Need calories but no protein!

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Replies

  • gruvkitty
    gruvkitty Posts: 12 Member
    Thanks for this post!!! I was shocked to see I was having the same issue almost every day. It's not easy to increase your calories without increasing the protein. Even veggies have some protein.

    It's great to read all the responses here. I'll keep in ind the low protein settings here at MFP and consider it a minimum.
  • gruvkitty
    gruvkitty Posts: 12 Member
    Keep in "mind" - not "ind" oops!
  • WestCoastPhoenix
    WestCoastPhoenix Posts: 802 Member
    I guess by everyone else's standards I'm going to die of a protein defiency since I only get an average of 50 daily. Please tell my muscles I sworrryyy. :(

    You clearly don't get it. 1g protein per pound of body weight is not a goal to prevent a deficiency. It is a goal to prevent excessive muscle loss while losing weight, as you will ALWAYS lose SOME muscle when losing weight...it is a combination of fat and muscle you lose. Exercising and eating high protein will prevent this, also eating high in protein will aid in your body's muscle recovery from a workout.

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbprotein.htm
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
    I guess by everyone else's standards I'm going to die of a protein defiency since I only get an average of 50 daily. Please tell my muscles I sworrryyy. :(

    You clearly don't get it. 1g protein per pound of body weight is not a goal to prevent a deficiency. It is a goal to prevent excessive muscle loss while losing weight, as you will ALWAYS lose SOME muscle when losing weight...it is a combination of fat and muscle you lose. Exercising and eating high protein will prevent this, also eating high in protein will aid in your body's muscle recovery from a workout.

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbprotein.htm

    Guess I've lost so much muscle *rolls eyes*. Oh wait, I've actually gained muscle without upping protein. Whoopsies I proved you wrong. Sowwrry
  • savageman69
    savageman69 Posts: 339 Member
    I guess by everyone else's standards I'm going to die of a protein defiency since I only get an average of 50 daily. Please tell my muscles I sworrryyy. :(

    You clearly don't get it. 1g protein per pound of body weight is not a goal to prevent a deficiency. It is a goal to prevent excessive muscle loss while losing weight, as you will ALWAYS lose SOME muscle when losing weight...it is a combination of fat and muscle you lose. Exercising and eating high protein will prevent this, also eating high in protein will aid in your body's muscle recovery from a workout.

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbprotein.htm

    Guess I've lost so much muscle *rolls eyes*. Oh wait, I've actually gained muscle without upping protein. Whoopsies I proved you wrong. Sowwrry
    Alright smarty pants seeing you seem to have the worlds perfect diet and amazing results...lets see the pictures to prove it?...ditch the fairy and lets see the proof.

    1gram of protein per 1lb of lean body mass (not total weight) is optimal
  • mamagooskie
    mamagooskie Posts: 2,964 Member
    Going over in protein is fine!! MFP sets it way too low anyway.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    I've went over my protein recommendation today, which I'm worried enough about. What are the risks of overstepping your protein boundaries? I figure I'm about 9-10 percent over because I'm into -5. Is this really bad?

    Also I'm still under on my calories today but I honestly can't think of anything I can eat that isn't chocked full of proteins too.

    Really am in a huuuuge pickle. :(
    Eat the pickle! :tongue:

    Seriously, as others have said, going over MFP's protein settings is a good thing.
  • I'm just going to put this here and refrain from actively feeding the troll.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/protein-requirements-for-strength-and-power-athletes.html
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    I guess by everyone else's standards I'm going to die of a protein defiency since I only get an average of 50 daily. Please tell my muscles I sworrryyy. :(

    You clearly don't get it. 1g protein per pound of body weight is not a goal to prevent a deficiency. It is a goal to prevent excessive muscle loss while losing weight, as you will ALWAYS lose SOME muscle when losing weight...it is a combination of fat and muscle you lose. Exercising and eating high protein will prevent this, also eating high in protein will aid in your body's muscle recovery from a workout.

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbprotein.htm

    ^^this

    Plus Miss Attitutude does not realize that the numbers posted from the CDC are for people who are not on a deficit. Protein requirements increase when on a deficit.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    I guess by everyone else's standards I'm going to die of a protein defiency since I only get an average of 50 daily. Please tell my muscles I sworrryyy. :(

    You clearly don't get it. 1g protein per pound of body weight is not a goal to prevent a deficiency. It is a goal to prevent excessive muscle loss while losing weight, as you will ALWAYS lose SOME muscle when losing weight...it is a combination of fat and muscle you lose. Exercising and eating high protein will prevent this, also eating high in protein will aid in your body's muscle recovery from a workout.

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbprotein.htm

    Guess I've lost so much muscle *rolls eyes*. Oh wait, I've actually gained muscle without upping protein. Whoopsies I proved you wrong. Sowwrry
    Alright smarty pants seeing you seem to have the worlds perfect diet and amazing results...lets see the pictures to prove it?...ditch the fairy and lets see the proof.

