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

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  • ScottishMrs
    ScottishMrs Posts: 254 Member
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    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
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    *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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    This is why I disregard macro percentages. Just get 1 gram per pound and your good to go!
  • glennstoudt
    glennstoudt Posts: 403 Member
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    .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
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    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
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    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.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    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!

    close enough. and like i said the first time, getting an extra 15 grams or so isn't hard. It's hard when people are coming up 50 grams short. Tall glass of milk, handful or beans or 1 serving of beef jerky and you're there.
  • ScottishMrs
    ScottishMrs Posts: 254 Member
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    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.

    Haha, thanks :). I'll find out for sure sometime next week. I find I look a lot firmer with clothes on though. Based on the advice here, I changed it to 45/25/30 because then the goal is 113g protein and I don't actually pay a great deal of attention to the carbs. Thanks for the link too! I'll have to print that list out for when I plan groceries.
  • otrlynn
    otrlynn Posts: 278 Member
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    2 eggs have 12 grams of protein. Most of the recent research I have seen indicates that eggs are not really the "bad guys" as far as cholesterol that they were once made out to be. If you are concerned, you can buy the generic version of Egg Beaters--it's pretty cheap. My other advice is just do the best you can with the budget that you have. Continue to eat healthy and things will fall into place for you. You won't be poor students forever.
  • ScottishMrs
    ScottishMrs Posts: 254 Member
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    close enough. and like i said the first time, getting an extra 15 grams or so isn't hard. It's hard when people are coming up 50 grams short. Tall glass of milk, handful or beans or 1 serving of beef jerky and you're there.

    Beef jerky! That sounds like a great source that won't go bad on me. I will most definitely be buying some of that. Thanks :)
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
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    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.

    It appears that we are talking about the same rough numbers, but I'm guessing that due to caloric totals the %ages work out very differently.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
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    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.

    O_o I'm not sure what your sources are for your protein but I'm anywhere from 2100-2600 kcal/day with 220+ grams of protein.
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
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    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.

    Agree with this.

    Fish is one of the best sources of lean proteins especially for the calorie buck. Learn how to cook it as many ways as possible though, as it gets boring easily.
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
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    Lots of lean meats, eggs, greek yogurt are great ways to start, often small servings of these foods give quite a bit of protein. Supplement with protein powder or a protein-based meal replacement to get more in if you still haven't managed to meet your macro. Also get protein in post workout.
  • Troublemonster
    Troublemonster Posts: 223 Member
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    You are welcome to look at my diary, I got about 200g of protein today and only ate a little over 1800 cals today. I get my protein often through lean meats and 2-3 scoops of whey isolate per day. Usually I try to eat real food for most of it though.

    Take the two scoops out of my day today though and I still got your protein need for the day covered. It was really quite easy. You just have to think about macros when planning a meal.
  • lvtruu1
    lvtruu1 Posts: 211 Member
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    I'm sure someone said it, but canned tuna is dirt cheap. So is chicken by the pound. Something like 2 dollars a pound. What are you surviving on Ramen Noodles?

    Costco carries tubs of 2% cottage cheese as well. I go through about 2 a week.

    The least expensive source of protein is still Whey though. Dollar per dollar. 10# tubs on BB.com can be had fairly cheap.

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