protein question
avtlove
Posts: 82 Member
Hello! I'm new here. 46 yo female. I am asking a question that I know has been discussed a million times, and it's a hot topic, but I thought I'd get some clarity from those of you who are walking the fitness path that I am just starting. My question is about protein. I know it's super important, but I am trying to figure out, if I am trying to get more fit in general, (I'm currently 5'6" and weigh 190) and I'm not strength training much at the moment,( I walk and bike ride for exercise) how much is getting in enough protein really important? I have been tracking calories for a month and now i'm wondering how many of you track protein as well. It seems like it would be hard to get in what I hear is the "optimal" amount (140-160 grams) per day without going over my calorie goal of 1600-1700. Thoughts or advice?
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Replies
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Protein should be approximately 0.6 to 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass (or goal weight).
How do I get protein in? I plan each meal around my protein source. Breakfast has to be protein-packed to get in my protein goal each day (180 grams). My breakfast nearly every day is plain greek yogurt mixed with protein powder and berries. I switch up the protein powder flavor and type of berry to keep it interesting. My current fav is Lemon Meringue Pie protein powder and raspberries.
239 calories, and 38 grams of protein this morning:
Lunch is usually chicken breast (I smoke a bunch of them on Sundays), and then I put it in a wrap, or on a salad, or with some other veggie side. Dinner is with the family, but I may modify my plate with more protein and veggies, less starches.
Protein helps preserve muscle, but also helps with satiety for a lot of people. Even if you aren't strength training, getting adequate protein is a good idea. However, adequate is different than bodybuilder levels. I don't know your goal weight, but if I assume 140 lbs, and use the lower end of the protein/gram recommendation, that's only 84 grams of protein a day.4 -
You don't nearly that much but others that know more than I do can better answer. I'd say half that amount would be fine. Around 60g to 70g would be more than adequate with what types of activities you're doing. I know vegan athletes that don't get a gram per pound (around what you said you've heard is "optimal").
I train 6 days a week hard and often don't get that much. I'm around your weight (190). I shoot for around 100g or so myself (a bit more on hard training days) but that's because I strive to keep and pack on muscle and also do a ton of cardio along with lifting. 10 hours a week of training and no way I get that much protein, nor do I want to try to.
This is a recent article. It's saying if you're really training hard, around 129g for a female your weight.
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a32936408/increased-protein-intake-as-you-age-study/
There are many protein powders that have only stevia or no sugar in them. Find one that's around 100 calories or less for 20g or so of protein. You could supplement with that. That, a chicken breast and two eggs would be around your 100g a day and not burn too many calories. It does mean you have to watch sweets and sugar.1 -
I lost all my weight on 20-30% protein.
Female, 5'7" or 5'8" depending on who measures me - moderate exercise, I've been at 140-145 pounds for over a decade. I try to hit a minimum of 85g and a maximum of 120g. That's pretty easy to hit at anything over 1500 calories for me.
Egg, cheese, bread and meat for breakfast.
Whole grains, nuts, seeds.
Meat or fish plus vegetables for dinner.
Yogurt and fruit as snacks.4 -
So, the factual answer to your question is, unfortunately: we don't actually know for sure. At least, that's the answer for women who produce estrogen, etc... Honestly, IMO, go for the lowest 'safe' level for protein for women and see how you feel. If you don't feel good, eat more, you know?
Because we do not know what the optimal protein is for women.
And the the reason is that most studies on how much protein were done on men, with no women in the studies. In more recent studies, with women finally included, researchers found that women's bodies function quite differently when it comes to exercise and building muscle, even just basic 'how does the body even work' kind of ways...to the point that most advice you get on protein and exercise, if you are a woman, is literally guesswork.
some examples:
Women do not get the same benefit as men do for building muscle from increasing protein intake.
Women do not process carbs the same as men, and so carb loading before a big athletic endeavor either has no positive effect, or can even have a negative effect.
During endurance exercise, women actually seem to utilize lipids more than carbs.
Actually, the fact that women utilize carbs less when exercising makes experts speculate that amino acid oxidation would also be lower in women when compared to men. And the thing with that is that if the exercise is intense enough, there is a net loss of muscle protein and some of the amino acids are oxidized as fuel instead. But if women actually do have lower amino acid oxidation, that may impact us during intense exercise as well.
But we don't know if it does...because again, it hasn't been studied enough in women for us to know, yet. :-/
So just...any answer you get about the benefit for protein during exercise, please remember that unless there's a specific study done on women that's mentioned, the info. is likely men-specific.
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cmriverside wrote: »I lost all my weight on 20-30% protein.
