Do I really need to look at protein..

Why not monitor protein?

For optimal results, yes.

... when wanting to lose BF?
I have a fairly high BF% right now (according to unreliable scales). However, I am willing to do resistence training and eat a low caloric diet but do I really have to moniter protein?

Yes!

I would argue that protein is the most important of the three, and it is vital to ensure that one is getting enough.

Relax MFP will do it for you.

You also don't want to eat too much protein as it will turn into fat it you over do it.

No, excess calories will create fat - if you are eating in a deficit how can the protein turn into fat?

One of the best ways to burn fat is by building muscle. Muscle is made of protein. Ergo, you need more protein. A gram for every pound you weigh is a good rule of thumb.

This!

You also don't want to eat too much protein as it will turn into fat it you over do it.

What?! I thought extra protein (left over after your body has used what it need for rebuilding/repairing) turned into glucose. Have I missed something? :huh:

A gram for every pound you weigh is a good rule of thumb.

For us Real-Fatties, that is a s**t-ton of protein. I've heard lots of differing viewpoints on how much to eat. The "1g for every pound of lean body mass" idea makes more sense to me...

Yes protein is absolutely important. Research has proven that it stimulates protein synthasis and its main function is to rebuild and replenish broken down muscle tissue. The RDA (recommended diatary allowance for protein is anywhere from 0.8 g/kg/d to 1.7 g/kg/d. So for example I weigh 191 lbs I would convert that to kg by dividing it by 2.2 and then I times my weight in kg by .8 - 1.7 and that means I would need anywhere from 68 grams to 147 grams of protein each day. From personal experience of losing a lot of weight with and without protein PROTEIN is a MUST!!!

I do eat a decent amount I think but, should I go the extra step and invest in powders and such when I am not consuming enough (like today).

I had to start using protein powders to get my protein up. I'm still not where I should be, but I'm much closer than I was.

No need to look at it, just eat it.

... when wanting to lose BF?
I have a fairly high BF% right now (according to unreliable scales). However, I am willing to do resistence training and eat a low caloric diet but do I really have to moniter protein?

Losing weight requires that you burn more calories than you take in. It doesn't matter how you take in those calories - mouth or IV, protein, fat, carb. No matter. Take in less than you burn and you'll lose weight.

Eating protein is a good way to not feel hungry and it helps lose weight a little quicker, too. Protein takes a lot longer to digest than carbs or fat so you feel more full for longer if you up the amount of protein in your diet and back off on the carbs (I did that when I did my weight loss and in the the 7 months that it took me to lose 95 pounds, I was hungry less than once per month).

Protein helps lose weight because it's the hardest food type for your body to digest, requiring 25% of the caloric value of the food just to digest (I do not know the percentages for carbs or fats but I'd love to learn) so when you ingest "100 calories" of umpty-ump, your body only actually consumes 75 of those calories.

But that's just for losing weight - you need protein for a healthy body (the long term nutritional view).

You can lose weight without monitoring your macronutrients but…why? We only get one body per life time and, now that I'm 56 and with the health level of a mid-40's male, I look back and say that one of the biggest mistakes in my life was letting my body go to ruin between 1987 and 2010. Time spent learning about nutrition (there actually are places on the internet where you can learn about nutrition) is time very well spent.