I need to eat a lot of protein, but how ?

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becess96
becess96 Posts: 57 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello everyone, I recently lost 20 lbs and now I'm 150, I'm pretty lean and focusing on building some muscle. I know usually the rule while building muscle is to eat 1 gram of protein x lbs, which in my case would be 150 grams of protein a day. But, let's take the example of chicken breast (100 grams of chicken breast have 30 grams of protein), that means I should eat 500 grams (more than a pound) of chicken a day to have all the 150 grams of protein (and I took chicken as an example because it's a high protein food with low calories). How do you eat so many proteins ?Especially people who are 200+ lbs. I was thinking buying protein powder but I'm the type of person that's always hungry so I prefer to eat the calories instead of drinking them. Any advice would be helpful and appreciated. I wish you a great day :smiley:

Replies

  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
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    I was going to suggest the powder. But if you are already hungry then you should eat the protein. I cheat some days with a powder or real beef jerky. Mix up your food choices, I like tuna steaks or the frozen ahi tuna, even canned (I rinse some of the salt out). It won't happen over night so just keep making changes in the right direction.
  • MayTehSporksBeWithYou
    MayTehSporksBeWithYou Posts: 47 Member
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    I don't think you need to eat 1 gram per pound of actual body weight, instead the guideline is 1 gram per pound of lean mass or 1 gram per kilogram (2.2 lbs) of body weight.

    Do you know how much lean mass you have?
  • becess96
    becess96 Posts: 57 Member
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    MayTehSporksBeWithYou wrote: »
    Do you know how much lean mass you have?

    Nope, all I have is my height, weight and measurements (unfortunately I don't have my bodyfat percentage either because I can't find any skin clippers or whatever they're called here in Italy)
  • rustypep
    rustypep Posts: 31 Member
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    I am currently eating 200g's a day. I was told to get half from natural sources and half from powders so that is what I do. I eat lean meats like chicken, turkey, fish, or sirloin and filet steaks. Just be sure to avoid the fatty red meats. If money is no object, go for bison. I agree with the 1g per lb of lean mass as a minimum. I do it based on my lean mass target I want to hit. I eat a little more than the 1g figure. If you google US navy fat percentage, you will see some calculators that will tell you your fat level based on body measurements. You are correct though if you wanted to eat all your protein in chicken. It would be a lot of chicken. The powders allow you to eat more protein without all the added fats and in fewer calories.
  • Mrscanmore
    Mrscanmore Posts: 859 Member
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    I'm trying to eat more protein. I start with a smoothie in the morning, which I know means I'm drinking it, which you are trying to avoid, but it's the only way I can get it done. My smoothie has 1 c raspberries, 3/4 c milk, 1/2 c almond milk, 1/4 c spinach and 1/2 T chia seeds and then 2 scoops of lean whey. a friend of mine told me he just adds plain powder to milk or chocolate milk and he really likes it that way. Maybe that would work for you becuase it wouldn't be using up as many of your calories. You could even do 1 scoop instead of 2, so you are getting some extra. Plus if you have it with a cup of milk, you get the 9g of protein from the milk as well!
  • Krueger92
    Krueger92 Posts: 109 Member
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    Protein shakes, chicken, tuna my go to sources everyday. I eat roughly 250gs a day from those sources. and yes its 1g per pound of body weight.
  • haildodger
    haildodger Posts: 181 Member
    edited January 2015
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    If you're eating an appropriate calorie amount for your activity level, it isn't overly difficult to hit one gram of protein per pound of lean body mass, even on a 25% deficit; which you should not be on if you're already lean.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
    edited January 2015
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    I use the .8g/kg body weight and I don't even meet that on most days. I cannot even imagine trying to eat more than three times that amount. A 150g protein requirement - I'd probably give up entirely.

    I have no idea how any could swallow that much.

    I don't really care for foods with protein and just wanted to say that you aren't the only one who struggles. :)
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    op - to build muscle you need a calorie surplus and you should aim for .5 pound per week gain. So if your maintencae calories are 1500 then add 250 to that and eat 1750 and see if you gain.5 pound per wee, if you do not then keep adding calories until you start gaining.

    also, if you want to build muscle you need to be concerned with eating more carbs. As far as protein goes you should get about one gram per pound of lean mass ..so if you weight 150 and are 20% body fat then your lean mass is .2 X 150 = thirty pound minus 150 = 120 pound of lean mass = 120 grams of protein …

    you should also make sure that you are on a structured heavy lifting program that has progressive overload build into it...
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    I find that red meat and chicken are the two best sources for me.
    I did recently make a chicken soup that had 50g of protein per serving (I ended up with six huge bowls), since it was pretty loaded up with chicken. Try looking into some different recipes out there.
  • dwolfe1985
    dwolfe1985 Posts: 100 Member
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    i used to drink semi skimmed milk when i was struggling,i have no problem eating a few 100g of meat in a meal now im upto 3400cals a day.

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