Macros and Protein

lnagrsia

So I started counting macros this week, im giving it my best and really gonna try to do it this week to see how easy or difficult it is, I think I figured it out decently well for the week and have my food prepped. Fitness pal has that Ive met my goal in protein for the day if I stick to what I have planned out to meet my weight goal but it doesn't take into consideration that I'm trying to build muscle and they say to build muscle you should consume your body weight in protein, so which should I do? If I consume more protein then fitness pal says I should then I might exceed my calorie intake for the day. I'm doing my best to keep it lean protein types of meat.

cmriverside

Are you trying to lose weight AND build muscle, or just build muscle?

kshama2001

I believe your protein goal should be the equivalent of your lean body mass. Another way to look at that is your goal weight. If you use that number, is that more in line with what my fitness pal gives you for protein?

lnagrsia

cmriverside wrote: »

Are you trying to lose weight AND build muscle, or just build muscle?

I would like to lose 4lbs so i can get more of that lean cut look but im ultimately trying to build muscle.

lnagrsia

kshama2001 wrote: »

I believe your protein goal should be the equivalent of your lean body mass. Another way to look at that is your goal weight. If you use that number, is that more in line with what my fitness pal gives you for protein?

Fitness pal is about 50g less

nossmf

You can reset MFP protein goals to whatever percentage you want. Default MFP is set more for the minimum crowd, as in keep inactive people healthy, rather than the dedicated heavy-exerciser or the muscle-gainer.

That said, you'll hear wildly different ideas on how much protein is actually required to build muscle, from looking at lean body weight to actual body weight to some arbitrary number. I weigh 186 and have seen sites telling me I need to consume as much as 250g of protein per day to get results. That much may get MORE results or FASTER results than I have experienced, but I have been able to sustain myself with goals of ~120 on non-training days and ~150 on days I lift. Doing this over the past year, I've lost almost 10 pounds, multiple inches off my waist, and continued to improve my lifts. Would more protein have ended up with more results? Who's to say? But I still enjoy my daily meals, I don't feel pressured by my macros/calories, and am still progressing.

Retroguy2000

1g per pound bodyweight protein is on the high side, especially if you are overweight. 1g per pound lean body mass is a reasonable high target, and this assumes you are also lifting progressive.

AnnPT77

There's an evidence based protein needs calculator here (from a site generally regarded as unbiased):

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

. . . and their explanation here:

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

The recommendations from that usually overlap with the "1g per pound of bodyweight/lean mass" rules of thumb, or come close.

I'd also note that for quite a range of people, 0.8g per pound of goal weight is roughly equivalent to 1g per pound of lean mass, or close. I mention that because most people don't have a great estimate of their lean mass, and BIA home scales aren't that great at estimating it. (OTOH, the scale estimate is probably close enough for most people, for the purpose of estimating protein needs, once one does the math.)

If you get extra protein within calorie goal, but it doesn't prevent you getting an adequate minimum of healthy fats and veggies/fruits, you're fine. Also, close (plus or minus a few grams) is also fine, especially if you're a little low one day, a little high the next.

With only 4 pounds to lose, I hope your calorie deficit - if you have a deficit at all - is super tiny, not very much below maintenance calories. Purely recomposition would be likely to get you there, at maintenance calories or close. It wouldn't be fast loss, but it would be more complementary to your goals. More info here:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

Also, this thread is super helpful for identifying calorie-efficient, good-quality protein sources:

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

After tweaking my eating patterns for a bit, I'm not having much trouble reaching/exceeding 1g/pound lean body mass routinely on maintenance calories, even as a vegetarian, mostly without much thinking about it any more (and without using protein powder, bars, or other supplements). (In fact, I'm trying to reduce protein intake a little to stay closer to 1g/pound LBM, since I'm often more like 25% above that, but that's a whole other digression.)

Remember that it's not just about your "one big protein source per meal" kind of thing, but you can also choose snacks, sides, etc., that contribute a small amount of protein. They add up! And for sure, getting a fair amount of protein in each meal makes it easier to hit a total (vs. overloading protein into just one meal, like dinner.)

To my mind, the best strategy is to think in terms of adjusting routine eating patterns (default habits), not just looking at it as structured, rigid meal plans. The structure can be helpful at first for figuring out a good track, sure . . . but long-term reliance on that detailed planning can be less sustainable, and too-monotonous eating to reach protein goal potentially has nutritional and sustainable downsides, too.

I_AM_ISRAEL

If you’re goal is to lose body fat, keep protein intake high, to spare muscle atrophy.
If your goal is to put on muscle, you can drop your intake to your body weight in grams.