Protien Question

sarahjean0612

Hello there,
I wanted people's opionions on my protien....

I am not the biggest fruit/veggie fan because, well for one, I hate most vegetables. Many of them. such as brocoli, give me a gag reflex - its like I never grew out of it from when I was a kid. Fruit I do like, but it never EVER satisfies my hunger. Ever. Well, there is one exception and that is avocados (which technically are a fruit); Guacomole fills me up for hours on end. Also, I am one of those people that is just always hungry until I eat something with alot of protien and good fat. So I tend to consume quite a bit of protien without even trying.

On any given day, I might exceed my protien goal - which My Fitness Pal generated for me by the way, I have never done anything to this, or any other daily intake setting. What I'm wondering is if eating more protien than what MFP recommends could impact my weight loss in any way? In particular, if I come in at or under goal for calories, carbs, etc?

Fabnover40Kat

If your older like me LOL! protein is good for you! Helps keeps those muscles from deteriorating!

fastbelly

Depends on the source of your protein intake... try to get your protein from healthy sources and you shouldn't have a problem.

JRena225

Depends on the source of your protein intake... try to get your protein from healthy sources and you shouldn't have a problem.

Are you saying not from Protein Powder?

Gigi_licious

I'm the exact same way, I hate veggies, blah! I would like to see the responses you get on this! :-)

melizerd

MFP's default for protein is actually too low for most people so I purposely try to be over on that. If you search the forums you'll find this to be one of the biggest "complaints" and many people up their protein, which does help weight loss.

glenr79

50% of your diet should be carbs, 30 to 35% protein, and 15 to 20% fat if you want to maintain a good weight. But you have to eat the good carbs. Anyways... for protein you should eat the good protein. From grilled or baked chicken, grilled or baked fish, tunafish, nuts, eggs, milk, cottage cheese, turkey... and you will be good to go, don't eat really any other kind of meat; yes they are high in protein, but also high in fat. The proteins I just listed are lower in fat. I know you hate fruits and vegetables, but you need to start eating more!! banannas are good at filling people up, 105 calories.... Try to eat you some whole grains high in fiber, such as in oatmeal, fiberone plus cereal, get 100% whole wheat bread.....

ChristyP0303

MFP's default for protein is actually too low for most people so I purposely try to be over on that. If you search the forums you'll find this to be one of the biggest "complaints" and many people up their protein, which does help weight loss.

I agree! Too low....so I changed mine.

photorific

I manually changed my goals - my protein is way higher than they said, and my carbs are way lower than they said (I still use the same calorie amounts, though). I've been losing consistently this way.

joejccva71

I eat 1 to 1.5g of protein per lb of LBM.

Usually about 170-220g per day depending on if I'm training that day or just doing cardio.

AdAstra47

With all due respect to glenr, NO ONE can tell you what your correct carbs/fat/protein ratio should be without performing medical tests on you. The idea that there is a single one-size-fits-all formula (like the govt promotes) is completely ridiculous, if you think about it very long. A 4'10" Asian woman is going to need exactly the same proportions of nutrients as a 6'7" African man? Yeah, I don't think so. The human genome has a lot of variety. And Americans, in particular, are a mix of people from all over the world so we have a lot of different types of metabolisms. You should adjust your ratios to what works for you.

Things to keep in mind: carbs/sugar provide instant burst of energy; avoid them at times of the day when you're going to be inactive (an afternoon in front of a computer, or right before bed). Protein provides steady-burning energy. The chemical reaction that burns fat requires 3 parts fat to 1 part protein. So if you want to burn fat, you have to make sure & eat lots of protein. More is better than less. Also remember that the government's standards (which I believe is what MFP bases their ratios on) are influenced more by the powerful corn & wheat lobbies & commodities traders than by science. So they advocate WAY more carbs than your average nutritionist would recommend.

If you want to know for sure, without guesswork, have your doctor do a full three-hour glucose test. They test your blood sugar & insulin levels after fasting all night, then have you drink something sugary & test you again 1, 2 & 3 hrs after that. That is the only way you can know for sure exactly how fast your particular body metabolizes sugar calories. And that is what will determine the proportions of different kinds of calories that you need.

I always worked really hard, ate right, exercised, and still gained 5-10 lbs a year my entire adult life. Until I found a decent doctor who did this test and recommended I eat 5% carbs, 30% fat, 65% protein. He told me to eat at least 300g protein a day. That's been my only lifestyle change, and I've lost a steady 1.5 lb per week since starting that.

