Jarrett2

I've been reading up on the amount of protein to take in a day lately and I'm seeing stuff all over the board.

Some sites say .36 grams per pound of body weight.

Others say 1.9 grams per pound of body weight.

And everything in between.

Does anyone have any good info on this for recreational clyde cyclists that are trying to lean out?

I did about .9 today.

bassjones

I do better with low-carb (low-starch anyway) eating. One small serving a day is it. Everything else is lean protein, fruit and vegetables. I eat a LOT of Greek yogurt. I stay close to 1g per lb and spread it out over 5-6 small meals a day.

UrHuckleBerry

Start logging your macros and see what works best for you. Too much stuff on the internet for people to get caught up in. For a vague idea you can try the IIFYM calculator.

chasm54

There is disagreement even among nutritionists about protein requirements. The consensus seems to be that most Americans eat more than they need, and medical advice in both the UK and the States suggests 0.8g of protein per kilo (not per pound) of body weight. However, some nutritionists suggest this figure should be raised. The average American is eating about 50% more than this, and it is argued that this is OK, especially for preserving muscle mass as people get older. Plus, of course, the fad for low carb diets is encouraging big protein consumption.

in addition, just using gross bodyweight as the metric causes confusion. Protein is required to maintain and build muscle. Therefore it should be your lean mass, not your total mass, that forms the basis of the calculation. If one is very fat and uses total body mass as the metric, one will grossly overestimate protein needs. For example, I'm currently overweight at 92 kilos/202lbs. My body fat percentage is a shameful 24. Therefore to work out my protein needs I ought to be looking at a lean mass of around 70 kilos, and in practice I shoot for about 70g of protein per day without worrying too much about precision. I seem to do fine on that, I'm an endurance athlete (albeit a fat one), not a bodybuilder.

For training purposes, when you eat it also matters. Eating some protein immediately after a workout speeds recovery by stimulating muscle repair. And some people report good results from eating some high-protein snack, or a protein shake, before bed: the theory being that otherwise 12 hours or so will elapse without any protein intake. I don't know of any evidence about whether that really matters.

jsigone

lots of proteins and lots of carbs keeps the motor moving and recovering.

1gram per pound is good rule of thumb, but have to eat high protein foods or sup a shake or few to hit that number.

fthomas

I wish I was as disciplined as bassjones. Not sure what is recommended for an active cyclist, but I get my protein from black beans. High protein , low carb and healthy enzymes. I'm not difficult to be around either.

Willbird

IMHO low carb is hardly a "fad" :-), maybe in endurance athletics it could be said to be a fairly new idea :-). But long term some feel low carb HIGH Protein does not work for many folks if the goal is increasing lean body mass %. From my reading if you cut carb but leave protein high the body will fuel from protein not fat. So I'm aiming for 18-22 carb right now and 70 protein, and most of that protein will be in the evening, weekday riding is at 3pm so that might be good.

Willbird

Low carb moderate fat high protein is far easier to acheive than balancing things to a power protein level. But many folks I know pulled the plug on low carb because they hit a plateau. One guy I talked to yesterday stalled at 270 after losing 60lbs over a year, but he never paid a bit of attention to anything but net carbs.

Willbird

The book titled the art and science of low carbohydrate performance is well worth $9 paperback or cheaper ebook is well worth the price even if your goal is not low carb....tons of eye opening info :-)

Haff

I am a fan of high protein intake, but I'm finding more and more evidence that protein from animal source in high quantities has a lot of long-term side effects (cardio-vascular disease and cancer mainly), and protein from plant source has less. The problem for me is the plant source protein is nowhere near as tasty or convenient, which makes a low carb high protein diet harder again.

bassjones

Men should avoid soy like the plague. Increases estrogen levels and decreases testosterone production. Have to read labels because soy is used as an additive in almost all processed foods. I'm highly allergic to it anyway, along with all nuts and legumes. Animal based protein is my only real choice as a result, which is fine with me. Eat fresh as much as possible and I try and only buy local, organically raised meat.

