Hitting daily protein intake

[Sergio07]

Hi all, I want to know how can one make sure of hitting the daily protein intake without counting calories, im kinda tired of counting and want to stop for some time and see how it goes, however my two concern are:
1. I don't hit my daily protein goal (1gr/KB of BW)
And
2. I don't hit my calorie goal, but this can be easily fixed while using the scale and bodyweight trend.
Any recommendation would be appreciated, thanks.

[Wilhelm]

I always count/chart. But i also eat the same things all the time, with just variations of how i mix them up.

You could establish a list of meals, count calories and macros once for reference, then just eat those same meals without needing to count.

Keep an index card with the numbers to keep you in the ranges you want.

[Sergio07]

I always count/chart. But i also eat the same things all the time, with just variations of how i mix them up.

You could establish a list of meals, count calories and macros once for reference, then just eat those same meals without needing to count.

Keep an index card with the numbers to keep you in the ranges you want.

That's an option since I do eat fairly similar everyday, but sometimes I like to mix things up, or go out and eat and that's when I start to worry about hitting my protein intake unless I count calories, it's mostly when going out to eat actually

[Wilhelm]

iirc, you are trying to gain.
Seems like you could develop a feel for what you eat at home, and then just eat well when you go out.
Basically overshoot and not worry about the exact numbers.
If you were trying to lose is when this might not work very well at all.

I imagine there are people here who actually have approaches they use that work.
I'm just speculating, since i count all the time.

[BostonRugger]

It's just a question of how comfortable you are with estimates and inexact measurement. You can come up with a number of ways to estimate intake and land reasonably close to your goal.

The problem is when you're balancing priorities like you mention. That's when your margins for error get smaller and you're less likely to get the desired result without more exact tracking/measurement.

If it works for your current goals or you just can't deal with tracking every bite of food any more, learn to estimate protein based on source and portion size. I sometimes think in terms protein "units," which is something like 4oz leat meat, 4 eggs, 3 cups milk (all around 22-24g). This approach has worked well enough for me in the past, but my best results have come from sucking it up and tracking all the food.


Edit: Wilhelm says you're gaining? The protein "units" thing should work fine. Between that and the scale, you'd be ok.

[Sergio07]

It's just a question of how comfortable you are with estimates and inexact measurement. You can come up with a number of ways to estimate intake and land reasonably close to your goal.

The problem is when you're balancing priorities like you mention. That's when your margins for error get smaller and you're less likely to get the desired result without more exact tracking/measurement.

If it works for your current goals or you just can't deal with tracking every bite of food any more, learn to estimate protein based on source and portion size. I sometimes think in terms protein "units," which is something like 4oz leat meat, 4 eggs, 3 cups milk (all around 22-24g). This approach has worked well enough for me in the past, but my best results have come from sucking it up and tracking all the food.


Edit: Wilhelm says you're gaining? The protein "units" thing should work fine. Between that and the scale, you'd be ok.

iirc, you are trying to gain.
Seems like you could develop a feel for what you eat at home, and then just eat well when you go out.
Basically overshoot and not worry about the exact numbers.
If you were trying to lose is when this might not work very well at all.

I imagine there are people here who actually have approaches they use that work.
I'm just speculating, since i count all the time.

Thanks both, I feel that if I'm not trying to loose weight, my goal is the opposite, I don't need to be that strict and precise as I am right now, I want to try to go more intuitive and looking on the long term I really don't want to track all my life, maybe just in the periods where I'm loosing body fat.

[GlasgowJock]

That Australianstrengthcoach done a piece yesterday on his nutrition on instagram. He's pretty much broad strokes not obsessing over each calorie, which I agree with ("getting diet right 95% of the time", not bursting in to tears because you ate a piece of chocolate or had a beer).

If you're eating the same few meals week in week out it's fairly easy tbh (my three staples are tuna mayo pasta, cheesy scrambled eggs on toast and a Huel/ myprotein shake).

