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Protein! How much, what kind & Why?
fishlover888
Posts: 132
Just curious about all y'all's protein intake. Based on heybale's spreadsheet I should be eating 27% protein, or between 103g (.91 g/lbs lean) and 147 g (1.3g/lbslean).
I am really struggling trying to get this much protein. Lately I've just been eating junk food due to TOM but even normally it's hard for me to reach even 100g per day because I freakin love carbs.
I do have a protein shake on days that I lift.
How much protein do you eat & why? What's your favorite protein full dish or meal? Looking for some inspiration!
I am really struggling trying to get this much protein. Lately I've just been eating junk food due to TOM but even normally it's hard for me to reach even 100g per day because I freakin love carbs.
I do have a protein shake on days that I lift.
How much protein do you eat & why? What's your favorite protein full dish or meal? Looking for some inspiration!
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Replies
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A lot of my protein comes from shakes but then again I need a ton of it.
I use Body fortress Whey protein mainly because its15 bucks a tub at walmart also has higher protein and calories than most I've seen.
Per scoop
140 cal
26g protien
Usually have 2 shakes with 2 scoops so thats 104g of protein right there for me. Yea its better to eat them but I just can't eat 200+ g of protein a day.0 -
Just curious about all y'all's protein intake. Based on heybale's spreadsheet I should be eating 27% protein, or between 103g (.91 g/lbs lean) and 147 g (1.3g/lbslean).
I am really struggling trying to get this much protein. Lately I've just been eating junk food due to TOM but even normally it's hard for me to reach even 100g per day because I freakin love carbs.
I do have a protein shake on days that I lift.
How much protein do you eat & why? What's your favorite protein full dish or meal? Looking for some inspiration!
I do between 100-135g per day. Like Doozer I have to supplement with a shake and I use body fortress too. It's cheap and it taste good. My main sources are chicken, turkey, fish or pork. Sometimes red meat. I have found that ground turkey seems to have the highest for serving wise. I also eat avocados, cheese and Greek yogurt.
Protein is essential for your muscles and to build muscle, add in recovery and such. I also found that I do better diet wise on higher protein lower carb kind of thing. Protein keeps me feeling full longer.
Feel free to add me as a friend and you can peek at my diary. My favorite meal is homemade turkey sloppy joes in a pita pocket.0 -
I also have Body Fortress Whey protein for the same reasons - lots of protein and it was the least expensive
But I am getting really bored with having the shakes all the time I guess.
@soosannah I definitely agree! When I started with MFP's pre set macros I had terrible DOMS and felt exhausted until I upped my protein.
Do you have a recipe for homemade turkey sloppy joes?! That sounds amazing!0 -
doozer - you don't need to eat over 200 grams. Its 1.4g/kg -1.8g/kg as the recommended amount. (or ...up to 1.6? Well whatever)
that old 1g/lb saw is just an easy amount they tell people because they figure its too confusing to tell you .81g/lb, or expect you to convert to kilograms.
I try to hit about 105, sometimes I go way over, sometimes I only get 95. Close enough. Its almost all real food now, because I eat 2k calories so its easy to hit with real food. If I was eating 1600 it'd be a lot harder to get without a protein powder supplement.
basically the way to up your protein is go in your diary, look at what you eat that has little to no protein, and sub in a snack with protein. So quinoa > rice, for example.0 -
eggs, diary, meats and protein powder. I get about 100-120 grams a day.0
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I dont ever actually get to 200+ i was kinda exaggerating. I usually end up around 170 which I think it 1g per LBM. I dont track these things very hardcore. Just try and get in the ball park lol.0
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I also have Body Fortress Whey protein for the same reasons - lots of protein and it was the least expensive But I am getting really bored with having the shakes all the time I guess.
@soosannah I definitely agree! When I started with MFP's pre set macros I had terrible DOMS and felt exhausted until I upped my protein.
Do you have a recipe for homemade turkey sloppy joes?! That sounds amazing!
Fish- ill send you the recipe.0 -
Aside from the meat, you can pick high protein sides, too. Peas, spinach, broccoli, chichpeas and corn are all great choices. And potatoes? Super! nice and carb-y but also 5 grams of protein per lovely spud.Just curious about all y'all's protein intake. Based on heybale's spreadsheet I should be eating 27% protein, or between 103g (.91 g/lbs lean) and 147 g (1.3g/lbslean).
