Protein shakes? Meal prepping ?

sifiso
sifiso Posts: 21
in Food and Nutrition
Hello everyone,
I'm 17 (18 in June !!) and have been doing my research around all things fitness and health, and have come up with two questions. I weight 130 pounds and according to some *online calculators*, i have 96 lean body mass and 26% body fat. Don't know how accurate much of this is but that's what i got to after numerous and various attempts.

1) Do I need to take protein shakes ?
>>>>>> I used various online calculators to see how much I needed and I averaged at 120 grams (is that not too much??) and I have calculated that I will get 42 grams a day from my meals (LOOOL).

2) My parents are a bit worried about meal planning. I basically cook whatever I am going to eat for the week (e.g. chicken breast, fisherman's eggs, pasta) and freeze it. I then microwave it when I am ready to eat. Is this alright or should I be doing things differently?

I appreciate all your help - THANKS :)

Replies

  • KristinNicole82
    KristinNicole82 Posts: 164 Member
    It depends on your goals, to increase muscle you can not eat a caloric deficit and absolutely need the protein. If you want to lose fat then the protein is not as important but eating at a deficit is.

    I always meal prep, it helps me from making poor choices because I am hungry and dont want to wait for something to cook. I usually make at least 2 to 3 days worth of meals ahead of time.
  • sifiso
    sifiso Posts: 21
    Thank you for the reply :)
    My aim is basically to go down to 20% body fat from 26% and start showing some ab definition. So I thought I wud need to lose fat first (lifting weights and cardio and eating less calories) in order to see definition.....?
  • KristinNicole82
    KristinNicole82 Posts: 164 Member
    That is what I did, I am currently about 16% and see some definition in my abs but not what I want I am thinking i need to be down to 14 to see what I want.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    I think that sounds like a great plan. I love being prepared! Sometimes I cook a bunch on Sunday and then dish it out every day for my lunch. Other weeks I just take leftovers for my lunches if we happened to have bought a lot of food that week. I also sometimes will prepare double for dinner, cook half and freeze half. (I do this with: lasagna, chicken pot pie, beef stew, any other kind of soup or crockpot meal)

    120 g of protein seems like a lot for someone who only weighs 130. I would think around 100 would be plenty. I weigh 150 and I only aim for about 100.
  • sifiso
    sifiso Posts: 21
    Ah ok ill start researching protein shakes then. Thanks again :))

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