Hey, I'm 15, 150 pounds, 5' 7'', and I'm kinda lost with this who weightlifting stuff.

For the past 3 months, I've been going tot he gym every other day, and I've seen....some results. not a lot though. Im going to many websites to figure out what workouts to do when and whatever, but I do have a ? about protein.

I buy Jay Robb's Original Protein power (24 g per scoop), and have it at about 9:00 in the morning. I usually workout at about 3:30. I know you're supposed to have protein right after you workout, so I'm going to fix that. But my real question is, I have 2 scoops mixed with soymilk or oatmeal (48 g). I also eat about 5 eggwhites (30 g) in the morning, 8 ounces of grilled chicken (50 g) at about 10:30, and 6 oz grilled chicken at dinner (30 g). I'm not sure how well im doing with the whole protein thing. I'm trying to lose body fat (im at 11% now), but i also want to build muscle. Any tips on how to stay between 1800-2100 calories but get about 150-200 grams of protein a day? And when I should consume the protein? Also, is my method of mixing powder with oatmeal or soymilk good? im kinda new to all this, and cant seem to get any help with it. none of my friends have any idea what theyre doing. :)

Sounds like you're getting in plenty of protein. The best, basic plan is to figure out how much protein you need and try to divide that into your daily meals as evenly as you can. Seems you're doing pretty good so far, but don't neglect your carbs and unsaturated fats. They're just as important as protein. To get in all that protein and still get the other nutrients you need, you just have to eat really clean. Cicken and broccoli. Eggs and veggies. Oats and protein powder. Fish and salads. And add some fatty fish, flax oil and nuts in there somewhere too. You just have to take the time to sit and plan out a few days of sample meals so you have a good idea on how to fit it all in. Just try to keep more calories right around your workout or any heavy activity, and fewer when you're inactive. Plan meals for what you'll be doing for the next 2 to 3 hours, basically.

Just so you know, 5 egg whites typically doesnt have 30g protein. 1 large egg white has about 4g, so it's probably closer to 40 unless you have huge, ginormous eggs. :D

thanks for the tips! :) i eat a lot of salmon, and any seafood when i have the chance. and about the eggs: i buy the eggwhite containers, and its not really 6g per egg, more like 6g per serving, and i have 5 servings. :)

Ahh, okay. Perfect, then. :)

ya i go by one large egg=3.5 grms of protein. eat your weight in protein, always worked for me.

THe thing you gotta remember dood is that you gotta pick which one you want, either put on muscle or lose weight. It is too hard to do both!

If you eating ton of clean food and protein, the calories are still adding up.
I have always been to told to pick one or the other,unless you are using anabolics (not recommended).

Normally ppl who do both, well they usually are at their almost ideal physique and are maintaining but trying to put on a tad of muscle without gaining waterweight.

I would bulk if I were you then cut. But if you jsut want to get bigger without putting on fat or waterweight, thenjust keep doing what your doing; eat protein lift hard and throw that cardi oin there, and eat clean. You cant have everythign all at once.

that makes a lot of sense, thanks. :) alright... so if i would rather keep my muscle the way it is, but i would like to lose body fat, how should i go about doing it?

something i noticed there was that although you're eating alot of protein each day, on two occasions (48 grams and 50 grams) the amount you're having in one go is a great deal. the best way to eat protein is a little and often- the body can only efficienty process 30 grams of protein at a time. so probably best to take some of the protein from each of those two meals and create another meal from that protein, so the intake of protein is more spread.
also, the egg whites are a great source of protein, but for the protein from egg to be "complete" there must be a minimum ratio of 8:1 for white to yolk, so maybe add one yolk to the whites you're already having.

alex.

the body can only efficienty process 30 grams of protein at a time.

Where did you read this?

yea, thanks for the tips.... but ive never heard about the protein thing either. :/ im not saying your wrong, because im wayyy too inexperienced with nutrition stuff to say you are, but ive never heard that too much protein is bad for you.... unless you are very inactive because it could hurt your liver... or something. but im active enough to use it... :/ thanks for the egg tip.... but i dont ahve a ? about that.... whats the purpose of the yolk...like...completing it? whats that mean? and also, how do i maintain my muscle mass, but also lose body fat?

I just want to say that I think you are one smart teenager. Keep up the good work (and it is good, have no doubt about that).

haha thanks :) it took me since january to get this far. i went from cookie-eating 15% body fat to non-purging bulmic exercise finatic, to what im doing now. i think this is working...but i think i sohuld see a nutritionist or soemthing. i have tons of ?'s. thanks for the compliment though! :) all my friends yell at me for doing it haha

I think you are doing great. Simply just knowing that there is so much to learn and being willing to do the homework is commendable, especially for someone your age. I know most teenagers are not into "nutrition" and that's really too bad because they have a great chance to set a foundation of a healthy lifestyle instead of one that will lead to major diseases associated with lack of exercise and being overweight.
Let the others laugh and yell at you. Always follow your own road, not a beaten path. You will come out ahead.

Where did you read this?

