Protein Argument?

I'm in the pursuit of abs and lowering my body fat percentage. I'm 5'8, 130 lbs, but still a lot of fat to lose, especially on my stomach. I've been eating 1450 cal a day and lost 10 lbs since January. I've been weight training 3x a week and cardio 3-5x a week.

I'm getting conflicting information, so maybe some of you can help me sort this out.

I work out with a trainer who told me I need roughly 70g of protein a day to get to my goal of abs. However, my boyfriend is also a trainer (just not mine) and he says I need 1g for every lb I weigh, which would be 130g!

When I told my trainer what my bf said, he said that was an old bodybuilding way of doing things and it's just unnecessary.

When I told my Bf this, he maintains that I need more protein.

So I'm not sure who to agree with. My trainer is in great shape and trains models and actors, so clearly he knows what he's doing. However, sometimes he'll tell me something one day and the next day say the exact opposite. He can be a bit unreliable.

My bf is newer on the scene, also in great shape, and he's very well-educated and knows a lot on nutrition and is constantly taking new courses on the subject.

So which is it? How much protein do I need? Obviously I'd rather eat the 70g just because it's hard to get to 130g in a day. But I really would like abs to show soon and to get more muscle overall.

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unknown

holly55555 wrote: »

LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »

ceoverturf wrote: »

Protein doesn't give you abs.

That should end the thread right there.

I understand that, I am doing all the things to get abs already. Eating at a deficit, weight lifting, abs exercises, etc. My question was about how much protein I need to accommodate this activity level with my goal of getting more muscle/abs.

Unfortunately, you're going to get a different answer from pretty much everyone. Standard in bodybuilding is 1g/lb of body weight. That's probably not entirely necessary in my opinion (even though I eat more than that). 1g/lb of lean body mass is probably a decent rule. I don't know where your trainer got 70g, but that's pretty low. I don't understand how people have trouble getting in their protein. Even without a protein shake, I get 1g/lb of lean body mass easily.

Gaining muscle requires eating more calories than your body is burning. In other words, gaining muscle/abs while eating at a deficit probably isn't going to happen. I'm 5'5" and down to 116 lbs and I still don't have visible abs. My guess is that I'd have to go through a bulk cycle and then another cut in order to get them. Genetics have something to do with it, too.

unknown

^ What she says. If you think you have large enough abs, then eat in a deficit to reveal them by losing fat, if you don't think you have large enough abs to show through, eat in a surplus and lift heavy for awhile, then cut to reveal them.

unknown

If you haven't heard it enough yet, protein does not give you abs. Protein recommendations are all over the place, from 47 grams in your case as per FDA minimum requirement to 2 g per lb in the protein shake boom era (260 in your case), to anywhere in between, so it's natural to see your bf and your trainer push for different numbers. My personal recommendation for you is this: focus on sustainability more than pure numbers. The perfect amount of protein for you would be as much as you could comfortably eat without having to jump through hoops or sacrifice too much. It's more important to keep a sustainable amount of protein than it is to keep up to some random number for a little while then burn out and quit the whole thing.

unknown

Split the difference and shoot for 100. I would say 70 would be the BARE minimum for you. So it sounds like you're right on target already.

unknown

LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »

holly55555 wrote: »

LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »

ceoverturf wrote: »

Protein doesn't give you abs.

That should end the thread right there.

I understand that, I am doing all the things to get abs already. Eating at a deficit, weight lifting, abs exercises, etc. My question was about how much protein I need to accommodate this activity level with my goal of getting more muscle/abs.

Unfortunately, you're going to get a different answer from pretty much everyone. Standard in bodybuilding is 1g/lb of body weight. That's probably not entirely necessary in my opinion (even though I eat more than that). 1g/lb of lean body mass is probably a decent rule. I don't know where your trainer got 70g, but that's pretty low. I don't understand how people have trouble getting in their protein. Even without a protein shake, I get 1g/lb of lean body mass easily.

Gaining muscle requires eating more calories than your body is burning. In other words, gaining muscle/abs while eating at a deficit probably isn't going to happen. I'm 5'5" and down to 116 lbs and I still don't have visible abs. My guess is that I'd have to go through a bulk cycle and then another cut in order to get them. Genetics have something to do with it, too.

Sadly, I've been cursed with not liking most of animal proteins and an egg allergy. It's just that to some people increasing protein over a certain threshold can be stressful.

unknown

The LM guideline is going to be (plus/minus) 1g per pound LBM. Figure you're somewhere around .8 of 130 -> call it 100g of protein/day.

Getting the number exactly will never happen, so just work towards a reasonable average in that range, bouncing over/under it, and keep lifting.

