Eating to much Protein

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I just started with Myfitness pal and I am able to stay under the required calories but I go over in protein every day. I know protein is good for you but if I keep going over, will that cause me to not lose weight?

Replies

  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    I just started with Myfitness pal and I am able to stay under the required calories but I go over in protein every day. I know protein is good for you but if I keep going over, will that cause me to not lose weight?

    As long as you're under on calories you're totally good.
  • ECA67
    ECA67 Posts: 806 Member
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    Protein is a very important macro in feeding the muscles. Most people don't get enough. A few months ago I wasn't eating enough and started losing hair. If your protein is very very high please drink a lot of water. This will help flush it through your kidneys. Water is also an excellent weight loss tool. Good luck on your journey.
  • Lukazetta
    Lukazetta Posts: 427 Member
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    I just started with Myfitness pal and I am able to stay under the required calories but I go over in protein every day. I know protein is good for you but if I keep going over, will that cause me to not lose weight?

    One way to measure how much protein you need daily:

    Daily protein intake in grams per your lean muscle mass. So if you have 120 lbs of lean mass, you should take in 120grams.

    It's also recommended that you take in a bit more protein when you're on a low carb diet.
  • juan23sfa
    juan23sfa Posts: 22
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    What she said ^^^^^ :smile:
  • jtheiss
    jtheiss Posts: 14
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    I've been wondering this too. I just started MFP about 2.5 weeks ago and I seem to go over on protein almost every day. I don't think I really eat that much meat -- usually turkey or tuna sandwich or salad with chicken for lunch and chicken or other lean meat for dinner -- I guess I'm getting a lot from Greek yogurt, dairy products, my granola bars have added protein, etc. I'm losing weight, but I also worried more from a health standpoint what too much protein does to your body. I'll definitely up the water intake to help process it through. That's good advice and something I need to do more of anyway.
  • Devona14
    Devona14 Posts: 171
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    I am so glad you started this topic. I was going to post the exact same thing! I started using MFP about 2 weeks ago (love it) and have been over on protein every day. But, I've always been under on my calories. It was starting to worry me that I'm always over on protein. It's made me realize that EVERYTHING has protein in it. Granted, I'm trying so hard to eat lean meats it baffled me that I was going over. Thanks for easing my mind on this. :-)
  • Survivor721
    Survivor721 Posts: 2 Member
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    Thank you to everyone for the quick response. I eat nature valley granola thins for a in between snack and those bump up your protein. I just want to make sure that I am doing everything correctly so that I can lose the extra weight.
  • rsbremiller
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    One of the things you will have to watch is that the base MFP nutrition profile is set up for your calories to be 55% Carbs, 15% Protein, 30% Fat. For most people, it's just not enough protein!

    This calculator ( http://www.freedieting.com/tools/nutrient_calculator.htm ) gives you some often-used distributions, or you can tweak it to your liking. I personally am following a Zone distribution of 40%/30%/30% because I need the slower burn from the protein to sustain me. It also helps if you're doing a lot of vigorous activity or strength training.

    To keep on track, you can change your MFP distribution by navigating from the "My Home" tab, choose "Goals", "Change Goals", "Custom" and "Continue." You can just change the % for Carb/Pro/Fat without modifying anything else.

    Hope this helps!
  • fmbomzo
    fmbomzo Posts: 382 Member
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    This is really helpful. I'm doing strength training and I have been going over my protein on MFP daily. I will adjust my profile settings as well. Thanks for the info!
  • ManifestinMama
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    So how are you scoring up that protein? By the end of the day I have 300 cals left and its mostly protein, lol ~ I had adjusted my %s to 40-30-30....and I'm loosing my mind, lol
  • McLifterPants
    McLifterPants Posts: 457 Member
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    This calculator ( http://www.freedieting.com/tools/nutrient_calculator.htm ) gives you some often-used distributions, or you can tweak it to your liking. I personally am following a Zone distribution of 40%/30%/30% because I need the slower burn from the protein to sustain me. It also helps if you're doing a lot of vigorous activity or strength training.

