About 20grams of protein over? How bad?

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xDSaraxD
xDSaraxD Posts: 12
in Health and Weight Loss
Today is my first day using the food calculator, and by the end of the day I'll estimate that I'll be about 20 grams of protein over- how bad is that? I get most my protein from an Atkins protein bar (I'm not on the diet but they have 10grams of protein and low calories so they keep me full), Protein shake (Optimum Nutrition Whey protein), and Greek yogurt ...Should I cut one of these?

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  • karisamh
    karisamh Posts: 25 Member
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    Unless you are lifting weights quite a bit I would cut down on the protein......too much can ruin your liver.
  • xDSaraxD
    xDSaraxD Posts: 12
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    Unless you are lifting weights quite a bit I would cut down on the protein......too much can ruin your liver.
    I do lift weights when I work out, but only enough to burn fat- no body building for me...
  • maria1993
    maria1993 Posts: 112
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    Unless you have kidney problems it is nothing to worry about.. The preset amount that MFP has set is actually a bit low
  • pkarim
    pkarim Posts: 171
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    If you are lifting weights you should be getting a lot of protein. You can't lift weights and eat small amounts of protein and expect to build muscle. Nothing will happen to your liver if you are eating a lot of protein and lifting weights. I have lifted weights for the past 2 years and I eat 100g protein a day. There is nothing wrong with eating more protein, in fact it can actually help you lose more weight :)
  • catcrazy
    catcrazy Posts: 1,740 Member
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    Ideally, you should consume 0.36 grams of protein for every pound of body weight, according to recommended daily allowances (RDA) set by the Food and Nutrition Board. So if you weigh 170 pounds, you need about 61 grams of protein each day................

    taken from here...... http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=50900
  • AdAstra47
    AdAstra47 Posts: 823 Member
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    Unless you are lifting weights quite a bit I would cut down on the protein......too much can ruin your liver.

    This is a widely-circulated myth. High-protein diets do not damage the liver or kidneys UNLESS you already have bad ones. Saying that too much protein causes liver or kidney damage is kind of like saying that cardio exercise causes heart failure. It can, but only if the organ is weak to start with.
  • xDSaraxD
    xDSaraxD Posts: 12
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    Okay, thank you guys so much! <3
  • Kelly_Wilson1990
    Kelly_Wilson1990 Posts: 3,245 Member
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    According to my nutritionist, it is hard to eat too much protein. I eat 75-100 grams a day.
  • Kolohe71
    Kolohe71 Posts: 613 Member
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    The preset levels for protien are set WAY too low and carbohydrates are set too high here on MFP. The default is that you get 15% of your required calories from protein. This number should really be closer to 35-40%.

    I always set my goals using the guided method first to set my calories, then I set my goals again using the custom tool. Under custom I change Carbohydrates to 40%, Protein to 40% and fat to 20%.

    Gives more realistic ratios
  • thurberj
    thurberj Posts: 528 Member
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    Protein is your friend. You will lose weight faster, and any exercise that you are doing to tone will be helped by eating the protein. I'm working with a trainer and doing interval training where I fatigue the muscles with the reps, but I do cardio too. I agree that the % on MFP for protein is low. Good Luck!!
  • SoCalSwimmerDude
    SoCalSwimmerDude Posts: 480 Member
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    Eat the protein, your fine. Though I've been going over on protein for some time now, I finally (manually) changed my goals on MFP to mirror a gram of protein per pound of lean body mass... which for me is approx 150-200 grams a day. But I'm a guy and trying to add muscle on a calorie deficit... tough to do w/out lots of protein.

    Edit: Another thing... protein takes more energy (i.e. more calories) to burn than most other nutrients. Therefore, calories spent to get more protein are very well worth it.
  • AdAstra47
    AdAstra47 Posts: 823 Member
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    Most people eat far too little protein, and the USDA's recommendations (which is what MFP bases theirs on) are too low in protein and too high in carbs.

    Your body can get fast spikes of energy from carbs. Or, it can get steady, slow-burning energy from burning a combination of fat & protein. The chemical reaction involved is roughly three parts fat to one part protein. So it's important that you eat enough protein, or your body will harvest it from your muscles, and you don't want that. I would consider the recommended numbers to be a bare minimum and try to go over them by at least a little bit every day.

    Everyone's body is different, everyone's metabolism & activity levels are different. Most people I know have customized the ratios of carbs-fat-protein to whatever works best for them. Personally, I have a carbohydrate-intolerant metabolism so mine is 5% carbs, 30% fat, 65% protein. I try to eat around 350g protein a day. I've been doing this on doctor's orders for 4 months and feel great and have lost 30 lbs. I've met people who have been on diets like this for over a decade now and it hasn't hurt them a bit.

    So I certainly wouldn't worry about going 20g over! Best of luck to you.
  • boopiejones
    boopiejones Posts: 73
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    if you are going to go over your allowance in one category, i'd pick protein over fat or carbs any day. protein is your friend.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,708 Member
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    Unless you are lifting weights quite a bit I would cut down on the protein......too much can ruin your liver.
    Only if you are susceptible to liver issues. Usually eating too much protein will either go to waste or store as fat.
  • Sublog
    Sublog Posts: 1,296 Member
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    Unless you are lifting weights quite a bit I would cut down on the protein......too much can ruin your liver.

    LOL

    Wrong. At least, not in the quanties a womon would be injesting while on diet.

    What is your protein intake at? MFP usually goes low on the protein and high on carbs. Protein is good because it has a higher TEF than carbs, and is more satiating as well. Also, protein is muscle sparing while in a caloric deficit which is good for body recomposition.

    Overall, more protein is better.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,708 Member
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    Lol, I've been eating 180-220 grams of protein per day for the last 25 years. My doc wishes he had my body, health and stamina.

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