[Sarah R]

What should my goal be for how much protein a day. I've been trying to enter my journal in Myfitnesspal but is says I'm not getting enough protein. If it depends on weight my current weight is 149. So far I lost 20 pounds but last week I lost muscle and gained fat so I want to make sure I am getting enough.

[NOVAScents]

My coach said you should be consuming .5g/ lb you weigh. So, for me thats 83g per day.

[Ugh73]

Originally Posted by NOVAScents

My coach said you should be consuming .5g/ lb you weigh. So, for me thats 83g per day.

Interesting, that doesn't sound like a lot. I've read online 1g per pound of your goal weight but that sounded like too much to me. I get something in the middle.

[infoplease]

It would be typical for a 3 lb weight loss to be 2lb fat loss and 1lb lean mass, which, will show your overall %fat number going lower each week. Sometimes it stays better than that, with minimal lean mass and more fat or even a lean mass gain and fat loss.

I have seen numbers ranging all over the place for the protein to weight, including 1g per LB of LEAN MASS and 1g per KG of body weight (sometimes it is like .7 to 1.5 or thereabouts).

So, 150 divided by 2.2 equals about 68g of protein under that 1g/kg formula.

If you are having 3 packets a day (18g, 18g, 15g) and about 40g at dinner then you are getting 91g of protein a day plus a few more g from vegetables.

I have the my fitness pal setting set at 800 calories a day, 40g carbs, 27g fat and 100 g protein. I use my fitness pal as a guide and don't get too concerned if the items tracked vary a bit. It would be rare for me to hit 100 and it is typical for the carbs to be over and often the calories. Because that program only let's you set percentage of macronutrients and not the exact grams, I think of it as targets.

Are you eating 8oz of protein or equivalent at dinner?
Are you getting all your packets in?
Did you change something this past week, such as getting in more activity (exercise, moving furniture, longer walk than usual, anything like that)?

Plus, sometimes the body fat device gets a little quirky. One off measurement, I'd try to tweak a little and see what happens, three in a row off measurements then I would get concerned.

[txman2012]

Originally Posted by NOVAScents

My coach said you should be consuming .5g/ lb you weigh. So, for me thats 83g per day.

I asked a similar question in the "Men on IP" thread. My coach did not say what the amount of protein you should have a day is. Since I started at 338 and am now at 314 I am assuming that means I should be having 150gr a day of protein.

With the 3 IP packets I am taking daily the Protein amount is 51grams. Add 17 grams of protein from the EAS Carb Control I drink a day as well as a cheaper 4th packet its 68grams. Then my dinner has 8 to 10 oz portion of chicken or beef which probably puts it at around 100gr. But I have noticed during my 6th week that I am feeling off and drained during several parts of the day. So I have come to the conclusion I am needing more protein.

So I guess my question is, why don't the coaches go over required protein per day along with the "IP Plan"? (Other then the 4 packets a day if you want to lost over 50lbs and you are over 200lbs. )

JP

[Sarah R]

Thank you all for your posts. It really helped. I love this diet!

[infoplease]

Originally Posted by txman2012

I asked a similar question in the "Men on IP" thread. My coach did not say what the amount of protein you should have a day is. Since I started at 338 and am now at 314 I am assuming that means I should be having 150gr a day of protein.

With the 3 IP packets I am taking daily the Protein amount is 51grams. Add 17 grams of protein from the EAS Carb Control I drink a day as well as a cheaper 4th packet its 68grams. Then my dinner has 8 to 10 oz portion of chicken or beef which probably puts it at around 100gr. But I have noticed during my 6th week that I am feeling off and drained during several parts of the day. So I have come to the conclusion I am needing more protein.

So I guess my question is, why don't the coaches go over required protein per day along with the "IP Plan"? (Other then the 4 packets a day if you want to lost over 50lbs and you are over 200lbs. )

JP

I'm sure you have seen from the various posts that, sadly, the quality of coaching is inconsistent. My coach does have a group of men among her dieters, and I believe that some in this group require far more than 3 packs per day.

I personally think that the reason they do not give a solid grams of protein number to people is to keep the diet simple. They are promising you don't have to count calories, carbs, fat or protein. Perhaps some coaches are hesitant to suggest the additional packets.

I also think that 800-900 calories a day for a man your size would be a problem. It appears that with your extra alternates you are getting more calories than that.

As for feeling off and drained, could be several things. One of the nosy questions I wanted to ask on the "more T than E" thread was how the hormone release with fat loss impacts men. Definitely think that might be a small part.

Next, how are you spacing the meals? Going too far between always pushes me to my limit. Sometimes that is two hours and sometimes it is 5 or 6.

How about salt? Do you get in the required sea salt? I started to struggle with low blood pressure for a while, maybe at that same spot.

Did your activity level change over the past week? Honestly, I did no exercise up until this past Tuesday. It has created a roller coaster of trying to figure out when/how/much/what to eat and how to work an additional packet in.

Have you contacted your coach about how you are feeling? Is there another coach or a medical supervisor at the clinic that you can talk to?

But for the basic question, I think 100g of protein is way, way too low for you. I really do think you should be having 150g of protein now; perhaps that should adjust down every 10% of your weight lost. That is not a medical opinion, just a logic one, based on the unbalanced diet concept where many of the calories from carbs are replaced by calories from protein.

[txman2012]

Originally Posted by infoplease

I'm sure you have seen from the various posts that, sadly, the quality of coaching is inconsistent. My coach does have a group of men among her dieters, and I believe that some in this group require far more than 3 packs per day.

I personally think that the reason they do not give a solid grams of protein number to people is to keep the diet simple. They are promising you don't have to count calories, carbs, fat or protein. Perhaps some coaches are hesitant to suggest the additional packets.

I also think that 800-900 calories a day for a man your size would be a problem. It appears that with your extra alternates you are getting more calories than that.

As for feeling off and drained, could be several things. One of the nosy questions I wanted to ask on the "more T than E" thread was how the hormone release with fat loss impacts men. Definitely think that might be a small part.

Next, how are you spacing the meals? Going too far between always pushes me to my limit. Sometimes that is two hours and sometimes it is 5 or 6.

How about salt? Do you get in the required sea salt? I started to struggle with low blood pressure for a while, maybe at that same spot.

Did your activity level change over the past week? Honestly, I did no exercise up until this past Tuesday. It has created a roller coaster of trying to figure out when/how/much/what to eat and how to work an additional packet in.

Have you contacted your coach about how you are feeling? Is there another coach or a medical supervisor at the clinic that you can talk to?

But for the basic question, I think 100g of protein is way, way too low for you. I really do think you should be having 150g of protein now; perhaps that should adjust down every 10% of your weight lost. That is not a medical opinion, just a logic one, based on the unbalanced diet concept where many of the calories from carbs are replaced by calories from protein.

I am now allocating via "alternative product drinks" to assist in the additional protein to get me closer to the 150g. Yesterday and today I did not notice any "off feeling" since I was making sure to add in the additional drinks withing my existing meals. I think that was what was doing it. I guess it took 6 weeks for my body to get really in tune with the IP diet to start giving me signs that it needed more protein.

I will make sure to adjust the protein amount as I continue to go downwards.
thanks,
JP.