Always over on my protein...

shawnasis

I just recently joined MFP and have no problem sticking to the 1200 calorie intake...and believe me I was eating ALOT more than that every day before :frown: . However, I notice every day I am over on my protein...by an ave. of 25-30. Is this bad, okay, normal? Now I know I can cut some out but I thought protein was a good thing :huh:. Anybody know anything?

Gallowmere1984

MFP's automatic protein goal is laughably low. You can either change your macro ratios in the settings, or you can ignore it.

Kennkaru

I go over on my protein every day. Just make sure you're eating enough fiber and drinking plenty of water and it shouldn't be a problem.

LizL217

MFP's automatic calorie allocations give a notoriously low goal for protein... you can change this by going up to My Home-->Goals-->Change Goals-->Custom and then adjust your %s as you see fit. You should end up with a protein target that's close to the following calculation: Take your weight in pounds and divide it by 2.2 to figure out your weight in kilograms. Then multiply that number by 0.8 (not very active) through 1.8 (extremely active).

Protein IS a good thing, especially if you're exercising regularly. You will need plenty of it to retain muscle mass while you attempt to reduce your body fat.

keeponkickin

Over is fine. MFP protein allowance is a joke. Go in and manually over ride this by doing a custom program and make your macros higher in protein. MFP gives you 15%...:grumble:

Gallowmere1984

Over is fine. MFP protein allowance is a joke. Go in and manually over ride this by doing a custom program and make your macros higher in protein. MFP gives you 15%...:grumble:

Precisely. I had to change mine to 55% a while back.

trojanbb

That's a good thing. Every study I've ever seen shows that people with higher protein consumption for any given total calorie level have better body composition. And at no point does the trend reverse, just diminishing returns.

jrmartinezb

I had exactly the same concern when I started MFP. If you go to fitness sites you will often see a recommended amount of 1g per kilo of body mass or 1g per pound of lean body mass. CDC, WHO and other health organizations recommend protein to be anywhere from 10% to 35% of your total calories. I remember reading somewhere that protein can have a toxic effect when it is really high (over 250 grs a day).


Long story short, MFP recommendations are minimums; there is ample room to safely go over that.

jakeVScalories

eating your protein should be on avg. 1 gram per pound. Example. i weight 185 so i eat 185g per day, thats not going to build muscle, it'll keep your muscle where its at, but also helping burn fat. so eat the protein, theres only good to come from it.

shawnasis

Thank you for all the insight! I did tweek my protein and now I'm pretty much on track. I just want to be healthy and of course look good too :blushing: