Goal of being a derby dame

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anyusernamewilldo89
anyusernamewilldo89 Posts: 4 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I need some nutrition ideas as I go from 196 to 160 and start roller skating again. I don’t know protein levels I should aim for or if there are other goals for weight loss and muscle gain.
Thank you!

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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,195 Member
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    The MFP defaults aren't terrible for most people, honestly, unless someone shoots for crazy-low calories and crazy-fast weight loss, which you wouldn't want to do when you have athletic goals, especially with only 36 pounds to lose.

    Beyond that, a rule of thumb many around here (including me) use for protein is 0.6-0.8 grams protein daily, minimum, per pound of healthy goal weight. (That's roughly equivalent to .8-1 gram per pound of lean body mass for a range of people, but most people don't have a reasonable estimate of LBM.) So, if your goal weigh is 160, your protein range would be 96-128g minimum daily. (That's quite a bit higher than USDA minimums; many of us believe that we ideally need more protein when losing weight, when active, etc.).

    If that seems out of whack with the MFP default, remember that MFP intends you to set your profile's activity level based on before-intentional-exercise activity (job, home chores, etc.) and log exercise separately when you do it, eat back those calories, too. That will bump up your calorie goal on exercise days, and - unless you deliberately override the settings via premium MFP - will also bump up your protein and fat goals, because those calories have to come from some macro.

    Another option would be this evidence based "calculator" (really target estimator), which usually overlaps with the rule of thumb range mentioned above:

    https://examine.com/nutrition/protein-intake-calculator/

    You can see their reasoning (and links to relevant research studies) here:

    https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/

    That site is generally regarded as neutral; for example, they don't sell supplements or that sort of thing.

    For fats, 0.35-0.45g per pound of bodyweight is probably reasonable, though men might get away with a bit less.

    Carbs are pretty individual, depending on whether you find they help energy level or trigger cravings, or whatever: People vary. You can fill the rest of the calorie bucket with carbs after the protein/fats are covered, or eat more protein/fats, generally, from a nutritional perspective.

    Personally, I also like to get 5+ minimum, ideally more like 10+, 80-gram servings of varied, colorful veggies/fruits daily, for fiber and micros. Those tend to bring some carbs with them, though how many is controllable somewhat via specific food selection.

    Just my opinions. I'm not even a Derby Queen (though one of my friends has been); I'm a li'l ol' lady rower (boats when I can, machines when I must). Lost around 50 pounds with MFP a few years back, now hanging around to maintain a healthy weight.

    Best wishes with accomplishing your Derby dreams!

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