Protein Powder

serenity_salser wrote: »

So I exercise for about 90 minutes (cardio + HIIT) daily give or take a walk in the evenings. I also count my macros and hit my calorie goal. Would including a plant-based protein powder like hemp powder in my diet cause a standstill in my weight loss. From my understanding I have more calories available to me after I reach my goal because I exercise. I eat nothing but whole foods, but I still feel like I need more food. I would like to give protein powder a try, but not if it'll put me back.

Depends. If you're meeting your calorie goal eating whole foods and then add protein powder and that causes you to exceed your goal, then yes it will cause you to gain weight. You will need to account for the calories from the protein powder.

What they said above. Also,

(1) If you have calories left, you aren't meeting your goal. Your goal includes those calories, or at least the fraction of them that represents an accurate estimate.

(2) If your overall eating, on average, gives you enough protein (in grams, not percentages), protein powder won't necessarily add value to your eating. Bodies can store only very limited protein for a very limited time (if they don't need it at the time to build/maintain muscle or other tissue). Excess gets excreted, or (rarely) stored as body fat (and it won't do that on net when in a calorie deficit). A rough rule of thumb is minimum 0.6-0.8g protein per day per pound of bodyweight, roughly equivalent to 0.8-1g per pound of lean body mass. For a more nuanced, evidence-based protein recommendation, there's this calculator and its explanation:

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

A little extra protein won't hurt a healthy person, but true excess doesn't confer special benefits. Further, high protein would be a negative if it limits one's ability to get other essential nutrients (macros, micros) within a reasonable calorie level.

As an aside, calories from protein (among the macronutrients) is less likely to store as fat, for a couple of reasons:
* Protein has a higher TEF (thermic efficiency of food, i.e., it takes a few more calories for the biochemistry of digesting it)
* Bodies are efficient, so as a generality, in calorie excess fat is most likely to be stored as fat - less conversion required.

There's not going to be net fat storage in a true calorie deficit, regardless.

Most protein supplement powders are like 120 calories. So I can't imagine that amount derailing your weight loss.

serenity_salser wrote: »

So I exercise for about 90 minutes (cardio + HIIT) daily give or take a walk in the evenings. I also count my macros and hit my calorie goal. Would including a plant-based protein powder like hemp powder in my diet cause a standstill in my weight loss. From my understanding I have more calories available to me after I reach my goal because I exercise. I eat nothing but whole foods, but I still feel like I need more food. I would like to give protein powder a try, but not if it'll put me back.

Correct, your base calorie goal to meet whatever weight loss goal you selected is only intended for a day with no exercise as purposeful exercise isn't taken into account when setting your target calories.
Adding calories to both the calories out (exercise) and calories in (additional calories eaten) is intended to retain the balance you picked.
90mins of exercise and a protein supplement aren't likely to be equal though unless you add a load of extra calories to your hemp.