I am really struggling trying to get this much protein. Lately I've just been eating junk food due to TOM but even normally it's hard for me to reach even 100g per day because I freakin love carbs.
I do have a protein shake on days that I lift.
How much protein do you eat & why? What's your favorite protein full dish or meal? Looking for some inspiration!0 -
Salmon, trout, and greek yogurt are my favs on protein.
I also like the green smoothies and will have protein shakes sometimes as well0 -
I aim for 130grams/day.
I eat a lot of meat...all of it, tilapia and tuna, lots of dairy including greek yogurt, beef jerky, kashi bars or homemade bars. I also use Body Fortress (although I have to say I'm not impressed with vanilla! Love the cookies and cream though!!).0 -
20-60g from shakes, 30-40g from fish/chicken/lean red meat, a few g from milk in tea, eggs, cheese, nuts and veggies. Sometimes i manage 60g from fish/chicken/meat but not unless i really work at it.
I aim for 90g plus, my lbm target is about 98g and if I'm over a 105g with cals to spare I'll treat them as treats and sod the macros!0 -
My lbm is ~130 which works out similarly to Tameko's formula anyway. I'm happy if I get at least 100. I do protein shakes with milk, greek yogurt, cheeeeeeese, alaskan salmon (sockeye or keta depending on macros,) tuna, eggs, organic turkey bacon, grassfed ground beef, pastured eggs. I'm such a food hippie :laugh: I also aim for higher protein sides like vegannlg. Peas and broccoli are two of my favorites. I usually sub quinoa for rice. Also thanks to Zorreena I recently discovered nutritional yeast which is a complete protein and v tasty on popcorn and some other things. I really like venison, but my family that used to give it to me is really far away now. You have to get up so early to hunt! Maybe Ill bring a big *kitten* cooler and get some dry ice next time I visit. :laugh:0
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After each workout, your body goes through a process call protein synthesis which is basically your body building new muscle during each recovery period or your off days. During this period, the protein primarily used will be from the nutrients that you consume. If you do not consume enough, it will used already stored protein in your existing muscle mass.
This is the same reason why we need a caloric surplus when strength training. Because each workout uses up calories. We need to at least replace those calories burned in order to grow.
In regards to actual numbers recommended, part of the reason why they very is because they are for the average sedentary individual. For a person strength training it should be higher. I think part of reason why kilograms is used is because the rest of the world besides the U.S. uses the metric system.
One of the highest recommendations for amount of protein consumed per day is 2.5g/kg/day. In order to make things easy, you can just consume 2.2g/kg/day. Which amounts to one gram of protein per pound of body weight per day.
I personally like to just drink milk for protein. 3 cups will contain 24 grams. Whole milk will have 150 calories per cup. Though if you guys are looking for a good deal on whey protein powder, allstarhealth.com has some pretty good deals. Though the more you buy, the more you can save.0 -
I have a formula in a book at home for calculating the amount of protein you should dump into your system within 30 and 120mins of finishing a work-out. I'll try to remember to post it over the next couple of days. This provides your body with the protein it needs to do immediate repair, and is the reason that protein shakes after work-outs can reduce both DOMS and perceived recovery time.0
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Will it keep me from being FAMISHED and stuffing my face for the rest of the day?! I think I need this...I have a formula in a book at home for calculating the amount of protein you should dump into your system within 30 and 120mins of finishing a work-out. I'll try to remember to post it over the next couple of days. This provides your body with the protein it needs to do immediate repair, and is the reason that protein shakes after work-outs can reduce both DOMS and perceived recovery time.0 -
@Everyone - so many great ideas and responses!
@Tree - I love that you are a food hippie. I can't wait to be a food hippie once I have a JOB!! being a student really limits the income haha
Quinoa - is SO yummy when other people make it! But apparently I suck at it... I will try again though. There's no place to buy it around here but in 2 weeks I'm moving to a city with a Trader Joe's AND a Whole Foods!
