Question about protein, weight lifting and MFP

Dawntodusk

I set my protein on MFP so that I eat a gram/pound of lean mass weight which is around 100 grams for me. MFP only lets me enter it as a percentage, so the actual amount goes up if I earn extra exercise calories. So, for example, today according to MFP, I'm supposed to eat 146 grams of protein.

Is this right? Or is it enough for me to eat 100g? I'm having a hard enough time eating 100. I really don't want to eat more. What do other folks do? I mean people who are weight training and trying to at least maintain their current muscle mass.

4theking

I just aim for 1gm per lb no matter how many calories I eat. Don't see much need to go over that.

HeidiMightyRawr

I'm trying to maintain my weight and have my protein set to 30% because I'm weight training, this gives me I think around 150g + more for exercise. Usually I get between 130 and 180 and won't ever go below 100.
I use protein shakes to get this much though or I wouldn't be able to get much above 100, especially not regularly. I have about 2/3 scoops a day but try and get as much from real food as possible.

Dawntodusk

I'm trying to maintain my weight and have my protein set to 30% because I'm weight training, this gives me I think around 150g + more for exercise. Usually I get between 130 and 180 and won't ever go below 100.
I use protein shakes to get this much though or I wouldn't be able to get much above 100, especially not regularly. I have about 2/3 scoops a day but try and get as much from real food as possible.

I can't find a good protein shake that I can stomach. Any suggestions or recommendations? I don't eat sugar, nor do I eat artificial sweeteners.

icecolecarl

One Thing to remember about taking in protien, especially suppliments isthat your body can only handle so much at one time. The rest will just increase your trips to the restroom as your body can't use a large amount of protien at once. When I am weight lifting to gain muscle, I make sure to split up my protien shakes throughout the day to balance my intake. Frequent urination means I may have taken in too much which can lead to constipation if your fiber intake is low. I'll make a protien shake in the morning, drink half then and the other half in 3 hours for my snack meal. Then the same for the evening.

mebj

About 0.8 grams/per pound of body weight is a generally recognized standard. Your body doesn't need more than that, so 100 grams is more than enough. Any protein that your body doesn't use will get converted to fat, since your body can't store unused protein. The best time to eat a protein-rich meal/snack is within 2 hours following a strength training workout. That's the best way to provide the protein needed to build muscle. One gram of protein contains the same number of calories as one gram of carbohydrate (4 calories), but your body can store some unused carbs in the muscles and the liver. So, if you're gonna go over your daily limit on one of the three (fat, carbs, or protein), it's better to go over on carbs. Plus, strenth training, unlike cardio, relies predominantly on energy from carbohydrate, so carbs will help you get a better workout, too.

Dawntodusk

About 0.8 grams/per pound of body weight is a generally recognized standard. Your body doesn't need more than that, so 100 grams is more than enough. Any protein that your body doesn't use will get converted to fat, since your body can't store unused protein. The best time to eat a protein-rich meal/snack is within 2 hours following a strength training workout. That's the best way to provide the protein needed to build muscle. One gram of protein contains the same number of calories as one gram of carbohydrate (4 calories), but your body can store some unused carbs in the muscles and the liver. So, if you're gonna go over your daily limit on one of the three (fat, carbs, or protein), it's better to go over on carbs. Plus, strenth training, unlike cardio, relies predominantly on energy from carbohydrate, so carbs will help you get a better workout, too.

Thanks for this. I'm a bit confused about the protein vs carb thing. I understand that energy comes from carbs, but then why is protein so important? Is it that protein is used to build muscle AFTER the workout? Whereas carbs are used DURING the workout?

HeidiMightyRawr

I'm trying to maintain my weight and have my protein set to 30% because I'm weight training, this gives me I think around 150g + more for exercise. Usually I get between 130 and 180 and won't ever go below 100.
I use protein shakes to get this much though or I wouldn't be able to get much above 100, especially not regularly. I have about 2/3 scoops a day but try and get as much from real food as possible.

I can't find a good protein shake that I can stomach. Any suggestions or recommendations? I don't eat sugar, nor do I eat artificial sweeteners.

I use Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey, and that I find is really easy to drink - I had alot of problems trying to drink my old one but this just tastes like hot chocolate or milkshake. I have it with water.
I've tried double rich chocolate, banana cream and mint chocolate flavour all of which are nice but the double rich chocolate was probably the best
Just looked on the one i'm using now (mint choc) and it has 1.1g sugar per scoop, I think you'll find others that are lower though, that is a 3g carb one, the double choc one was 1g carb I think.

darrenham

About 0.8 grams/per pound of body weight is a generally recognized standard. Your body doesn't need more than that, so 100 grams is more than enough. Any protein that your body doesn't use will get converted to fat, since your body can't store unused protein. The best time to eat a protein-rich meal/snack is within 2 hours following a strength training workout. That's the best way to provide the protein needed to build muscle. One gram of protein contains the same number of calories as one gram of carbohydrate (4 calories), but your body can store some unused carbs in the muscles and the liver. So, if you're gonna go over your daily limit on one of the three (fat, carbs, or protein), it's better to go over on carbs. Plus, strenth training, unlike cardio, relies predominantly on energy from carbohydrate, so carbs will help you get a better workout, too.

I agree and disagree with your post in pretty much equal measure. You're right that the body can't deal with excess protein, but rather than magically turning protein to fat, it excretes the excess. Literally flushing your money down the toilet.

When you take your protein doesn't matter too much either. Hence why an excess is excreted. The body doesn't go "oh, I've just worked out, so the next lot of protein I get I'll absorb". Muscle protein is constantly recycled. It's only when the creation of new fibres is greater than the removal of old ones, when a) you'll build, and b) your body is using more dietary protein.

I'm not in favour of protein supplements. You're giving your money away to whichever company has pulled you in with their faux-science. Provided you're eating a healthy balanced diet, and you're either in calorie balance or a slight deficit, you will be getting enough protein to allow your body to lay down muscle. So don't bother worrying about protein too much. Protein shakes have almost become a status symbol within the lifting/building community, and it's mostly necessary.

If you're going over your calorie target, it doesn't matter which metabolic substrate it is. It's not a case of "turning" anything to fat though. It's just that if your weekly intake is greater than your weekly outgoings, your body realises it's in excess, and stores it. Yes your primarily store glycogen in the muscle and liver, but your body's constantly doing this, and using it. And it's a finite store. An hour or two after a meal, all your glycogen stores are full. Therefore ANY excess calories over a prolonged period will be stored as fat.

Likewise, yes the higher intensity your exercise the more likely you are to be using carbs, but as above, this doesn't matter. If you're in calorie balance or deficit, your body is using carbs that it would have used later, so it'll simply balance that out with fat metabolism later in the day.

The biggest and best advice is to think about things over a longer period than what you're eating/burning NOW, and think about the net gains/losses over a space of weeks or months. This is something MFP should encourage, allowing you to go over your target one day at the expense of another day's target and vice versa.

Hope that helps.