What to do with protein shake added to diet.

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grhancock
grhancock Posts: 11 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am 63 yr old male in fairly good health but I need to lose some weight. I am currently 5ft 11" and 214lbs. I have just started over the past 4 weeks with my MFP tracking my diet and also have a Vivofit Garmin with a HR belt. I try and walk 10000+ steps a day and have set my calorie intake to 1500 per day. I have lost 5 lbs so far but as everyone else I feel I am not losing fast enough. I work out in our fitness center at my complex 3-5 days/week and I swimming laps 3 days a week. My question is I have recently added a protein shake to my diet to help build muscle and it is super high in protein. The powder is IsoPure Zero Carb vanilla flavor and it is 50 grams of protein per serving. This will put me way over my current limits. How will this effect my diet and what suggestions can I get from anyone.

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  • CipherZero
    CipherZero Posts: 1,418 Member
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    Your 50g of protein shake is a minimum of 200 calories.

    You're losing a pound a week. I'm not seeing the problem, frankly.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    Your 50g of protein shake is a minimum of 200 calories.

    You're losing a pound a week. I'm not seeing the problem, frankly.
    agree with this.

    keep doing what you're doing. It's working. what's the point with trying to lose fast... is it a race?

    edited to add: simply drinking a protein shake will not build muscle.
  • scubasuenc
    scubasuenc Posts: 626 Member
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    Since you are trying to lose 20 lbs a 1 lb per week loss is the generally recommended rate.

    A 50 g protein drink is probably 200+ calories. Not sure you will have the calories in your meal plan to do much more with it than mix it in water.

    There is nothing special about protein shake. Log the calories and macro and include it in your counts for the day. They are just an alternate way to get protein.

    Everything I've read says you don't build significant muscle while you are in a calorie deficit. By keeping your protein intake high you are trying to minimize the loss of muscle.
  • smarieallen85
    smarieallen85 Posts: 535 Member
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    I'm still confused about how much protein I should be consuming but regardless, I never put protein powder in anything but water. Those shakes are overrated. I'll get one sometimes as a meal replacement only.
  • grhancock
    grhancock Posts: 11 Member
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    But can you get too much protein in one day by adding this to your diet?
  • grhancock
    grhancock Posts: 11 Member
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    I guess the problem is "How much is too much" when it comes to daily protein intake?
  • smarieallen85
    smarieallen85 Posts: 535 Member
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    I don't know. I'm wondering the same thing actually and still trying to figure out how much protein I should be getting. I posted a question about it the other day and didn't really get any help.
  • ukaryote
    ukaryote Posts: 874 Member
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    Addressing one of your other concerns:
    . I have just started over the past 4 weeks with my MFP tracking my diet...I have lost 5 lbs so far but as everyone else I feel I am not losing fast enough.

    Five pounds over four weeks is excellent progress! Bravo! You have a target of losing 20 lbs. That is a few short months away if you keep up the eating habits and exercise.
  • mickiebabs
    mickiebabs Posts: 183 Member
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    I guess the problem is "How much is too much" when it comes to daily protein intake?

    From everything I've read and had confirmed by my doctor and my physical therapist, your protein level should be 0.8-1 gram per pound of body weight when loosing weight. I seldom hit that goal but then again I have trouble keeping my carbs where I want them too. Usually I do about 175 grams of protein per day. And I start my day with a protein shake that has 57 grams of protein.

    A pound a week with only 20 pounds to loose is a good rate. Me or someone like me? With 100 pounds to lose? 2-3 pounds per week is not uncommon.
  • grhancock
    grhancock Posts: 11 Member
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    So do you adjust your profile settings for goals. There is a setting for carbs %, Fat % and Protein %. All add up to 100%. If I change my protein to get 1% of my body weight (213) that is 213 grams of protein per day. Am I correct? I would assume that this not too much protein in my diet?
  • mickiebabs
    mickiebabs Posts: 183 Member
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    So do you adjust your profile settings for goals. There is a setting for carbs %, Fat % and Protein %. All add up to 100%. If I change my protein to get 1% of my body weight (213) that is 213 grams of protein per day. Am I correct? I would assume that this not too much protein in my diet?

    Yeah, just go in and change the percentage. From 170-213. Honestly, unless your doing a lot of heavy lifting, you could do the lower end of the spectrum. And to be honest, I'm not sure if someone your age would need a different goal range.

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