My husband and I are going to make the switch from bodypump to doing NRFL (Supercharged).
I have read almost all of their books and I read other things and everything says that if I want to build muscle, I need more protein.
Right now, on a 1400-1500 calorie diet I get about 65 grams of protein a day. Under 100 net carbs a day and the rest fat calories (mostly from nuts/olive oil).
According to the book, I should get minimally the amount of protein that equals the weight I want to attain. Let's say that weight is 150 (it's not the weight I'm shooting for, but it's probably the leanest I could get with serious, serious effort).
That would mean at minimum I would need to get 150 grams of protein a day. HOW???
I cannot stomach much protein in the morning. The protein shake or the protein bars are it - I cannot handle meat or eggs. Like, I feel like I'm going to vomit if I try (and I've tried).
I don't handle dairy well (as a baby I was taken off milk at 3 months have had a life long distaste for milky things. I know longer get sick from it in small quantities, but I can't stomach things that taste like milk). So, while I can eat yogurt in a protein shake, or cheese sticks, or milk in coffee. I cannot stomach cottage cheese - as much as I would like to. I can if it's baked in something, but not plain.
I do use whey protein powder and maybe I should switch to another that is higher protein and lower fat to up the protein intake, but it will have to taste good and NOT like milk for me to stomach it (Right now I use muscle milk which is 15 grams of protein per scoop and 150 calories).
Then we come to meats. I like meat fine enough, but the amount of meat I would need to eat would be insane!
I like nuts, but they are also high fat/high calorie. I eat 3 tablespoons of peanut butter every day, but it's not enough protein.
Just HOW do I do it? According to the books, I'm wasting a workout if I'm not feeding my muscles more protein.
I want to, but I feel like I'm beating my head against the wall.
Maybe just bump it up by 10-20 grams a day for a week at a time.
If you don't like meat or eggs, you will have a harder time with it. You could try tofu, and decide if consuming that much soy makes you comfortable.
i checked my food trackers to see what I eat for protein, I had a day where I had 122 grams: that was mostly from 1 cup of milk at breakfast and 4 oz of steak, 3 oz of ground lamb and 1/2 cup yogurt at lunch, 6 oz of pulled pork at dinner. The rest of it came from whole wheat bread and brown rice.
It didn't feel like an insane amount of meat, but I really like meat.
maybe just add an ounce or 2 to each serving of meat you currently eat now..
Like the above poster, I get at least 100 grams a day without trying. Meat, seafood, poultry at lunch and dinner, Eggbeaters for breakfast with 2 oz. canadian bacon, greek yogurt has more protein than that whimpy whey powder you are using. You'd be better off eating the actual peanuts than peanut butter. For snacks I have fruit or veggies with a string cheese or HB egg. If you can't do cow's milk, there is soy milk and there is also lactase and goat's milk. Quinoa has 10 g of protein per serving, and other whole grains have a lot of protein, too. Goggle high protein foods and you'll be surprised at what comes up on that list.
I eat between 60g to 100g protein per day, 100g is the rarer case but I don't follow the NRFL guidelines. I've built muscle, increased strength, etc on my range so it works for me. You could try bumping yours up if you like but I don't think it is necessary.
I am doing the NRoL Supercharged with my DH. We both have aches/pains/physical limitations/health concerns. But that's no longer an excuse to stop us! We started on January 1st at Basic Training phase I, Level One and are now in BT Phase III. I eat a MINIMUM of 150 grams of protein a day. About 150-160carbs and the rest fat for a total of 1550ish calories. I eat a few more carbs on workout days. Oh - and I've not lost any muscle since we started, either. I even gained a wee bit of muscle(first time lifter) but after this fat is gone that will change since I plan to eat a surplus of calories to build more muscle! Started at 170, 117.0 lean with 31.2% bf, and now down to 153, 118.3 lean, 23.1%bf. So it must be working!
My hubs gets 200g of protein a day. And I can't have more than 1500 mg of sodium...cheeses are pretty much out(swiss, fresh moz are okay). I'm okay with milk and greek yogurt, though.
It can be done. I don't put food into my mouth unless it has a balance of protein, fat and carbs. This morning I made protein pancakes for hubby with egg whites, oat bran, a little milk and protein powder, topped with fresh blueberries/unsweetened applesauce (we don't do artificial sweeteners,either). Egg whites are your friend! I have another recipe that uses cottage cheese, oats, egg whites. You don't taste the cottage cheese. Promise. I can't eat it - sodium - but hubs loves them. I have tons and tons of recipes - you can even put a scoop of banana protein in greek yogurt and it tastes like banana pudding! Let me know if you want some recipes. I even have one for banana bread, sweet potato bread, protein muffins. I've actually found protein tortillas with low sodium, too! Lots of options!
Like the above poster, I get at least 100 grams a day without trying. Meat, seafood, poultry at lunch and dinner, Eggbeaters for breakfast with 2 oz. canadian bacon, greek yogurt has more protein than that whimpy whey powder you are using. You'd be better off eating the actual peanuts than peanut butter. For snacks I have fruit or veggies with a string cheese or HB egg. If you can't do cow's milk, there is soy milk and there is also lactase and goat's milk. Quinoa has 10 g of protein per serving, and other whole grains have a lot of protein, too. Goggle high protein foods and you'll be surprised at what comes up on that list.
