AliceDark

1. Why are you so low on protein? Surely with 1650+ calories to play around with, you can get higher than 70g of protein.
2. Why do you think your protein goal should be so high? You only need 0.8-1g of protein per pound of LBM. I'm making up numbers, but if you have 30% body fat, you have 144 pounds of LBM and would need to get 115g of protein per day (not 180-200).
3. Are you doing anything else (like lifting) that would support muscle growth? Without that, protein intake only goes so far.

Shadyhuero805

Thats what MFP has me estimated at. I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO

Shadyhuero805

YES..gym 3-5 days a week. Cardio 3.5-4.5 speed 30 min. Then 30-45 min strength training.

MichPainter

Here is a good article about protein - from a reputable source...by getting the majority of your protein from a plant-based diet, you get to eat more for fewer calories.

http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/vsk/vegetarian-starter-kit-protein

Shadyhuero805

Thank you for the reply

Kerryatoon

AliceDark is right you probably only need approx 1gram/lb Lean Body Mass (not your total weight). I was not happy with the default macros MFP set me at and calculated mine for optimum protein and fat.. these are minimums and then i can fill in the rest of my calories with any of them. When I was having this problem I found that my proteins were mostly high fat proteins and that was the reason I was going over my cal goals. I had to look for LEAN proteins. I'll post a list here.. if I can find it. I'm also at 1600 cals and have been hitting my macros pretty reliably for the most part. I have found that supplementing with protein bars has really helped me and planning my meals around my lean proteins. Fats and carbs kind-of take care of themselves after that. I'll get a couple of links to things I read that really helped me when I was struggling with this and post them here.

Shadyhuero805

Thank you very much

Kerryatoon

Protein List with comparative calories: http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/protein-chart.html
There is a wealth of information here: You can calculate your macros and there is a ton of reading about protein and getting the most out of your workouts. This is where I would start, read all of these posts.. good info. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/833026/important-posts-to-read/p1

Shadyhuero805

Greatly appreciated

lemurcat12

Shadyhuero805 wrote: »

Thats what MFP has me estimated at. I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO

MFP's default is 20% or about 82 g for 1650. (You should be at more than that, as AliceDark indicated, but don't need 180+.) If it is telling you you need the higher amount, you set your macros yourself and picked some higher protein amount.

You can definitely get 115 g at 1650 calories. I think one thing people forget to do is to include protein in all meals. If you skip it at lunch or breakfast most days, you end up low. I think a meal with a decent amount of protein is more filling, anyway, and it's really important for preserving muscle especially since you do have an aggressive deficit and are presumably strength training so need it for repair.

Shadyhuero805

That is exactly what i did... Thanks

williammuney

Shadyhuero805 wrote: »

Im 5'9 male. 206lbs. Down from 213lbs. Doin INTERMITTENT FASTING and 1000 deficit. 1650 intake goal. ( which seems low ) anyways... I only consume around 60-70grams of PROTEIN a day.. Should reach 180-200 g or so... But if i do that..i go over on calories.. Can i still build muscle eating low grams of protein. ??? ( My weight loss is my main focus )

I've been on almost the exact calorie amount for 6 months

Ignore the protein