Rae6503

Yeah, the default MFP gives for protein is REALLY Low. I just changed mine to 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat.

JRena225

With all due respect to glenr, NO ONE can tell you what your correct carbs/fat/protein ratio should be without performing medical tests on you. The idea that there is a single one-size-fits-all formula (like the govt promotes) is completely ridiculous, if you think about it very long. A 4'10" Asian woman is going to need exactly the same proportions of nutrients as a 6'7" African man? Yeah, I don't think so. The human genome has a lot of variety. And Americans, in particular, are a mix of people from all over the world so we have a lot of different types of metabolisms. You should adjust your ratios to what works for you.

Things to keep in mind: carbs/sugar provide instant burst of energy; avoid them at times of the day when you're going to be inactive (an afternoon in front of a computer, or right before bed). Protein provides steady-burning energy. The chemical reaction that burns fat requires 3 parts fat to 1 part protein. So if you want to burn fat, you have to make sure & eat lots of protein. More is better than less. Also remember that the government's standards (which I believe is what MFP bases their ratios on) are influenced more by the powerful corn & wheat lobbies & commodities traders than by science. So they advocate WAY more carbs than your average nutritionist would recommend.

If you want to know for sure, without guesswork, have your doctor do a full three-hour glucose test. They test your blood sugar & insulin levels after fasting all night, then have you drink something sugary & test you again 1, 2 & 3 hrs after that. That is the only way you can know for sure exactly how fast your particular body metabolizes sugar calories. And that is what will determine the proportions of different kinds of calories that you need.

I always worked really hard, ate right, exercised, and still gained 5-10 lbs a year my entire adult life. Until I found a decent doctor who did this test and recommended I eat 5% carbs, 30% fat, 65% protein. He told me to eat at least 300g protein a day. That's been my only lifestyle change, and I've lost a steady 1.5 lb per week since starting that.

wow 5 percent carbs??? I think I need to find a doctor and get that test done...right now mine is set to 40/40/20

joejccva71

I always worked really hard, ate right, exercised, and still gained 5-10 lbs a year my entire adult life. Until I found a decent doctor who did this test and recommended I eat 5% carbs, 30% fat, 65% protein. He told me to eat at least 300g protein a day. That's been my only lifestyle change, and I've lost a steady 1.5 lb per week since starting that.

You are losing a steady 1.5 lb per week because while eating 5% carbs, 30% fat, and 65% protein you are eating roughly 750 calories under what you burn in a 24 hour period.

joejccva71

AdAstra please listen very carefully. Protein consumption has nothing to do with fat metabolism. However, protein does take more Calories to digest. I just wouldn't bank on this for any substantial weight loss. Your body expends ~ 10% of the energy from CHO for digestion, 20% of the energy from Protein for digestion and ~0% for the digestion of fat. Assuming you are consuming a 2500 Calorie diet and are consuming 15% of your energy from protein and 60% of your calories from CHO you would need ~ 225 Calories for digestive processes. Now if you were to switch to a diet which consisted of 40% Protein and 40% CHO you would require ~ 300 Calories for digestion. Therefore the difference between the two types of diets is ~ 75 Calories per day.

Mathematically that would be the best case scenario. When examining the research the macro-nutrient content of the diet does not appear to have any effect on weight loss.

Comparison of weight-loss diets with different compositions of fat, protein, and carbohydrates.
Sacks FM, Bray GA, Carey VJ, Smith SR, Ryan DH, Anton SD, McManus K, Champagne CM, Bishop LM, Laranjo N, Leboff MS, Rood JC, de Jonge L, Greenway FL, Loria CM, Obarzanek E, Williamson DA.
Source

Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:

The possible advantage for weight loss of a diet that emphasizes protein, fat, or carbohydrates has not been established, and there are few studies that extend beyond 1 year.
METHODS:

We randomly assigned 811 overweight adults to one of four diets; the targeted percentages of energy derived from fat, protein, and carbohydrates in the four diets were 20, 15, and 65%; 20, 25, and 55%; 40, 15, and 45%; and 40, 25, and 35%. The diets consisted of similar foods and met guidelines for cardiovascular health. The participants were offered group and individual instructional sessions for 2 years. The primary outcome was the change in body weight after 2 years in two-by-two factorial comparisons of low fat versus high fat and average protein versus high protein and in the comparison of highest and lowest carbohydrate content.
RESULTS:

