How do you eat enough protein without feeling disgustingly full be the end of the day?

@amalthea333 Protein is over-rated. I followed the 1 gram per pound rule, and after a few weeks began showing signs of excess protein consumption - like constantly waking up to go to the bathroom. Not to mention being hungry all the time because of a pretty much orthorexic need to have "perfect" macros. Ask yourself if your current diet is sustainable for the rest of your life.

The people telling you to eat high protein diets are generally from the fitness world, who sell supplements, take steroids, and meticulously orchestrate their photos, to the point of water cutting, makeup, lighting and photoshop. They understand just enough about nutrition to cherry pick things that support claims you need huge amounts of protein, but 99% of them say you need a high protein diet because they heard it from other fitness influencers, who get sponsorships from protein supplement companies. They haven't done long term research, like "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell (who says 10% of your calories from protein is fine).

If you look at actual medical recommendations, for long term health and sustainability, protein requirements are so much lower that the nonsense spouted by gym-bro's. Not only that, but losing weight on a high protein diet doesn't have the metabolic benefits of losing weight on a healthy plant based diet, because your body doesn't adapt to become more sensitive to insulin because you've been manipulating your diet to have crazy amounts of protein and fat.

I'm just some guy on the internet so rather than take my advice, just walk into any gym and take a look around at the people chugging protein shakes. Puffy, bloated, and not at all looking like the Instagram influencers who's advice they follow.

Read "Protetinaholic" by Dr Garth Davis, or "The Starch Solution" by Dr John McDougall. But mostly don't let food become a source of anxiety for you! You'll reach your goals, part of it is finding the way to do it that is easiest to stick to (this is why I'm a big fan of the starch solution - oats, rice, and pasta? Count me in!)
 
@foreverbounds I eat 150 g of protein/day (108 kg BW) and still get ~200 g of carb (mostly starch). I find having >100 g of protein makes life a lot more pleasant for me than when I was probably getting 80% of my calories from carbs (primarily starch). Protein is so much more satiating to me than just carbs, so this feels more sustainable than when I was following a Starch Solution type diet. Everyone's so different and needs to figure out what works for them.
 
@pamcaid That is significantly less protein than conventional gym-bro recommendations. By the 1 lbs per gram logic, you would be eating 238 grams a day. So there's no way this 5'2" female poster should be eating as much protein as you as someone who's 108kg. OP, lower your protein!
 
@foreverbounds I’m going to aim for 40-60g per day now. 80-90g might be necessary like 6-12 months from now when I’ll have increased my exercise level significantly, but at my current exercise level, I don’t think I could reasonably sustain this much daily protein without making myself feel sick every single day.
 
@foreverbounds If OP were weight training and trying to build muscle, 1.6g of protein per her 65kg BW - 105g of protein would not be unreasonable. But if she’s not that active and not trying to build muscle, then getting that much is unnecessary.

I’m weight training 3x/week and trying to cut fat and build muscle during my novice phase (worst case retain as much lean mass as possible), so I’m targeting 1.6g/kg of my goal weight which probably works out to be about 1g/lb of my lean mass.

But I agree that OP may not need as much as she originally thought. I think 60g is a good target for her.
 
@foreverbounds the china study is pretty wildly regarded as cherry picking at its finest though, along with the other things you cited. @op, definitely do your research, listen to your body, and arrive at any personal conclusions that make you comfortable and make sense for you
 
@dawn16 Yeah, I’m new to tracking macros. Lol I was seeing people recommending 150g, which seemed hilariously ridiculous. I’m going to drop it to around 50-60g per day and see how I do.
 
@amalthea333 You could easily and safely cut 20g protein from that, with your size and activity level.
Check some reputable sources. They will tell you slightly different things, but the general (scientific) consensus is, that 1g protein per kilogram bodyweight is more than sufficient, for everyone who doesn't lift very heavy very often. And you do not do that.
 
@amalthea333 It depends on your goals. 1g per kg of bodyweight won’t be enough if you are trying to gain size and muscle!

What you’re on now is fine but not optimal for muscle and strength building. But of course, there is more to life than gym optimisation!

For people attempting to gain muscle mass most recommendations are 1.6-2.2g per kg of bodyweight.
 
@dawn16 I’m currently overweight by about 10lbs, and would like to get into the middle of my normal weight range, but also put on some muscle. I’m pretty weak at the moment in general from a lot of time in bed the last few years from autoimmune issues and POTS. Definitely packing more fat than muscle by a good amount. So my goal really is to become more fit and able-bodied to help with general health, gain some muscle, and lose some fat.
 
@amalthea333 In that case what you’re currently doing seems fine - I wouldn’t cut protein much more esp because it does have a good satiety effect compared to fats and carbs.

Honestly, if you’re losing weight and feeling full, you should be overjoyed!!!
 
@dawn16 2lbs down so far (woo!), and still super full from dinner more than 3 hours after eating. 😂 I want to eventually reach a point of being able to run at least a 5k distance 3-4 times per week. I think the 80-90g protein will be totally great by then, because I’ll be burning a lot more calories, but going down to 60g for the next several weeks sounds much more sustainable. Lol
 
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