How much protein do you drink in a day?

So, I’ve been gradually losing weight, I’ve been pretty consistent hitting the weights this year, however despite me being overweight, I don’t have much muscle mass. That led me to do a deep dive into my past eating habits to really analyze my eating patterns and I’ve learned a lot about myself.
So my goal is not only to lose weight, but also build some muscle. I have noticed a DRASTIC improvement in my strength and my body, more specifically my biceps and shoulders. Just the other day at work, I was hauling some really heavy boxes and they felt much lighter to me, which I loved.
Now, this is the first time I’ve purchased protein powder, ever and I’ve been consuming about 2 servings a day, which is about 60gs of protein a day, which also doesn’t include the protein I eat in my meals. I calculated that I take in about 150-180gs of protein daily, but I want to hear from others who actually drink protein shakes or watch their daily protein consumption.
How often do you drink protein daily? And How many grams do you consume daily to have built your muscle mass?
I really want to build some muscle as I lose more weight and would love your input. Thanks everyone.
Answers
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I try to get 150g protein daily. I try to get as much as I can from my food, so I use protein drinks on busy days when I don't have time to eat enough protein. Greek yogurt, chicken, turkey, egg whites, and fish are all excellent sources of protein. Sometimes if I haven't met my goal by the end of the day I will add protein powder to Greek yogurt for dessert.
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My protein comes from actual meat! :)
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I typically have about 50g from whey powder, for my target of at least 180g.
It's perfectly fine to drink your calories like that. It may not as satiating as whole food though.
You didn't mention timing. There may be marginal benefit to spacing it out so you're taking in protein 3-5 times per day. As I said, marginal, as best as I can tell the most important thing is get your daily target in.
You still have to put in all the lifting work obviously. A good amount of volume, with progressive overload.
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My daily goal is only 120g per day, or 0.7g per pound of BW (171 x 0.7 = 119.7). I get this strictly from the food I eat or milk I drink. Usually I go well over this, but that's the bare minimum.
On lifting days I add a 32g pre-mixed protein shake immediately after my lifting session is complete.
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The only protein I “drink” is via half a serving of collagen powder in my morning coffee.
If I’m going to “drink”’protein, which I do rarely, it’s going to be a smoothie made with Greek yogurt/cottage cheese/ and/or skim milk.
I am currently averaging about 150-160gr a day, but prefer to go slightly higher.
I’d much much rather have a fast and easy wrap stuffed with chicken, pork or beef, for a quick protein punch.
I also make sure my snacks are protein-centric: cottage cheese with fruit, homemade yogurt ice creams, cheese and crackers, jerky (though price for that is stratospheric these days).
I am a 63 year old, very active female.
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My goal is set at 100g daily, but I treat that as a minimum. I usually eat 10-20% above that minimum.
For me, 100g is a bit above 1g per pound of estimated lean body mass. Because I'm old, I space the protein out through the day, as there's solid evidence people my age tend to metabolize protein less efficiently, so may benefit more by spreading it out, compared to young people.
Other than the skim milk (lots of it) in my coffee or latte, and some kefir at breakfast, I don't drink my protein. I don't think there's anything wrong with protein powder, and it can be a great tool if someone's having trouble getting enough protein from food sources . . . but I prefer to spend my calories on things I personally find more tasty and satisfying than protein powder. I have no trouble getting that protein from regular foods, most of it protein that's balanced in essential amino acids, even as a vegetarian. YMMV.
If you'd like to nerd out about what research says about protein needs and benefits, there's a protein calulator and guide here, from a site that's evidence based (and that doesn't sell supplements so is generally regarded as neutral):
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Hi 👋
I'm a little bewildered by this 1g protein per 1lb Weight.With yiu saying your protein intake is minimum 100g is that a little low forcyour bodyweight? I assume you weigh over 100lb. I'm trying to understand my ideal macros ,so genuinely interested.TIA 😁
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Typically I get 100-150 per day. Some days more, some less. Mostly through seafood, eggs, meat. I track weekly..
I add seed protein to shakes and collagen protein to coffee for a lil boost. (Not a whey fan)
My “drinking” of protein doesn’t add up to more than 20-25 or so grams per day or every other day though.
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I try to get between 90-100g of protein per day. I don't eat a lot of meat or meat products, but have at least one piece of high protein cheese per day (50g, 14,5g protein, 60kcal), and then fill up whatever's missing with a mostly vegan shake.
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She said lean body mass. I assume she's around 120-130 pounds. Your fat doesn't need the protein, which is why "1g per pound" is overkill for overweight or obese. Going by lean body mass makes more sense, but it's harder to communicate and to compute. As Ann said, if you're older you could benefit from more than the average person, and similarly if you're vegan.
