Am i eating enough protein for my muscles?

I just would like someone to advise if im doin OK need to eat more or less if poss?

My foods are all logged in my journal and exercise-wise im doing 3 times a week weights at the gym, kickboxing once a week, running 3 times a week, resistance 3 times a week.  thats in my journal too but clearer, i got a two week programme thing ive invented and seems to be working?

Any help would be appreciated.  I try to have a protein of some sort with every meal but then sometimes i think i eat too little and some days i think ive not had enough....i know you need it for your muscles etc.

thanks  xx

How many grams of protein are you eating per day, and what's your body weight?

If you are getting a sufficient amount of calories you are getting enough protein, especially if you eat meat. dairy or eggs. You have to work hard to be protein deficient. 

20-40% of you total daily calories should come in the form of protein.

dont count my protein?

im 186lbs at present....eeek! lol

i eat lots of chicken and cheese and ham really are my main.  Ive incorporated more seeds and nuts too and the odd tbsp of peanut butter.

i have cereal for brkfst or toast with egg etc and chicken/cheese with veg or salad, sometimes ham or tuna salad and sometimes salmon and veg and ocassionally homemade bolognese and cottage pie etc.

So pretty much every meal has protein with it.

This sound like enough or too much?  thank you :0)

If you log your food with CC, you can look at the analysis page and find out how many grams of protein your are getting -- as well as a lot of other info. 

There are lots of different recommendations out there, but I have heard that dieters (especially those who exercise) should get 1 gram per pound of lean body weight.  I have also heard 1 gram per pound of healthy (goal) body weight, and I have heard 1 gram per pound of total body weight.  I don't know which is right -- but I think most people don't get enough protein, especially dieters. 

I try to get 1 gram per pound of lean body weight and  if I go over -- great!  But then I find it hard to get to my goal even with protein bars and protein shakes.  And I love meat and eggs! 

Protein is important but varying intakes will build muscle. Calories in excess of your maintenance and resistance training is what builds muscle.

Yes, but it's also important to have enough protein to maintain muscle mass while losing fat. 

You sound fine OP.  Don't worry about it. 

thanks tealparadise.

Im not too paranoid but i know i am doin a hell of alot more workin out, in fact more than i ever have in my life lol, and i am lovin it, its just i want to be doing the right thing n not damaging my body etc.

karozel - bit confused by your post that sound like a good ish theory but which one?

neanderthin - Calories over maintenance??? im trying to lose weight so how does this work? ive got 46lbs to lose and maybe more so i cant possibly eat over my maintenance??

Thanks guys  :0) 

notbox -- what I was trying to say is there are lots of theories out there.  I'm not sure which one is right and for me it's hard to even get in the "1 gram per pound of lean body mass".

So what I do is try to get at least that much (which for me is about 115g of protein) each day.  If I go over, GREAT!  If I am under that then I know I need to work harder at it. 

But you really need to log your foods on CC, and not just put them in your log.  That way you can look at the analysis and figure out how much protein you are getting as well as all the other things.  You don't have to do it everyday, but doing it once in a while will at least give you an idea of about how much you are getting. 

Edited for typos and to make more sense. 

I am a hardcore powerlifter, and it is possible to build muscle and lose fat if you get enough protien. at 186 pounds, you need to be eating about 200g, maybe 250, it is easy if you get 3oz of meat 5x a day, not alot at one time, and a couple protien shakes you will be good. People have a misconception about losign weight, yes, everybody is different, but people can eat more than they think and still lose weight when they are active.

There are many opinions on this subject, however it is very difficult to gain muscle while losing weight, however as you lose fat the muscle you have will be more defined and visable.  That said, My rule of thumb is 1to 1.2 gram of protein for every Kilogram of body weight.  2.2 lbs = 1 kg.  so 186 /  2.2 = 84 grams of protien.  I weigh 180, try to lift 3 times a week and cardio 5 days a week and aim for 100 grams of protein.

Keep logging your calories and exercise and everything will work out.

Original Post by toobigfred:

I am a hardcore powerlifter, and it is possible to build muscle and lose fat if you get enough protien. at 186 pounds, you need to be eating about 200g, maybe 250, it is easy if you get 3oz of meat 5x a day, not alot at one time, and a couple protien shakes you will be good. People have a misconception about losign weight, yes, everybody is different, but people can eat more than they think and still lose weight when they are active.

I'm wondering what kind of meat you are eating?  I'm not trying to be a pain, but some people think that 3 ounces of meat is all protein -- so 85 grams of protein.

For instance chicken breast has about 28 grams of protein for a 3 ounce (85 gram) serving. 

I'm not saying you are counting wrong, but I'm curious about how you are getting to 250 grams?  Or maybe your protein shakes have more than mine -- mne are about 23 g per shake. 

Well I guess if you ate 5 3-oz servings of chicken, that would be almost 150g.  "A couple" of protein shakes (maybe 2?) would be 40-50g more, so almost 200.  You'd get small amounts from other foods as well, so 200 would be in that range.

The more important question is who the heck wants to eat meat 5x a day?!?  I struggle to eat it 2x some days.  Most days I get about 100g, and I try to bump it up closer to 120g on lifting days (my lean body mass is ~116 lbs).

Yeah, I guess so, but I still think it would be hard to rack up 250 grams of protein without eating a lot of calories. I mean the protein alone is 1000 calories. 

That would mean 65% of may calories if I was aiming for 1500.  And the rest of the calories in the meat (fat and carbs) would probably take up the other 500 calories. 

I'm not sure I would be able to eat anything else. 

As I said I aim for 115 grams of protein.  Some days I get 130 but am usually over my calories, other days I get about 80-90. 

And I still think I am getting a lot more calories than the typical female dieter. 

Ye see i think i may have not been clear enough....i want to lose 46lbs at least.  im trying to get fit and healthy and develop some nice muscle tone but i dont want, by any means, to have big muscles etc.

i was just concious that in order to help your muscles you are meant to eat adequate amounts of protein...i mean for example at the minute...i have only been doing alot of exercise for 2 weeks now, my body fat % is ridiculous....39.7%.  Oh btw im 22, female and 5 ft 5. So im trying to shift that stupid amount of fat, create some nice muscle and tone all of my body.....my aim is to get rid of all the 'wobbly' bits as such....i no this will take a long time as i have never been as active as this or 'non-wobbly' lol before in my life.

So i wud say i eat 2 meat servings a day...either chicken, lean beef or fish.  I also have at least 1 serving of cheese a day....really do love cheese i should probably cut this down. i eat yoghurts most days and i try to have some form of protein through seeds and nuts once a day.  So for my goals do you think im supplying my muscles with enough?

Sorry if i dont make sense, i just have quite little knowledge when it comes to the fitness side of things.

Thanks guys :0)

Original Post by nutbox:

So for my goals do you think im supplying my muscles with enough?

 The best answer anyone is going to be able to give you to this question is: maybe.  If you really want to know then log what you eat and figure out how much protein your actually getting (not just vague references to 'yogurt most days' and some amount of 'seeds and nuts once a day').

Aim for at least 0.8 grams of protein for pound of bodyweight.

The NROL both original and one for women basically say eat one gram protein for each pound you weigh.  This is my goal usually am short by 20 - 40 grams but a protein shake would make that up but I always forget.

Also in the New Rules of LIfting ( not the women version) it says protein after a lift helps burn even more calories -- protein besides helping build muscle burns more calories digesting.  

i really am totally confused....how can i eat 180g of protein but then they recommend that a female eats no more than 45g a day and that if you eat too much protein it can cause liver problems??

OMG this is so confusin?