how much protein should i consume daily?

[beef]

hi everyone,

pretty new to this site, use it more for eye candy and stories!!

I train on and off but always quit because of the slow results...i'm 5'10'' and weigh 75kg (thats a UK thing!!).

i was wondering if anyone can tell me how much protein i need to take to see some results, also whats a good protein. As you can tell i'm a veggie!!
i've been reading the posts on diet/nutrition - quite fascinating what some of you guys have to say.

well hopefully i've done this correct, hope to hear from someone soon.

[Buffling]

The range of acceptable numbers I hear is anywhere from 0.5g to 2g of protein for every pound of lean body mass (that's about 0.2g to 1g per kilogram). To prevent muscle wasting as a result of diet restrictions, I think you'll want to be somewhere above 1g per pound. I aim for 1 to 1.5g.

If we assume you're an average male -- about 15% body fat -- you've got about 63kg of lean body mass, which is 140 pounds, which means you should be getting at least 140g of protein per day. Do a little math and I think you'll find that this is a minimum 30% of calories. Serious bodybuilders may go as high as 50%, but the truth is that getting up to 30% is hard even if chicken breasts are your favorite food. I imagine that it can even be more difficult for vegetarians, but someone like Brent may have better advice in that department.

I'm a big fan of whey protein supplements to help with getting intake up to where it should be. There's some great-tasting stuff out there, and the cost-per-dose is about as low as you can get. Hopefully this meshes with your veggie diet (whey protein is derived from milk).

One big thing, though: your first problem is that you're only working out "on and off". Protein doesn't build muscle; lifting weights and then having protein in the body available for repair is what builds muscle. You need to commit to lifting the weights and sticking to it by setting small goals and achieving them -- sucking back protein, on its own, isn't going to help in that department. Once you get into a regular workout routine and get in the habit of fueling your body correctly (timing protein intake to match those times when your body needs it), you'll start to see some of the benefits of giving your body the building blocks it needs to respond to training.

I love a vegetarian with a user name like "beef". Heee.

[ethernet_jock]

Man... I've heard that 2g per lean lb. ratio quite a few times. To think... I used to actually try to achieve that!! Think of it, I weigh 250, so even if I have only 200lbs of lean body mass.... that's 400g of protein a day!

It's hard. On a good day I'm getting that 30% mark. I have found though that when I get 30% consistantly and when I'm training and sleeping consistantly, I make great gains. Any other time is slow or plateau-ish. Getting over 30% didn't seem to help much.

Every body is different in the end.

[wbhunk]

The 1 - 1.5g per pound of bodyweight seems to be fairly standard for how much you should get.

As a vegetarian, you also need to be concerned with the amino acid balances you're getting -- those of us on the carnivorous side of the path have it a bit easier, since animal protein already has the correct ratio for muscle. If you allow yourself eggs and milk, that makes life easier.

I also, like Buffling, love whey protein shakes....that's usually my second and fourth meal of the day, 'cause I can mix them up quickly at work and drink them down.

[brent]

Beef, my first question is what sort of vegetarian are you? Do you allow yourself milk & eggs, as I do? Do you like soy milk? It's a great source of protein, but many people don't like the taste, or the high fat content. If not there is also almond milk, oat milk, etc. I've even bought multigrain milk on occasion! However I love soy milk.

All of this pales in comparison to your lifting however. According to author Johm Mc Dougall, MD. , babies need more protein than anyone else. They are growing faster than you ever could at any other stage of your life (bodybuilders rarely double their lean body mass in a matter of months), yet breast milk is 5% protein. White rice is 6%. So, if you eat until you are satisfied, you probably get enough protein. I rarely even think about it; I just lift & grow! However, an hour before my workout, and right after, I do take a cheap amino-acid supplement. I think it's good to give your body a scatter-shot of what it might need when it needs the most (during & after your workout, and at bed time).

The main thing is to lift, lift heavy, and keep lifting. Bodybuilding takes time, & patients. Results show in months, not days. I think of it like reading a long book: if each page is a workout, then each time you flip a page, you don't notice much difference, but after a while, you look at the stack of pages read, and go "Wow! I am making progress!" Just keep reading your book, and enjoy your story. The time it takes can be either frustrating, or an adventure.

Please fell free to chat with me on Yahoo (just tell me that you are Beef on MGS) and click on my Y! icon. Also, according to may math, 75 Kg. is aprox. 165 pounds, which is where I started a long time ago. If I had stuck with it then, I would have been HUGE nearly 10 years ago.

[Marco_ukmus]

Hi All,

I read somewhere that you should take a gram of protein per pound of desired weight. Thus if you weighed say 150lbs and you want to be 160lbs, then you just take at least 160g per day. Not sure how true this is, but anyway, i thought i share it.

Marc

[alfiealvins]

The recommended amount of protein for a healthy adult is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. Since a kilogram is approximately equal to 2.2 pounds, which translates into 0.36 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

[igrahampricee]

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[Stoneman]

Okay. SO. If you're only taking in between 1 and 1.5 g protein per pound every day, and you're needing to eat around 21 calories per pound to gain weight, that's max 28.5% calories coming from protein, and that's eating 1.5 g per pound.

1. Is that okay? Such a low percentage?

2. As my diet works out, I'm getting so much protein from milk and whey and even rice and oats, that I'm only able to eat like 2 ounces of poultry per meal. Should I be concerned? Should I discount protein in my calorie counting from non-meat things? I'm going to try to replace the whey in my morning shake with egg-whites, just to get more protein from animal sources.

3. What about the rest of those calories? Do those just come from primarily carbs and a little from fats? Should I be worried about all those carbs?

[Stoneman]

Oh, also, should I be stressing out about getting 20-40 g protein every meal, or would it be okay if I combined some of those 2 oz into an actual portion every few meals?