Help with macros- Do I really need 170g of protein a day???
mfmetsker
Posts: 26 Member
I just read that to the best macro ratio for a cut is 1g of protein for every lb of body weight. I'm 170 lbs. Do I really need that as a woman? I just want to lose fat. I have a good amount of muscle and don't need to bulk or anything
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Replies
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I think you can do .8 of your body weight depending on your goals
that would bring you to 119 g0 -
This pretty much sums up my thoughts on the matter...
https://bayesianbodybuilding.com/the-myth-of-1glb-optimal-protein-intake-for-bodybuilders/Based on the sound research, many review papers have concluded 0.82g/lb is the upper limit at which protein intake benefits body composition (Phillips & Van Loon, 2011). This recommendation often includes a double 95% confidence level, meaning they took the highest mean intake at which benefits were still observed and then added two standard deviations to that level to make absolutely sure all possible benefits from additional protein intake are utilized. As such, this is already overdoing it and consuming 1g/lb ”˜to be safe' doesn't make any sense. 0.82g/lb is already very safe.
The picture below summarizes the literature. As you can see, 1.8g/kg (0.82g/lb) is the point at which additional protein intake ceases to yield any benefits.
But I train harder!
If you still think you need more than 0.82g/lb because you think you train harder than these test subjects, think again. Lemon et al. (1992) studied bodybuilders training 1.5 hours per day, 6 days per week and still concluded 0.75g/lb is the highest intake at which body composition benefits could occur.8 -
.8-1g per goal lean muscle mass is what I see recommended2
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I'm currently doing the RP diet and on my non training days I'm supposed to have aprox 200 grams of protein (I'm just over 200 lbs), the hard part is finding a way to get it all in w/o living off shakes or eating a lb and a half of chicken!0
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For ease of calculation, and for those that don't know their BF% and/or have a lot to lose, I usually suggest 0.8 grams per lb of goal weight. so if your goal is 150lbs that would be 120 grams/day.1
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And this, my friends, is why we base protein needs off of lean body mass and not total body weight.6
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cwolfman13 wrote: »This pretty much sums up my thoughts on the matter...
https://bayesianbodybuilding.com/the-myth-of-1glb-optimal-protein-intake-for-bodybuilders/Based on the sound research, many review papers have concluded 0.82g/lb is the upper limit at which protein intake benefits body composition (Phillips & Van Loon, 2011). This recommendation often includes a double 95% confidence level, meaning they took the highest mean intake at which benefits were still observed and then added two standard deviations to that level to make absolutely sure all possible benefits from additional protein intake are utilized. As such, this is already overdoing it and consuming 1g/lb ”˜to be safe' doesn't make any sense. 0.82g/lb is already very safe.
The picture below summarizes the literature. As you can see, 1.8g/kg (0.82g/lb) is the point at which additional protein intake ceases to yield any benefits.But I train harder!
If you still think you need more than 0.82g/lb because you think you train harder than these test subjects, think again. Lemon et al. (1992) studied bodybuilders training 1.5 hours per day, 6 days per week and still concluded 0.75g/lb is the highest intake at which body composition benefits could occur.
Would it also be fair to say that this is the protein intake at maintenance calories? As when in a deficit protein is more important during a cut than at maintenance or surplus of calories. That said, 1 gram per lb of goal weight would be enough in a deficit, in a surplus could get away with quite a bit less.1 -
I just read that to the best macro ratio for a cut is 1g of protein for every lb of body weight. I'm 170 lbs. Do I really need that as a woman? I just want to lose fat. I have a good amount of muscle and don't need to bulk or anything
Here's a link to an article with some studies
It says the bare minimum level should be .7 g/lb bodyweight.
https://drivennutrition.net/how-much-protein-during-dieting/affiliates/488/0 -
Would it also be fair to say that this is the protein intake at maintenance calories? As when in a deficit protein is more important during a cut than at maintenance or surplus of calories. That said, 1 gram per lb of goal weight would be enough in a deficit, in a surplus could get away with quite a bit less.
You should read the article he linked to...A final objection that is often heard is that these values may be true during bulking or maintenance periods, but cutting requires more protein to maintain muscle mass. Walberg et al. (1988) studied cutting weightlifters and they still found 0.73g/lb was sufficient to maintain lean body mass.0 -
How do you guys use MFP to follow the 0.8g/lb guidance?
As far as I can tell MFP only uses percentages for macros so, as an endurance athlete, if I set my protein at about 30% of my daily base calorie intake that gives me about 0.8g/lb. However, it's a rare day that I don't get 1000 calories of burn from running or other cardio, in which case it ups my protein proportionally. Yesterday for example it wanted me to down 180g of protein, which is pretty much 1g/lb for me. Normally I just make sure I get my 0.8g/lb manually and then just make my remaining calorie requirement with carbs and fats, but I'm lazy. It'd be nice if I could get MFP to use an absolute value for protein and adjust the other macro percentages based on that.0 -
rainbowbow wrote: »And this, my friends, is why we base protein needs off of lean body mass and not total body weight.
