Still confused about my protein intake

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Zichu
Zichu Posts: 542 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey I've been doing a bit of research lately and I still can't come to a decision on how much protein I should be eating per day. I've used online calculators and tried to adjust to it, but it either seems too high or too low.

I'm mainly trying to just build muscle, burn body fat abit quicker through muscle and get abit of definition. I'm not looking to get big or into bodybuilding like mad. Just enough to make it look like there is muscle there. I know I need to do strength workouts and work hard in order for my muscle to grow stronger. If you look at my food diary it should be at 162 grams of protein a day. I managed to get about 130 grams today.

If I were paying for the groceries I could of easily gotten 162 grams of protein today. Just wondering if this is too much, too little or just right?

Replies

  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    I've read 1 gram per pound of lean body mass.
  • Zichu
    Zichu Posts: 542 Member
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    How do you calculate lean body mass?

    Edit: Never mind. Found a calculator and it says my lean body mass is about 102lb. My current weight is 121.4lb
  • kevinlynch3
    kevinlynch3 Posts: 287 Member
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    I go for 1g of protein for every pound of my target body weight in pounds. So my target is 170 so I consume 170g of protein daily.

    Or as near to it as I can get.
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
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    i do 0.4g per pound of body weight.
    so i shoot for a minimum of 95..but most days end up over 100
  • Martha_VH
    Martha_VH Posts: 386 Member
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    I work with a natural health company and we have always said eat half of your body weight in grams of protein.
  • dedarlin
    dedarlin Posts: 41 Member
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    i am eating at a very small deficit, about 200 calories, consuming between 150 to 180 grams of protein per day. strength training 5 days a week, as well as a good amount of cardio/kickboxing and gaining lbm while maintaining my current weight. so in actuality losing about 3 lbs of fat per week, and gaining muscle.
  • iKristine
    iKristine Posts: 288 Member
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    How do you calculate lean body mass?

    Best way is a bod pod air displacement plethysmography test from a local university or sports fitness sort of business. Usually most universities have them open to the public, cost around 20.00. Google for more info. My experience online calcs are way off if you don't have the barbie doll figure.

    As for protein intake, this is a common question. You'll get answers from all over the board from these places so I will tell you based off of what I've researched and been informed of in college health and sports nutrition arenas.

    The avg sedentary person needs around 50g protein in their diet daily to keep up with the basics, like cell replacement, hair, cellular exchange etc. This is easy to achieve on a western fast food diet.

    The athlete needs double this. By athlete, anyone who works out regularly and/or participates in physical activity at least 60 minutes most days week, cumulative.

    So for any rule of thumb approach, regardless of your mass (unless your like uber bodybuilder) the amount you should shoot for is at least 100g to 150g. Anything more than this your really trying to achieve through alternative means.

    The science tells us that there was no discernable difference in protein amt discharged (bodily waste) or absorption for anything over .77g per lean lb muscle. So for example, I am 120lbs lean. 120 x .77 = 92.4g I usually average 100g. Anything more is just a waste.
  • Zichu
    Zichu Posts: 542 Member
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    So .77 per lean body mass. So if i go for 80 lets say. How many carbs would you say I should hit for?
  • iKristine
    iKristine Posts: 288 Member
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    So .77 per lean body mass. So if i go for 105 lets say. How many carbs would you say I should hit for?

    Depending on your calories for the day this could be all over the place.

    Macros typically are of the 40/30/30 range (carb/fat/pr). You can adjust these based on your needs. For example, someone might prefer low carb. Or someone might prefer higher carbs such as 50% for endurance based sports.

    There isn't a real static number.
  • Zichu
    Zichu Posts: 542 Member
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    Thanks for the information. I will just stick to 40/30/30 for now. Workout abit more and see where it takes me. I did do some workouts that I had never done before and it felt like I was using muscles I had never workout before. Was aching all over lol. Will give them another go.

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