Hello, i am 19 and want to gain more muscle. I am about 190-200 lbs (6'4) and therefore, from much readings and research, i should be consuming atleast 200 grams of protein each day. I recently started taking ON whey protein and use it for 3 of my 6 meals. This shake has 23 grams of protein and that only comes to 69 grams. So i need to eat about 130 grams of protein from food. I eat egg whites for breakfast with wheat toast, grilled chicken salad for lunch and usually tuna for dinner...snacks include fruit, oatmeal and yougart. Occassially i have steak tips or shrimp scampi which help out alot with protein and i probably reach my 200 grams those days. However i cant afford to eat steak and shrimp everyday. Is there anything i am missing that will help out alot to reach at least 200 grams a day of protein? All help would be appreciated,
thanks
Last edited by AbercrombieGuy; 08-03-2004 at 04:52 PM.
I am not sure why you want to eat so much protein. You really should not eat more than 30% of your total daily calories. Your BMR is about 2200, but assuming you want to gain weight or that you are fairly active you are probably (or should be) eating 2400-2600 calories per day. If this is the case, you really should only be eating 150-165 grams of protein per day. Its not healthy to eat more protein than that.
Also, carbohydrates are essential to maximizing your lean muscle mass. If you consume enough carbs, the protein you eat will be used primarily for building and repairing muscle tissue. If you do not consume enough carbs, your protein will be converted to fuel and less will be used to build and repair muscle tissue.
I wouldn't bother trying so hard to get to 200 grams of protein. Even competetion bodybuilders can't use that much for anything but fuel in SPITE of what some of them think.
Look at it this way, a pound of muscle weighs 454 grams and is at least half water. Even assume the body needs 75 grams of protein for replacing lost amino acids (probably more like 40 grams), that leaves about 150 grams extra for muscle building to the tune of 3/4 pounds of muscle A DAY.
Even with popping androgens all day and injecting testosterone to the point of outlandishlness, NOBODY can make gains like that.
I'd say even jdimassimo's estimate of 150-165 still exceeds most needs for anybody but a competition athlete in his teens or maybe a woman pregnant with quadruplets, but might be a good MAX level for somebody making good muscle gain to consider.
The U.S.A. had always produced an excess of meat, dairy, eggs, poultry and ever since the 50's there's been a food campaign geared around this fact. I doubt there are many Americans who aren't wasting expensive proteins (financially AND ecologically) just to make FAT from it.
Remember, EATING won't build muscle, it's the repetition of breakdown and rebuilding that results from HARD WORK. The excess protein is just there on standby to replace amino acids that the body can't recover from the broken muscle (it CAN retrieve most amino acids and create new flesh, bone, and blood). Having more than enough is just eating extra fuel...might as well be a potato or some cereal (that costs as much as a steak.)
However i cant afford to eat steak and shrimp everyday. Is there anything i am missing that will help out alot to reach at least 200 grams a day of protein? All help would be appreciated,
The only thing I see missing from your list is Cottage Cheese. 1 Cup of low fat CC has over 30g of protein. It mixes well with berries and other fruits and it goes well with veggies and some chili powder - I know BBers who swear by it!
If you're lifting hard and heavy then 200g of protein is fine. 1g per lb of body weight is a number often bandied about. So is 1g per lb of lean mass. I try to keep between the two, myself; set one as a minimum requirement and the other as a max.
Bottom line is go with what works for you - and check out the advice you get with reputable sources. Namely those who are doing what you want to do successfully.
Best,
Nat
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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
1g per lb of body weight is a number often bandied about.
Actually, 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight is the standard. 1 kilogram = 2.2 lbs. So if he weighs 200 lbs the recommendation would be only 90 grams of protein.
I suggest more because I believe in focusing on ratios of carb, protein, and fats in relationship to total calories for a balanced diet. If you consume too much protein you don't get enough carbs, on the other hand if you consume too little protein, you consume too many carbs. It's that simple.
1 gram per lb of body weight is also a standard. The thing with standards is they aren't always the same standard. I agree, 90g of protein is too low, however.
If the goal is to gain muscle then you need to eat more calories than you're burning. At 19 years of age, 6'4" and 200 lbs he's not going to be sacrificing protein or carbs if he eats 200g of eat; it's only 1600 calories! A 40/40/20 split is a traditional diet for weight lifting, both for cutting and for bulking.
Nat
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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
thats for the responses...sry i was away on vaca for awhile. But ya on some bodybuilding website they say that 1lb to 1g of protein is good for people wanting to gain muscle....bodybuilders do around 1.6 to 1.8g per pound.