At 6 months, participants assigned to each diet had lost an average of 6 kg, which represented 7% of their initial weight; they began to regain weight after 12 months. By 2 years, weight loss remained similar in those who were assigned to a diet with 15% protein and those assigned to a diet with 25% protein (3.0 and 3.6 kg, respectively); in those assigned to a diet with 20% fat and those assigned to a diet with 40% fat (3.3 kg for both groups); and in those assigned to a diet with 65% carbohydrates and those assigned to a diet with 35% carbohydrates (2.9 and 3.4 kg, respectively) (P>0.20 for all comparisons). Among the 80% of participants who completed the trial, the average weight loss was 4 kg; 14 to 15% of the participants had a reduction of at least 10% of their initial body weight. Satiety, hunger, satisfaction with the diet, and attendance at group sessions were similar for all diets; attendance was strongly associated with weight loss (0.2 kg per session attended). The diets improved lipid-related risk factors and fasting insulin levels.
CONCLUSIONS:

Reduced-calorie diets result in clinically meaningful weight loss regardless of which macronutrients they emphasize. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00072995.)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19246357

AdAstra47

AdAstra please listen very carefully. Protein consumption has nothing to do with fat metabolism.

We're going to have to agree to disagree, there. Perhaps you are confusing digestion with metabolism. Digestion (how the body absorbs nutrients), is a different process from metabolism (how the body converts, uses and/or stores nutrients). Protein in the body is broken down into amino acids, which are an essential part of fat metabolism. To metabolize fat, your body needs to get protein from somewhere, either from the foods you eat or by harvesting it from your muscles.

There are literally hundreds of different chemicals that interact in our metabolisms. How efficiently your metabolism works, and what nutrients it uses well, can be influenced by how much sleep you're getting or by what part of your reproductive cycle you're on (yes, for men as well as women). No one guideline can address all of those different variables for every person. So the idea of a one-size-fits-all ratio doesn't make much sense, when you think about it. Each person has to figure out what will work for them.

For 20 years, I obeyed all the govt's rules about nutrient ratios, I worked hard and exercised hard, and I gained a steady 5-10 lb a year, and I had to endure all the judgments from people who assumed I was lazy or undisciplined 'cause "it's easy, just count your calories in, calories out." I'd say "I am," but their response was, "If you were, you'd be losing weight." In other words, I was a lazy, undisciplined liar, too. I got so frustrated that I had almost given up.

Until I met my current doctor, who explained the metabolic processes involved, tested me to see where my body was being inefficient/ineffective, and decided that the best approach for me was to severely restrict my carbs. Now I have been able to lose weight consistently for the first time in my life. In the past, any other diet has left me feeling *****y, depressed and hungry. This lifestyle change, on the other hand, has been relatively easy and has cured my depression & mood swings. To me, that is an indication that this is the right path for me.

Here is some more info on this subject:
http://www.nmsociety.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3M75cYpx2w&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/ketones-and-ketosis/metabolism-and-ketosis/
http://www.diabetesnewsstand.com/vissue/vernon/titlepage.html
the documentary "Fat Head," available instantly on Netflix or Hulu.

As far as any government-sponsored "scientific" study goes, always take it with a grain of salt and consider the source. Remember that the following groups all benefit from promoting a higher-carbohydrate diet:
•Big Pharma (Drug companies) get drugs sales of everything from insulin shots to statins
•Certified Diabetes Educators, Endos, RDs get “service fees”
•Monsanto gets more “genetically modified” grain sales
•The powerful sugar, wheat and corn lobbies, and the commodities traders involved in those products, get more profits
•The American Diabetes Association receives donations and “gifts” (read payoffs) from the above groups.

stanvoodoo

The MFP protein setting is too low by all standards I have read.

I have mine set to 100 grams per day and per my Doctor and Nutritionist. Protein First!

Protein, Fiber, Water and Exercise along with a reduced Simple Carb, Fat and Sodium make up a healthy diet.

Not sure where you are at calorie wise but start where MFP recommends and work your way down towards the 1200 Min for women. Don't go below!!!!!

Protein should be from lean meats, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, almonds. I also do protein shakes as on a very limited diet, under Doctors care.

Best of Luck!