Why is my protein so low??

DannehBoyy
DannehBoyy Posts: 546 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi, I am told by a lot of people that if building muscle i will need a lot of protein...but my daily protein allowance according to MFP is very low. Should i try and stick to it or eat more like everyone says i should?? any help would be great.

Replies

  • TheGymGypsy
    TheGymGypsy Posts: 1,023 Member
    If you're trying to build muscle, eat 1 gram of protein for every pound of your body weight. Example: if you weigh 150 pounds, eat 150 g of protein, or as close as you can get. The more, the better.
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
    I have boosted mine quite a lot. MFP starts at what I think is quite a low estimate anyway and then scales all macros down. This seems just plain wrong to me (although i am a novice at all of this). I have manually sent my protein to be around 0.8g per lean lb of body weight and scaled back fat by 5% and taken the rest out of carbs. I'm careful though... I eat my exercise calories back. When I add these I ignore the increase in protein (Which MFP then scales upwards proportionately with the calories I've burned) and concentrate on eating carbs. I don't seem to have a problem hitting fat content so I don't worry too much about it but just monitor to make sure I am not going really over or under.

    Its working for me like this anyway :-)

    good luck
  • ashleearoha
    ashleearoha Posts: 165 Member
    I go over mine everyday and its not a bad thing. You can change the allowance in your settings but it is fiddely so I just ignore it when it turns red and tells me I am over for the day. I am aim for 130 grams of protein everyday :)
  • stanvoodoo
    stanvoodoo Posts: 1,023 Member
    Agreed with the TheyGymGypsy and you can manually adjust the protein levels on MFP!!

    Being on a high protein diet that is what I did otherwise the levels where too low!!

    Best of Luck!!!
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
    If you're trying to build muscle, eat 1 gram of protein for every pound of your body weight. Example: if you weigh 150 pounds, eat 150 g of protein, or as close as you can get. The more, the better.

    Should this be 1lb of lean body mass per gram. Just asking, you may be right but it seems to go against what I've read elsewhere :-)
  • DannehBoyy
    DannehBoyy Posts: 546 Member
    ok i will try that, thanks for the advice. I wonder why it turned out so low in the first place :/
  • Confuzzled4ever
    Confuzzled4ever Posts: 2,860 Member
    it just takes a pre set percentage of your calories and assign that number to your protein level (like 20%) It's default setting. I don't know what it's actually at.. I've got mine at 40/40/20 .. although I fall short of my protein goal a lot it's pretty high for me, and I really do try to hit it. I feel better and eat better when I hit my protein goal.
  • DannehBoyy
    DannehBoyy Posts: 546 Member
    Thanks guys, just wanted to make sure that i wasn't making any big mistakes by just ignoring it lol :)
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
    I think I stand corrected :-) It does appear more is better if you are exercising.

    Have a look at the protein link here which if you follow the trail leads to peer reviewed research.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    You can change your goals. I typically go with 40% carb, 30% fat, 30% protein.
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
    it just takes a pre set percentage of your calories and assign that number to your protein level (like 20%) It's default setting. I don't know what it's actually at.. I've got mine at 40/40/20 .. although I fall short of my protein goal a lot it's pretty high for me, and I really do try to hit it. I feel better and eat better when I hit my protein goal.

    I boost mine with protein shakes :-)
  • oc1timoco
    oc1timoco Posts: 272 Member
    You can change your settings. Mine are 30, 30 and 40% on carbs. The one size fits all approach by MFP in the default settings does not fit everyone, so they have left you with the option to change them
  • RllyGudTweetr
    RllyGudTweetr Posts: 2,019 Member
    Consider MFP's protein numbers as your minimum, not your maximum allowance.
  • DannehBoyy
    DannehBoyy Posts: 546 Member
    You can change your settings. Mine are 30, 30 and 40% on carbs. The one size fits all approach by MFP in the default settings does not fit everyone, so they have left you with the option to change them

    Thanks for the advice man, what would you say my %'s would be? coz i have no clue when i comes to all of that stuff lol. I am 6ft 4 198lbs and im looking to lose about 2lbs a week :)
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    You can change your settings. Mine are 30, 30 and 40% on carbs. The one size fits all approach by MFP in the default settings does not fit everyone, so they have left you with the option to change them

    Thanks for the advice man, what would you say my %'s would be? coz i have no clue when i comes to all of that stuff lol. I am 6ft 4 198lbs and im looking to lose about 2lbs a week :)

    That's probably an unwise rate of loss if you want to maintain muscle. (And I'm just guessing that you do by looking at your profile pic). I seriously doubt you've got more than 30 lbs to lose (probably a lot less) so you'd be much better off at 1lb/week.
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    Averol Posts: 2
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  • DannehBoyy
    DannehBoyy Posts: 546 Member
    You can change your settings. Mine are 30, 30 and 40% on carbs. The one size fits all approach by MFP in the default settings does not fit everyone, so they have left you with the option to change them

    Thanks for the advice man, what would you say my %'s would be? coz i have no clue when i comes to all of that stuff lol. I am 6ft 4 198lbs and im looking to lose about 2lbs a week :)

    That's probably an unwise rate of loss if you want to maintain muscle. (And I'm just guessing that you do by looking at your profile pic). I seriously doubt you've got more than 30 lbs to lose (probably a lot less) so you'd be much better off at 1lb/week.

    My profile picture isn't what i want to look like, its just a some tv presenter with his head stuck on some body builder haha :P I'm going for the athletic look because i play football (soccer) whatever you like to call it, i want to keep muscle but loose fat. I'm new to all of this so i am bit unsure of what to do.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    ok i will try that, thanks for the advice. I wonder why it turned out so low in the first place :/

    MFP defaults to 15% of total calories from protein. Which is okay if you are eating maintenance cals and are sedentary.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    You can change your settings. Mine are 30, 30 and 40% on carbs. The one size fits all approach by MFP in the default settings does not fit everyone, so they have left you with the option to change them

    Thanks for the advice man, what would you say my %'s would be? coz i have no clue when i comes to all of that stuff lol. I am 6ft 4 198lbs and im looking to lose about 2lbs a week :)

    That's probably an unwise rate of loss if you want to maintain muscle. (And I'm just guessing that you do by looking at your profile pic). I seriously doubt you've got more than 30 lbs to lose (probably a lot less) so you'd be much better off at 1lb/week.

    My profile picture isn't what i want to look like, its just a some tv presenter with his head stuck on some body builder haha :P I'm going for the athletic look because i play football (soccer) whatever you like to call it, i want to keep muscle but loose fat. I'm new to all of this so i am bit unsure of what to do.

    Here is a guide for choosing an appropriate weekly weight loss goal:
    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.
  • DannehBoyy
    DannehBoyy Posts: 546 Member
    [/quote]

    Here is a guide for choosing an appropriate weekly weight loss goal:
    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.
    [/quote]

    I am aiming to be about 180 lbs i think, if everything works out like i am imagining. That also explains why i think i have hit a wall in weight loss, i was hoping to try and lose 1-2 lbs a week, but now i see that i should be losing less that 1 lb. Thank you :)
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    Consider MFP's protein numbers as your minimum, not your maximum allowance.

    this.

    also MFP is just a set formula for weight loss that it assumes everyone's goal is X.

    It's not. some people want lower carbs- some people are wanting to build muscle. Just adjust the settings as you want.
    I was 40/40/20 (20 carbs)... and then I switched to bulking I'm 40/30/30. it's not an exact science- there is a bit of trial and error till you find the right formula you have to figure out which combo works for you and also supports your goals.

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