Protein goals

jhousekey
jhousekey Posts: 6 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Why is the protein goal amount so high on MFP? My daily goal is 150 grams of protein. I typically don't eat half of that per day. Other websites indicate that the recommended daily protein intake for someone my size and weight is 70 grams. What gives?

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited April 2019
    As you haven't given your "size and weight" (or any other relevant information) it's hard for anyone to know what an appropriate goal for you is.

    Another thing to consider is what are the various people who share your size and weight doing?

    Dieting to lose weight? A higher than RDA goal when dieting makes a lot of sense.
    Dieting aggressively? A much higher goal makes sense.
    Doing a lot of exercise? A higher than RDA that's set for the general population who don't exercise much again makes sense.

    And then you should think what the RDA actually means. Is it an optimal amount or is it a recommended minimum?
  • jhousekey
    jhousekey Posts: 6 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    As you haven't given your "size and weight" (or any other relevant information) it's hard for anyone to know what an appropriate goal for you is.

    Another thing to consider is what are the various people who share your size and weight doing?

    Dieting to lose weight? A higher than RDA goal when dieting makes a lot of sense.
    Dieting aggressively? A much higher goal makes sense.
    Doing a lot of exercise? A higher than RDA that's set for the general population who don't exercise much again makes sense.

    And then you should think what the RDA actually means. Is it an optimal amount or is it a recommended minimum?

    Thank you for the reply. I'm 5'6", and currently weigh 188lbs. And I am monitoring my intake closely to both lose weight and to control my carbs/sugar (I am mildly diabetic). I typically walk between 15-20 miles a week at a brisk pace. Oh, and my daily intake goal is 1,500 calories.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited April 2019
    Did you change any of your diary settings from the defaults? The MFP default is actually pretty low. If you lowered your carbs % then you would have to increase protein and/or fat to make up the difference and they would end up higher than they need to be.

    Anyway, you can change your macros to any % you want on a free account, and by gram on Premium. Typical recommendation is 0.8g protein per lb of goal body weight. I believe the MFP default is 20%.
  • jhousekey
    jhousekey Posts: 6 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Did you change any of your diary settings from the defaults? The MFP default is actually pretty low. If you lowered your carbs % then you would have to increase protein and/or fat to make up the difference and they would end up higher than they need to be.

    Anyway, you can change your macros to any % you want on a free account, and by gram on Premium. Typical recommendation is 0.8g protein per lb of goal body weight. I believe the MFP default is 20%.

    Ah, I see. I did indeed drop my carb percentage to 15% because of the diabetes. So that kind of explains it. Thing is, I don't really want to up my fat intake to compensate. So maybe I'll just stop worrying about it. Like I said, I feel pretty good and I'm losing weight gradually but steadily.

    Anyway, thank you for clearing it up for me!
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    No problem! Yes, if one goes down, the others have to go up.

    You really should up your fat a little at least with lower carb - your body gets the energy it needs from either carbs or fat. And prevailing wisdom is that fat isn't nearly as scary as once believed.

    Just play around with the numbers until you find a place where it's easiest to hit your calorie goal and to eat in whatever way you want/need to for health.
  • jhousekey
    jhousekey Posts: 6 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    No problem! Yes, if one goes down, the others have to go up.

    You really should up your fat a little at least with lower carb - your body gets the energy it needs from either carbs or fat. And prevailing wisdom is that fat isn't nearly as scary as once believed.

    Just play around with the numbers until you find a place where it's easiest to hit your calorie goal and to eat in whatever way you want/need to for health.

    Will do. Thanks again!

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