New to MyFitnessPal - Calories and Protein

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WaistMgmt
WaistMgmt Posts: 7
in Introduce Yourself
This is the first time I have tried to learn to eat healthy and lose weight by watching my calories. A friend sent me this site so I decided to give it a shot. I have been tracking a couple days and I have noticed at the end of the day I dont have enough calories and more than my recommended protein. I am not sure what to do to balance it out. What is the result of too much protein? I am on my third week of a strength training workout (M, W, F) and try to do cardio at least 3 times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes. Any thoughts and/or advice would be great. I really like this site and it is comforting to know I can always count on the advice and support of others just like me!

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  • glenna221
    glenna221 Posts: 46
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    I generally try to go over my protein amount. If you are working out regularly, this site doesn't give you enough protein. Some nutrition websites recommend hitting about 10 grams per pound of lean muscle. So if you know you have 30% body fat and weight 150lbs, you should shoot for about 100 grams of protein per day. I still try to stay at or under my calorie goal, but I eat back most of my exercise calories too. Play around with it. If you aren't losing weight, then change something. I found I had to add more protein and reduce simple carbs. Most of my meals consist of a protein (either plant based or chicken) and an assortment of veggies.
  • mrstrouty
    mrstrouty Posts: 15
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    Actually, going over on your protein is not a bad thing, especially when you are doing weight training. Protein is good for building muscle.
  • JanerZzz
    JanerZzz Posts: 276
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    There aren't any bad reprocutions for eating more protein then MFP sets up as your daily goal. You should be more wary about carbs, sugars, fats and sodium.
    I would suggest eating as close to your alloted calories as possible, this includes eating back your exercise calories. Yep, eat to lose weight, who would have thunk!
    To eat back some of your calories I would suggest calorie dense foods....bananas, peanut butter, nuts, beans.....Good Luck!
  • shreddingit
    shreddingit Posts: 1,133 Member
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    protein=1gr per lb of your weight
    if you have a lot of questions...google ur brain out...this site has too many bad opinions...the right answers get lost quickly...
  • Noz7
    Noz7 Posts: 59 Member
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    There is no problem eating lots of protein provided it is healthy and suitable for you. In fact, there are plenty of people who advocate a relatively low carb diet to help you lose weight. So well done :)
    If you are prone to gout, you should avoid the types of protein that exacerbate gout (shellfish etc).
    You don't want to eat too much of the larger fish which have mercury, prefer smaller fish.

    If you have plenty of energy and don't have bad breath (caused by "ketosis" - Google it) then you are eating enough carbs.
  • thefon
    thefon Posts: 1 Member
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    Protein good, carbs bad. You'll build muscle which helps lose weight even if you don't do anything.
  • jonathandavid_t
    jonathandavid_t Posts: 107 Member
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    Yeah, I agree with everyone above.

    They really need to fix the "red/green" colouring of numbers on the site.

    Protein and fibre should be red if they're BELOW the target.
    Carbs and fat and kcal should be red if they're ABOVE the target.

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