Need protein intake help!

[makssiful]

I've been going with the 0.8g of protein per ideal body weight (115lb) but these 92g takes up most of my caloric bank. I'm wondering if bringing it down to 80g (0.7g per ideal body weight) will totally ruin my goals.

Goals:
- Lose 5-10 pounds* to hover between 115lb-119lb (natural fluctuations)
- I'm okay if I way more than 119lb if it's mainly due to muscle but I'm not trying to look bulky, just "fit" with some muscle definition. Example

Current Stats
- Height: 5'2"
- Weight: 125lb
- Lift weights 2-3x a week ~30min.
- Spin bike ~30min 2-3x a week.
- 7,500 minimum steps daily
- Caloric bank is around 1k (low because I don't fully follow it Sat/Sundays)

Thoughts? Thank you!

 

[rbarnes]

@makssiful I'm the same height, weight, and activity level as you. I have a higher daily cal intake (1300), but keep it steady every day so maybe we have the same weekly intake?

In any case, I typically hit around 115g protein daily without trouble. Are the proteins you're eating too high cal? I try to stick to lower cal proteins so I eat a mix of shrimp, chicken breast, no sugar added peanut butter, eggs, kefir, canned fish, and Greek yogurt (not all of these every day, this is just to give a sense of the types of protein I eat). I also do 1 scoop of whey protein powder a day.

I would think you'd want to stick to the higher protein amount. If it's taking up too much of your daily cal intake, maybe finding lower cal proteins will help?

 

[lostinlove]

@rbarnes Seconding these suggestions! The only meat I eat is fish, but I'm meeting my protein goals with a mix of canned fish, greek yogurt + protein powder, low fat cottage cheese, eggs, beans.

 

[makssiful]

@lostinlove how low fat is your cottage cheese? I think I'm eating 4% cause that's what Costco has in bulk lol

 

[lostinlove]

@makssiful I think mine is 3 or 4%? (Just ran out and already recycled the container)

 

[makssiful]

@rbarnes Thank you! You're right- we align well given a week's perspective. How's your fiber/potassium intake? Do you eat all day or intermittent fast? Since I typically eat noon to 7:30pm ish I often feel quite full from the 90g of protein but still crave that cookie lol.

I guess I should have updated my daily caloric intake based on my activity level. I'll burn between 150-250kcal depending on the workout which can bring my caloric ceiling to 1100-1300kcal.

I mainly do protein powder, egg whites, cottage cheese, and greek yogurt. I include greek yogurt pretty much daily because I love sweets so I use it as my sweet treat (adding blueberries, vanilla protein powder, stevia sugar, vanilla extract.) Even then I may still crave a cookie (working on reducing my sweet intake).

I'm using cronometer which calculates a 500kcal deficit.

 

[rbarnes]

@makssiful I eat all day which usually starts around 7am with a cup of tea and ends around 7:30-8pm with dessert (fruit). I do ok with fiber and potassium. Checking logs it's been ~100% the last few days tho my average is 40% - I guess I should keep an eye on that!

To answer your other question, shrimp is expensive and definitely not a daily thing! At my grocery store it's a little less than $9/lb for fresh, frozen is like $6/lb. I'll have between 25-50g for a serving usually along with some other protein. So I think a lb comes out to like 10-15 or so servings, and you get something like 70cal 10g protein? I eat it with a little lime and tajin so there's no cal from added butter/oil/sauce.

I was reading a post recently about cravings coming from not enough fat. I realize this is contradictory to what I said earlier about low cal, but how is your fat intake? I really love apples with peanut butter (also good for fiber!). I also sometimes add a bit of olive oil to my 0% cottage cheese/yogurt. I don't know how that compares to just getting full fat versions - I think it's lower cal but I'm not sure about other nutritional trade offs. I already had 0% versions and noticed my fat was low so started doing this from time to time

I'm not an expert or nutritionist though! This is just what has been working for me

 

[makssiful]

@rbarnes Hmm I never thought about my fat intake impacting cravings. I'll look into it. Nice tip on the tajin/lime shrimp combo!

Thanks for the thoughtful reply! You gave me a few things to think about.

 

[makssiful]

@rbarnes Also...where are you getting affordable shrimp? Frozen? Fresh? I went shopping for some last year and thought the price was big and never looked at them again lol. But could have been a season thing.