Am I getting enough protein?
Options
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!
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!
0
Replies
-
Depends on your fitness / nutrition goals.
Here's a good calculator; http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbprotein.htm0 -
It says my goal should be 176g?! So are my muscles going through a lot of damage if I fail to hit this number?0
-
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.1 -
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.0 -
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%
1 -
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.1 -
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...2 -
Be sure to lift as well, just eating protein all by itself isn't really enough to retain mass.1
-
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.0 -
extra_medium wrote: »Be sure to lift as well, just eating protein all by itself isn't really enough to retain mass.
Good advice...0 -
Thank you all for such helpful replies 0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 393 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.3K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 938 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions