How much of what is to much?

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apee24
apee24 Posts: 46
in Food and Nutrition
Dieting is so confusing to me. I was wondering if anybody knows on protein are you suppose to hit ur goal for that or is more protein good. I know ur suppose to eat a lot of fiber. I know to watch cholesterol, carbs, and fat, but the protein has me stumped. I noticed on some of the posts that some people use protein powder even. I could really use ur advice.

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  • mrmanmeat
    mrmanmeat Posts: 1,968 Member
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    Dieting is so confusing to me. I was wondering if anybody knows on protein are you suppose to hit ur goal for that or is more protein good. I know ur suppose to eat a lot of fiber. I know to watch cholesterol, carbs, and fat, but the protein has me stumped. I noticed on some of the posts that some people use protein powder even. I could really use ur advice.

    More protein is fine. I've never had a day where I wasn't above it. And I'm usually 50-150g above per day.

    I eat a lot of steak/chicken/tuna/salmon.
  • montana_girl
    montana_girl Posts: 1,403 Member
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    I don't worry about being over fiber or protein, but I try to keep the fat and carbs in the green.
  • jmeeej
    jmeeej Posts: 125 Member
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    Many many posts on this already

    ......but here goes again.


    Of all of the things to go over on in a day......protein is probably the best one. Protein is not only used for energy for your body but it is also broken down into amino acids which help your body to build and repair itself.

    Frankly I think the "out of the box" percentages for MFP are a little out of whack with having 55% of your daily energy coming from carbs.....but that's just me.

    Most "experts" suggest that you get between 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per every lb of LEAN muscle mass in your body. The lower end of the scale if you're not as active.....the higher end of the scale if you're doing strength training etc.
  • apee24
    apee24 Posts: 46
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    ok if protein is fine, I have another question. What if i go under my protein goal? Sometimes I don't get very much protein in my diet. Is that ok 2 or is it better to actually at least meet my goal? Sorry I am full of questions on this. I have also heard that it helps to build muscle if you have more protein in ur diet.
  • apee24
    apee24 Posts: 46
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    omg i didn't realize that there were already topics on this subject. I just started out on here yesterday so I'm still learning the ropes lol.
  • lynheff
    lynheff Posts: 393 Member
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    Generally a minimum of 55-75 grams of protein a day are recommended. More is fine unless you have kidney disease or some other problem where your dr tells you to limit protein. I use protein powder for breakfast so I know I am going to get the recommended amount by the end of the day. Hope that is helpful.
  • jmeeej
    jmeeej Posts: 125 Member
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    Your goals are your goals. You should strive to hit each of them to have a balanced diet and a broad range of energy, vitamins, and minerals your body needs to function in a day.

    If you're under be 5% it's not going to be the end of the world.......if you're under by 50% you may want to re-evaluate your meals and see what you can change or switch to meet your targets
  • xinahay123
    xinahay123 Posts: 63
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    Protien is the building block of muscle, and muscle is what we all want. So, at the minimum try to meat your goal. A protein shake is a great way to do that. I have one everyday after I work out. Get a good quality, low cal, low sugar one. I like Max, and Power Max. :0)
  • jmeeej
    jmeeej Posts: 125 Member
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    I am on a very low carb primal eating plan........so I do things a little different than most, but to me protein is my most important element of my diet. So I changed my goals on this site to reflect how much protein I should be eating based on 1g/lb lean muscle mass and then adjusted my fats and carbs to make up the rest of my 1600/day calorie allowance.
  • MIMITIME
    MIMITIME Posts: 405 Member
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    I purposely go over on my protein but I stay withing the carbs, fat etc. If you are short on the protein for the day, yogurt, milk. cheese and peanut butter are high in protein. Careful on the peanut butter because it is high in calories.
  • apee24
    apee24 Posts: 46
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    Wow ty all so much for the advice. I am on a heart healthy diabetic diet so it's very hard to have a meal plan to begin with. I think I will go with a protein shake once a day just to make sure i get in my goal. I want to gain muscle but not to much muscle. I just want to be healthy.
  • apee24
    apee24 Posts: 46
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    I purposely go over on my protein but I stay withing the carbs, fat etc. If you are short on the protein for the day, yogurt, milk. cheese and peanut butter are high in protein. Careful on the peanut butter because it is high in calories.


    funny you should mention the peanut butter. I ate peanut butter today and didn't even realize the amount of calories in it. I started with this site yesterday and went way under my calorie goal, and I don't want to do that, but I also want to make sure I don't have to many calories at the same time. Ty for the advice!
  • jmeeej
    jmeeej Posts: 125 Member
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    If you're on a diabetic diet......you might also be on a low-carb diet to help control your insulin. So you may want to go in and re-adjust your calorie goals anyway.

    I'm not diabetic or even pre-diabetic, but I chose to do low carb/no grains/no legumes just to give it a shot.........LOVE it

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