I've been tracking my nutritional information each day and I am always way over on my protein. Is this bad???

Thanks so much!
Becky

Hi Becky!
Way over what? Can you tell us a bit about what you've been tracking it with and how much protein you've been eating? I generally eat about 150g/protein a day -- been doing it for three years now.

With a little more info, I bet you can get a lot of answers!

Hi Meg, thanks for responding.

I track what I eat using Spark People. It keeps track of my calories, fat, carbs, and protein. According to the website to lose weight I am supposed to have between: 1200 and 1550 Calories, 40-52 grams of fat, 165-213 grams of carbs, and 45-58 grams of protein per day. Each day I a have almost 70 or 80 grams of protein. Is this bad????

Thanks so much!!
Becky

Those numbers seem strange. Actually, I'd say the amount of protein you're getting is too low.

Becky -- you're going to see lots of different diets with different ratios of protein, carbs, and fats. It can make you sometimes!

What your numbers break down to is a diet of 15% protein/55% carbs/and 30% fat (often you'll see it abbreviated like this: 15/55/30). That seems a little different to me but, like I said, there's all kinds of diets out there. Just as a contrast, the Zone Diet is 30/40/30 and Body For Life (BFL) is 40/40/20. I'm sure what StarPrincess eats looks different too.

I lost and have maintained my weight on (approximately) a 45/25/30 diet. It works out to about 150g protein/day -- about three times what's called for in your plan (oh, and I'm ridiculously healthy ).

In my experience, 15% protein is very low for weight loss, especially if you're exercising (and you should be, both cardio and weights!) Protein helps to repair and grow muscles and also helps to keep you fuller for a longer time. Many of us don't lose well with a lot of carbs, especially processed carbs (you know, the "white stuff" like sugar, flour, potatoes, bread, pasta etc).

Only you are going to be able to figure out what diet works best for you. It has to be one that you can live with for the rest of your life AND that your body responds to by dumping the fat. If 15% protein works for you, go for it! But it sounds like you like to eat much more protein than that. So perhaps you need to consider a different plan that allows you to eat the protein that you want. Don't worry -- there are lots and lots of plans out there that are much higher in protein than what you're doing now!

Hope that helps!

Oh Meg! Your picture is SO inspiring!!