Too much protein???!

Hey guys - just wondering what everyones opinion on this is. I just started lifting weights as I am looking to lose a little bit of weight but mostly want to tone up and not just be 150 pounds of body fat. I have a friend who is also a trainer and gave me a meal plan that indicates that I should be having 4 oz of protein (either chicken, turkey, lean ground beef, shrimp) with every meal and 6 meals per day. This means that I will be eating 24 oz of these items each day. This seems like a lot to me. What do others think?

Replies

BombshellPhoenix

It's typically recommended 1g per pound of lean body mass in protein a day to help preserve lean mass. Hope you're weighing out your portions on a food scale. 4 oz of meat is not a lot.

Laurenloveswaffles

It's typically recommended 1g per pound of lean body mass in protein a day to help preserve lean mass. Hope you're weighing out your portions on a food scale. 4 oz of meat is not a lot.

this.

kclay1021

It's typically recommended 1g per pound of lean body mass in protein a day to help preserve lean mass. Hope you're weighing out your portions on a food scale. 4 oz of meat is not a lot.

I definitely am weighing it out. I am definitely not relying on my skills for eyeballing portions (those are non existent - I have no issues admitting that). Mostly I weigh/cook in the morning and pack the food for the rest of the day so I know I am never left in a situation where I have to guess.

I weight 150 pounds so 1 gram per pound of is 150 grams. And 150 grams = 5 ounces of meat? ? I might be doing this wrong. Thats why I was checking in here. I have the formula that 1 gram = 0.035274 ounces. Is this true? Because if so then I am having WAAAAYYYY too much protein

asdowe13

It's typically recommended 1g per pound of lean body mass in protein a day to help preserve lean mass. Hope you're weighing out your portions on a food scale. 4 oz of meat is not a lot.

I definitely am weighing it out. I am definitely not relying on my skills for eyeballing portions (those are non existent - I have no issues admitting that). Mostly I weigh/cook in the morning and pack the food for the rest of the day so I know I am never left in a situation where I have to guess.

I weight 150 pounds so 1 gram per pound of is 150 grams. And 150 grams = 5 ounces of meat? ? I might be doing this wrong. Thats why I was checking in here. I have the formula that 1 gram = 0.035274 ounces. Is this true? Because if so then I am having WAAAAYYYY too much protein

1g per poud of lean body mass = your weight - BF % = LBM probably in the 100gram protein range

sseqwnp

If it's all chicken, that's about 170g of protein .. not quite double what you need. Plus, nobody needs to eat a pound and a half of meat a day.

Chicken has 25g protein per 100g. 24 oz chicken = 678g of chicken (28.25 g in an oz.) = 169.5 g protein. Your math above is incorrect because chicken is not 100% protein.

BombshellPhoenix

I'd use a calculator online to guess your lean body mass and eat that. I'm at 100g+ a day. Eating your body weight or more in protein is excessive.

It's not necessarily bad unless you have medical conditions hut certainly unnecessary.

Think of all the other things you could be fitting into your day! :P

maidentl

I weight 150 pounds so 1 gram per pound of is 150 grams. And 150 grams = 5 ounces of meat? ? I might be doing this wrong.

There are other things in meat besides the protein. So 150 grams of meat doesn't equal 150 grams of protein. But about 24 oz does. That being said, as others have pointed out, you would probably be better served eating one gram per pound of lean body mass.

hj1119

It sounds like you are confusing weight with lean body mass. If you are 150, I would do the math like this:

150 * .6 - .8g = Aim to consume 90-120 grams of protein per day

(which is indeed less - by a little less than half - of the protein that your trainer friend has recommended for you)

Aikigoth

Around the world, humans have a wide range of diets that seem to work out about the same. Pre-tech age, we never saw a group diet that was about 40% protein. Even animal-heavy diets would not cross this threshold- instead opting to eat more fat. To me, this suggests the average human body has a limit at about 40% calories from protein.

You listed lean meat: chicken, turkey, beef, and shrimp. These have (per 4 oz portion) 34, 20, 24, 23 Let's even it out at 25, for theory's sake. That would be 150 grams for 6 meals then. Each gram of pure protein is 4 cal....so that's about 600. That would be 40% for a 1,500 calorie diet.

In reality, you'll get protein elsewhere as well. Nothing as big as your meat but if you eat things like bread, milk, pasta, spinach, etc you might scrape together another 20 or so grams.

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I'd ask your trainer friend about how hard it is to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time. It is only shown to occur (in lab settings) with very overweight people. My bottom line is unless you are eating at a caloric excess, you won't gain much muscle mass and 'tone up'. If you aren't eating enough to gain muscle that is probably too much protein. Will it hurt you? Doubt it- but your wallet will not be happy.