MFP's protein requirements...is it possible to eat too much?

I exercise everyday so for instance today my calorie goal is 2100 and my protein goal is 78. I don't always hit my calorie goal, but I do try to hit my protein goal since I lift weight and need the protein to maintain the muscle.

If you're exercising, you need to input it into mfp so that mfp can readjust your numbers. 1200 calories is too little if you are exercising.

If you're exercising, you need to input it into mfp so that mfp can readjust your numbers. 1200 calories is too little if you are exercising.

I have input that I exercise into my settings, and I log it each day. 1,210 is my MFP goal.

I think what she means is that you may not be eating to your net goal. Let's take yesterday 6-26 as an example. You netted well below your goal of 1210. You had 600+ calories leftover.

From Val:
Gotcha. Well, unfortunately the science of my body doesn't allow me to eat back my exercise calories and not gain weight. It's unfortunate but true! The only time I increase my calorie intake after a hard workout is if my trainer tells me to. He will tell me, 14-1500 tonight, Val. Which usually means a protein shake after our workout.
end quote


As a friend of Val's in the real world, she is right... she cannot eat back her exercise calories... but I still love her:) And I wouldn't worry about the protein, you know what is right for you:)

I use the protein amount as a target (and fibre) rather than a limit. I think they should be the other way round, red when under and green when over. Then it won't frighten people so much :P

The MFP protein goal seems to be a bare bones sort of requirement. There are about 834706789063789057987897 studies that show when building lean healthy muscle you should consume at least one gram per pound of body weight and for those who are looking to seriously build it's two grams, however that formula is different because you must also factor in carbs, and a few other pieces to that puzzle. For the most part the only time you should restrict a high protein intake is if you have a liver or Kidney condition which you would probably know by now.
In more recent studies coming out of Austrailia (an entire country obsessed with health) in studies and test groups they found a persons body is more likley to release fat stores when you eat a higher level of protein. The cause of this is most likley because fat stores tnd to be part of your bodies survival instinct, so consistant, scheduled, healthy, high protein meals help your body to relax a bit and live on the "wild side"

Good to know cuz I'm over everyday lol.

If you workout a lot and are only eating 1200 calories you are not eating enough my dear. At 42 g of protein its apparent you are not eating back any of your workout cals. This is gonna bite you in the *kitten* in the end!!

But to answer your ?, its hard to get too much protein. I usually eat between 80-100 grams a day.

I consider mfp's protein suggestion my absolute minimum. I'm usually WELL above the amount. Yesterday, for instance, my goal was 76 g protein. I ate 138 g.

I consider the carbs my absolute maximum. Yesterday, my max carb count was 279, and I ate 102.

The MFP protein goal seems to be a bare bones sort of requirement. There are about 834706789063789057987897 studies that show when building lean healthy muscle you should consume at least one gram per pound of body weight and for those who are looking to seriously build it's two grams, however that formula is different because you must also factor in carbs, and a few other pieces to that puzzle. For the most part the only time you should restrict a high protein intake is if you have a liver or Kidney condition which you would probably know by now.
In more recent studies coming out of Austrailia (an entire country obsessed with health) in studies and test groups they found a persons body is more likley to release fat stores when you eat a higher level of protein. The cause of this is most likley because fat stores tnd to be part of your bodies survival instinct, so consistant, scheduled, healthy, high protein meals help your body to relax a bit and live on the "wild side"

^^^ This! MFP's protein recommendation is very low. Obviously depending on your goals, you may not need a ton, but I would consider this a bare minimum for anyone active. I aim for 40% protein, 30% fat, 30% carbs.

I'm so confused why every single day I'm so far over my grams of protein as set by MFP. It's saying 45 grams. I had 42 for breakfast. I always stay at or close to my calorie goal (1,210 cal) but I'm always drastically over on protein. I was under the impression that protein is a good thing when working out as much as I do and to build lean muscle, am I wrong? Is it really possible that I'm consuming too much protein? My food journal is open to all MFP members, so please take a look and let me know what you think. I appreciate the input!!

I did too. But, you may have seen in the news recently there's been this small study that proves that in order to keep the weight off, it might be best not to eat that many carbs. Now, no carbs can be dangerous to your heart so they don't advise that but in the study (admittedly, it was very small, would need lots more studies to verify it) they found that a ratio of 40% carbs, 40% fat and 20% protein worked best. Now, I've had trouble reaching my carbs since I joined here and I almost always went over my fat and protein anyways so what I've done is put my carbs from 55 to 40% and split the rest between fat and protein. See what happens (amount of calories per day is still the same). If it's no good after a few months, I'll switch it back.

What I did do is add fiber as one of the columns in my diary, just to make sure I get enough fiber in the lessened amount of carbs per day.... My diary is open too, so you're welcome to take a look. though, I only changed the settings yesterday :P havne't tried the new ratio's out enough yet to comment on whether they work.

MFP has its protein requirements set at 15%.

Excellent article in JAMA on low glycemic index diet, see article and video at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57461950-10391704/low-glycemic-index-diet-may-be-best-at-keeping-off-pounds/

I upped my protein recently because I thought MFP wasn't giving me enough (lowered carbs to compensate). It's definitely okay to go over.

Carbs % should always be higher than Protein. Your body needs the carbs for energy!

I completely re-did my settings on here. I have my cals set at 1400 and my macro ratio set at 40% protein/30% carbs/30% fats. It's helped me SOOOOO much to have them set up that way! I've seen a lot of other MFPers with theirs set for 40% carbs/30% protein/30% fats, which is a good ratio as well, but for me personally I don't eat any starches and get all my carbs from fruits and veggies, so my diet is pretty naturally low carb anyway. Protein is more satiating to me than carbs are.

I upped my protein recently because I thought MFP wasn't giving me enough (lowered carbs to compensate). It's definitely okay to go over.

Carbs % should always be higher than Protein. Your body needs the carbs for energy!

Not to be rude, but this is FALSE information. Yes, your body does need some carbs but your carbs do NOT need to be higher than protein.