JerrySTL

As my diet, and many others in developed nations, have plenty of protein in it, I usually don't worry about it too much. There is one exception: I try to consume some protein and carbs within the first hour after an intense or long exercise to help muscle recovery. This is especially true if I'm planning on doing another ride the next day. Chocolate milk is one quick source. I've also used Slim Fast drinks.

DarthMonkey

IIFYM/myfitnespal guidelines are usually a good starting point. The thing the default american diet usually over eats the most (vs a maintain weight diet) is carbs, (but we under eat fiber), then fat, and then protein. The only reason we manage to over eat protein is we over eat everything(including calories) by so much. It is far from consensus, but there is a lot of support for, a weight loss diet have a higher protein and lower carb (with fat about the same) grams than a maintenance diet.

The simplest method is to try and online calculator or tracking system and see if it works for you.

My personal target ratios right now are: carbs 0.3g/pound, protein 0.8g/pound, fat 0.4g/pound ,and fiber 0.25g/pound. Remember if reading labels to subtract fiber from carbs and count it separately.

chasm54

Not true. The widespread belief in this appears to be the result of propaganda by some in the meat and dairy industry. Animal studies indicate no evidence of any impairment in male fertility related to soy consumption. And there is some, albeit slight, evidence that soy isoflavones have a mildly protective effect against breast and prostate cancers.

Soy is fine. If you're allergic to it, that's another matter entirely.

ColaJacket

This is what I've been drinking after my rides lately.



Orgain Chocolate Protein Shake info

It's got some carbs, but not too much. Chocolate Milk or Chocolate Muscle Milk often has ~300+ Calories in them. This only has 150 Calories. At least I don't feel like I'm drinking back all the Calories that I just burned.

GH

Null66

This is not correct. Research out of EU showed that the estrogen like compounds in soy does not have estrogenic effects in humans.

DarthMonkey

Soy is an important protein for vegetarians and vegans because it is one of the few non-animal complete proteins with all 9 essential amino acids. There is some scientific evidence both ways on the hormones issue, although from what understand it was pretty extreme conditions/amounts. Also excessive amounts of soy have some scientists concerned involving pregnancy and other situations. I would treat soy like everything else. It is good in moderation. Use it, don't overuse it.

Willbird

Supposedly Soy can have an impact on Thyroid medications.

bassjones

It upsets my stomach badly... That's how I found out I was allergic - drinking soy-based protein drinks. Testing confirmed that allergy, along with nuts and legumes and bananas too. I have good reason to never become vegetarian or vegan. Plus, I like bacon

LGHT

I wouldn't worry about the amount of protein as much as the type your ingesting. I grew up in a vegetarian house hold so my diet most of my life has been a LOT of fish. I do eat red meat, but probably 1 meal a week if that especially since the price of beef has went through the roof. I mainly eat salmon / tuna and chicken almost exclusively as my protein intake.

Plus since I also enjoy tuna fishing in the local waters it gives me an excuse to go fishing more. My last few tuna trips allowed me to stock up the extra freezer in the garage with close to 400 lbs of fresh fish.

My problem is cutting back on sweets as my wife bakes often

Jarrett2

According to MFP, I've been getting about 125 grams of protein a day for the last few months.

Yesterday, I started drinking Myoplex and was up to 270 grams of protein for the day.

I do feel a little better today. I might start shooting for 200 a day and drinking a Myoplex as a post exercise recovery drink.

beakersbike

You're sure about that? Just sayin... black beans, air quality issues....

beakersbike

One to two grams per pound of body weight of protein? So even if you're on the lower end of the Clyde Spectrum that's 200 to 400 gram of protein.

That's some serious kidney problems waiting to happen.

+1 on Willbird's recommendation on the art and science of low carb performance. It's interesting that most people equate low carb with high protein, but Jeff Volek who has done a ton of research on it and is a strong proponent of low carb lifestyle is also adament about keeping protein reasonable.

chasm54

Absolutely. As I said earlier, the calculations should be made on the basis of lean mass, not total weight, and the recommended levels (admittedly for sedentary individuals) are 0.8 grams per kilo, not per pound.

chasm54

You serious? If so, I'd suggest a rethink. Massive protein intake isn't wothout its downsides with respect to stress on the kidneys and, possibly, loss of calcium from bones. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9614169