Maintaining Weight and Protein Amounts

Sageyoku
Sageyoku Posts: 77 Member
edited February 2022 in Food and Nutrition
Hi,
I am female, 38yo, 5 foot 5 (65 inches or 165cm), 123 pounds (55.7kg or 8.7 stone).
I exercise a "light" or "moderate" amount: 10,000 steps/3 miles walked at least 3 days per week, weight lifting 3 days per week but only for 15-30 minutes, plus regular activities like cleaning or gardening.
A registered dietitian recently gave me a weight maintenance plan of 45% carbs, 30% protein, and 25% fats.
The protein range is 116g up to 126 grams per day.
Sometimes due to exercise MFP raises that limit to 140g.
This seems to me like a LOT of protein for someone maintaining and with light/moderate exercise.
But I don't want to doubt the dietitian.
What do you all think?
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Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,598 Member
    I don't really like percents, especially for those of us who add exercise separately. I think we need protein and fats mostly for reasons of body size or lean mass, which don't vary directly with exercise calorie intake (though nature of exercise can affect total needs).

    Personally, my generic thinking is in terms of 0.6-0.8g protein minimum per pound of healthy goal weight (which is in the neighborhood of 0.8-1g per pound of lean body mass for quite a range of people); and 0.35-0.45g of fats minimum per pound of bodyweight. (Men might get away with more like 0.3g?).

    IMO, this is a useful source for protein guidance, one that's generally regarded as evidence-based and neutral (such as they don't sell supplements!):

    https://examine.com/nutrition/protein-intake-calculator/
    https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/

    Personal data and goals for honesty's sake:

    I'm about your size: 5'5", female, mid-120s pounds to maintain. My activity level varies seasonally, but my daily life tends toward sedentary (retired), and I usually work out 6 days a week. Workouts especially vary seasonally, but 1-2 hours daily isn't unusual, some combination of rowing (on water when I can, machine when I must), cycling (paved trails on hybrid in Summer, stationary in Winter), some intentional walks (usually 5 miles 3x a week lately) in Summer lately, and some strength training (40' or so 3x a week) in Winter.

    Personally, I've settled on 100g protein minimum (usually exceeded by around 15-20g), 50g fats minimum (with a bias toward MUFA/PUFA, and some consideration of Omega-3/Omega-6 balance), and 5+ minimum (ideally 10+) 80g servings of veggies/fruits daily for fiber and micros.

    I'm long-term (47+ years) ovo-lacto vegetarian, which is relevant for me (I think people getting a fair fraction of protein from plant sources should err on the higher side for protein); and I'm old (66) which IMO puts a little more importance on both protein adequacy and spreading it through the day, when timing might not matter if younger.

    I calorie bank in maintenance, so target 1850+exercise calories generally, which is maybe 100-150 under true maintenance; but eat indulgently once in a while (watching scale outcomes) to stay in a sensible weight range for me. Six days a week, exercise is usually 250-500 calories.

    I'm inclined to think you're right, that the dietitian's protein goal for you may be overkill, once you add the exercise calories. To me, as I implied, that's the flaw in percents. There are endurance athletes adding many hundreds of calories daily (long runs, biking, etc.), and I don't think they need to blow up their protein intake proportionate to those calories. They may need a bit more than average for their size, for routine muscle repair, but not proportionate to calories.

    Just my opinions though, and I'm not a dietitian, just an interested amateur.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Your dietician perhaps doesn't understand that you have a variable calorie goal or hopefully they would have given you numbers in grams rather than percentages.

    But if you picked a number in grams that suits you and regard it as a minimum the problem goes away. You really don't need the level of precision it appears your RD is giving you let alone the restrictive nature of set percentages. IMHO that's just making maintenance onerous for no good reason.

    I also agree that as a moderate exerciser who is maintaining weight you shouldn't feel compelled to aim your protein intake quite so high if you find that way of eating less enjoyable.
    Weight loss diets for a limited duration can be more restrictive / prescriptive but if this is your goal weight the priorities of being enjoyable, flexible for life events and sustainable become more important.
  • Sageyoku
    Sageyoku Posts: 77 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    Your dietician perhaps doesn't understand that you have a variable calorie goal or hopefully they would have given you numbers in grams rather than percentages.

