Do I REALLY need that much protein?!

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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,341 Community Helper
    sarah7591 wrote: »
    How do you know what your lean body mass is?

    With reasonable accuracy? Dexa for $$. Maybe a few other lab-type tests, maybe calipers in the hands of someone skilled/experienced

    Less accurate, maybe good enough approximation for some purposes: Visual assessment by skilled/experienced person; maybe the online "Navy fat calculator"; maybe some BIA devices (4 point better than 2, probably) might be in the ballpark if used under appropriate conditions & averaged over time or outliers ignored; self-comparison to online compendia of photos of people of similar size at various (reported) body fat levels.

    For clarity: Not saying that last paragraph is *accurate* methods. Just saying it may be close enough for some purposes. For protein calculations specifically, once you do the math, you can be a little off on BF% without the number of grams being vastly different. For example, let's say my 2-point BIA scale is accurate (which it probably isn't). It's consistently around 23% lately. I'm around 125 pounds. The combination of those numbers suggests I have lean mass of 96.25 pounds, so 1g protein per pound is 96. Let's say it's wrong, BF% is really 27%. 91.25 lbs lean mass, 91g protein. Or, it's really 19%, so really 101.25lb LBM and 101g protein. My protein varies by that much daily anyway (I'm usually over 100g somewhere), so meh, who cares.

    YMMV.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,341 Community Helper
    sarah7591 wrote: »
    How do you know what your lean body mass is?

    I tried to answer, but for some reason got "comment under review". 🤷‍♀️ It'll show up here later, after other people have given better answers. 😆
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    sarah7591 wrote: »
    How do you know what your lean body mass is?

    @sarah7591

    It's hard to know accurately but can be easy to get a rough estimate which is good enough for this purpose as precision isn't required, especially if you are setting a minimum goal for protein.
    There's some sample pictures here to compare yourself against but depending on where your body composition is you might find the textual commentary more useful than the pictures.

    https://www.builtlean.com/body-fat-percentage-men-women/
  • gwenster89
    gwenster89 Posts: 48 Member
    Retroguy2000 wrote: »
    Just chipping in to add consensus to what multiple others have said:

    - The USDA minimum suggestion for general pop is irrelevant here.
    - More protein when doing strength training is very good.
    - More protein when in a calorie deficit is good, and it helps you feel fuller, which makes it easier to keep a deficit.
    - More protein if you're older is good.

    To that end, about 0.7g-0.9g per pound of your lean weight is good, and if you're in a calorie deficit you could maybe bump that a little higher. You said you're 200 pounds but didn't mention your lean weight. Still, that new 150g target you have sounds like a good amount. You could maybe do a few grams less if you're not in deficit. Time to get some whey protein powder.

    I'm gonna aim for 120. That feels attainable... 150 is daunting. I don't eat a ton of meat and I'm trying to stay under 100 g of carbs so I don't want to make up protein with beans and grains. I use a plant-based protein supplement after I work out but not on other days usually, so there's some room to increase protein there. Thanks!
  • darreneatschicken
    darreneatschicken Posts: 669 Member
    0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound that you weigh seems to be the general consensus if you want to build muscle during a bulk or retain muscle during a cut.
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