I think I'm going to set myself a goal to get at least... 100g/day for this month and take it from there. It has been a little easier since I bumped myself up to TDEE - 20% instead of a measly 1500 calories.0 -
You don't need to force down huge amounts of immediate post workout protein as long as your overall protein intake is appropriate, and as long as you've eaten recently - if you eat right before you workout, for example, that's fine. Your body is still digesting anyway. If you eat a meal right after, also fine.
Also around-workout nutrition needs to be both protein and carbs, which is why milk is often recommended (because it has both -- and also because its a liquid that doesn't trigger a 'fed' response for most people so people who have a hard time getting enough calories or who aren't hungry after exercise can use it to bypass that 'not hungry' feeling).
Otherwise there is no magic - aside from for very lean people who would benefit from carb cycling, but I don't think any of us talking have that concern yet?
Lots of links:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/muscle-growth-and-pos-workout-nutrition.html
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/around-workout-nutrition-while-dieting-qa.html
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/pre-vs-post-workout-nutrition-qa.html
The short version of all of the above though, is that, if you haven't eaten in the last couple hours, have a snack 30 minutes before you work out. Then have food afterwards, in the reasonably near future, and if you can't have food at that time then a post workout shake or milk is an easy way to make it happen.
and as usual all bets are off for very lean people trying to get leaner, but for regular folks the above is fine, no need to do anything special.0 -
Re Quinoa. I get bob's redmill on Amazon. It's pretty decently priced there. Quinoa has a bitter outer layer that needs to be rinsed/soaked off. Some brands (like bob's) do that for you, but it's very possible yours hasn't been and that's whats going wrong.
I've never been lucky enough to live in a place with a trader joe's or whole foods. Jelly! Although I'm pretty happy right now because I live surrounded by Amish and Mennonite farmers so it's really easy to get non-factory meat/eggs/dairy.0 -
I sometimes hit 140-150 with no protein powder, mainly via chicken breast, wild salmon, greek yoghurt, beans, nuts, eggs, cottage cheese and bench press oats which is oatmeal with whey protein chunks mixed in. On an average day, I hit 100-120g.0
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The body replenishes glycogen most efficiently in the first 6 hrs, with a non-linear drop-. As Tameko says, if you're only training once a day, it's not critical to recover, but I feel a lot better when I eat for recovery.
0.5-0.7g/lb carbs plus 10-20g protein, ideally in a 4:1 ratio is the optimum for endurance athletes. I usually do heavy cardio plus weights and follow this, but if I've just done weights I will still neck a protein shake or can of tuna within the first 30-60mins.
(Sports nutrition for endurance athletes, Ryan, 2012)0 -
I have a nutritionist friend who have given me a couple of fomulas for when I am training:
weight in pounds X .6 = minimum protein in grams per day
OR
LBM x 1.2 = minimum protein in grams per day
These formulas give me similar results of about 130g per day. My diary is open. I have protein powder at breakfast every day and after a workout if it's a training day. Then I have turkey breast, chicken breast, and fish (tillapia is probably the biggest protein bang that I can think of!) regularly. I also have fatty fish and lean pork and beef. And I fill in with lowfat string cheese, cottage cheese, and protein powder muffins.0 -
I get most of my protein from:
Fish
Chicken
Beef
Greek Yogurt
Fat Free Cottage Cheese
Fat Free Milk
Boiled Egg Whites
Almonds
Peanut Butter (all natural)
Almond Butter (all natural)
Muscle Pharm Protein Gels
Protein Powder (ON Natural Whey-no artifical crap)
Case In Powder (ON Natural Case In-no artifical crap)
Supreme Protein Bars
I eat around 170-180G of Protein a day. Yes, a bit on the high side (I weigh about 130lbs) but I'm on a higher calorie diet and it's what I need to eat to fit my macros.0 -
i follow what sarauk2sf recommended to me (and its working well so far!) so i aim for 135 grams of protein and 71 grams of fat as a minimum per day whilst eating 1800 cals. I am eating lots of yummy food....and it seems to be getting the scales to move in the right direction 0
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I am on similar macros kazz, wow just saw your transformation pics, absolutely wow! Most of my protein is from meat, cheese, greek yoghurt, etc and every now and again I use a protein shake (but found they give me bad gas and not so good bowel reactions)0
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