Eating more protein will not cause you to bulk up or become more toned. The only way to build muscle is to challenge the muscle and force it to rebuild itself tighter or larger. That has much more to do with getting the right types of exercise and just eating enough. Contrary to popular belief, people who strength train do not need to eat a higher percentage of their calories in the form of protein. The RDA for protein for women is about 50g a day. Most people get much more. If you're getting less than 50g/day which you can only know by assessing your current diet, you have an issue to take care of. I much rather go by percentages - the recommendation for almost all people is 10-15% of total calories in the form of protein. If you've figured out what you need to eat to maintain your weight, that should be a good rule of thumb.

Reboot, you put that so expertly. I'm a 38yo male, running only about 10 miles a week, with 3-4 days a week of moderate strength training or core training (stability ball mostly). What should be my protein intake per day? I liked your warning about too much in a single sitting (25g... same for me?).

Also, this may be asking too much, but can you give me my other numbers (carbs, fat, etc.) ideal, or optimum?

thanks in advance!

quote:<HR>Originally posted by tacobell2006:
Reboot, you put that so expertly. I'm a 38yo male, running only about 10 miles a week, with 3-4 days a week of moderate strength training or core training (stability ball mostly). What should be my protein intake per day? I liked your warning about too much in a single sitting (25g... same for me?).

Also, this may be asking too much, but can you give me my other numbers (carbs, fat, etc.) ideal, or optimum?

thanks in advance!<HR>

Your mix of activities is a relatively normal mix of strength and endurance activity so there is no particular need to place emphasis on any particular macro nutrient. The division of your calories between carbs, fat and protein is usually expressed as a percentage of your total caloric intake. That way, it doesn't matter if you are 6' 6" or 5' 6", the percentage is the same. Also, this allows you to scale up your caloric intake as your activity level scales up while maintaining the same percentages.

As a male, you don't need a high level of fat so I would tend to keep fat to the 20 to 25 % of total calories. A bit more probably wouldn't hurt but as you approach middle age, a high fat diet is the last thing you want to make a habit.

Your protein needs are not high unless you start into serious body building. As you describe your activities, probably a 15% protein is adequate and not more than 20%.

That leaves your carb content to make up the remainder - 55 to 65 percent.

With a fat and protein content on the low side as suggested, you will have to keep a close eye on your meat and dairy intake. Both can be high in fat and protein. So, fill up on lots of vegs, fruit and cereals.

To convert any of these percentages to actual grams in your particular case use the following formulae

gm Fat = (Cal Tot / 9) x (Percent Fat / 100)
gm Protein = (Cal Tot / 4) x (Percent Protein / 100)
gm Carbs = (Cal Tot / 4) x (Percent Carbs / 100)
The three Percentages must total to 100

Example:
You eat a 2000 Cal per day diet and decide the appropriate mix for you is Fat - 25%, Protein 15%, and Carbs 60% (Total = 100%)

Therefore:
Fat = (2000 / 9) x (25 / 100)
= 222.2 x 0.25
= 55.6 gm
Protein = (2000 /4) x (15 / 100)
= 500 x 0.15
= 75 gm
Carbs = (2000 / 4) x (60 / 100)
= 500 x 0.60
= 300 gm



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gotta run...

quote:<HR>Originally posted by luke77:
Sorry, but this just isn't true. Excess protein is not "immediately converted to fat" - this just isn't how the body works. Yes, most Americans eat more protein than they require, but as long as one drinks adequate amounts of water the body/kidneys are easily able to process it. And the idea that any amount of protein over a set amount is converted to fat does not make any sense...if your body is at a calorie surplus, any macronutrient taken in beyond what you need is converted to either fat or muscle - but not immediately. There is nothing especially "bad" about protein - in fact, protein has a higher thermic effect when digested than either fat or carbohydrate.<HR>

It is my understanding that your body will regulate the amount of amino acids (protein) circulating in the blood. Since there is no storage mechanism for protein, 'something' must happen to any sudden overload of protein. It is not simply flushed by the kidneys as you imply. The 'processing' of protein that you refer to is the conversion to fat which produces a byproduct that the kidneys must dispose of.

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gotta run...

quote:<HR>Originally posted by bigapplepie:
Your ideal body weight is 120 pounds, or 54.5 kilograms.
Your protein intake requirement is 24.5 grams to 43.6 grams.
If you are working endurance training, increase to 25.5 to 43.7 grams.<HR>

I'm 5'4". If I were 120 pounds people would probably try to hospitalize me - ideal is extremely variable. If I only ate 25 grams of protein a day I would also develop a pretty major case of malnutrition. I go by the RDA, which as reboot says is .8g/kg. Then I add about 10% more because 99% of my protein comes from non-animal sources. For a 135 pound woman who eats a non-vegetarian diet, that would mean about 50 g/day would be the RDA (or 10% of calories in a 2000 calorie diet). In comparison to that I aim for 60g, or 12% of my calories in about a 2000 calorie diet.

ideal weight is really determined by the persons build (to a certain extent) also reboot had it right on the money when the body is given excess protein it is converted to sugars and fats. portion is also expelled through urine (not as protein but as other by products of kidney activity) as such eating too much protein will cause an extra work load for your kidneys but im not sure if that would have any health effect unless it was dont regularly

quote:<HR>Originally posted by have2run:
I'm a 5'4 female and currently weight 133 lbs. I'm trying to lose about 5 lbs<HR>

0.75 grams of protein per day per pound of lean body mass.
Estimate your body fat % and subtract the fat weight to get your lean body mass weight.