Protein intake to "tone up"

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classicalguitar1
classicalguitar1 Posts: 27 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I have a general question about how much protein I should be eating.
Over the last 6 months I have lost around 55 lbs and currently weigh in at 210lbs and being 6ft 2inches with a large body frame I'm thinking I am not far off my favoured weight.
The only problem is that although I have lost a lot of fat during my weight loss I have also noticeably lost a lot of muscle to.
So although i want to continue with "fat loss" I also would like to regain some of the muscle that I lost.
Now here's the deal, I have read in several places that to promote muscle growth after strength training I should be eating 1 gram per pound of body weight, so for me that would be around 210 grams of protein daily. That seems abit excessive to me!
After all I still want to be in a calorie deficit to lose the fat but does that mean that I will have to be getting virtually all my daily calories from protein? I am currently eating anywhere between 1200 and 2000 calories per day with intense cardio 5 times a week. (Obviously I intend to add strength training into this regime).
Can anyone help me with this situation.
Thanks

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    there is no reason you should ever be eating less than 2000 calories given your size...

    150-200g protein sounds reasonable.
  • bpotts44
    bpotts44 Posts: 1,066 Member
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    Hi, I have a general question about how much protein I should be eating.
    Over the last 6 months I have lost around 55 lbs and currently weigh in at 210lbs and being 6ft 2inches with a large body frame I'm thinking I am not far off my favoured weight.
    The only problem is that although I have lost a lot of fat during my weight loss I have also noticeably lost a lot of muscle to.
    So although i want to continue with "fat loss" I also would like to regain some of the muscle that I lost.
    Now here's the deal, I have read in several places that to promote muscle growth after strength training I should be eating 1 gram per pound of body weight, so for me that would be around 210 grams of protein daily. That seems abit excessive to me!
    After all I still want to be in a calorie deficit to lose the fat but does that mean that I will have to be getting virtually all my daily calories from protein? I am currently eating anywhere between 1200 and 2000 calories per day with intense cardio 5 times a week. (Obviously I intend to add strength training into this regime).
    Can anyone help me with this situation.
    Thanks

    Your calories seem low for a big guy doing cardio 5 times per week. You are probably putting a large cortisol load on your body. Add the weight training 2-3 times per week and reduce the intensity of the cardio to make sure you are in zone 2 or fully aerobic. Try eating 1 gram of protein per lb of lean body mass. You find lbm by calculating your body fat percentage. Then i would suggest 100-150 grams of carbs per day and have fat meet the rest of your calories. Having been that starved you are probably deficient on micronutrients as well and I can send you micronutrient information as well.
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    Studies show that any where from 0.8 - 1.0 gr / lb of body weight is what you want to go for....

    If you are not lifting or doing a lot of exercising, you can prolly get away with 0.6 gr / lb of body weight.

    DRI is like 60 - 90 gr.

    For myself, I try to hit a min of 200 gr/ day
  • toddis
    toddis Posts: 941 Member
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    I've generally gone off of 1g per pound of lean body mass.
    Protein wont do much without progressive overload resistance training.
    I'd suggest replacing 2 intense cardio days for 2 intense lifting days to start.

    ETA: Try a website like ( http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ ) to estimate body fat.
  • D_squareG
    D_squareG Posts: 361 Member
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    bump
  • bigboyhealth
    bigboyhealth Posts: 6
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    Building muscle will require 2 grams of protein per 1kg of body weight or 0.9g per pound of body weight. This sounds like a lot of protein and it is. What you'll realise is that its difficult to maintain a calorie deficit while consuming this level of protein. So instead of looking at the scales, look at body fat percentage. For females 10-12% is the ideal amount of fat to muscle. Work on this number.

    Many scales will give you readings on body fat percentage. These are often not accurate but they a consistently inaccurate, so you can measure your progress.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    For females 10-12% is the ideal amount of fat to muscle. Work on this number.

    eeeeer, no!
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    Let's be realisic here no website or scale is going to give you an even close BF%...

    I have used the fat to fit ones and there are 3....normal gave me 26.1%, Military gave me 29% and the other one gave me 20%....ah hello wide range.

    And for women...10-12% BF...noooo

    And it is very har to build muscle on a deficet...you can maintain as much as you can. I eat .8g of protien per LBM based on 26% BF....so I get 120 which when I am somewhat careful is easy to hit...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    set your macros to 40p/30c/30f

    Start eating consistently about 2000 calories per day..

    read up/study form on compound movements - starting strength and new rules of lifting are good resources…

    once you have the form down build a program around compound movements - barbell squat, overhead press, deadlifts, pullup/chin up, row, bench press - I would say lift heavy and stay in the 6-10 rep range and keep increasing the weight as the lifts get easier…

    back off the cardio to two to three times a week …..after about three to four monhts of lifting…you can transition to an upper/lower split four times a week with maybe one cardio session a week...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    Building muscle will require 2 grams of protein per 1kg of body weight or 0.9g per pound of body weight. This sounds like a lot of protein and it is. What you'll realise is that its difficult to maintain a calorie deficit while consuming this level of protein. So instead of looking at the scales, look at body fat percentage. For females 10-12% is the ideal amount of fat to muscle. Work on this number.

