Just started lifting and can't meet 30% protein. Advice?

ScottishMrs
ScottishMrs Posts: 254 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So, I just completed my first week of lifting. I'm doing this dumbbell program: http://produmbbellworkouts.com/dumbbell-routines/full-body-high-volume/. I used 20lb dumbbells for most of the heavier end lifts and 10lbs minimum for anything. I'm planning to try to increase by ~5lbs a week and we'll see how that goes. At the beginning of the week I changed my macros to 40/30/30 and introduced whey protein into my diet. However, I am having a really hard time meeting that 30% protein! If I changed my macros to 45/25/30 would that be a bad move? For example, would it be alright to change to 45/25/30 at this stage but change to 40/30/30 when I get into the really heavy lifting?

ETA: My husband and I share our protein powder and at this point in our lives we can't really afford to buy more than one 2lb tub a week so I can't really add more protein shakes into my diet.

I won't be making my diary available to everyone because any negativity gets me really riled up. However, I will tell you that I've been getting about 93-96g protein/day on average this week, my cals are set to 1800/day, I weigh ~153lbs right now, MFP is telling me to get 135g protein/day, and I don't know my BF at the moment. Oh, and I'm mildly lactose intolerant so I can't have too much milk a day. I started mixing my shakes in fortified organic rice milk.
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Replies

  • SpecialSundae
    SpecialSundae Posts: 795 Member
    I struggled to begin with but now meet it pretty much every day. I either have eggs or home-made protein muffins for breakfast, meat with lunch and dinner and protein shakes (half whey and half soy protein) after workouts. I eat lots of vegetables, healthy fats and take it easy on starch and sugar (I don't exclude them at all, just don't have cakes or vast quantities of pasta every day).
  • littlekat1
    littlekat1 Posts: 53 Member
    I drink the EAS carb advant-edge protein shakes after a workout and then try to get the rest of my protein via my food intake. If I find I'm short on protein, I'll drink another shake.
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    My protein powder is 50grams of protein per 2 scoops, which gets me nearly halfway to my goal. Then I eat eggs and fish and soy beans, etc...

    I never have trouble getting up to 120 grams per day (except on PMS days where I want more carbs!)
  • sally_jeffswife
    sally_jeffswife Posts: 766 Member
    Homeade Protein Shake Recipe that's super good I found someone posted on youtube....1 cup lowfat cottage cheese,1 cup skim milk,5-8 ice cubes,1 Tbsp "all natural" Peanut Butter,1/2 pkt sugar free jello pudding. Has something like 42.3 grams of protein and makes about 15.2 oz. Is pretty good. Kinda peanut buttery for me but I still really liked it when I tried it.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    It's pretty much impossible without seeing your diary or knowing anything about your diet.

    As an exerciser, you should be getting a minimum of 1.4g protein per 1kg body weight, but ideally more for strength training.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Eat more meat. Lots of it. Double your servings. Triple them. I recommend trying to get as much of your protein intake from whole foods as possible. Powders should be a supplement, not a main source of food, IMO.
  • Lupercalia
    Lupercalia Posts: 1,857 Member
    Yeah, eat more meat, fish, eggs, poultry....supplement with protein powder of your choice if you want/need to.

    ETA: Just saw your edit re: protein powder. I don't know what you're paying for your protein, but mine works out to be less expensive (per serving) than a serving of meat when I buy in 4.5kg bags. You might shop around for both meat and powders, and see if that seems true for you as well. It can get spendy, as you said.
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
    why so high? who needs 30% protein?
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    I suspect you'll live if you eat 25% protein for the time being, but start working on how to get a little bit of extra protein into your day. I mean, I suspect we're only talking about 15-20 additional grams or so for you, perhaps less. A glass of milk, switching to wheat bread or potato rolls, an extra egg at breakfast, 2 handfuls of peanuts....

    2 switches a day and I'm thinking you hit the 30% target. It won't be too hard.
  • xampx
    xampx Posts: 323 Member
    Cottage cheese and cans of Tuna, not necessarily together! (ETA: I also have mild issues with milk, but cottage cheese doesn't really bother me. I also have soy yoghurt, some are higher protein than others)

    Also, have you had a look at the proteinpow.com website? There are some good recipes on there for cheaper protein powders, like pea or hemp protein, which, here at least, aren't too expensive for the unflavoured kind.

    Yesterday I made spinach and pea protein pancakes http://www.proteinpow.com/2012/04/spinach-protein-patties-with-chicken.html and had them with mackerel and feta. I used the MFP recipe thing to accurately track MY version of the recipes

    Tomorrow I am making peanut butter and chocolate protein bars, chocolate brownies, and chocolate beetroot cake, all high protein for after gym snacks next week :)
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
    I regularly go over my 15% protein, usually around 25% and I'm vegan. But 15% protein is fine; even for a weight training athlete.
  • ScottishMrs
    ScottishMrs Posts: 254 Member
    There's some great advice here so far. Keep it coming! I really appreciate it :)
  • pspetralia
    pspetralia Posts: 963 Member
    I have had trouble with this, too. When I first upped my protein I would go over in fat if I got in all my protein. I have found eating tuna and chicken the most helpful in getting my protein.
  • sandradev1
    sandradev1 Posts: 786 Member
    Getting all the protein you need from food is obviously the best source. However, I find that I just cannot afford to buy the amount of lean meat etc to do this. I find that using protein powder is actually the cheapest way of reaching my protein level every day.

    Ensuring that I get the right amount of protein is very important to me and for me it is worth foregoing something else to meet this cost.
  • iulia_maddie
    iulia_maddie Posts: 2,780 Member
    Chicken breast, tuna, basa or tilapia fillets, lean ground turkey, Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese. All great protein sources and relatively low in calories.
    Lean beef is great too (my favorite).
  • ScottishMrs
    ScottishMrs Posts: 254 Member
    Getting all the protein you need from food is obviously the best source. However, I find that I just cannot afford to buy the amount of lean meat etc to do this. I find that using protein powder is actually the cheapest way of reaching my protein level every day.

