Protein Needs?

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cyberiarob
cyberiarob Posts: 229 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've seen that a person should be eating 1 g of protein per pound of body weight. Is this just for people that are doing weight training?

Right now I'm just trying to lose weight via "diet" and cardio 3-4 times per week, then I plan on working in some weight training when I get to my goal weight. I average about half a gram of protein per pound of my weight per day.

I've lost about 40 pounds so far, and from the calculations that I've done I don't think I've lost any lean body body mass. I just want to make sure it stays that way.

Replies

  • KMAltig
    KMAltig Posts: 12 Member
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    I understood that for losing weight you should eat 50% body weight of protein. - which is my case since I am doing mostly cardio right now with some strength training.
    but when you move to more strength training they you could move up the protein intake. body builders consume 150% or more of thier body weight in protein.
    I have foudn that just getting my 100g of protien daily can be tough. I try not to supplement too much with shakes or bars.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,031 Member
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    Go for 1g per pound of Lean Body Weight - not actual body weight!

    You can do online research about this - depending on what your goals are and how much you need to eat in general, you may be able to eat a bit more....but you don't need that much. Will it kill you ? Probably not.....but that's a lot of wasted money and planning if you don't need that much.
  • 714rah714
    714rah714 Posts: 759 Member
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    I've seen that a person should be eating 1 g of protein per pound of body weight. Is this just for people that are doing weight training?

    Right now I'm just trying to lose weight via "diet" and cardio 3-4 times per week, then I plan on working in some weight training when I get to my goal weight. I average about half a gram of protein per pound of my weight per day.

    I've lost about 40 pounds so far, and from the calculations that I've done I don't think I've lost any lean body body mass. I just want to make sure it stays that way.
    If that were true, at 225 lbs, I would have to eat an entire cow, daily
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,031 Member
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    ....just to add, what you are doing is about right 1/2g per pound - probably is a little more than 1g per pound of LBM.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    That should be 1 gram per pound of lean body mass, not total body weight.
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
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    Go for 1g per pound of Lean Body Weight - not actual body weight!

    You can do online research about this - depending on what your goals are and how much you need to eat in general, you may be able to eat a bit more....but you don't need that much. Will it kill you ? Probably not.....but that's a lot of wasted money and planning if you don't need that much.

    ^^^^ this...
  • Madholm
    Madholm Posts: 167
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    The automatic protien goals on MFP are a touch on the low side, but you should aim for them as a baseline. Most people would recommend adjusting your macros to lower carbs and up your protien. That said there is a limit to how much protien your body can use over X amount of time. Generally if you are extremely concerned with protien you're looking to build mass. If you wan't to lose weight (fat) you should focus on calorie deficit while eating a balanced diet.
  • cyberiarob
    cyberiarob Posts: 229 Member
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    I weigh about 182, and my LBM is about 145. I average around 80g of protein per day now. I should have no problem getting that up to around 150g per day, just wanted to know if I needed to worry about it.

    Thanks for all the feedback.

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