Too much protein???

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pioneermom2
pioneermom2 Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've recently started working out again, this time changing my diet to help lose fat and gain muscle. I am lifting 6 days a week for about an hour each session. I'm a 27 year old female, 5' 4", 167 pounds. I've been told I don't look like I'm nearly 170, so I'm assuming that I still have muscle on me from years of off and on weightlifting.

My question is, am I getting too much protein? I'm consistently eating 30-40 grams more of protein than recommended. I figured this was a safe bet, since I'm not eating any breads and hitting roughly 20 grams of sugar a day. I lost 5 pounds right away, probably just from cutting out the sugar and fast and sodas that I was starting to overdue. But now am I setting myself up for failure by eating too much protein?

On the 28th I got 95/69g. of protein
1st - 120/69g.
3rd - 93/69g.

I know that the recommended amount is just that, a recommendation, and that your workouts have a big effect on whether not you should be eating more or less than the recommendation. If you need to know my workout, I can provide that.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    The recommended amount is the minimum for general health for a sedentary person. Someone who is active should have more. Someone who is dieting should also have more to help preserve lean mass.
  • AverageJoeFit
    AverageJoeFit Posts: 251 Member
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    I think you are fine. I have been watching some powerlifting you tubes and podcasts and they say 180g for men and 140 for women.

    Now that is powerlifting, but you aren't that high so I'm sure you are fine.
  • Niples_
    Niples_ Posts: 53 Member
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    If you are 167. Assuming 30% BF here. You should eat 115g to 140g of protein while cutting to help you keep your muscle. If your BF is higher then a little less.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
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    You're fine. I have been known to eat 400+g per day when bulking, just because I love foods that happen to be loaded with the protonz.
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    Protein is the number 1 macro. In fact it takes more energy to digest protein than any other macro. If you have fat loss goals then cut down either carbs or fat; and since fat is necessary for hormone regulation, my suggestion is set up protein first since it is constant and should be around .8 - 1g per lean pound. More than that won't hurt you unless you're diabetic and/or have kidney problems. Then set up fat to a comfortable amount ~0.5g per lean pound. Fill the rest with carbs if you want.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,020 Member
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    pioneermom2 wrote: »

    On the 28th I got 95/69g. of protein
    1st - 120/69g.
    3rd - 93/69g.

    What does the first number mean in each of these examples (95, 120, 93)?

    In any case, even 120 g (the first number on the 1st) is not "too much" protein for an adult human without medical conditions that require restricting protein intake.

    (And I'm somebody who is willing to point out that the recommended daily intake to provide sufficient protein for 95% of the population is only .8 g/kg of bodyweight, which usually gets me attacked on MFP by people who throw in all kind of stipulations about it not applying to older people, people in a calorie deficit, people trying to gain muscle -- stipulations I've never seen mentioned in the government documents that list the recommended intake, and which would seem to account for far more than then 5% of outliers not included in the recommendation.)

    In any case, assuming no counter-indicating medical condition, there's no harm in going over the "sufficient" amount, and possibly some benefits in terms of satiety and muscle retention.

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