IIFYM - Protein vs. Calories

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emAZn
emAZn Posts: 413 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am new to the IIFYM theory but I was wondering if you should continue eating if you are over on your protein all ready but haven't reached your calorie goal? I could eat some yogurt or something but I'm really not that hungry and it would just up my protein more.

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  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
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    I wouldn't worry about getting too much protein (baring any medical reason).
  • iceqieen
    iceqieen Posts: 897 Member
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    Protein and fat is minimum, not maximum, so dont worry about it. Make sure you drink plenty of water if you are worried :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Particularly if you're using MFP's default macro settings, protein is very low...like 15% of your diet. If you haven't done so already you may want to customize those goals to be a bit more balanced.
  • Phil185
    Phil185 Posts: 4 Member
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    Protein and fat is minimum, not maximum, so dont worry about it. Make sure you drink plenty of water if you are worried :)

    This. You just don't want to be eating so much protein that you can't hit the minimum fat (usually .5g per lb of lean body mass). And if you're eating too much protein you'll probably be really low on energy, so I think you'd notice.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    Protein and fat is minimum, not maximum, so dont worry about it. Make sure you drink plenty of water if you are worried :)

    Yup. I usually shoot for 200g of protein but I have eaten over 300g without any problem on a meat-heavy day. If it were me, I'd rather eat carbs or something for the energy rather than keep piling on the protein after 200g though. No big deal either way.
  • emAZn
    emAZn Posts: 413 Member
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    My protein level is set at .8 grams per body pound.. Do you know if it's super important to reach your calorie goal every day or can you be under by a couple hundred? lol coming from a low calorie diet it's hard to eat this much food and with the amount of protein I'm now getting I'm never hungry.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    My protein level is set at .8 grams per body pound.. Do you know if it's super important to reach your calorie goal every day or can you be under by a couple hundred? lol coming from a low calorie diet it's hard to eat this much food and with the amount of protein I'm now getting I'm never hungry.

    You want to get as close to your goal as possible. Add some calorie dense foods so it won't seem like so much volume to you. If you're eating any "diet" foods, go to the full fat versions and that will add a bit.
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
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    Release your inner kid and have some ice cream. Kids always have room for ice cream, and so should you.
  • honeysprinkles
    honeysprinkles Posts: 1,757 Member
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    It's not harmful to be over protein, especially if you keep MFP's settings, they set the goal pretty low.
    I think both are important, I wouldn't stop eating to not get more protein, it won't hurt you and you need the calories!
  • AlongCame_Molly
    AlongCame_Molly Posts: 2,835 Member
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    Too much protein is not a bad thing. It won't hurt you.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Release your inner kid and have some ice cream. Kids always have room for ice cream, and so should you.

    And this. Always have ice cream, iifym.
  • emAZn
    emAZn Posts: 413 Member
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    Bring on the ice cream then :)
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
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    Release your inner kid and have some ice cream. Kids always have room for ice cream, and so should you.

    And this. Always have ice cream, iifym.

    I just had ice cream because it did :bigsmile:

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