Augment your meals with full fat milk protein shakes.

[BigDave]

My approach is to try to hit 50g protein at each meal (4x per day) and then titrate overall food consumption by bodyweight change. Especially easy if you eat similar things each day — just need to figure out about how much meat/whey/etc constitutes 50 g (eg about a fist and a half of chicken for me)

If you get 50g of protein you can be pretty confident you’ve maxed out muscle protein synthesis response for a meal and if your weight is slowly trending in the right direction, you can feel good that calories are about right.

[Sergio07]

That Australianstrengthcoach done a piece yesterday on his nutrition on instagram. He's pretty much broad strokes not obsessing over each calorie, which I agree with ("getting diet right 95% of the time", not bursting in to tears because you ate a piece of chocolate or had a beer).

If you're eating the same few meals week in week out it's fairly easy tbh (my three staples are tuna mayo pasta, cheesy scrambled eggs on toast and a Huel/ myprotein shake).

Augment your meals with full fat milk protein shakes.

I'll take a look at that post thank you, but I think what I am going to do is to be less rigid, it's like I don't have problem with counting calories and all of that but I do look on the long term and I wouldn't like to track for the rest of my life. Mostly I eat the same breakfast and dinner it's a rotation of a few meals (salmon/tuna pasta, beans, sandwiches) that contain fairly similar protein contents.

My approach is to try to hit 50g protein at each meal (4x per day) and then titrate overall food consumption by bodyweight change. Especially easy if you eat similar things each day — just need to figure out about how much meat/whey/etc constitutes 50 g (eg about a fist and a half of chicken for me)

If you get 50g of protein you can be pretty confident you’ve maxed out muscle protein synthesis response for a meal and if your weight is slowly trending in the right direction, you can feel good that calories are about right.

I think that I'll try to do something similar as you say as time goes by, I'll try to hit 3 meals with around 35-45gr of protein and shake in between one meal. Thanks man

[DCM]

As a side note, I'm experimenting over the next month or two with eating LESS protein during my current maintenance phase. I used to shoot for 180g-200g a day, whereas I am currently getting 100g-150g a day. I have increased fats and carbs accordingly to meet my calorie requirements (still tracking everything with MyFitnessPal). I would find it incredibly liberating to be able to maintain/build strength and muscle without always having to eat so much protein each day.

[Ragholmes]

I think what I am going to do is to be less rigid, it's like I don't have problem with counting calories and all of that but I do look on the long term and I wouldn't like to track for the rest of my life.

After you've been tracking for a while it starts to become intuitive, especially if you eat similar things most of the time. You can glance at a meal and just know the numbers. Keep tracking for now, and soon enough you'll be doing it in your head without even thinking about it too much.

[Sergio07]

I think what I am going to do is to be less rigid, it's like I don't have problem with counting calories and all of that but I do look on the long term and I wouldn't like to track for the rest of my life.

After you've been tracking for a while it starts to become intuitive, especially if you eat similar things most of the time. You can glance at a meal and just know the numbers. Keep tracking for now, and soon enough you'll be doing it in your head without even thinking about it too much.

I think that I'm at that point now, I can see a plate and try to guesstimate the calories, aaaand maybe macros, it's pretty intuitive as you say however I still have some type of logging app to make sure I'm getting the calories in, that's what I wanted to stay away and learn to do it even more intuitive. The problem is that I feel that if I try to do it without logging I may fail to get enough protein/calories for the day

[broseph]

As a side note, I'm experimenting over the next month or two with eating LESS protein during my current maintenance phase. I used to shoot for 180g-200g a day, whereas I am currently getting 100g-150g a day. I have increased fats and carbs accordingly to meet my calorie requirements (still tracking everything with MyFitnessPal). I would find it incredibly liberating to be able to maintain/build strength and muscle without always having to eat so much protein each day.

In on updates to this method. Especially during maintenance phases where you're not losing weight but you're also not gaining strength... Makes it hard to stay motivated to keep eating so much protein.

