Needing more protein

not_a_runner

AnnPT77 wrote: »

TresaAswegan wrote: »

Rusty740 wrote: »

christinerkalinowski wrote: »

I'm trying to lose about 20 pounds while working out (cardio and weights) and a much better diet. I'm having a really hard time reaching my protein amounts, which I know is needed to build muscle. Should I be getting all of my protein through foods or is a protein powder ok to boost my amounts?

So how much protein are you looking to get here?

The rule of thumb is about 1g per lb of body weight, a bit more than that for weight loss.

Low fat cottage cheese.
Dry curd cottage cheese is incredibly high protein and low fat/cals.
Edamame beans (baby soy beans)
Carton egg whites.
Lean chicken
Cod
Tuna
White navy beans
Greek yogurt

More than 1 gram per pound of body weight is overkill if over weight.
A better rule of thumb would be .6-.8 grams per pound. Or 1 gram per pound of LEAN mass.

I'd say 0.6-0.8g per pound of healthy goal weight (yes, pound, not kilogram - my opinion, not USDA's).

We don't need protein to maintain our fat mass; we need it to maintain our lean mass. The per-body-weight recommendations are just making a rough estimated adjustment to the per-lean-mass levels, for those of us who don't have a solid estimate of lean mass/body fat percent. It's close enough for gub'mint work.

Lots of people argue for different protein levels, though. It's one of those religious wars.

Goal weight is a better way of phrasing it. (For some reason I've never thought of phrasing it like that but it makes more sense.) I like to look at it similarly, in that we don't need to feed our fat haha.

TR0berts

mrvikingman wrote: »

It'd probably be best, and overall easier, to first lose the weight you want then work on building muscle.

Absolutely not. It's MUCH easier to maintain what muscle you already have than it is to lose it (along with the fat you want to lose, since it's almost certainly not going to be all fat) and then try to get it back.

bizgirl26

Absolutely not. It's MUCH easier to maintain what muscle you already have than it is to lose it (along with the fat you want to lose, since it's almost certainly not going to be all fat) and then try to get it back.[/quote]

^^THIS^^! Do not wait to start building muscle. You will regret it. You will get where you want all the more faster if you build muscle, let alone you will like what it does to your shape .

CoachJen71

Feel free to peek at my diary. You'll notice, eggs, hummus, dairy, meat, and peanut butter/powder all over it!

Rusty740

TresaAswegan wrote: »

Rusty740 wrote: »

christinerkalinowski wrote: »

I'm trying to lose about 20 pounds while working out (cardio and weights) and a much better diet. I'm having a really hard time reaching my protein amounts, which I know is needed to build muscle. Should I be getting all of my protein through foods or is a protein powder ok to boost my amounts?

So how much protein are you looking to get here?

The rule of thumb is about 1g per lb of body weight, a bit more than that for weight loss.

Low fat cottage cheese.
Dry curd cottage cheese is incredibly high protein and low fat/cals.
Edamame beans (baby soy beans)
Carton egg whites.
Lean chicken
Cod
Tuna
White navy beans
Greek yogurt

More than 1 gram per pound of body weight is overkill if over weight.
A better rule of thumb would be .6-.8 grams per pound. Or 1 gram per pound of LEAN mass.

This could be true for many, I hope I didn't make it sound like the golden rule I used the information from this review study, which sort of points at a highish number.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4213385/#CR38

Here's the conclusions.
"Nonetheless, despite the limitations of the studies examined, the authors concluded that higher protein intakes 2.3–3.1 g/kg/day of protein was required to offset losses of lean mass [34]. Others, based on collective examination of data, have also hypothesized that much higher protein intakes are required to see preservation of lean mass and greater fat mass losses [37]. In contrast, a recent study by Pasiakos et al. [38] found that lean mass retention tended to be greater in a group consuming 1.6 g/kg/day versus a group consuming 2.4 g/kg/day. Thus, it would seem spurious at the present time to make specific recommendations about an exact protein dose. Suffice to say, however, that the sum of available evidence indicates that protein intakes higher than the RDA (1.3–1.8 g/kg/day) [39], possibly substantially greater (2.3–3.1 g/kg/day) as some have recommended [34], can offset lean mass losses. However, factors influencing specific recommendations would have to take into account the training status, goals, rate of weight loss (i.e. energy deficit), and training volume during the hypocaloric period."

