Calorie counting and protein goal

kshama2001 wrote: »

I want to first make sure your deficit is in line with the amount of weight you need to lose:



If you are really hungry at night, that could be an indicator that you are not eating enough during the day. You are correct that it does not matter when you log it - just logging it is the key.

Here's a reputable protein calculator:

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

I shoot for 500 calories of exercise per day, and when I achieve that, using the MFP default of 20% protein aligns with the protein grams recommendation from Examine. If I were completely sedentary, I'd need to bump it up.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

When it comes to increasing protein intake, my suggestion would be to look at is as a thing you do gradually by tweaking your routine eating habits - the eating patterns you repeat over and over. Protein is important, but you can work at moving it up in ways you can keep up long term almost on autopilot rather than having it be a daily struggle.

As a transition aid, you could consider using protein powder or bars until you can get more protein from regular food. (Admitted personal bias: I think it's better to get nutrients from food rather than supplements, if possible. That's why I said "transition aid" rather than "solution". Some people do use supplements long term. If you don't have reasons to avoid dairy, whey protein is among the more bioavailable and neutral-tasting options.)

Many of us have found this thread helpful for identifying calorie-efficient food protein sources:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also

In addition to getting one big protein source per meal, you might also consider getting small bits of protein from other foods you eat alongside the mains. There are grains (and breads) with more protein than others, veggies with protein, beverages with protein, even flavorings and a few fruits with some protein. Those small bits through the day can add up to a meaningful contribution. While some of these may be less complete (in essential amino acids, EAAs) or bioavailable, varying them through the day can compensate for that somewhat.

How much protein you eat has little to do with fat loss (minor contribution from thermic effect of food, TEF). Fat loss is directly about calories. Nutrition may affect fat loss indirectly through fatigue (move less) or appetite (can't stick to calorie goal), but calories are still the direct mechanism.

Yes, you do need protein to build muscle (or to avoid losing unnecessarily much lean tissue alongside fat loss). If you get a goal from the calculator kshama linked, it will provide a range, and describe the lower value as "optimal" and the higher value as "may provide additional benefit, based on limited evidence". I think that would answer your question about whether you need to hit the top end every day? Personally, I'd make the lower boundary a minimum goal, and try to exceed it.

If you're not at the minimum end of the range yet, that's where to consider chipping away at revising eating habits, maybe use a supplement in the short run if way under.

If you haven't the guide linked from that calculator (https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/) may give additional insight. Among other things in that guide, I'd point out that they say it's OK to use a reasonable goal weight to calculate protein needs if currently materially overweight. Protein is for maintaining our lean tissue: We don't need lots more of it to maintain our fat mass in a healthy state.

Do consider kshama's point about whether you're trying to lose weight faster than reasonable: There's no feeling full or getting adequate nutrition on woefully low calories. Furthermore, muscle mass may suffer more from fast loss.

Beyond that, it's normal to feel hungry in the first couple of weeks of a new, reduced calorie eating routine. That's more about accustoming the body to new habits. Beyond that, satiation tends to be very individual. Some people are sated by protein, others by fats, some by high volume (such as low-calorie veggies), some by specific foods (potatoes and oatmeal are common but not universal), and more. Some people find reducing carb intake to reduce appetite, but that's not universal either. Many people find so-called whole foods more filling than ultra-processed foods.

Even eating timing can affect satiety. People here report doing best on anything from one meal per day (OMAD) to all-day grazing on small portions, and everything in between. If you pay attention to how you feel - times when you're more crave-y or less - you may be able to suss out changes you can make to feel more full more often.

The appetite triggers aren't even necessarily about food intake: Sleep quality/quantity, habitual triggers (example: eating while watching TV), boredom, emotional or stress issues, types/timing of exercise . . . all of those can affect satiety, too.

If you use your diary and personal insights, apply a little canny detective work, I'm betting you can find some solutions.

Best wishes!

paperpudding wrote: »

Re the first part of your question - if this is only happening some days and you eat less the next day and are not hungry that night too - then I would suggest setting your calorie intake as a weekly intake - then you don't have to do logging convolutions, just log it when you ate it and as long as the daily average is what you want, it will still work - ie you will still be in a deficit and lose weight.