Going over in protien?

No, protein is more of a minimum.

MrsCauleyflower wrote: »

Hello!

I started tracking my food etc. again yesterday after being off MFP for a while. I want to get serious about my diet, especially because big changes are coming for my husband (bariatric surgery in a week), and I want us to make healthy changes together. I digress though.

Yesterday I went over my recommended protein amount. Is this something I should be concerned about?

Thanks!

No. There's nothing particularly special about MFP's macro breakdown. Your macros are what make up your calories...4 calories per gram of carbohydrate and 4 calories per gram of protein and 9 calories per gram of dietary fat. These have to be broken down into some percentage of your diet to arrive at your total calorie target...but there's no "magic" to sticking to some specific breakdown. There is no ideal or universally optimal macro breakdown...it is highly individual. In large part, macros can impact physical performance and can play a significant roll in fullness and to somewhat lesser extent, body composition (though exercise and exercise modality play a much larger roll here). Just as an example, the more ideal macro breakdown for an endurance athlete is likely to be much different from that of a body builder or power lifter or someone who is more or less sedentary.

Where protein is concerned, the RDA for protein is a minimum, not a maximum. The RDA for protein assumes a fairly sedentary lifestyle and is the minimum to avoid protein deficiency. If one is more active, more protein is better because it aids in repair of muscle that is torn down during bouts of exercise. It is also beneficial to have a higher protein intake while dieting in that it helps preserve the muscle mass you already have.

All of that said, the current diet and fitness climate IMO goes a bit over the top sometimes in making people believe they need incredible amounts of protein to be healthy and fit...so the RDA vs what is often talked about amongst the diet and fitness industry currently is kind of like a pendulum swinging at two ends of the extremes...find the middle. IMO it has become one of those things where if more is better...than more more more must be even better...and you quickly reach a point of diminishing returns and just end up making expensive glucose.

MrsCauleyflower wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

MrsCauleyflower wrote: »

Hello!

I started tracking my food etc. again yesterday after being off MFP for a while. I want to get serious about my diet, especially because big changes are coming for my husband (bariatric surgery in a week), and I want us to make healthy changes together. I digress though.

Yesterday I went over my recommended protein amount. Is this something I should be concerned about?

Thanks!

No. There's nothing particularly special about MFP's macro breakdown. Your macros are what make up your calories...4 calories per gram of carbohydrate and 4 calories per gram of protein and 9 calories per gram of dietary fat. These have to be broken down into some percentage of your diet to arrive at your total calorie target...but there's no "magic" to sticking to some specific breakdown. There is no ideal or universally optimal macro breakdown...it is highly individual. In large part, macros can impact physical performance and can play a significant roll in fullness and to somewhat lesser extent, body composition (though exercise and exercise modality play a much larger roll here). Just as an example, the more ideal macro breakdown for an endurance athlete is likely to be much different from that of a body builder or power lifter or someone who is more or less sedentary.

Where protein is concerned, the RDA for protein is a minimum, not a maximum. The RDA for protein assumes a fairly sedentary lifestyle and is the minimum to avoid protein deficiency. If one is more active, more protein is better because it aids in repair of muscle that is torn down during bouts of exercise. It is also beneficial to have a higher protein intake while dieting in that it helps preserve the muscle mass you already have.

All of that said, the current diet and fitness climate IMO goes a bit over the top sometimes in making people believe they need incredible amounts of protein to be healthy and fit...so the RDA vs what is often talked about amongst the diet and fitness industry currently is kind of like a pendulum swinging at two ends of the extremes...find the middle. IMO it has become one of those things where if more is better...than more more more must be even better...and you quickly reach a point of diminishing returns and just end up making expensive glucose.

Thanks so much for the info. I just want to make sure the "excess" won't negatively impact weight loss.

Nope...weight management is about energy (calories), not any one particular macro. Your body requires XXXX amount of energy to perform all functions and activities and maintain the status quo. When you consume less energy than your body requires, that deficiency has to be reconciled. Body fat is stored energy...it's like your back up generator. When you are in an energy deficit, your backup generator kicks on and you burn body fat to compensate for the lack of energy being consumed through food.