Female, 5'7" or 5'8" depending on who measures me - moderate exercise, I've been at 140-145 pounds for over a decade. I try to hit a minimum of 85g and a maximum of 120g. That's pretty easy to hit at anything over 1500 calories for me.
Egg, cheese, bread and meat for breakfast.
Whole grains, nuts, seeds.
Meat or fish plus vegetables for dinner.
Yogurt and fruit as snacks.
Thanks for your reply! One question: what do you mean by 20-30% protein? Do you mean that percent of your calories? How do you calculate that? Sorry. I'm really new at this.0 -
So, the factual answer to your question is, unfortunately: we don't actually know for sure. At least, that's the answer for women who produce estrogen, etc... Honestly, IMO, go for the lowest 'safe' level for protein for women and see how you feel. If you don't feel good, eat more, you know?
Because we do not know what the optimal protein is for women.
And the the reason is that most studies on how much protein were done on men, with no women in the studies. In more recent studies, with women finally included, researchers found that women's bodies function quite differently when it comes to exercise and building muscle, even just basic 'how does the body even work' kind of ways...to the point that most advice you get on protein and exercise, if you are a woman, is literally guesswork.
some examples:
Women do not get the same benefit as men do for building muscle from increasing protein intake.
Women do not process carbs the same as men, and so carb loading before a big athletic endeavor either has no positive effect, or can even have a negative effect.
During endurance exercise, women actually seem to utilize lipids more than carbs.
Actually, the fact that women utilize carbs less when exercising makes experts speculate that amino acid oxidation would also be lower in women when compared to men. And the thing with that is that if the exercise is intense enough, there is a net loss of muscle protein and some of the amino acids are oxidized as fuel instead. But if women actually do have lower amino acid oxidation, that may impact us during intense exercise as well.
But we don't know if it does...because again, it hasn't been studied enough in women for us to know, yet. :-/
So just...any answer you get about the benefit for protein during exercise, please remember that unless there's a specific study done on women that's mentioned, the info. is likely men-specific.
I had no idea. Thank you for shedding some light for me!0 -
cmriverside wrote: »I lost all my weight on 20-30% protein.
Female, 5'7" or 5'8" depending on who measures me - moderate exercise, I've been at 140-145 pounds for over a decade. I try to hit a minimum of 85g and a maximum of 120g. That's pretty easy to hit at anything over 1500 calories for me.
Egg, cheese, bread and meat for breakfast.
Whole grains, nuts, seeds.
Meat or fish plus vegetables for dinner.
Yogurt and fruit as snacks.
Thanks for your reply! One question: what do you mean by 20-30% protein? Do you mean that percent of your calories? How do you calculate that? Sorry. I'm really new at this.
The app gives you 50% Carbs, 30% Fat and 20% Protein by default. Unless you have some reason why you think that won't work, just start there.
It's a good moderate macro split.
Keep it simple.
You can change your macros by going to "Goals" if that's what you decide to do.3 -
and, yes. percentage of your calories.
Protein = 4 calories per gram
Carbs = 4 calories per gram
Fats = 9 calories per gram2 -
cmriverside wrote: »and, yes. percentage of your calories.
Protein = 4 calories per gram
Carbs = 4 calories per gram
Fats = 9 calories per gram
Thank you so much! Is this what people call "counting macros"?0 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »Protein should be approximately 0.6 to 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass (or goal weight).
How do I get protein in? I plan each meal around my protein source. Breakfast has to be protein-packed to get in my protein goal each day (180 grams). My breakfast nearly every day is plain greek yogurt mixed with protein powder and berries. I switch up the protein powder flavor and type of berry to keep it interesting. My current fav is Lemon Meringue Pie protein powder and raspberries.
239 calories, and 38 grams of protein this morning:
Lunch is usually chicken breast (I smoke a bunch of them on Sundays), and then I put it in a wrap, or on a salad, or with some other veggie side. Dinner is with the family, but I may modify my plate with more protein and veggies, less starches.
Protein helps preserve muscle, but also helps with satiety for a lot of people. Even if you aren't strength training, getting adequate protein is a good idea. However, adequate is different than bodybuilder levels. I don't know your goal weight, but if I assume 140 lbs, and use the lower end of the protein/gram recommendation, that's only 84 grams of protein a day.
I will definitely have to get some greek yogurt to try. I have eaten it before, but never been a huge fan of yogurt. I wonder if plain (unflavored) with a teaspoon of maple syrup would do the trick for me for a start. I'll have to look into the protein powder, too. Thanks for the suggestion.
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quiksylver296 wrote: »Protein should be approximately 0.6 to 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass (or goal weight).