Did you read what I said? I cannot stomach meats and eggs for breakfast unless it's a very late breakfast, like a brunch. And I cannot stomach anything that tastes like milk. I probably had an allergy as a baby (can you imagine a baby on no milk???? Of any kind?). I cannot stomach anything that tastes like milk. Think major gag reflex. Even some protein powders are no go because of it.
And from what I know, natural peanut butter is no different than peanuts. I even grind my own. Nothing is added or taken out.
Can't eat seafood either. I do eat quinoa. Just made some last night. But I probably need to add more meat since dairy is super iffy.
I get between 125 to 160 grams of protein per day without supplementing. I eat a lot of dairy, eggs, and animal protein. I cannot imagine having iffy dairy issues and trying to bump up my protein. Definitely give meat a try as that will significantly raise your protein.
I'd aim for at least 100 grams per day, even if it takes a few weeks to get to that level. It was only when I made protein a priority did I start to really lean out and see some decent muscle definition.
If I'm reading correctly, you can tolerate eggs and meats after a certain time? Could you switch meals around and have a big old omelet for dinner? Also, for clarification, do your dairy issues include hard cheeses? That might be another option.
What about edamame? That's got at least some protein. Tofu, as someone mentioned?
I regularly get around 100 grams of protein a day, but that's with eggs, chicken, Greek yogurt, etc. You've got me stumped. Good luck!
I found this article that says it's 1 gr for every pound of lean body mass, not every pound.
Quote:
Sports nutritionist Cassandra Forsythe, Ph.D., co-author of The New Rules of Lifting for Women, recommends that you eat one gram of protein for every pound of your body weight that does not come from fat. For instance, a 140-pound woman whose body fat is 25 percent would need 105 grams of high-quality protein.
So I think you may be overestimating the number of protein grams you should try to eat.
Also, I think that you have to decide if your focus is the weight lifting or losing weight. You may need to up your calories and stop worrying about the scale and just focus on the program. If you get the body you want to have at the end, it shouldn't matter what the scale says. (I know, easy for me to say! lol!)
But as for the specific foods, I think it's going to be tough given your food preferences. Maybe it would be worth it to find a nutritionist familiar with serious weight training and work with them to come up with a sample menu?
From what you're describing as your food preferences... it sounds like the only way for you to hit that target is by finding a protein powder that you can stomach... that being said, personally I would be careful adding that much protein to your diet because it sounds like you still want to lose more weight... but then again I'm probably a bit biased since I believe in a more moderate approach to protein consumption... even for most weight lifters....
Last edited by TripSwitch; 03-09-2013 at 01:59 PM.
If I'm reading correctly, you can tolerate eggs and meats after a certain time? Could you switch meals around and have a big old omelet for dinner? Also, for clarification, do your dairy issues include hard cheeses? That might be another option.
What about edamame? That's got at least some protein. Tofu, as someone mentioned?
I regularly get around 100 grams of protein a day, but that's with eggs, chicken, Greek yogurt, etc. You've got me stumped. Good luck!
Dinner is where I get a lot of my protein already. I might need to give up my apple and peanut butter lunch (Wah!!!) to get something more protein rich as nuts just don't cut it.
I wish I truly didn't have issues stomaching proteins. I seriously gag. Yesterday i tried to eat a Croatian cheese and egg dish and after three bites I had to stop. Even had to spit out the mouthful that was in my mouth because I knew if I tried to swallow it, I would vomit. Why is that????
So I think you may be overestimating the number of protein grams you should try to eat.
Also, I think that you have to decide if your focus is the weight lifting or losing weight. You may need to up your calories and stop worrying about the scale and just focus on the program. If you get the body you want to have at the end, it shouldn't matter what the scale says. (I know, easy for me to say! lol!)
But as for the specific foods, I think it's going to be tough given your food preferences. Maybe it would be worth it to find a nutritionist familiar with serious weight training and work with them to come up with a sample menu?
I am not weighing myself for 3 months. The scale doesn't matter to me - body composition does. I'll never, ever by a light weight/feather weight since I'm build large, but I do want to get rid of the fat and change it to muscle and to do that, I need more protein than I'm getting.
I get between 125 to 160 grams of protein per day without supplementing. I eat a lot of dairy, eggs, and animal protein. I cannot imagine having iffy dairy issues and trying to bump up my protein. Definitely give meat a try as that will significantly raise your protein.
I'd aim for at least 100 grams per day, even if it takes a few weeks to get to that level. It was only when I made protein a priority did I start to really lean out and see some decent muscle definition.
Hope that helps. Good luck.
But how do you combine it? I feel like I eat a lot of protein now, but obviously I don't.
I think aiming for 100g to start sounds like a good idea... that's around what I shoot for and although my BF% is not exactly where I would like it... I have pretty good muscle definition...
I usually have around 6 to 8oz of lean protein with my two main meals a day, usually as part of two really big salads... plus I'll usually have either some eggs or maybe some cottage cheese at some other point during my eating "window"...
So basically something like grilled chicken breast, flank steak or seared Ahi tuna over a big salad... this way I get the protein I need and I can still keep carbs low... and you could still have your apple, but maybe with just a little bit less PB... actually, I'm a big fan of apple with almond butter lately... It's definitely one my "go to" treats... hope this helps...
HOW am I supposed to consume that much protein?