    Thank you for this!! I've been running into the low protein estimate, too, and it's been driving me nuts because with my 1200 calorie limit it pretty much means I can only eat meat once a day. I switched to 50/25/25; hopefully that will be better!
  • Redapplecandie
    Redapplecandie Posts: 171 Member
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    MFP lowballs your protein expectation, unless you manually change your macros, as suggested in a previous post.

    I get 70g of protein on a so-so day, and 125ish g on a work out day.

    And bump up your calories to 1300-1400. 1200 is absoloute minimum. Your body needs the fuel to burn fat, so the more healthy fuel you give it, the more it burns.
  • rsbremiller
    rsbremiller Posts: 24
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    This calculator ( http://www.freedieting.com/tools/nutrient_calculator.htm ) gives you some often-used distributions, or you can tweak it to your liking. I personally am following a Zone distribution of 40%/30%/30% because I need the slower burn from the protein to sustain me. It also helps if you're doing a lot of vigorous activity or strength training.

    Thank you for this!! I've been running into the low protein estimate, too, and it's been driving me nuts because with my 1200 calorie limit it pretty much means I can only eat meat once a day. I switched to 50/25/25; hopefully that will be better!

    I commend you on your high protein goals! Although it's a bit concerning when you say that you can only have meat once a day... you may want to take a look at the quality of your protein. I eat 6 meals a day, and i have protein with each one of them! Sometimes we need to give up the super tasty ones (beef, bacon, sausages) and replace them with the cleaner ones (egg whites, chicken breast, greek yourt, lean pork) - that can still be tasty with a little spice!
  • jkimmett
    jkimmett Posts: 46 Member
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    I make sure to get around 80-100 grams of protein a day at least! Lean protein and water will help you lose the weight and keep you fuller longer. You have to go in manually to switch it but do it to give yourself piece of mind.
  • lmj0707
    lmj0707 Posts: 13
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    All calories come from either protein, carbs, and fat. 1g of protein has 4 calories, 1g of carbs 4 cal, and 1g of fat 9 cal. This means you can eat more if you food is high in protein and low in fat! Although carbs and protein are equal gram for gram, they react differently in our body than just the calories they provide. Carbs are quicker released energy that are burned off quickly, and leave you feeling hungry sooner after the quick drop when they're burned up. That's why you should make your carbs whole grain or come from veggies. Also, it's very easy to wrack up carbs and add up the calories so foods low in carbs and fat but high in protein tend to be larger servings. It is essential to get all three; fat (endurence fuel) helps you stay fuller longer.

    Insoluable fiber provides no calories, but it is undigestible bulk that will help you feel full. No wonder people think it tastes like cardboard! You don't have to eat fiber pills and fiber one to get enough fiber, just check the nutrition lable and pick the product higher in fiber or with added fiber.

    Eating "too much" protein wont inhibit your weight loss. Essentialy a calorie is a calorie and if you burn more calories than you take in then you'll loose weight. How you feel while dieting and loosing this weight is dependent on where you get your calories from... protein vs fat vs carbs! I choose high protein, low fat, and whole grain carbs so that I can eat more and feel fulelr longer!

    Happy dieting!
  • lmj0707
    lmj0707 Posts: 13
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    I forgot to mention something... always try to balance a carb with a protein for sustained energy. What this means is eat a balanced snack like an apple and a yogurt or almonds and grapes. My day looks like this (and I tend to not be miserably hungry, even though I eat 1200 cal a day right now!):

    BREAKFAST::
    -protein (egg or yogurt)
    -carb/grain (nutrigrain bar or bowl of kashi)
    -fruit

    LUNCH:
    -protein (chicken)
    -veggie (carrots or snap peas)
    -salad (with regular salad dressing for some fat)
    -fruit

    AFTERNOON SNACK:
    -fruit (apple, orange, grapes, etc)
    -protein (cheese, yogure, almonds)

    DINNER:
    -healthy choice type meal (protein, carbs and fat)
    -veggies

    NIGHT SNACK:
    -almond or low carb protein shake