Has the world gone protein mad?

I'm 6 foot male 100kg aged 39. Exercise has been affected by Covid but generally I get a couple of hourscycling or running and 2 or 3 weight sessions in the gym - moderately active.

Consistently I am advised to get between 1 and 2 grammes of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. So between 100g and 200g of protein per day.

My goal is to drop 10kg.

How on earth am I meant to fit that much protein in? In lean mince, that is between 500g and a kilogram per day! And that's over 1200 calories on protein alone!

Ok, I know protein has other sources than meat but is this not just a slightly softened Atkins diet? There is hardly any room for carbs - barely even fruit!

Blacktie.

Well if it's 200g you're going for then that's only 800 calories. If you're trying to lose weight I presume you're eating about 2,000 calories or so per day so that's 1,200 calories left for fat and carbs. Protein also has the added benefit of making you feel fuller for less calories so it helps in that way.

It does take a bit more focus at the start like eggs for breakfast instead of cereal. For lunch instead of having the usual 2 sandwiches or whatever just have left overs from dinner the night before. Or portion out dinners so your lunches and dinner are basically interchangeable. That's what I do. I was never a fan of liquid calories myself so would only take a shake if I've been particularly low on protein that day. Food is just much better for satiety I find.

Alf Veedersane

G4rry wrote: »

I'm 6 foot male 100kg aged 39. Exercise has been affected by Covid but generally I get a couple of hourscycling or running and 2 or 3 weight sessions in the gym - moderately active.

Consistently I am advised to get between 1 and 2 grammes of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. So between 100g and 200g of protein per day.

My goal is to drop 10kg.

How on earth am I meant to fit that much protein in? In lean mince, that is between 500g and a kilogram per day! And that's over 1200 calories on protein alone!

Ok, I know protein has other sources than meat but is this not just a slightly softened Atkins diet? There is hardly any room for carbs - barely even fruit!

0.8g protein/ lb is 1.8g/kg so say your target is 180g protein per day.

Your daily caloric intake is of the order of 2400 calories for maintenance so say you're working off a 400 calorie deficit to lose fat, for argument's sake...2000 calorie total for the day. 180g of protein is 36% of your calories. So it's not particularly extreme.

180g is the upper end of the target. Lower end would be ~130g.

If you're trying to look at how much that is in mince in one sitting it look extreme. You should be trying to spread it throughout the day. A chicken breast would be probably 30-40g protein. At the higher end if you've a butcher that sells decent sized chicken breasts.

Anyway, get a decent serving across your meals (25g+), which is manageable rather than try eat a kilo of mince

johnnyskeleton

Maybe try logging your food intake with myfitness pal. Everything other than say refined sugar will have some amount of protein in it, so you can see exactly how much protein youre getting per day. It doesnt all have to be from meat.

Rice, for example, can have 8g of protein per 100g, spinach 3g (bearing in mind spinach is fairly low calorie and has lots of micro nutrients so dont shy away from it).

Also, I understand there is a limit to the amount of protein that you can metabolise in amy one meal, which is typically 20g (though some say higher, especially if you are doing resistance training https://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/a19525156/how-much-protein-can-your-muscles-absorb/ )

Its not the end of the world if you arent hitting your rda of protein each and every day. Just eat normal healthy portions of food and dont try too hard to hit ideal targets

jrosen

Get yourself a kitchen scales and lots of containers. I have weighed all my food at one stage.

Chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, nuts and then protein shakes are also a great way to top up your protein if your having a day your food intake falls short.
Track your food for a week and see where you could be better, try change one meal at a time.

Mellor

G4rry wrote: »

How on earth am I meant to fit that much protein in? In lean mince, that is between 500g and a kilogram per day! And that's over 1200 calories on protein alone!

Ok, I know protein has other sources than meat but is this not just a slightly softened Atkins diet? There is hardly any room for carbs - barely even fruit!

That would be about 40% protein, How is there no room for carbs?

Kaybaykwah

All those Tour de France guys eat three meals in one sitting when competing. No wonder they all look like Sumo wrestlers to your average anorexic.