How do I get protein in? I plan each meal around my protein source. Breakfast has to be protein-packed to get in my protein goal each day (180 grams). My breakfast nearly every day is plain greek yogurt mixed with protein powder and berries. I switch up the protein powder flavor and type of berry to keep it interesting. My current fav is Lemon Meringue Pie protein powder and raspberries.
239 calories, and 38 grams of protein this morning:
Lunch is usually chicken breast (I smoke a bunch of them on Sundays), and then I put it in a wrap, or on a salad, or with some other veggie side. Dinner is with the family, but I may modify my plate with more protein and veggies, less starches.
Protein helps preserve muscle, but also helps with satiety for a lot of people. Even if you aren't strength training, getting adequate protein is a good idea. However, adequate is different than bodybuilder levels. I don't know your goal weight, but if I assume 140 lbs, and use the lower end of the protein/gram recommendation, that's only 84 grams of protein a day.
I will definitely have to get some greek yogurt to try. I have eaten it before, but never been a huge fan of yogurt. I wonder if plain (unflavored) with a teaspoon of maple syrup would do the trick for me for a start. I'll have to look into the protein powder, too. Thanks for the suggestion.
Greek yogurt can also be a good sour cream alternate, for things where you'd use that normally: Fewer calories, more protein. For example, I just made myself a tostada for dinner, and put a blop of Greek yogurt on it. I also use it in things like deviled eggs, instead of mayo; put some in home-made mac'n'cheese, and put it in/on my my oatmeal.
I'm not saying you need to decide you enjoy it (if you don't
), just suggesting that there are alternatives to just eating the fruity sweet kind.
Plain with maple syrup is fine. I like plain in my oatmeal, with blackstrap molasses (for a nice jolt of postassium and a little iron) . . . but I'm fond of the flavor of molasses. If you aren't, that wouldn't be a good plan. 3 -
I’m on 1300 and plant-based andI find it easy to reach 130gm. I think it’s all about changing your idea of foods and adjusting to a new normal. Do some research and you’ll find that you can easily accomodate that amount of protein if you wish to with a few tweaks here and there. It’s a fun process imho 😊0
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quiksylver296 wrote: »Protein should be approximately 0.6 to 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass (or goal weight).
How do I get protein in? I plan each meal around my protein source. Breakfast has to be protein-packed to get in my protein goal each day (180 grams). My breakfast nearly every day is plain greek yogurt mixed with protein powder and berries. I switch up the protein powder flavor and type of berry to keep it interesting. My current fav is Lemon Meringue Pie protein powder and raspberries.
239 calories, and 38 grams of protein this morning:
Lunch is usually chicken breast (I smoke a bunch of them on Sundays), and then I put it in a wrap, or on a salad, or with some other veggie side. Dinner is with the family, but I may modify my plate with more protein and veggies, less starches.
Protein helps preserve muscle, but also helps with satiety for a lot of people. Even if you aren't strength training, getting adequate protein is a good idea. However, adequate is different than bodybuilder levels. I don't know your goal weight, but if I assume 140 lbs, and use the lower end of the protein/gram recommendation, that's only 84 grams of protein a day.
I will definitely have to get some greek yogurt to try. I have eaten it before, but never been a huge fan of yogurt. I wonder if plain (unflavored) with a teaspoon of maple syrup would do the trick for me for a start. I'll have to look into the protein powder, too. Thanks for the suggestion.
Greek yogurt can also be a good sour cream alternate, for things where you'd use that normally: Fewer calories, more protein. For example, I just made myself a tostada for dinner, and put a blop of Greek yogurt on it. I also use it in things like deviled eggs, instead of mayo; put some in home-made mac'n'cheese, and put it in/on my my oatmeal.
I'm not saying you need to decide you enjoy it (if you don't ), just suggesting that there are alternatives to just eating the fruity sweet kind.
Plain with maple syrup is fine. I like plain in my oatmeal, with blackstrap molasses (for a nice jolt of postassium and a little iron) . . . but I'm fond of the flavor of molasses. If you aren't, that wouldn't be a good plan.
Thank you! I don't really care for molasses, so that probably wouldn't work. But replacing sour cream with greek yogurt is a great and doable tip.1 -
Hanibanani2020 wrote: »I’m on 1300 and plant-based andI find it easy to reach 130gm. I think it’s all about changing your idea of foods and adjusting to a new normal. Do some research and you’ll find that you can easily accomodate that amount of protein if you wish to with a few tweaks here and there. It’s a fun process imho 😊
I'm really focused on it and into all things health related right now. I hope I don't burn out. This is s typical pattern for me, but there's one thing that is different. This time I am motivated by getting healthier and being more fit as a I age. In the past it was always about vanity and "getting skinny". I think this time is different.1
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