How do I know what the right protein level is for me?

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Leather_N_Lace
Leather_N_Lace Posts: 518 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I utilize a 5:2 meal plan. I eat healthy meals and intake about 1400 - 1500 calories 5 days a week. For 2 days a week, I have what I refer to as a cleanse day where I only take in about 550 calories.
I work in an office M-F, so I am behind a desk for quite a bit of my day. I make the occasional laps around the building on my breaks and then hit the gym pretty hard in the evenings. (weights and cardio about 5-6 days a week).
On the days I am eating healthy, I don't think my protein is calculated correctly on MFP... I am always over on my days I am not cleansing (fasting)... Suggestions..

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  • chasetwins
    chasetwins Posts: 702 Member
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    I have mine set at 35% carbs - 40% protein and 25% fat

    This has worked wonders for me. Regardless of my cal goal - MFP has never calculated my macros right
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Lots of opinions on protein intake (as regards what are minimums or optimal).

    I do 5:2 fasting as well but don't really find the MFP percentages very helpful - I've custom set mine to 40c/30p/30f.
    But really I just use that as a rough guide as I aim for 140g of protein on my 5 normal eating days (1g per lb of lean mass).

    So my aims for my 5 days are really to make sure I hit my calorie goal, then hit (or exceed) my protein goal and then as long as I have a reasonable mix of carbs, fat and fibre I'm happy. (I prefer to track fibre rather than sugar.....)

    On my 2 fasting days I'm really just looking to eat a good variety of low GI foods, stay hydrated and hit my calorie target. Not really too concerned with macros on my fasting days

    Hope this makes sense!!
  • Leather_N_Lace
    Leather_N_Lace Posts: 518 Member
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    Thank you! Makes perfect sense!

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