So what they're saying is that for lean mass retention, during a caloric deficit, between 1.3 - 3.1 g/kg/day (0.6 - 1.4 g/lb/day) can help retain lean mass. So I use 1 g/lb/day as a starting point because it's in the middle. For reference, the RDA for protein is 0.8 g/kg/day (0.36 g/lb/day) of BODYweight. I consider that the minimum.

This isn't true for those lifting in a calorie surplus. In that case, somewhat less protein macro ratio is better for lean mass gains.

Traveler120

christinerkalinowski wrote: »

I'm trying to lose about 20 pounds while working out (cardio and weights) and a much better diet. I'm having a really hard time reaching my protein amounts, which I know is needed to build muscle. Should I be getting all of my protein through foods or is a protein powder ok to boost my amounts?

The WHO says 0.83g/KG of ideal body weight meets the needs of 97.5% of humans. And that's assuming moderate activity. That's an easily attainable amount from a normal well balanced diet of real food. Even the IOC (Intl Olympic Comm) says 1.2-1.6g/kg is enough for their athletes. Since my exercise is not olympic level, I aim for 1g/KG or just above the WHO recs. I'm 120 lbs (54kg), so 54g is enough and easy to achieve on whole foods. I don't even eat meat most days or weeks and I can get enough protein. I eat lots of beans, lentils, whole grains etc.

People end up taking protein supplements coz they've been conned by those who sell protein powders and those promoting high protein diets etc. They tell you you need 2x as much and since it's hard to do so with real food you're forced to buy protein shakes or follow their diets. A healthy diet should not need a highly processsed food like protein powders. Nor should it force you to eat loads of animal protein just to reach an exagerrated protein level, since lots of meat raises your risk of various diseases.

AnnPT77

Traveler120 wrote: »

christinerkalinowski wrote: »

I'm trying to lose about 20 pounds while working out (cardio and weights) and a much better diet. I'm having a really hard time reaching my protein amounts, which I know is needed to build muscle. Should I be getting all of my protein through foods or is a protein powder ok to boost my amounts?

The WHO says 0.83g/KG of ideal body weight meets the needs of 97.5% of humans. And that's assuming moderate activity. That's an easily attainable amount from a normal well balanced diet of real food. Even the IOC (Intl Olympic Comm) saysprotein.g/kg is enough for their athletes. Since I'm no elite athlete, I aim for 1g/KG. I'm 120 lbs (54kg), so 54g is enough and easy to achieve on whole foods. I don't even eat meat most days or weeks and I can get enough protein. I eat lots of beans, lentils, whole grains etc.

People end up taking protein supplements coz they've been conned by those who sell protein powders and those promoting high protein diets etc. They tell you you need 2x as much and since it's hard to do so with real food you're forced to buy protein shakes or follow their diets. A healthy diet should not need a highly processsed food like protein powders. Nor should it force you to eat loads of animal protein just to reach an exagerrated protein level, since lots of meat raises your risk of various diseases.

FWIW, I don't find it particularly hard to get my personal 100g minimum from a "normal well balanced diet of real food". I don't eat protein powder or similar supplements (which I don't find tasty/satisfying) nor meat (or fake meat), nor much in the way of 'highly processed food' by most definitions thereof. I do eat eggs and dairy, though - plus quite a lot of legumes and some whole grains.

I'm not arguing with your decision to eat close to the WHO/USDA recommendation.

Since there's so much controversy, I'd like to see everyone read primary research & make up her/his own mind.

I just think it's substantially easier than you're saying to get more protein from food, for people who decide to eat more of it.