:drinker:

unknown

alexgcherk wrote: »

ceoverturf wrote: »

Protein doesn't give you abs.
It's generally recommended somewhere in the neighborhood of 0.8g per pound of body weight (or alternatively 1g per lb of lean muscle mass)

This is incorrect 0.8g per kilo (not pound). So, you are 130lbs = 59kilos*0.8g = you need 47 grams of protein a day

Sorry you're wrong. No no no.

unknown

Probably easiest to read Jim Stoppani's free info on weight loss on bodybuilding.com and how to get Abs "Shortcut to Shred". He will give you advice that is v similar to your bf, but will also cover your Fat and Carb Macro reqs. Alternative is to buy Will Brink's eBook "Fat Loss Revealed", that not only covers this stuff but tells you the scientific studies that support the Protein consumption and Fats and Carbs (study group A vs study group B etc). It's well researched and for a European like me, we aim for 1.8g per kilo of lean or 1.7g kilo of body mass. Some PTs will even advise higher, coz to burn body fat you have to oxidise etc etc: why sorting your Fat Macro and Carbs Macro is just as important as your Protein Macro for Fat Loss to get BF% down.

unknown

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2129150/

unknown

ceoverturf wrote: »

alexgcherk wrote: »

ceoverturf wrote: »

Protein doesn't give you abs.
It's generally recommended somewhere in the neighborhood of 0.8g per pound of body weight (or alternatively 1g per lb of lean muscle mass)

This is incorrect 0.8g per kilo (not pound). So, you are 130lbs = 59kilos*0.8g = you need 47 grams of protein a day

I'm sorry but you are incorrect. 47g of protein a day is woefully inadequate for most people's goals.

47g of protein = only 188 calories per day from protein, or less than 10% of most people's calorie budget.

Well, this is where I get my info : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_(nutrient)

Also, please do your math - MyFitnessPal calculates your protein intake accurately, considering 0.8g/kg and not per pound.

And yes, excess protein gets converted to FAT, but at higher MBR price than carbs.

unknown

alexgcherk wrote: »

ceoverturf wrote: »

alexgcherk wrote: »

ceoverturf wrote: »

Protein doesn't give you abs.
It's generally recommended somewhere in the neighborhood of 0.8g per pound of body weight (or alternatively 1g per lb of lean muscle mass)

This is incorrect 0.8g per kilo (not pound). So, you are 130lbs = 59kilos*0.8g = you need 47 grams of protein a day

I'm sorry but you are incorrect. 47g of protein a day is woefully inadequate for most people's goals.

47g of protein = only 188 calories per day from protein, or less than 10% of most people's calorie budget.

Well, this is where I get my info : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_(nutrient)

Also, please do your math - MyFitnessPal calculates your protein intake accurately, considering 0.8g/kg and not per pound.

I explained the kg vs. lb difference already (it depends on goals, but for the OP's goals kg is wrong and lb is right), but MFP doesn't do either. MFP has a set percentage of total calories (which you can change).

And yes, excess protein gets converted to FAT, but at higher MBR price than carbs.

Not when you are at a calorie deficit. At least no one net gains fat at a calorie deficit, so there's no worry about being too high in protein when at a deficit and thus still gaining fat, as the prior poster seemed to be claiming.

unknown

alexgcherk wrote: »

ceoverturf wrote: »

alexgcherk wrote: »

ceoverturf wrote: »

Protein doesn't give you abs.
It's generally recommended somewhere in the neighborhood of 0.8g per pound of body weight (or alternatively 1g per lb of lean muscle mass)

This is incorrect 0.8g per kilo (not pound). So, you are 130lbs = 59kilos*0.8g = you need 47 grams of protein a day

I'm sorry but you are incorrect. 47g of protein a day is woefully inadequate for most people's goals.

47g of protein = only 188 calories per day from protein, or less than 10% of most people's calorie budget.

Well, this is where I get my info : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_(nutrient)

Also, please do your math - MyFitnessPal calculates your protein intake accurately, considering 0.8g/kg and not per pound.

And yes, excess protein gets converted to FAT, but at higher MBR price than carbs.

However, this recommendation is based on structural requirements, but disregards use of protein for energy metabolism.

Not a minor point to ignore.

So yes. If you're going to lie in a coma all day, you can probably get by with 47g of protein daily. If you actually expect to, you know, do anything resembling activity, you might want to up it a bit.

I have no idea what you're talking about WRT MFP calculations. The only thing MFP does is take your chosen protein % x your calorie goal divided by 4 (4 calories per gram of protein) to give you a suggested protein goal.

EG If your goal is 2000 calories and you've chosen 25% protein as your goal, it's going to tell you to eat 125g of protein a day.

unknown

alexgcherk wrote: »

And yes, excess protein gets converted to FAT, but at higher MBR price than carbs.

As a standalone statement, that is incorrect.

Before anything can be stored as fat, you need to be in a caloric excess. In a caloric deficit, nothing is going to be stored as fat, even if you ate 100% of your calories as protein.

unknown

http://caloriesproper.com/nutrient-partitioning-a-very-high-protein-diet/

RDA: 0.8 g/kg

Active individuals: 1.2-2.0 g/kg (via ISSN)