0.7g to 0.8g per pound bw is probably plenty, but there may be very small benefits to more, if also doing all the necessary lifting etc.
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Like they said: What I wrote was "100g is a bit above 1g per pound of estimated lean body mass".
I'm not sure why you questioned me, since some rules of thumb others suggested above would yield even lower protein-goal values?
There are various ways of estimating protein needs, and debates about which is theoretically best. On top of that, different people actually do need different amounts - even at similar body size - depending on their body composition, fitness goals, and other factors.
Some ways you could look at daily protein goal:
- 0.7g per pound of body weight, as suggested by a post above
- 0.6-0.8g per pound of healthy body weight (a common rule of thumb range)
- USDA Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) values (which I think are too low); World Health Organization recommendations for avoiding unsafely low levels are similar.
- The science-based personalized calculator I linked in my post above
- 1g per pound body weight, or 1.1g, or 1.2g (sometimes suggested for bodybuilders)
- 1g per pound lean body mass
- . . . and probably others
Yes, I weigh more than 100 pounds, though some women would reasonably weigh that little. Right now, I weigh 131 pounds. IMO, 125 pounds would be better, but 131 is current. Body fat estimates - even the most accurate ones - have a wide error bar. Right now, in round numbers, various body fat percent estimates for me converge around 27%. I'm age 69, F, active. Given all of that, for me:
- 0.7g per pound body weight = 91.7g
- 0.6-0.8g per pound healthy body weight = 75-100g
- USDA DRI = 48g (yikes!)
- Calculator linked in my PP = depends on what I say my goals are, but one outcome is "at least 95
grams/day. Intakes of up to 131 grams per day should be consumed to maximize muscle gain, based on limited evidence." - 1g per pound body weight = 131g
- 1g per pound lean body mass = (1-0.27)x131 = 95.63
Round numbers are nice, so I target 100g minimum, usually eat above that, often 110-120g range. To me, that seems fine, in the ballpark for many of the above, and over a good share of them. Yeah, some bodybuilding recommendations would be higher, and that linked calculator's speculative value is higher.
Retro says vegans need more, but I'm only vegetarian not vegan, and anyone who actually IS vegan/vegetarian IMO needs more nuanced thinking about protein goals than "needs more" let alone "needs X% more" . . . but that's not a topic here so I won't go into the details. (The guide that goes with the calculator I linked has a good discussion of the issues for vegans.)
My feeling is that getting plenty of protein is a good idea, especially if active, aging or losing weight, among other cases. Unless someone has a pre-existing health condition that requires limiting protein, any of the above estimates seem to fall well within the safe range.
I don't feel like we need to agonize over protein goals. Protein is important, but it's not the only important nutrition. My general rule of thumb for nutrition is to shoot for "pretty good on average the majority of the time". For me, with my demographics, "100g minimum daily, usually eat more" fits that rule of thumb well. YMMV.
P.S. Lean body mass is difficult to estimate precisely accurately, but for the protein calculation, a LBM estimate somewhere in the general ballpark is likely accurate enough because of the way the aritmetic works. This is a use case where I think it's fine to believe your BIA scale or the so-called "Navy Body Fat Calculator".
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Usually I have a smoothie with 2 scoops so about 50g as a drink. then another scoop mixed in with soy yoghurt is about 30 g or so.
I’m vegan so the solid stuff is in tofu, seitan, quorn, soy mince and beans. I easily make 100g a day as a minimum probably closer to 120 g. I’m 140 pounds.1 -
I do use a protein powder, but try to get most of my protein from dietary sources.
Breakfast is a protein shake, plus something else. I do get a Smoothie King Gladiator (46 gm protein) for a meal replacement, usually once a week (choir night, so don't get home for dinner).
I think it's fine to use a protein shake as a supplement, but not as your main source of protein. It doesn't fill you up as much as real food. And, there are so many other nutritional benefits to eating real foods. So, I think you could to once or twice a day, but concentrate on getting the protein from varied food sources. I do both vegetarian (love TVP) and meat sources.
I am trying to maintain my muscle mass (and metabolic rate) as I lose weight - have lost 90 lbs of my 130 lb goal so far. So, I am striving for 0.8gm/lb of my goal weight - or about 140gm or more a day. I chose goal weight since I know the excess I carry is adipose - don't think I have THAT much extra muscle 😋.
I see a lot of stuff all over the internet that says you should do anywhere from 0.7-1 gm of body weight (but some say kg, some say lb). Some will say this is lean body weight vs actual weight. So, I tried to do a somewhat in the middle of the road for this, and picked the above. I plan on sticking with this formula even when I get to my goal weight.
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