Uping calories and protein to address reduced ability to focus - does this make sense?

OnceAndFutureAthlete

Hello all - would appreciate your input on whether you think this is a good plan.

I've recently realized that I'm having trouble getting work done and staying focused, and I'm wondering if it makes sense to increase my calories and/or protein a bit.

Background:
My job is basically sitting at my computer all day resolving engineering-related issues - some ongoing, others popping up - along with tracking and a thousand other things. It's basically constant task triage all day every day: categorize, reprioritize, allocate, resolve, etc., etc. over and over all day. I probably work on 10-20 things an hour every hour. It's positively ADD-inducing. And recently I've noticed that I'm struggling with analysis and prioritizing and just getting things done. And it's beginning to get noticed by my manager.

I've been on a plan set at 1200 calories per day for 2 pounds a week loss, and I've been good at sticking with the calorie goal, but I always seems to be low on the protein macro (set at 30%).

So I've re-run my goals and set my target loss at 1.5 pounds per week (1380 daily calories) and 35% protein macro target.

Does this make sense?
Would just uping calories OR protein help?
Anthing else that you think might help? (I'm also trying to increase my liquids intake.)

I know there's a lot of knowledge out there, so Thanks In Advance!
(And I absolve any respondent of all liability )

penguinmama87

Yes, when I have reduced my calories too low I noticed over time that my ability to focus was affected.

How many pounds are you trying to lose? Even 1.5 lbs/week might be rather aggressive depending on how far you have to go. Ideally, you find the sweet spot where everything is still functioning well but you still have a deficit. The closer you get to goal, the narrower this range is going to be.

AnnPT77

Your 1380 to lose 1.5 pounds a week implies that MFP thinks your maintenance calories (at the current weight you've told MFP about) is 2130 calories. That 750 calorie deficit would be about a 35% cut off your 2130 TDEE, when many of us would think a 20% cut would be a better plan. A pound a week would be a bit above 20%. It would help to know your current height/weight/age as a reasonableness check, since percent of TDEE is just one way to assess deficit reasonableness. If you've been at this for at least 4-6 weeks, average weight loss per week would maybe be an even better indication.

Too big a deficit, i.e., too few calories, can definitely affect cognitive functioning. Under-fueling has consequences.

30% protein at 1200 calories would be 90g. I'm going to assume you're female, since MFP was willing to give you a goal as low as 1200 (1500 would be the floor for men, unless someone types in a calorie goal rather than letting MFP estimate). If you're an average-sized woman, more or less, 90g is probably not terribly low . . . assuming you hit it. (It may be around twice the USDA recommended minimum for women, for example . . . not that I think that's high enough!). Personally, I think 0.6-0.8g per pound of healthy goal weight is a reasonable protein minimum during weight loss. That would imply that 90g might be OK at the low end with a goal weight of up to 150 pounds (90g at .6g per pound = 150 pounds), if you buy into my nutritional suggestions (don't know why you would 😉, but I can expand on the reasoning if you wish).

If you can't hit 90 on 1200, do you think you can hit 121 on 1380? I'm sure you realize that changing the goal number changes nothing, if you can't get your protein intake up to the goal . . . you probably need eating changes beyond just more calories to accomplish it.

I'm not aware of any direct affect of protein intake on cognition in the short run, which doesn't mean there is none. (There are lots of things that are true, but I don't know them.) I'd be more inclined to suspect calories, or (if I had to pick a macro) carbs, as being an issue for cognition . . . not to mention cumulative stress (since a big deficit increases physical stress), or even some semi-diet-unrelated thing like sleep (maybe as a contributor to total stress). If you've been at this for a while, even some micronutrient issue could be in play, though hard to say what.

All of the above is somewhat speculative, because you really didn't give us a lot of details to work with.

OnceAndFutureAthlete

@penguinmama87 & @AnnPT77

Thank you both so much for your replies. I'm always surprised that people spend time to give considered responses to perfect (or even imperfect!) strangers.

To answer, I'm a 59 YO female, 5'6.5", started in March at 278#, currently bouncing around just under 240, so the MFP calorie calculations for 2#/week have been pretty much on target.

Ann, I went back and looked at the graph (yay for tracking and graphs!), and my protein had been averaging around 60-80g/day, which I think is definitely low given what you said and what I've been reading. I think I can definitely up my protein with the extra calories. Even if I don't hit the 35% target, getting it over 90 is totally realistic if I'm conscious about it, so I think I'm going to try that for a while and see if it produces results without slowing the loss too much.

My food diary is open to friends, so I've sent you both FRs if you want to accept and have a look.

Thanks again to you both for your helpful input.

AnnPT77

OnceAndFutureAthlete wrote: »

@penguinmama87 & @AnnPT77

Thank you both so much for your replies. I'm always surprised that people spend time to give considered responses to perfect (or even imperfect!) strangers.

To answer, I'm a 59 YO female, 5'6.5", started in March at 278#, currently bouncing around just under 240, so the MFP calorie calculations for 2#/week have been pretty much on target.

Ann, I went back and looked at the graph (yay for tracking and graphs!), and my protein had been averaging around 60-80g/day, which I think is definitely low given what you said and what I've been reading. I think I can definitely up my protein with the extra calories. Even if I don't hit the 35% target, getting it over 90 is totally realistic if I'm conscious about it, so I think I'm going to try that for a while and see if it produces results without slowing the loss too much.

My food diary is open to friends, so I've sent you both FRs if you want to accept and have a look.

Thanks again to you both for your helpful input.

Just in case you haven't run across it, I found this thread very helpful for getting adequate protein on lowered calories:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also

One strategy to consider is, in addition to including a major protein source in each meal, thinking about choosing sides, snacks, etc., that you enjoy eating, and that have at least a little protein. Small amounts through the day can really add up.

AnnPT77

P.S.

At 60-80g, I don't think you've been in a realm of "major risk of malnutrition" or anything. Some thoughts behind getting more is that ample protein may be muscle-sparing during fat loss, plus it seems quite a few people find better satiation with ample protein, among other things.

At 240, 2 pounds a week is OK by another common rule of thumb, max of 1% of current body weight per week, though slower is fine . . . and could be better, even, if it makes the process more sustainable or healthful along the way (and some would argue for 0.5% as a general rule, I think).

FWIW, I started losing at your age, though a bit shorter (5'5") and lighter (180s, which was just over the line into class 1 obese for me), back in 2015. I'm also a long-term vegetarian, so figuring out protein at reduced calories was important to me earlier on. I lost most of 50+ pounds at 1400-1600 calories plus all exercise calories, but I'm a mysteriously good calorie-burner for our demographic, with a materially higher requirement than MFP estimates (despite being hypothyroid and of course menopausal, which many people think are obstacles). I've been at a healthy weight for 5+ years, now in maintenance, after previous decades of overweight/obese weight for most of my adult life.

Best wishes!

P.P.S. I accepted your FR, took a look at your diary, don't really have major feedback. You have a very different eating style from me - that's not a criticism, BTW! Different things work well for different people, so IMO finding the right personal strategy is what's key. (I'm still ovo-lacto vegetarian, and like eating boatloads of fruit/veggies, around 5-10+ 80g servings daily. My diary's also open to friends, too, if you're curious about what that looks like - I still log most days.)