    Many scales will give you readings on body fat percentage. These are often not accurate but they a consistently inaccurate, so you can measure your progress.

    ummmm no ..ideal for females is like 18-20% …

    and you can eat high protein and maintain a deficit, I do it all the time….

    I think you mean it is harder to eat high carb and maintain a deficit..? LOL
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member
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    For females 10-12% is the ideal amount of fat to muscle. Work on this number.

    eeeeer, no!

    ^^^^Agree. Um. No

    :noway: :grumble:

    Average for female is about 25%-30%. At 10-12% you are talking body building competition leanness.
    http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/

    that site has descriptions and pictures for male and female. Even the 22-25% for a woman is considered fit and is common for many athletes.

    ETA: And why are female BF% being discussed when the OP is male and doesn't require that info?
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    For females 10-12% is the ideal amount of fat to muscle. Work on this number.

    eeeeer, no!

    ^^^^Agree. Um. No

    :noway: :grumble:

    Average for female is about 25%-30%. At 10-12% you are talking body building competition leanness.
    http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/

    that site has descriptions and pictures for male and female. Even the 22-25% for a woman is considered fit and is common for many athletes.

    ETA: And why are female BF% being discussed when the OP is male and doesn't require that info?

    i was thinking the same thing...
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    For females 10-12% is the ideal amount of fat to muscle. Work on this number.

    eeeeer, no!

    ^^^^Agree. Um. No

    :noway: :grumble:

    Average for female is about 25%-30%. At 10-12% you are talking body building competition leanness.
    http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/

    that site has descriptions and pictures for male and female. Even the 22-25% for a woman is considered fit and is common for many athletes.

    ETA: And why are female BF% being discussed when the OP is male and doesn't require that info?

    i was thinking the same thing...

    I'm thinking he meant to say 'male'...?
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    and you can eat high protein and maintain a deficit, I do it all the time….

    I think you mean it is harder to eat high carb and maintain a deficit..? LOL

    What's the difference? There are 4 calories in a gram of each. Like the previous poster, I find it somewhat challenging to hit my protein goals and maintain a deficit, though I wouldn't personally use the word difficult. I just tend to miss those extra carbs and fat that I would eat if I were aiming to gain or maintain, particularly in the sense of the extra energy they provide.

    because foods with carbs tend to be higher in calories…example 2oz pasta is 200 calories, 2oz of chicken breast is 55 calories and 11 grams of protein…so I can eat 8 0z of chicken breast for 200 cals and get 44 grams of protein….if I ate 8 oz of pasta that would be 800 calories…

    just saying that with high protein foods you get more bang for your calorie buck….
  • bpotts44
    bpotts44 Posts: 1,066 Member
    Options
    and you can eat high protein and maintain a deficit, I do it all the time….

    I think you mean it is harder to eat high carb and maintain a deficit..? LOL

    What's the difference? There are 4 calories in a gram of each. Like the previous poster, I find it somewhat challenging to hit my protein goals and maintain a deficit, though I wouldn't personally use the word difficult. I just tend to miss those extra carbs and fat that I would eat if I were aiming to gain or maintain, particularly in the sense of the extra energy they provide.

    because foods with carbs tend to be higher in calories…example 2oz pasta is 200 calories, 2oz of chicken breast is 55 calories and 11 grams of protein…so I can eat 8 0z of chicken breast for 200 cals and get 44 grams of protein….if I ate 8 oz of pasta that would be 800 calories…

    just saying that with high protein foods you get more bang for your calorie buck….

    The hormonal response from the carbs also makes your life miserable where the protein response is much better.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Options
    and you can eat high protein and maintain a deficit, I do it all the time….

    I think you mean it is harder to eat high carb and maintain a deficit..? LOL

    What's the difference? There are 4 calories in a gram of each. Like the previous poster, I find it somewhat challenging to hit my protein goals and maintain a deficit, though I wouldn't personally use the word difficult. I just tend to miss those extra carbs and fat that I would eat if I were aiming to gain or maintain, particularly in the sense of the extra energy they provide.

    because foods with carbs tend to be higher in calories…example 2oz pasta is 200 calories, 2oz of chicken breast is 55 calories and 11 grams of protein…so I can eat 8 0z of chicken breast for 200 cals and get 44 grams of protein….if I ate 8 oz of pasta that would be 800 calories…

    just saying that with high protein foods you get more bang for your calorie buck….

    The hormonal response from the carbs also makes your life miserable where the protein response is much better.

    what? I eat 30% carbs and don't have any "miserable hormonal response" carbs give you energy and help with gym performance….

    LOLZ
  • naurugirl
    naurugirl Posts: 17 Member
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    there is no reason you should ever be eating less than 2000 calories given your size...

    150-200g protein sounds reasonable.

    This! Upping your protein and eating more (i.e., a smaller deficit) will help preserve lean body mass as you lose weight. I'm guessing a big part of your loss in muscle mass had to do with eating at such a drastic deficit. Resistance training will also help preserve LBM.

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