What happens if you don't get 100g of protein a day?

If it's one unusual day here or there, probably no big deal. If it's a common thing, probably worth working on improving.

It's kind of hard to know how to answer when we don't know at least your height and weight, and possibly your age.

If you're losing weight, and losing around a pound a week, eating 100 calories above goal every single day (to get adequate protein) would only slow down your loss to 0.8 pounds a week. To me, that'd be worth the tradeoff, but YMMV.

If you're an average-sized woman, I think your muscles are unlikely to atrophy at a meaningful speed from eating only 60-80g of protein every single day. If you're losing weight very fast, you might lose more than the minimal amount of muscle alongside fat, still losing that muscle fairly slowly, which would be sub-optimal but not IMO life threatening.

Also, 80g is pretty different from 60g, y'know?

If this is a persistent problem for you, review your diary and see if you can find some habitually-eaten foods that contribute quite a few calories, but no protein, and that are less vital to you for satiation, nutrition, or happiness. Reduce those (frequency or portion size) to free up calories, add foods you like to your routine eating habits that have somewhat more protein for those calories. You've probably already seen it, but in case not, this thread might be a help with that:

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

Think about the last time you were sick and did not eat for a full day. Did your muscles suddenly atrophy? You may have FELT like they did, but in truth they did not from one day of missed calories and protein.

Repeat this exercise for a week straight, you will get a vastly different answer.

As Ann said above, blips happen, just move on. A single day of low protein (hotdogs, anyone?) has the same effect to muscles as a single day of super-high protein (hello, T-bone steak!), which is to say not much (if any). Just make sure it's not a pattern, and all's good.

aleena2975 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

If it's one unusual day here or there, probably no big deal. If it's a common thing, probably worth working on improving.

It's kind of hard to know how to answer when we don't know at least your height and weight, and possibly your age.

If you're losing weight, and losing around a pound a week, eating 100 calories above goal every single day (to get adequate protein) would only slow down your loss to 0.8 pounds a week. To me, that'd be worth the tradeoff, but YMMV.

If you're an average-sized woman, I think your muscles are unlikely to atrophy at a meaningful speed from eating only 60-80g of protein every single day. If you're losing weight very fast, you might lose more than the minimal amount of muscle alongside fat, still losing that muscle fairly slowly, which would be sub-optimal but not IMO life threatening.

Also, 80g is pretty different from 60g, y'know?

If this is a persistent problem for you, review your diary and see if you can find some habitually-eaten foods that contribute quite a few calories, but no protein, and that are less vital to you for satiation, nutrition, or happiness. Reduce those (frequency or portion size) to free up calories, add foods you like to your routine eating habits that have somewhat more protein for those calories. You've probably already seen it, but in case not, this thread might be a help with that:

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

Hi Ann, I have about same stats as you 5'5 175 trying to go to 135.

Yeah, I'm 5'5", 132.2 this morning, not trying very hard but would be marginally better off around 125.

I also shoot for 100g protein minimum, but I'm in maintenance (more or less) at 1850 calories plus all exercise calories. When I was losing (starting from 183), so at lower calories, I was usually in the 90s grams, occasionally dipping down into the 80s, and I have no sign that my muscles atrophied. Other than a brief period when I ate too little by accident (so felt weak), my strength stayed good and exercise performance consistent.

At the start of loss, I worked pretty diligently at what I suggested to you above: Reviewing my diary often, tweaking my eating routine eating habits to get more protein without having to micromanage it every day. At this point, I often exceed my 100g minimum, by up to 20g fairly often. That's as a vegetarian, so if you eat meat/fish, seems like it should be even more achievable: Animal foods offer some very calorie-efficient protein sources, high quality ones; vegetarian protein sources usually come with some carbs, and quality can require attention.

This "review and adjust" approach doesn't need to reach perfection instantly. It can be a thing you chip away at gradually, if that's more practical.

Repeating from above: A truly occasional day substantially below goal (like 60g) really isn't a big worry. OTOH, neither is an occasional day that's 100 calories over goal in order to hit that protein goal.

Best wishes!

aleena2975 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

aleena2975 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

If it's one unusual day here or there, probably no big deal. If it's a common thing, probably worth working on improving.

It's kind of hard to know how to answer when we don't know at least your height and weight, and possibly your age.

If you're losing weight, and losing around a pound a week, eating 100 calories above goal every single day (to get adequate protein) would only slow down your loss to 0.8 pounds a week. To me, that'd be worth the tradeoff, but YMMV.

If you're an average-sized woman, I think your muscles are unlikely to atrophy at a meaningful speed from eating only 60-80g of protein every single day. If you're losing weight very fast, you might lose more than the minimal amount of muscle alongside fat, still losing that muscle fairly slowly, which would be sub-optimal but not IMO life threatening.

Also, 80g is pretty different from 60g, y'know?

If this is a persistent problem for you, review your diary and see if you can find some habitually-eaten foods that contribute quite a few calories, but no protein, and that are less vital to you for satiation, nutrition, or happiness. Reduce those (frequency or portion size) to free up calories, add foods you like to your routine eating habits that have somewhat more protein for those calories. You've probably already seen it, but in case not, this thread might be a help with that:

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

Hi Ann, I have about same stats as you 5'5 175 trying to go to 135.

Yeah, I'm 5'5", 132.2 this morning, not trying very hard but would be marginally better off around 125.

I also shoot for 100g protein minimum, but I'm in maintenance (more or less) at 1850 calories plus all exercise calories. When I was losing (starting from 183), so at lower calories, I was usually in the 90s grams, occasionally dipping down into the 80s, and I have no sign that my muscles atrophied. Other than a brief period when I ate too little by accident (so felt weak), my strength stayed good and exercise performance consistent.

At the start of loss, I worked pretty diligently at what I suggested to you above: Reviewing my diary often, tweaking my eating routine eating habits to get more protein without having to micromanage it every day. At this point, I often exceed my 100g minimum, by up to 20g fairly often. That's as a vegetarian, so if you eat meat/fish, seems like it should be even more achievable: Animal foods offer some very calorie-efficient protein sources, high quality ones; vegetarian protein sources usually come with some carbs, and quality can require attention.

This "review and adjust" approach doesn't need to reach perfection instantly. It can be a thing you chip away at gradually, if that's more practical.

Repeating from above: A truly occasional day substantially below goal (like 60g) really isn't a big worry. OTOH, neither is an occasional day that's 100 calories over goal in order to hit that protein goal.

Best wishes!

Is there a way to see your food diary? Is this what you're suggesting?

Do you mean Ann's diary? I think the idea is that you look at your own diary and see where you can make improvements.
For example, in my case: I was low in protein intake and noticed my breakfast was particularly low protein (not to mention that I often skipped breakfast) compared to other meals. So I replaced my breakfast cereal (and breakfast skipping) with skyr yoghurt. Depending on portion size, that alone boosted my intake by 15-30gr of protein per day!

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