You don't always know your lean body weight though.2 -
How do you guys use MFP to follow the 0.8g/lb guidance?
As far as I can tell MFP only uses percentages for macros so, as an endurance athlete, if I set my protein at about 30% of my daily base calorie intake that gives me about 0.8g/lb. However, it's a rare day that I don't get 1000 calories of burn from running or other cardio, in which case it ups my protein proportionally. Yesterday for example it wanted me to down 180g of protein, which is pretty much 1g/lb for me. Normally I just make sure I get my 0.8g/lb manually and then just make my remaining calorie requirement with carbs and fats, but I'm lazy. It'd be nice if I could get MFP to use an absolute value for protein and adjust the other macro percentages based on that.
I think if you have Premium you can manually adjust your macros by gram. I just figured out how many grams I wanted and did the maths to figure out what percentage I needed. And honestly, if exercise calories get added and I hit my original goal and I have some green numbers and some red numbers, I just ignore it. Luckily there's no penalty
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Ironandwine69 wrote: »rainbowbow wrote: »And this, my friends, is why we base protein needs off of lean body mass and not total body weight.
You don't always know your lean body weight though.
Guestimate with the plethora of options to check your body fat.
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How do you guys use MFP to follow the 0.8g/lb guidance?
As far as I can tell MFP only uses percentages for macros so, as an endurance athlete, if I set my protein at about 30% of my daily base calorie intake that gives me about 0.8g/lb. However, it's a rare day that I don't get 1000 calories of burn from running or other cardio, in which case it ups my protein proportionally. Yesterday for example it wanted me to down 180g of protein, which is pretty much 1g/lb for me. Normally I just make sure I get my 0.8g/lb manually and then just make my remaining calorie requirement with carbs and fats, but I'm lazy. It'd be nice if I could get MFP to use an absolute value for protein and adjust the other macro percentages based on that.
I think if you have Premium you can manually adjust your macros by gram. I just figured out how many grams I wanted and did the maths to figure out what percentage I needed. And honestly, if exercise calories get added and I hit my original goal and I have some green numbers and some red numbers, I just ignore it. Luckily there's no penalty
Yep, Premium lets you set macros by gramme.
(Also different macros for different days, if you want to go the whole hog and tailor to training days/rest days/whatever)0 -
I'm sorry. But I love the fact that I get to eat 170g of protein a day. I would love to live off chicken and salmon all day. I have a hard time making sure I don't go Over my protein intake. I could probably lower this to about 140g though since that's my LBM but I certainly don't think it's hurting anything at the moment.1
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Ironandwine69 wrote: »rainbowbow wrote: »And this, my friends, is why we base protein needs off of lean body mass and not total body weight.
You don't always know your lean body weight though.
Aren't there calculators online to figure that out?0 -
@rainbowbow is absolutely correct. To be most accurate it should be based on the muscle you have, not the total body weight you have. But there is more to it than that. The reason I like to say 1g/lb body weight (most of the time) is that it gets the minimum your muscles need, but it also gets you more than that and the extra protein is a great way to stay satiated. I use protein to suppress appetite when I cut. So 1g/lb bodyweight is not really the exact right number, but it tends work pretty well because of the extra satiating abilities. Now of course the numbers get really skewed for very obese folks if bodyweight is used all the time, so that's something to think about.
I grabbed this from some website that supported my numbers.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/489271-minimum-protein-intake-per-lean-body-mass/
This literature review suggests that while restricting calories, lean athletes required 2.3 to 3.1 grams of protein per kilogram of lean body mass, which equates to 1.05 to 1.41 grams per pound of fat-free mass.0 -
@rainbowbow is absolutely correct. To be most accurate it should be based on the muscle you have, not the total body weight you have. But there is more to it than that. The reason I like to say 1g/lb body weight (most of the time) is that it gets the minimum your muscles need, but it also gets you more than that and the extra protein is a great way to stay satiated. I use protein to suppress appetite when I cut. So 1g/lb bodyweight is not really the exact right number, but it tends work pretty well because of the extra satiating abilities. Now of course the numbers get really skewed for very obese folks if bodyweight is used all the time, so that's something to think about.
I grabbed this from some website that supported my numbers.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/489271-minimum-protein-intake-per-lean-body-mass/
This literature review suggests that while restricting calories, lean athletes required 2.3 to 3.1 grams of protein per kilogram of lean body mass, which equates to 1.05 to 1.41 grams per pound of fat-free mass.
Agree^^^. My macros are 245 protein. 270 carb 60 fat. I'm 190 10% bf. Losing 1 pound per week1 -
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I'd say probably 130-140g - you have a lot of weight to lose but you also want to preserve muscle mass0
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Yeah I'd say you are a good candidate for measuring based on lean body mass rather than body weight. I think you'd get decent success around 125-150.0
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Yeah I'd say you are a good candidate for measuring based on lean body mass rather than body weight. I think you'd get decent success around 125-150.
Wait was this for me?
Yes, this was for you, sorry @alwaysbloated I didn't quote.1
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