Protein- How to easily get it, and is the 1 pound per body weight a myth?

[wirelessenabled]

My buddy is 5' 8" and weighs a good 180 pounds, but it's pure muscle - yet the government considers him obese. Also, there's frame size to consider. The online calculators are just calculators; there's more to consider than just blind weight.

Yeah, I use to use the rational about how I was muscle versus fat, and large frame etc. If you are in your teens or twenties that rational may have some validity. As you age I think it has less. Your joints are still carrying the weight and that stresses them and makes them hurt.

Shall we say that I am well over 45 years old. Been there, done that.

I am feeling good at 162 lbs and still working to drop a few. Sure makes my bicycle go up the hills faster!

 

[Kaido]

The best measure of health is not BMI, which is agnostic to fat v. muscle, but waist to height.
I'm 6'1 so I need a waste of 36inches to be healthy. I've gone from 52 inches to 44 inches.
I'll likely hit a 'healthy' waste to height ratio at 226lbs. 100lbs from where I started.

That's awesome man, good progress!

 

[wirelessenabled]

The best measure of health is not BMI, which is agnostic to fat v. muscle, but waist to height.
I'm 6'1 so I need a waste of 36inches to be healthy. I've gone from 52 inches to 44 inches.
I'll likely hit a 'healthy' waste to height ratio at 226lbs. 100lbs from where I started.

Great job losing weight!!

There is certainly a lot wrong with BMI but at 6' 1" you are probably going to feel better at around 190 lbs or less, waist size not withstanding.

Keep in mind that your joints, knees, hips, do not care what your waist measurement is, only about the weight they have to carry for each and every step you take. For young folks you do not feel it, but I can tell you from experience that as you age you will wish you had been kinder to those joints.

 

[ElFenix]

Anyone had the cytosport protein? Makers of muscle milk. It's about 30% cheaper at Costco per serving and has more protein per serving than ON gold.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

Great job losing weight!!

There is certainly a lot wrong with BMI but at 6' 1" you are probably going to feel better at around 190 lbs or less, waist size not withstanding.

Keep in mind that your joints, knees, hips, do not care what your waist measurement is, only about the weight they have to carry for each and every step you take. For young folks you do not feel it, but I can tell you from experience that as you age you will wish you had been kinder to those joints.

Really I say 226 just for a hard but realistic target.

My plan is to keep eating a whole plant based diet (cheating by eating vegan once a week, vegetarian once a month) and see where that lands me.

 

[blackdogdeek]

I wonder why you feel healthy? You are about 30 lbs over your ideal weight of 133 lbs for being 5' 6". Your BMI is 26.2 which is over the top "healthy" BMI of 24.9 in to the overweight category but not in to the obese range.

As a comparison I am 6' 0" and weigh 162 lbs. I am over my ideal weight of 158 lbs. When I bump up to 165 lbs I feel it in my legs and joints. I can't imagine being comfortable at a BMI of 26.2 which for me would be 193 pounds. My legs would be screaming at me!

I feel healthy because I go to the gym usually 7 days a week and am very fit. BMI is a notoriously bad indicator of overall health especially for outlier cases like physically active people.

 

[Rudee]

1g per pound of body weight isn't a myth, but is on the high side and should really be only if you're lifting a lot.

It's also per pound of LEAN bodyweight. An obese person does not require more protein as they become more and more obese.

 

[SlitheryDee]

It's also per pound of LEAN bodyweight. An obese person does not require more protein as they become more and more obese.

I've heard it suggested that an obese person looking to build or maintain muscle while losing weight should use their target weight to calculate their protein intake, which makes a lot of sense to me

 

[Dr. Zaus]

I've heard it suggested that an obese person looking to build or maintain muscle while losing weight should use their target weight to calculate their protein intake, which makes a lot of sense to me

That's what I do. Also 1g/ kg is more than you really need

 

[mike8675309]

Just eat enough calories from whole foods and you'll get enough protein without really having to try hard. Avoid the protein sources high in saturated fat. Eat more beans and lentils to get your protein. I am building muscle with anywhere from 15 to 9 % protein in my macros (varies day to day).

Currently recommendations for general life is .5grams per pound or 1 to 1.2grams per Kilogram. But that is enough for building muscle as well. Really only if body building, trying to focus on building muscle with very regular very heavy workouts would having more than that protein be useful. Remember, excess protein like any excess macro is stored as fat in the body. Thus excess protein intake isn't generally recommended.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19841581

 

[desy]

Excess protein is like any other food you take in you either add it as fat or piss it out. Eating quality food its not too hard to hit your daily requirement
However what I think is missing from this thread is timing, You should take it in relatively close to workout time and either before or after doesn't seem to matter as much.
Being in my 50's I need some creatine too so the sup I use has it and also betaine. Since I use just one scoop in a milkshake and berries I find it cost friendly and convenient to take at workout time.
Cause its a SUPPLEMENT, not where I get the bulk of my daily calories

 

[amyklai]

IMHO, worrying about getting enough protein is only needed for body builder types or if you're on a vegan diet and don't like soy or similar. You also don't need to eat humoungous amounts of meat. Lentils, chickpeas, beans etc all have plenty of protein.

What's most important is a) having a normal, healthy diet and b) excercising enough and regularly and c) resting enough.

 

[mike8675309]

Excess protein is like any other food you take in you either add it as fat or piss it out.

Excess macronutrients generally are not excreted. Your body will use them for the work it needs, or it will store them as fat. Excess FAT is the easiest to store and will be stored first. Excess Protein is the second easiest to store and it will be stored 2nd. Excess carbs are the hardest to store as fat and will usually be converted last. This assumes you are not in ketosis, in which your body will prioritize the use of FATS because you have limited dietary carbs and store excess protein.

 

[Muse]

pork loin often on sale near a dollar a pound and chicken breast often on sale at under $2 a pound is much cheaper than whey. especially if you're buying individually packaged servings of whey. bulk whey is about 2.77 cents per gram of protein (ON gold standard 6 lb bag at costco for $60). that works out to about the same as chicken breast for $4/lb or pork loin for $3.40 per pound. eggs are about the same cost ($2 per dozen). milk on sale is a little more expensive (~$1.77 for milk to get equivalent cost).

Not sure, but I'm thinking that my habit of consuming close to a quart of skim milk per day is a really good source of cheap protein. I buy 64 ounce boxes of non-fat dry milk powder from Walmart.com. If my order is at least $50, I get free shipping. The cost/box right now is $14.48. This comes to 2.226 cents/gram of protein. Of course, it's also non-fat. A lot of people don't like NFDM, but I'm used to it, never buy any other kind. Cook with it, put it in my coffee, drink it with what I consider accommodating foods.

 

[bononos]

It's also per pound of LEAN bodyweight. An obese person does not require more protein as they become more and more obese.

No that isn't right, its not lean BW. The guideline isn't useful for extremely thin or obese persons but its just a good enough rule for bodybuilders who aren't likely to be very skinny/overweight.

The 1g/lb recommendation was derived from some nitrogen excretion studies from people taking food in a fasted state and its not useful for calculating everyday bodybuilding nutrition.