[DCM]

As a side note, I'm experimenting over the next month or two with eating LESS protein during my current maintenance phase. I used to shoot for 180g-200g a day, whereas I am currently getting 100g-150g a day. I have increased fats and carbs accordingly to meet my calorie requirements (still tracking everything with MyFitnessPal). I would find it incredibly liberating to be able to maintain/build strength and muscle without always having to eat so much protein each day.

In on updates to this method. Especially during maintenance phases where you're not losing weight but you're also not gaining strength... Makes it hard to stay motivated to keep eating so much protein.

I will keep you posted. I may even try a calorie surplus later in the year while still only eating 100-150g of protein - maybe the whole "1g of protein per pound of bodyweight" thing is overblown and you can make gains just fine without it. I've never tried and am willing to experiment.

[Sergio07]

As a side note, I'm experimenting over the next month or two with eating LESS protein during my current maintenance phase. I used to shoot for 180g-200g a day, whereas I am currently getting 100g-150g a day. I have increased fats and carbs accordingly to meet my calorie requirements (still tracking everything with MyFitnessPal). I would find it incredibly liberating to be able to maintain/build strength and muscle without always having to eat so much protein each day.

In on updates to this method. Especially during maintenance phases where you're not losing weight but you're also not gaining strength... Makes it hard to stay motivated to keep eating so much protein.

I will keep you posted. I may even try a calorie surplus later in the year while still only eating 100-150g of protein - maybe the whole "1g of protein per pound of bodyweight" thing is overblown and you can make gains just fine without it. I've never tried and am willing to experiment.

I recently saw a post where Jordan says that getting at least 1.6gr per KG of bodyweight is enough to maintain and even get stronger.

[DCM]

Well I'm not going to argue with Jordan, he is waaaaaay stronger and more knowledgeable than me. I just know I don't care enough about lifting to pound down 300g of protein a day.

[cgeorg]

As a side note, I'm experimenting over the next month or two with eating LESS protein during my current maintenance phase. I used to shoot for 180g-200g a day, whereas I am currently getting 100g-150g a day. I have increased fats and carbs accordingly to meet my calorie requirements (still tracking everything with MyFitnessPal). I would find it incredibly liberating to be able to maintain/build strength and muscle without always having to eat so much protein each day.

In on updates to this method. Especially during maintenance phases where you're not losing weight but you're also not gaining strength... Makes it hard to stay motivated to keep eating so much protein.

I will keep you posted. I may even try a calorie surplus later in the year while still only eating 100-150g of protein - maybe the whole "1g of protein per pound of bodyweight" thing is overblown and you can make gains just fine without it. I've never tried and am willing to experiment.

I recently saw a post where Jordan says that getting at least 1.6gr per lb of bodyweight is enough to maintain and even get stronger.

per lb or per kg?

[Sergio07]

As a side note, I'm experimenting over the next month or two with eating LESS protein during my current maintenance phase. I used to shoot for 180g-200g a day, whereas I am currently getting 100g-150g a day. I have increased fats and carbs accordingly to meet my calorie requirements (still tracking everything with MyFitnessPal). I would find it incredibly liberating to be able to maintain/build strength and muscle without always having to eat so much protein each day.

In on updates to this method. Especially during maintenance phases where you're not losing weight but you're also not gaining strength... Makes it hard to stay motivated to keep eating so much protein.

I will keep you posted. I may even try a calorie surplus later in the year while still only eating 100-150g of protein - maybe the whole "1g of protein per pound of bodyweight" thing is overblown and you can make gains just fine without it. I've never tried and am willing to experiment.

I recently saw a post where Jordan says that getting at least 1.6gr per lb of bodyweight is enough to maintain and even get stronger.

per lb or per kg?

Per KG sorry!!

[DCM]

Aaah that explains it

[Wilhelm]

Yeah. Very slightly less than the .8 grams per lb BW often cited.

.8 to 1 gram per lb BW is a very common recommendation for building muscle.