Enough protein?

Buckeye19XX
Buckeye19XX Posts: 33 Member
edited November 21 in Food and Nutrition
My macros are:
75g protein
150g carbs
33g fat

I'm currently 136lbs and aiming for 115lbs -- eating 1200 calories.
Is this enough protein?

Replies

  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    I would suggest 1500 calories and 100 g of protein.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Increase your fats and oils: you need them for
    • hormone and gene regulation,
    • brain function, and
    • absorption of fat soluble vitamins.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    How tall are you? Are you active?
    That's probably enough protein, but way too little fat, and maybe too few calories.
    Without any more information, my suggestion is 1500 calories, 70-100 g protein, 70-100 g fat, 100-150 g carbs.
  • bloodsy
    bloodsy Posts: 34 Member
    Enough protein but not optimal if you are trying to build lean mass.
  • Old_Cat_Lady
    Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
    Opinion: 1200 is too low. I could not do it for longer than a week. Could you add more time to your goal and eat a bit more? It will be easier on you.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    1200 might be fine if you are sedentary, at those weights, but if you exercise you would want to eat some calories back. (This is assuming 115 is a healthy goal weight and 136 is probably already a healthy weight or close to it, and that you are not already quite lean/aiming for a weight below a healthy BMI, in which case it's a bad idea, obviously.)

    A good way to estimate protein for maintaining muscle is to aim for around .65 to .85 g of a healthy goal weight or around .8-1 g per lb of lean mass. If you would be about 20% bodyfat (quite lean for a woman) at 115, your LBM is around 92, so that would give you a range of 74 to 92 g, as a minimum recommendation. Assuming both 115 and 136 are healthy weights, the broader range based on weight would be 75 g to 115 g.

    So 75 g is fine (certainly for health), but toward the low end of the range for maintaining muscle, and at 1200 calories more protein can help because it's satiating too. I'd probably raise it to around 90 g. Your fat number is 25% of calories, which is reasonable, but you are on low calories, so I'd probably raise that too (but I like higher fat in general). However, if you are feeling good on it, there's nothing wrong with it. If it's hard to meet those macros without going over fat, I'd just raise fat, though. Carbs vs. fat is really a personal preference once the protein is sufficient (and assuming you aren't crazy low on fat, which you are not).
  • Buckeye19XX
    Buckeye19XX Posts: 33 Member
    I'm 5'1 and sedentary but do try to go for a run every night (2-3 miles) and I eat back around half of my exercise calories.
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
    I personally would up the calories, I don't think 1200 is enough for the vast majority of people as a lot of the time their BMR (minimum required for the body to function in a basic state) is higher than that.

    The protein seems fine though, my goal is 77g and 2050 cals and I have no issue with maintaining muscle while losing or making strength gains. Your fat seems a little low in terms of grams, but on 1200 calories it's a reasonable %.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I'm 5'1 and sedentary but do try to go for a run every night (2-3 miles) and I eat back around half of my exercise calories.

    That seems reasonable to me.
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