Having trouble meeting my daily protein goal

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liviacuster
liviacuster Posts: 4
in Food and Nutrition
Hello there. I am fairly new to My Fitness Pal and am still trying to figure out how stay within my daily protein allotment. My plan has set my protein at 45 g. of protein a day, but I usually hit that after I eat lunch. For example, I had oatmeal at breakfast with a peach, at lunch I had a cup of cottage cheese with crackers, grapes, and carrots. I am now over my daily allotment for protein, but way below my calorie intake needed for the day.

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  • Y05H1
    Y05H1 Posts: 9
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    Curious as well. My guess is MFP assumes everyone is doing 0 strength training. There are days I'll hit 200g of protein, but those are my gym days when I'm having protein shakes.
  • MichelleBogart
    MichelleBogart Posts: 126 Member
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    From what I understand, its okay to be above your protein, that's the MINIMUM you should eat.
  • liviacuster
    liviacuster Posts: 4
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    I never thought of that. I do 40 minutes of HIIT 3 times a week then bike, swim, or walk 2-3 times per week.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    My fitness pal protein macros are set unbelievably low. For optimal muscle preservation during fat loss, you should lift weights, eat AT LEAST 0.82g/lb of body weight of protein a day, and eat at a deficit of no more than 20% under your maintenance calories. I weigh 183lbs and I eat over 150g of protein minimum everyday. Read this scientific article if you don't believe me.

    http://mennohenselmans.com/the-myth-of-1glb-optimal-protein-intake-for-bodybuilders/
  • liviacuster
    liviacuster Posts: 4
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    AGericke, that is exactly what I have found and well in my research about protein intake. Thanks for the article. Now, I'm not so concerned about going over 40g of protein a day.
  • calibriintx
    calibriintx Posts: 1,741 Member
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    My fitness pal protein macros are set unbelievably low. For optimal muscle preservation during fat loss, you should lift weights, eat AT LEAST 0.82g/lb of body weight of protein a day, and eat at a deficit of no more than 20% under your maintenance calories. I weigh 183lbs and I eat over 150g of protein minimum everyday. Read this scientific article if you don't believe me.

    http://mennohenselmans.com/the-myth-of-1glb-optimal-protein-intake-for-bodybuilders/

    ^This. Your macros (carbs, protein, fat) are a minimum, not a limit. Eat all the protein! :drinker:
  • Happylady123
    Happylady123 Posts: 166 Member
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    I am marathon training, and I am eating roughly a gram per pound to keep up with the muscle I am abusing during all the running. It really seems to help! Protein powder is a big help to me, and I incooperate it into several things: oatmeal, yogurt, smoothies, etc. I am eating a lot of grilled chicken breasts and fish as well. My husband grills up a batch on the weekends, and I use it on salads or in wraps all during the week. :wink:
  • MichelleBogart
    MichelleBogart Posts: 126 Member
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    My husband grills up a batch on the weekends, and I use it on salads or in wraps all during the week. :wink:

    That's a great idea!
  • luvriden
    luvriden Posts: 52
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    I never worry about my protein level and figure I will use the protein to keep my energy up with my less calories :-)
  • Janet_andpie
    Janet_andpie Posts: 22
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    Oh my! I can't even manage MFP protein portions. I average about 55-60g of protein a day and weigh about 150lbs.

    I might have to get some protein powder. =| Or eat more eggs.
  • Onaughmae
    Onaughmae Posts: 873 Member
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    in my opinion MFP sets the protein goal too low and the carb goal too high. I typically get around 100 gm protein a day. As long as you are staying within your calorie allotment I wouldn't stress about it.
  • firecat918
    firecat918 Posts: 9
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    It's the cottage cheese that's doing you in. Try a different cheese instead, or eat only 1/4 of cottage cheese. Good luck!
  • KimLee76
    KimLee76 Posts: 89
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    (1) You can change your goals. Go to Food, Goals, and then set your own ratios.

    I forgot what the MFP default is but a popular setting is the zone's 40/30/30 (Carb/Protein/Fat). I'm low carbing now so mine are different but I do update them as my needs change. I got tired of trying to calculate them in my head especially after the exercise calories get added back in. One word of caution - whenever you set, the values you see on the first screen will be the MFP defaults. By this, I mean when I go back in to tweak my percentages, the last values I saved are not displayed but the MFP default values.

    (2) You can add your own exercises, but you'll have to add your strength training under cardio and know the calories burned because it's not going to calculate them.

    I have added some cardios that were not included in the dbase but haven't bothered with creating strength training exercises. I just enter them under strength training and add the calories to exercise notes. For my purposes, it's better to see the reps, sets, and weight than to have MFP use the calories in my daily tracking. Besides....as much as I like a good work-around, I don't really take to banging square pegs into round holes. :)

    Hang in there. It's a good tracking system and it gets a lot easier to use after you learn the quirks.

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