    Ensuring that I get the right amount of protein is very important to me and for me it is worth foregoing something else to meet this cost.

    Yes, it's hard to afford the meat too. I can't really forgo anything though because the only things we spend money on are rent, phone, tuition, and food so there's nothing there that I can skimp on except for the food, but food is important so I shouldn't do that. If we're going to be forgoing anything then it's the meat and whey protein because they're the most expensive. Student life is so lean :(
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Looks like you may have your protein too high - you should look to get a minimum of 1g per lb/lbm and not base it on percentages.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    why so high? who needs 30% protein?

    Mine is like 40%. Ideal intake for strength athletes is a minimum of 1.5g per kg body weight. In the states, people usually round that to 1g/lb bw.

    Tuna and greek yogurt are great relatively inexpensive protein sources.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    I regularly go over my 15% protein, usually around 25% and I'm vegan. But 15% protein is fine; even for a weight training athlete.

    That depends on your calorie targets and whether you are at a deficit.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    I regularly go over my 15% protein, usually around 25% and I'm vegan. But 15% protein is fine; even for a weight training athlete.

    source? All strength-oriented nutrition research indicates that you are wrong.
  • ScottishMrs
    ScottishMrs Posts: 254 Member
    Looks like you may have your protein too high - you should look to get a minimum of 1g per lb/lbm and not base it on percentages.

    I'm not sure of my lbm right now though. We've ordered an "Omron HBF-306CAN Fat Loss Monitor" but it won't get here until sometime between April 3rd and 9th. From looking at example pictures of BF though I'd estimate that I'm at around 28% (I don't have any parially clad pictures of myself on my laptop to show).
  • shaywallis
    shaywallis Posts: 165 Member
    *Bacon
    *Eggs
    *Almond butter
    *Chicken, beef, turkey, salmon, tuna, etc
    *Trail mix/nuts
    *Protein Powder, I use METRx Protein Plus. I got it at Trader Joes for $24. I has 46g protien per 2 scoops. I do one scoop after my workout (23g) and it has 30 servings per one scoop.
    *Protein bars (although this is probably a once a week thing for me)
    *High quality cheese/greek yogurt

    I get about 115-140g of protein a day. Its was difficult at first but after awhile you figure it out = )
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
    I regularly go over my 15% protein, usually around 25% and I'm vegan. But 15% protein is fine; even for a weight training athlete.

    That depends on your calorie targets and whether you are at a deficit.

    Yes that's true, because your protein needs stay the same even in a deficit so the percentage of protein is comparatively higher in a deficit. thank you.
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
    I regularly go over my 15% protein, usually around 25% and I'm vegan. But 15% protein is fine; even for a weight training athlete.

    source? All strength-oriented nutrition research indicates that you are wrong.

    Source: one of many out there: http://exercise.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/protein_2.htm

    I find 20% in a deficit at the moment is fine for me. Others may have higher needs.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Looks like you may have your protein too high - you should look to get a minimum of 1g per lb/lbm and not base it on percentages.

    I'm not sure of my lbm right now though. We've ordered an "Omron HBF-306CAN Fat Loss Monitor" but it won't get here until sometime between April 3rd and 9th. From looking at example pictures of BF though I'd estimate that I'm at around 28% (I don't have any parially clad pictures of myself on my laptop to show).

    make it easy on yourself and just aim for .8 per pound of bodyweight. That should put you around 120 grams of protein, give or take
  • ScottishMrs
    ScottishMrs Posts: 254 Member
    Looks like you may have your protein too high - you should look to get a minimum of 1g per lb/lbm and not base it on percentages.

    I'm not sure of my lbm right now though. We've ordered an "Omron HBF-306CAN Fat Loss Monitor" but it won't get here until sometime between April 3rd and 9th. From looking at example pictures of BF though I'd estimate that I'm at around 28% (I don't have any parially clad pictures of myself on my laptop to show).

    make it easy on yourself and just aim for .8 per pound of bodyweight. That should put you around 120 grams of protein, give or take

    Dang, that still leaves me about 25-30 off. Thanks for the help!
  • eric_sg61
    eric_sg61 Posts: 2,925 Member
    This is why I disregard macro percentages. Just get 1 gram per pound and your good to go!
  • glennstoudt
    glennstoudt Posts: 403 Member
    .7 to 1 gram of protein per lb of lean body mass. Seems you don't need 135g daily on average
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    It's tough, isn't it. I need to eat about 140g of protein a day but I don't want to eat over 3000 kcals. I seem to only hit that if I eat **** loads of chicken and cottage cheese. Nuts and PB help but they're high in cals. Have to be careful with the carbs if I want high protein and lowish calories. I'm slowly getting it, though.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Looks like you may have your protein too high - you should look to get a minimum of 1g per lb/lbm and not base it on percentages.

    I'm not sure of my lbm right now though. We've ordered an "Omron HBF-306CAN Fat Loss Monitor" but it won't get here until sometime between April 3rd and 9th. From looking at example pictures of BF though I'd estimate that I'm at around 28% (I don't have any parially clad pictures of myself on my laptop to show).

    make it easy on yourself and just aim for .8 per pound of bodyweight. That should put you around 120 grams of protein, give or take

    Dang, that still leaves me about 25-30 off. Thanks for the help!

    This may help:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/926789-protein-sources

    ETA: had a quick look at your pics - I doubt you are 28%. Try to get about 110g (120g would probably be a smidge better) and don't stress too much about the rest.

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