Does anyone know what the reccomended protein intake is for women who are trying to lose weight/gain muscle? I tried looking it up online but got alot of different answers (one body building website said 234 which sounds too much another said 40 was fine) If you don't know what the reccomended amount it then how much do you take in daily. Thanks
The amount depends on your unique circumstances. Your height, age, weight, total calorie intake.
It's difficult to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time. You have to focus more on losing the weight before focusing on gaining the muscle. I prefer to think of it as losing fat while losing as little muscle as possible.
One way to calculate is to use percentages. If you decide to go with, for example, 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat in a 2000 calorie diet, then the breakdown would be this... 250 gm carbs, 150 gm protein, 44 gm fat per day.
Also important is the quality of the food you take in. Another issue is the timing of the intake- pre and post workout, spacing of meals.
Play around with different amounts to see what you feel best with.
Chrissy, a bunch of us are reading an ebook by Tom Venuto called Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. He gives a few different examples and why they are different for different folks.
Chrissy, are you a newcomer to weightlifting? If so, you have about a 4-6 month golden period where you can lose weight and gain muscle.
You'll get a zillion answers on this question, as you've already found out. A lot of it depends on your body. When I first started lifting heavy, I ate 40/40/20 (P/C/F). I find that I feel a lot better if my ratios are more like 45/35/20. Somedays my protein intake is as high as 50%.
For building muscle, as Northernbelle mentioned, it's really important to look at the sources of your food and the timing. Try to eat small, frequent meals of lean protein, lots of fresh vegetables, and whole grain complex carbs.
Chrissy,
Bodybuilders tend to swear by extreme levels of protein consumption, and maybe it does make a difference when you are a very advanced bodybuilder, but I don't think you need all that much protein.
I am aiming for 1 gram protein per Kilogram bodyweight (of my goal bodyweight), which should be plenty of protein, although a lot of lifters swear by 1 gram per POUND of bodyweight. Anyway, it wouldn't hurt for you to get more than 40g of protein per day, but i doubt your body will be doing anything positive with more than 100 g in a day.
How much protein is in a pound of muscle? 125 grams? I would be happy to gain a tenth of a pound of muscle in a day, and it doesn't take much of a protein surplus to build that.
Good point Mel brought up about how you may feel better at a certain % protein. Don't fixate on forcing down huge amounts of protein.
Thanks for the answers. I have been getting an average of 70 protein grams a day and I started drinking 1 protein shake after my workouts (26 grams in that) to get more.
I have not counted my carbs I will start doing that. My fat range this past week was 25 grams avg. and my protein was 98 grams avg.
Chrissy
p.s Northern Belle my 5 yr old is laughing at the smiley in your post falling off the tredmill
Question about Protein