    I am sorry, I thought I gave a protein grams range in my post. Did I not? I can write it out again.
    Based on my weight, height, and activity level (which she had down as “exercise 3 days a week”), she set me a calorie goal between 1500-1700, with 45/30/25 as my carb/protein/fat macros, and a protein gram range of 116-126 per day.
    When I set MFP to 1600 and the macros to 45/30/25, my protein comes up at 120g.

    My question was whether this seemed like too much for someone who is only lightly active. It seems like there’s not a good answer and/or my question/info provided is not being taken into account. I’ll consider what you said about minimums and follow what the dietitian suggested.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,598 Member
    Sageyoku wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    Your dietician perhaps doesn't understand that you have a variable calorie goal or hopefully they would have given you numbers in grams rather than percentages.

    I am sorry, I thought I gave a protein grams range in my post. Did I not? I can write it out again.
    Based on my weight, height, and activity level (which she had down as “exercise 3 days a week”), she set me a calorie goal between 1500-1700, with 45/30/25 as my carb/protein/fat macros, and a protein gram range of 116-126 per day.
    When I set MFP to 1600 and the macros to 45/30/25, my protein comes up at 120g.

    My question was whether this seemed like too much for someone who is only lightly active. It seems like there’s not a good answer and/or my question/info provided is not being taken into account. I’ll consider what you said about minimums and follow what the dietitian suggested.

    Yes, you gave the range.

    I think the communication problem here is partly that if your dietitian gave you a gram goal of 116-126, why would you go to 140 once MFP adds your exercise calories?

    If MFP's going to increase calories, it has to increase some macronutrient to get you there. Free MFP just adds the calories using your percent split, but there's nothing sacred about that, if you have more personalized information. (With premium MFP, you can set your exercise calories to be handled in different ways. I'm not saying you should pay for premium, just implying that your base goal is probably adequate.)

    As far as whether your calorie level is right for you, you'll find that out with a few weeks' experience, watching your scale weight to get a trend. (I'd lose like a house afire at 1600+exercise as a female about your size, but I'm a mysteriously good li'l ol' calorie burner for some reason, so I'm probably biased by that: We're all individuals, so it's your results that matter.)

    Protein level doesn't sort itself out as neatly and quickly as calorie levels do. If you decide to follow your dietitian, follow that 116-126, and ignore MFP's protein acrobatics when you increase calories. That would be rational. If you decide to follow MFP, and usually add exercise, 45% is probably unnecessarily high. The links I gave you above are another science-based competing opinion, but they overlap with your dietitian's recommendation.

    I seem to be doing OK at your size, and a lower gram goal for protein, following it for 6 years now - no loss of strength or obvious loss of mass, while active (sounds like a bit more active than you, and for sure lots older so probably likely to need more, if anything). But that's me, not you.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Sageyoku wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    Your dietician perhaps doesn't understand that you have a variable calorie goal or hopefully they would have given you numbers in grams rather than percentages.

    I am sorry, I thought I gave a protein grams range in my post. Did I not? I can write it out again.
    Based on my weight, height, and activity level (which she had down as “exercise 3 days a week”), she set me a calorie goal between 1500-1700, with 45/30/25 as my carb/protein/fat macros, and a protein gram range of 116-126 per day.
    When I set MFP to 1600 and the macros to 45/30/25, my protein comes up at 120g.

    My question was whether this seemed like too much for someone who is only lightly active. It seems like there’s not a good answer and/or my question/info provided is not being taken into account. I’ll consider what you said about minimums and follow what the dietitian suggested.

    I saw the range but it's a very narrow and restrictive range for no good reason. Setting a minimum has value but I don't consider setting a maximum helpful, I actually see it as unhelpful without the caveat of don't worry if you exceed it.
    There is no nutritional downside to eating above that range (as long as it doesn't crowd out anything else from your diet) so pointless to set a top limit.

    I would see your given protein numbers as higher than necessary for you but probably a good suggestion for someone your weight who trains hard and/or is actively trying to lose weight and trying to hit optimal levels (as opposed to OK levels). For protein levels there isn't one answer - just a lot of personal answers.

    Overall I'm simply not a fan of using set percentages for people who are logging and tracking their calories and macros. As a vague general guideline (not rule) for populations it sort of works - not so much on an individual level for a subset of the population who are paying far more attention to their diet.

    At maintenance pick your restrictions and rules carefully as you have to live with them for a long time.


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