30grams was the amount taught to me in a sports nutrition course i went on linked to my job and is the amount stated in our instore literature for the potein powders we sell. is that wrong? can you have more than that and process it effectively? it would make my life easier if it was wrong as sometimes i find it hard to fit in enough separate meals, eg. today i slept in for a bit longer than normla so i'm now thinking are ther enough hours lfeft in the day to get in the protein i need?

alex.

It's dependent on the individual. A 300 pound guy can "use" more protein per meal than a 130 pound guy. I suppose it's a fair rough estimate, but the best plan is to divide the protein needed for the day fairly evenly into each meal, which will always carry that variable more accurately.

so for a beginner body builder weighing about 13stone, 30grams at a time would be a good amount then, you reckon? also, i've always gone with 1 gram of protein to every pound of body weight to build muscle, but i've also heard that there is another formula for working it out in 1.8 grams for every kilo of body weight, which gives a lower amount of protein than the fromula for pounds. would the 1.8grams/kilo give enough protein in your opinion, or stick with the 1 gram for every pound???

alex.

I always use a starting point of 1g per pound or 30% of daily calories. You can play around with more or less and see where your thresholds are, but in general I think even bodybuilders and athletes can gain mass and maintain on less than they typically think they can. As long as you have a good balance of macros, theres nothing inherently wrong with high protein intake if you wanna play "on the safe side" but I think it's worthwhile to experiment a bit and see where gains stop and where they roar. Some extremely active people and ectomorphs will have a very high protein requirement, but everyone is a little different.

Personally, since starting weight lifting almost 10 years ago I was getting 1 to 1.5g per pound of body weight on the "more is better" philosophy and of course gained muscle quickly. Going totally vegetarian 4 years ago I was sure I'd stop gaining and maybe lose some lean muscle, but that didn't happen. And even since going vegan over a year ago and getting sometimes maybe .6g of protein per lb a day, I have made significant gains. There are certainly other factors involved, such as training, meal timing, food choices, supplementing, overall nutrition and all that, but the point is that needs vary and once you kind of know where your thresholds are you can work within that. Start on the high end for now, but don't be afraid to see what you can get away with in the future.

And even since going vegan over a year ago and getting sometimes maybe .6g of protein per lb a day, I have made significant gains.

i read on the internet about a study which had vegan bodybuilders. some were given 1.8grams protein/kilo body weight and others were given only 0.7grams/ kilo body weight. the study was only over a short period i think, about 7 weeks but both groups made nearly identical lean tissue gains. the study speculated that this may have been to pooling of amino acids in the kidneys and liver, acting as stores from which the body could draw on to meet the extra demand for amino acids for protein synthesis. but said in the next breath that these stores would not last long and so if the study had continued longer then the group with the higher dietary protein intake would have experienced grester gains. have you heard of this idea of pooling in the liver and kidneys? do you think this is why on the days where you only get .6g of protein per day you still make gains? are thoase stores coming into action then and then they are repelenished when on wnother day your protein intake is much higher, ready for they are needed again when the intake is lower again? i find this idea intersting as sometimes i get quite overly obssessive over whether i've had enough protein in a day. it would be nice to think that it wouldn't be the end of the world and that i would still make gains.

alex.

Personally, since starting weight lifting almost 10 years ago .

just out of interest, how much did you weigh? how much do you weigh now? what was your body fat when you started, and what is it now?

alex.

Being a female, I think my weight and muscle gains will be a lot less impressive to you. But, when I started I was 5'6", around 120 to 125 lbs "skinny fat", probably around 25-30% body fat, but I didnt check at the time. At my heaviest I was around 140, but that was after starting building some muscle and eating for 'bulk'. But in the beginning I was lifting the pink, 10 lb dumbells, jogging maybe 5 minutes at a time, that kind of thing. I took an aerobics class in college that hurt me so bad, I could barely walk for 3 days. Yeah, I was that out of shape. ;)
Currently I am around 125 (little more or less depending on diet), 15% body fat, pressing 120 lbs - ~125 1RM - running for an hour at a shot... etc. :) Just since Jan my lifts jumped 10 lbs. But lacking significant testosterone, I have been pretty happy with what I've gained, especially in spite of changes in protein intake. I used to be obsessive too, but have been more lenient since realizing that I'm not gonna shrink or lose all my strength if I'm a little light on intake once in a while. I have to be a little more anal with it since I have a lot fewer sources, but in general I know how low I can feasably go. I don't know if I buy 'amino pooling' but I hope to see some more in depth, solid info in the future.

i didn't realise you were a girl! thats cool how you've totallg turned around your fitness like that.

alex.

running for an hour at a shot...
Naxis ...so you run an hour at a time , just curious where i've read over the yrs about cardio over 30,45,60 min could raise Cortisol levels which could hamper muscle growth, immune function, premature aging etc.. But i figure it hasn't affected you negatively...am i correct....Thanks !!

There's a balance between fat burning and muscle loss when it comes to cardio/cortisol and if you have good nutrition and meal timing, proper supplementation, and avoid excess, you don't run into those problems. Even marathoners are usually in pretty good shape. ;) An hour long run really isn't on the high end of excess and I usually eat a little something if I plan on going for that long. The primary point of the comment was that my endurance is infinitely better than it was. It's that I CAN go that long, not necessarily that I do. :)