    1gram of protein per 1lb of lean body mass (not total weight) is optimal

    A screen print of DEXA scans or hydrostatic test reports would be good also to show an actual muscle gain while on a deficit.
  • Sublog
    Sublog Posts: 1,296 Member
    There are a few scenarios where it's possible to gain muscle while losing fat.

    - The first of those is in overfat beginners. I want to really stress the term overfat in the above sentence. This phenomenon doesn’t happen in lean beginners for reasons I’m going to explain in a second.
    - A second situation where this phenomenon occurs readily is folks returning from a layoff. Folks who are previously lean and muscular but who get out of shape (whether deliberately or not) often find that they get back into shape much faster than they did initially: they seem to magically replace fat with muscle. In fact, with the advent of before/after transformation pictures for supplements, this has become a growth industry: people who are already in great shape will deliberately get out of great shape so that they can quickly reattain their previous shape in a short period. Apparently there is huge money in selling such before/after pictures to help move supplements.
    - Steroids

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html

    And for what its worth, most people think they gained muscle, but its a combination of increases strength due to CNS adaptations and lower body fat, making it "appear" they've created new muscle tissue while on a calorie deficit.
  • LeggyAmericanGirl
    LeggyAmericanGirl Posts: 285 Member
    Protein is not evil. Have more protein.
  • ecw3780
    ecw3780 Posts: 608 Member
    Just stay around 20 grams of protein per meal, and shoot for half your body weight in protein.
  • gayje
    gayje Posts: 230 Member
    1gram of protein per 1lb of lean body mass (not total weight) is optimal

    Had to read all these posts to get to this statement above. I'm not getting into the mud slinging, I can do that at home with my kids. Thanks for pointing this out - LEAN BODY MASS and not total body weight.

    Now, where's my :drinker: so I can get back to the show!
  • OP (and anyone else for that matter), you can change the Macro Settings to adjust the MFP default. Rather than remember that you can eat more protein simply change it to something more balanced. I use 40% Carb/40% Protein/20% Fat but you could also do something else like 40%/30%/30%. This will provide a more balanced diet and you will not have to worry about going over Protein any longer.

    Go My Home, then Goals and do Custom. Change the %'s and Save Changes and you're done.
  • MFP recomendations suck, aim for 1-2g of protein per lb that you weigh.
  • joecollins9385
    joecollins9385 Posts: 355 Member
    eat a salad and dont worry about going over on protein
  • lhergenr
    lhergenr Posts: 242 Member
    What? Someone scared of getting too much protein? I'm always worried about not getting enough!
  • rudegyal_b
    rudegyal_b Posts: 593 Member
    uuh chips?
  • The only problem with having too much protein on a regular basis is that it can kind of back up your bowels if you know what I mean haha. Make sure you're keeping up with your fiber too, but don't increase that too much all at once either or you'll have the same problem!
  • LinaBo
    LinaBo Posts: 342 Member
    Ditto on the "don't worry about going over the MFP protein recommendation" thing. I'd also just like to add: protein is really good at keeping you feeling full. So if you're trying to lose weight, eat plenty of lean meats and/or vegetarian proteins (in addition to water and fibre, which are a couple of other major ones for keeping you feeling full).

    Unless you have tons of money and don't mind regularly spending a substantial amount of time cooking off and eating chicken breast and lean fish, or you really, REALLY like the taste of protein powders, it's going to be hard to overdose on protein.
  • kjw1031
    kjw1031 Posts: 300 Member

    1gram of protein per 1lb of lean body mass (not total weight) is optimal

    This is what I am doing as well and I feel better than I have in years!

    (For the fairy - - - this is 1 gram per pound of LEAN BODY MASS - - - not total body weight. Not that it will matter, I'm sure.)
  • It's totally fine to go over on protein. Don't worry about it. However if you don't want any more protein for the day, have some fruit or vegetables.
  • aforange
    aforange Posts: 116 Member
    Thanks for all the responses guys!

    And yeees, I was serious. I'm new at this so I got kinda spooked by the BLARING RED OH SWEET JESUS NO color of the minus when I went over. I got a really handy message through and I'm going to start upping my protein, especially since I've got into quite a bit of weight training as of late. I tend to follow things religiously so yeah - minor moment of stupidity.

    Is there any particular reason MFP's protein limits are so low?
  • Don't worry about that protein. Honestly. Now hit a piece of chicken, turkey or a can of tuna ;)
  • aforange
    aforange Posts: 116 Member
    Don't mind if I do, yum!
  • azalais7
    azalais7 Posts: 187 Member

    Is there any particular reason MFP's protein limits are so low?

    It's because MFP largely follows conventional wisdom that a good diet is full of carbs.