Craving protien!

ably65
ably65 Posts: 41
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a huge craving for protien...do you think that means I should up my daily protien? Each meal I eat protien, carbs and some fat. It makes me feel the best to eat this way. I'm eating about 45 grams of protien a day. I do an hour of advanced Bar Method 5 days a week (intense muscle toning) and do a 3 mile fast pased hike 5 days a week. I was out of shape for a long time so definitely lost a lot of muscle tone and now have to build it back. What is the best way to calculate my protien needs?

Replies

  • Blesmols
    Blesmols Posts: 35 Member
    Here is a credible source with a calculator: http://www.healthcalculators.org/calculators/protein.asp. This is offered by the University of Maryland Medical System. Matter of a fact, here are some other calculators you might find interesting from the same people: http://www.healthcalculators.org/index.html. Some apply to weight loss and some don't, but they have a number of them.

    Good luck!
  • michaelowens8429
    michaelowens8429 Posts: 7
    45g !! that's it? I lift weights five days a week in the morning and do cardio 4 to 5 times a week in the afternoon and I eat an average of 250g of Protein per day. usually have 2 or 3 protein shakes a day mainly to help me get to 2200 calories per day intake. I eat 5 times a day and have lost 20lbs in the past month. IMO you need to eat A LOT more protein in your diet. I also intake 80 to 100 ounces of water each day as well. My cardio consists of two 60 minute spinning classes, normally one day of slow running (I tore my Achilles last year) and either elliptical or walking with the wife the other days.
  • ably65
    ably65 Posts: 41
    45g !! that's it? I lift weights five days a week in the morning and do cardio 4 to 5 times a week in the afternoon and I eat an average of 250g of Protein per day. usually have 2 or 3 protein shakes a day mainly to help me get to 2200 calories per day intake. I eat 5 times a day and have lost 20lbs in the past month. IMO you need to eat A LOT more protein in your diet. I also intake 80 to 100 ounces of water each day as well. My cardio consists of two 60 minute spinning classes, normally one day of slow running (I tore my Achilles last year) and either elliptical or walking with the wife the other days.

    Very impressive! As a guy you need more protien, right? I'm going to try to up the protien to 90 grams. It is hard for me to get that much because I cant stand shakes. I guess it will be a lot more egg whites for me.
  • michaelowens8429
    michaelowens8429 Posts: 7
    45g !! that's it? I lift weights five days a week in the morning and do cardio 4 to 5 times a week in the afternoon and I eat an average of 250g of Protein per day. usually have 2 or 3 protein shakes a day mainly to help me get to 2200 calories per day intake. I eat 5 times a day and have lost 20lbs in the past month. IMO you need to eat A LOT more protein in your diet. I also intake 80 to 100 ounces of water each day as well. My cardio consists of two 60 minute spinning classes, normally one day of slow running (I tore my Achilles last year) and either elliptical or walking with the wife the other days.

    Very impressive! As a guy you need more protien, right? I'm going to try to up the protien to 90 grams. It is hard for me to get that much because I cant stand shakes. I guess it will be a lot more egg whites for me.
  • michaelowens8429
    michaelowens8429 Posts: 7
    I think the trick to shakes is making sure they are blended properly. I honestly don't like them in plain water. I prefer to use 2% milk and an inexpensive "shaker" from Walmart. Its a small container with a wire ball made to break up the clumps. I also use 2 scoops of whey protein to about 1.5 cups of milk to make the shake thick. I prefer Strawberry flavor and can't stand vanilla. Chocolate is okay with milk but with water is horrible.

    and apparently I don't understand how to quote yet :)
  • Mjandjt
    Mjandjt Posts: 58 Member
    I'm not sure protein is determined by your sex...I believe it's your weight and activity level. I think you should up it...maybe check out Eat, Train, Progress group and ask in there? Sara and Sidesteel are very helpful...

    I do think that is very low...
  • operation_cute
    operation_cute Posts: 588 Member
    45g !! that's it? I lift weights five days a week in the morning and do cardio 4 to 5 times a week in the afternoon and I eat an average of 250g of Protein per day. usually have 2 or 3 protein shakes a day mainly to help me get to 2200 calories per day intake. I eat 5 times a day and have lost 20lbs in the past month. IMO you need to eat A LOT more protein in your diet. I also intake 80 to 100 ounces of water each day as well. My cardio consists of two 60 minute spinning classes, normally one day of slow running (I tore my Achilles last year) and either elliptical or walking with the wife the other days.

    Very impressive! As a guy you need more protien, right? I'm going to try to up the protien to 90 grams. It is hard for me to get that much because I cant stand shakes. I guess it will be a lot more egg whites for me.

    You have plenty of room to add some protien if your craving it :) try some apples and peanut butter, add shredded cheddar cheese to foods, get some greek yogurt :) So many options =) I crave foods that have protien in them as well and tend to eat a lot of them lol added bonus is I"m rarely hungry ;)
  • arcticfox04
    arcticfox04 Posts: 1,011 Member
    Aim for 0.7 gram to 1 pound of body weight or atleast double your current number.

    Also, I recommend doing lifting also. Its going to be much more effective.
  • Mjandjt
    Mjandjt Posts: 58 Member
    I think the trick to shakes is making sure they are blended properly. I honestly don't like them in plain water. I prefer to use 2% milk and an inexpensive "shaker" from Walmart. Its a small container with a wire ball made to break up the clumps. I also use 2 scoops of whey protein to about 1.5 cups of milk to make the shake thick. I prefer Strawberry flavor and can't stand vanilla. Chocolate is okay with milk but with water is horrible.

    and apparently I don't understand how to quote yet :)

    Agree 100%...needed to be blended really well and milk or almond milk...I also prefer mine cold so I use a blender or nutribullet and put couple ice cubes and/or frozen fruit
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    (intense muscle toning)

    No such thing as muscle toning. Muscle can do 3 things: Get bigger, stay the same size, or get smaller. You can increase muscle definition by increasing muscle size and lowering body fat percentage, but you cannot "tone" muscle. As for the protein, if you're doing weight training, then you will benefit from eating .82g of protein per lb of body weight of protein every day. A high protein diet is especially helpful on a cut to preserve muscle mass and to keep you full.

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