Am I getting enough protein?

chalaivy
chalaivy Posts: 101 Member
Hello yall. So I am 5'8", roughly 155, and have been in a calorie deficit for about 2 months. While I don't really track all of my macros, I try to make sure my protein intake is adequate for what I need so I don't lose too much muscle mass. I know while in a deficit + working out, I will lose some regardless.
I want to know on my "bad" days, how much I should still really try to get minimum to avoid too much damage? I normally aim for 100-130g. But sometimes I really struggle. Halp!

Replies

  • SmashleeWpg
    SmashleeWpg Posts: 567 Member
    Depends on your fitness / nutrition goals.
    Here's a good calculator; http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbprotein.htm
  • chalaivy
    chalaivy Posts: 101 Member
    It says my goal should be 176g?! So are my muscles going through a lot of damage if I fail to hit this number?
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited May 2016
    chalaivy wrote: »
    It says my goal should be 176g?! So are my muscles going through a lot of damage if I fail to hit this number?

    The answer is NO...

    You do not need 176g a day. That is way too high. You need more like 125g a day in order to keep muscle mass whilst eating at deficit.

    If you struggle a couple of days a week, your muscles are not depleting during this time. And I editied this to say if you are not loosing too agressively like 2+ pounds a week you are not depleting or loosing muscle, but larger deficits and faster and more agressive weight loss is where you need to be concerned with lots of muscle mass losses.

    Do you strength train? If not you may want to entertain the idea to start a program. This will help you maintain muscle mass.
  • chalaivy
    chalaivy Posts: 101 Member
    edited May 2016
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    chalaivy wrote: »
    It says my goal should be 176g?! So are my muscles going through a lot of damage if I fail to hit this number?

    The answer is NO...

    You do not need 176g a day. That is way too high. You need more like 125g a day in order to keep muscle mass whilst eating at deficit.

    If you struggle a couple of days a week, your muscles are not depleting during this time. And I editied this to say if you are not loosing too agressively like 2+ pounds a week you are not depleting or loosing muscle, but larger deficits and faster and more agressive weight loss is where you need to be concerned with lots of muscle mass losses.

    Do you strength train? If not you may want to entertain the idea to start a program. This will help you maintain muscle mass.

    Well I'm glad to hear my muscles won't shrivel away and that I don't need that much protein :)

    I'm not losing too aggressively. I've been on MFP for about 2 months with 13 lbs lost, but I've noticed my loss is slowing down (in a good way)

    I don't currently strength train, although I have been looking at the StrongCurves program. I'll push harder to get the ball rolling on that.
  • Michael190lbs
    Michael190lbs Posts: 1,510 Member
    edited May 2016
    you could get away with 90 grams everyday so use that as your Minimum (.6 x 155) The typical .8 is for body builders anything more has been proven not effective without steroids. I aim for 150 grams protein and make sure my fat is atleast 50 grams of fat.

    The one thing I learned is its all about calories once you hit your minimums of Fat and protein. You can do low carb but Carbs truly make your body Thrive when it comes to building muscle. Remember if your body doesn't have energy to workout hard and put in the stress which puts your body in the zone to build muscle the protein won't be able to maintain that muscle.

    my 2 cents

    I'm 195 lbs at 6 foot 47 years old and carry a lot of Muscle if I had to guess on my body fat I would say 16-18%

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    okay but I think the issue here is that people believe that just eating protein will keep muscle mass...

    don't get me wrong it's a good thing to get in adequate protein but you really need to be doing some resistance training as well...no necessarily heavy lifting but some form of resistance training.

    and you can't have too steep of a cut.

    use it or lose it.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,002 Member
    edited May 2016
    chalaivy wrote: »
    Hello yall. So I am 5'8", roughly 155, and have been in a calorie deficit for about 2 months. While I don't really track all of my macros, I try to make sure my protein intake is adequate for what I need so I don't lose too much muscle mass. I know while in a deficit + working out, I will lose some regardless.
    I want to know on my "bad" days, how much I should still really try to get minimum to avoid too much damage? I normally aim for 100-130g. But sometimes I really struggle. Halp!

    100 - 130 grams is fine of you. Don't sweat the lower days. Your body does not reset at midnight and start you out at zero the following day. The amino acid pool is constantly being used and refilled. Just get close to your numbers as a weekly average and you'll be fine...
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    Be sure to lift as well, just eating protein all by itself isn't really enough to retain mass.
  • aub6689
    aub6689 Posts: 351 Member
    edited May 2016
    It's all about averages, one low day isn't a biggie,
    Get on that strength training.

    Edited: they all covered it before I typed my reply.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,002 Member
    Be sure to lift as well, just eating protein all by itself isn't really enough to retain mass.

    Good advice...
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    Pretty much anything over 100 grams is a good place to start. You're fine.

    @aub6689- is correct- averages is what you're aiming for on a long term bases.
  • chalaivy
    chalaivy Posts: 101 Member
    Thank you all for such helpful replies :)