Protein?

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  • km_jenn
    km_jenn Posts: 107
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    I manually re-set my calorie/macro settings on here so that out of my 1400 calories per day, 40% come from protein, 30% from carbs, 30% fats. That has me at a pretty large amount of protein, but it's really working for me big time. My diary is public if you wanna take a look :smile:

    ^^^ This... and so did I! :)
  • rlmadrid
    rlmadrid Posts: 694 Member
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    I changed my macros to 40% protein, 30/30 carb fat -- so I easilly get 120-150g protein a day.

    I think MFP needs a little update.

    Actually, I'm pretty sure they're recommendations are from the Insitute of Medicine, which is based on the latest scientific evidence. But population based recommendations are never going to be exact for everyone on an individual basis.

    Just because there are a lot of bodybuilders on this site that like to eat high protien, does not make it a good, or even safe, recommendation for everyone.

    I think MFP primarily targets people who want to lose weight. It doesn't seem at all directed at building, or even maintaining muscle mass. I don't necessarily think eating more protein could have any adverse effects to any of the members on this site. However, if eating more protein means going over your daily goal then you will likely slow your weight loss progress.

    To the OP, if you are trying to keep muscle, the 40% 30% 30% may be good. If you want to gain muscle you do need to eat more calories than you would if you were attempting to simply lose weight. Goal is AT LEAST 1g per pound body weight.

    All that said, I am assuming you are not intending to bulk up like a bodybuilder. You cannot both lose weight and gain weight at the same time. By this I mean, you are not going to grow muscle WHILE you lose fat. If you ensure that you are taking in more protein than carbs or fat in a day, you will force your body to use fat stores during cardio activity rather than breaking down as much muscle. This is how you can maintain muscle tone while you cut down fat. Again, the 40/30/30 may be best for you.

    I summed it all up pretty simply, but if you want to know more about what different macro intake percentages can do you should look at websites such as bodybuilding dot com. They have information on building muscle that may help explain what I said, it's where I learned it. None of this is a professional or medical opinion, it's just from my own research and experience. Good luck!
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I think MFP primarily targets people who want to lose weight. It doesn't seem at all directed at building, or even maintaining muscle mass. I don't necessarily think eating more protein could have any adverse effects to any of the members on this site. However, if eating more protein means going over your daily goal then you will likely slow your weight loss progress.

    You would be wrong about it not having adverse affects on any MFP members. I've read many posts from members with Diabetes or Insulin Resistance. Since both of these can affect your kidneys, eating a lot of protein could damage cause kidney damage for people with these diseases. Before eating outside medical recommendations everyone would be wise to consult a physician, but especially those with any type of medical disorder.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
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    There are many diets that are all over the place on the protein front. According to wikipedia and a few articles I've read that people can suffer from protein related deficiencies below (I think it was) 46, so I would try to eat at least that. Most people go by some ratio related to your lean body mass. I try to switch it up. I find if I have at least 80 grams of protein my nails stop cracking off. I find that if I have 140 grams of protein in one day I feel uncomfortable. I'm 120...not exactly sure where my lean body mass is but based on BIA and BMI and army defense circumference calculators my body fat is around 17%-25%.
  • Lennox497
    Lennox497 Posts: 242 Member
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    I like the 1g per body weight method. You can adjust your settings on MFP to match your intended intake.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    Great info here from one of our members who is a Certified Personal Trainer and Sports Nutritionist with a Bachelors Degree in Excercise Physiology and Minor in Nutrition. Bottom line, Tonya knows her stuff!
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/TrainingWithTonya

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