too much protein?

annatrx

Hey everybody,

I've been tracking the foods I eat and I've noticed a pattern, I eat too much protein. I don't usually go over my calorie limit but almost every day my proteins end up in red like -15 or -20. Today's Salmon and mozarella cheese (6 oz of salmon for the whole day and a slice of mozarella cheese) and that's going to get me in the -29 range. What's going on? Apparently almost everything I eat has protein!

Again, my calorie count ends up in a good spot but I'm not sure what to do about the proteins. Help! Thanks :-)

megalin9

I go over about that much on my protein every day as well, so I'm curious about answers, but I'm pretty sure it's not a big deal to go over on protein if you are working out. Protein is important in controlling your appetite and helping to repair muscles. I think??? Ha.

SueGlazier

Sorry, I cant advise you on this one, but I am having the same problem as you with my protein being over nearly every day, so I will be very interested in whatever advice is given to your question.

ShaneOSX

According to all of my research, MFP's protein recommendation is critically low. Highly respected nutritionists I trust recommend .7g protein per pound of body weight per day minimum to be healthy, and .8-1g protein per pound body weight for people trying to lose weight OR build muscle.

rsummers31

You really shouldn't stress over taking in too much protein. I don't believe there is any such thing as "too much protein". You should focus on getting more protein than the program suggests and coming in as far under your carbohydrates goal as you can. Carbs are what turn into blood sugar and end up being stored as fat if you don't burn it for energy. Amino Acids (i.e., Proteins) are the building blocks for muscle so, as far as I'm concerned, I'll take all the protein I can get because muscles use fat for fuel and that's what we all want to get rid of.

The problem is: it's a lot easier to find food loaded with carbs so we end up using our calorie allotment eating carbs and not getting the protein we need. I'm currently on the best weight loss (that is, FAT loss) program i've ever followed and that is a High Protein/Low Carb diet.

There's a great old book out there (published in 1999) called "Protein Power" written by a husband and wife team of physicians. They describe, in great detail, how the High Protein/Low Carb life style is the answer to a boatload of medical problems and they describe it in a way that makes so much sense I'm amazed that this plan hasn't become the be-all end-all diet for the ages. Since I began following their suggested program, I feel great; eat like a pig; never get hungry and I've lost 14 pounds in less than 2 weeks.

So, don't worry about too much protein. Worry about too many carbs. Eat every protein you can get your hands on and cut your carbs to as few as you can stand and include cardio and resistance exercise in your program. Do all this, of course, while staying near your overall calorie goal. If you take this advice, you'll soon feel as great as I do; fat pounds will melt away and your overall weight loss goal will become a reality faster than you could ever imagine.

Good luck on reaching your goals...

graelwyn

Unless you have underlying kidney problems there is nothing wrong with having 'too much protein', especially given mfp starts with such a low target, hence many here manually change their settings to have a higher % of protein and lower % of carbs. Protein is good for keeping you full for longer, it helps preserve muscle while you lose weight thus keeping your metabolism ticking along nicely, and I myself generally have between 100 and 140g of it per day (at 126Ibs). A lot here suggest shooting for 1g of protein per pound of body weight.

IStop4Stamps

I also have a real challenge keeping my carbs reasonable and my proteins higher when I work out hard. I eat more carbs the meal before a workout, and more protein in the evening. I must say I have worked out my best ratio, which may not work the same for you:

On my heavy work out days I'll want to increase protein especially in the evening. The average woman I met (that has worked with a nutritionist) prefers a balanced program of about Carb 45-55%,Protein 35-45%, Fat 15-25%. I find I personally lose weight better with a balance like this: Carbs 40%, Protein 35%, and Fat at 25% of my daily intake (I love the way you see this better on the MyFitnessPal iPad App which has a pie chart). But of course it matters what your selections are in those groups. For example, if I ate a lot of butter, fried foods, and heavy fats I would lower the fat percentage - but I don't. My fats come mostly from avocados, nuts and olive oil. My carbs are also VERY carefully selected to be the very healthiest since bad carbs make me gain weight and slow down my weight loss the most. So it's not just the category - but how you select foods that give you the biggest nutritional bang for the calorie count.

annatrx

Thanks everybody for the replies, it has really helped a lot. Thanks!

almonds1

I do 1-1.5G per lb myself