Question for Noel: protein

[fkwan]

I've been looking at a bunch of bodybuilding sites. Most of them are of course for guys. They say that if you are "training" (as if), you should eat 1 g protein per pound of body weight. If I were to apply that to my ideal weight, that would be a minimum of 95 g a day! If I eat my custom designed vegan faux meats, 3 oz. is about 35 g, and my average daily intake is about 50 or so. I wouldn't have to eat all that much supplementation, but still...

Is there any truth to this, or is it just kidney waste?

f

[JillyBean]

I'm curious what Noel will say, but I've always read that 1/2 your weight in protein is a good way to figure it. I think double that must apply if you really want to bulk up (and if you're a man...). If 1/2 your weight in protein is accurate, then you are doing exactly what is recommended, f!

[NoelFigart]

Yes, a hard training body builder will eat about their body weight in protein. You train that hard and your weight is GONNA go up, sugarplum. If it's the scale that's bothering you, don't be lifting so heavy that you need that much, cause you'll put on five or six pounds of muscle in a year if you're really training psycho like that.

Check out my blog and you'll see some pics of me. Yeah, I'm fat, but the back pics give you a pretty clear idea of how much muscle I have. And for the record I don't eat a gram of protein per pound of LEAN body weight, never mind body weight at all.

Hon, you don't want to be a body builder. You'd have to gain some weight. Yes, it'll be muscle, but you'll still gain and it'll Bother you.

[fkwan]

Yes, a hard training body builder will eat about their body weight in protein. You train that hard and your weight is GONNA go up, sugarplum. If it's the scale that's bothering you, don't be lifting so heavy that you need that much, cause you'll put on five or six pounds of muscle in a year if you're really training psycho like that.

Check out my blog and you'll see some pics of me. Yeah, I'm fat, but the back pics give you a pretty clear idea of how much muscle I have. And for the record I don't eat a gram of protein per pound of LEAN body weight, never mind body weight at all.

Hon, you don't want to be a body builder. You'd have to gain some weight. Yes, it'll be muscle, but you'll still gain and it'll Bother you.

Heheheheh.

Thanks for the info.

I couldn't even if I wanted to. I tried to do ONE squat thrust today, and well, I can't even get that far down onto the floor.

Today I ate 72 g, including 30 in my 3 oz. homemade faux pumpkin seed/tofu/gluten chicken. I figure that's enough.

f

[kccc]

fwan - Can I butt in on the conversation to ask about your "faux vegan meats"? I'm curious as to what's in them and how you make/cook them.

We use some commercial ones at times, but I don't like to use highly processed foods, even "health" processed foods. A "recipe" is different - I know what's in it, fewer chemicals, etc. So, I'm interested.

[kbits]

I've been looking at a bunch of bodybuilding sites. Most of them are of course for guys. They say that if you are "training" (as if), you should eat 1 g protein per pound of body weight. If I were to apply that to my ideal weight, that would be a minimum of 95 g a day! If I eat my custom designed vegan faux meats, 3 oz. is about 35 g, and my average daily intake is about 50 or so. I wouldn't have to eat all that much supplementation, but still...

Is there any truth to this, or is it just kidney waste?

f

If you think about it, it should per LEAN kg (not lb) of bodyweight. Bones and muscles need protein. Fat stores - not so much. Still, seeing most folks don't know how to work out their % bodyfat, it's given as a 1g:1kg weight ratio. A little too much is better than not enough in some cases (eg: athletes)

Scroll up and find table 11.1 here. It's a standard college textbook on nutrition.

http://tinyurl.com/3u2sk5
(btw, you can see a cheap and quick to make protein sup. on that page. Milk + Nesquik)

But the better way to work it out is if you know you fat %. The most accessable way for that is probably using the Tanita scales, though they are not very accurate. More accurate methods either require training (skin fold) or expensive equipment (DEXA).

You can also use a girth : bodyfat % method. Be warned - these are AT LEAST 3% out;

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/fatgirth.htm

(I can verify that - just tried the above and compared it to my last DEXA scan a few weeks ago. 5% error by girth measurements. So don't beat yourself up over them!)

IOW:

If you weigh 100kg with 30% bodyfat, you should take in 0.8-1.1g per lean kg bodyweight. That's about 56g-77g. There are of course modification accounting for activity level. (x1 for sedentary, upto 2.2 for athelte's training in excess of 10hrs a week, heavy resistance training etc)

Personally, I think you're probably doing pretty well with 50-70 grams. Unless you're weight training or doing heavy exercise?

HTH

[bonnieUK]

fwan - Can I butt in on the conversation to ask about your "faux vegan meats"? I'm curious as to what's in them and how you make/cook them.

We use some commercial ones at times, but I don't like to use highly processed foods, even "health" processed foods. A "recipe" is different - I know what's in it, fewer chemicals, etc. So, I'm interested.

Also butting in, I'm interested too

I'm not keen on consuming too many of the commercially available "faux meats" partly because I don't like to rely on too much processed food, but also because I find it uneconomical. I sometimes buy quorn for DH, but he's sometimes a little put off by the fact that quorn is made from somekind of weird fungal "biomass" LOL

[fkwan]

KC and Bonnie,

My husband and I are working on a plan to market the stuff, or, barring that, doing an e-cookbook, but essentially they're tofu, gluten, pureed pumpkin seeds (sometimes), vitamins, amino acids and spices. Then you throw the stuff in a brown-in bag like for roasts or turkeys and cook the sucker 3 hours at 275 and voila, you have about 64 oz. of stuff that's frankly better than any dead animal I ever ate, roughly 10 g protein/oz, and a little high in fat because there's also oil in there (coconut or corn), but then, a little fat is good for you.

For people concerned about soy, including me, it works out to be about less than an ounce a serving, and it's the ok kind.

f

[blueskighs]

tofu, gluten, pureed pumpkin seeds (sometimes), vitamins, amino acids and spices.

very interesting ... I love pumpkin seeds, although I usually forget to eat them keep us posted

Blueskighs

[kccc]

KC and Bonnie,

My husband and I are working on a plan to market the stuff, or, barring that, doing an e-cookbook, but essentially they're tofu, gluten, pureed pumpkin seeds (sometimes), vitamins, amino acids and spices. Then you throw the stuff in a brown-in bag like for roasts or turkeys and cook the sucker 3 hours at 275 and voila, you have about 64 oz. of stuff that's frankly better than any dead animal I ever ate, roughly 10 g protein/oz, and a little high in fat because there's also oil in there (coconut or corn), but then, a little fat is good for you.

For people concerned about soy, including me, it works out to be about less than an ounce a serving, and it's the ok kind.

f

Thanks! Do let me know if you get your e-cookbook done.

[Shirls]

fkwan, how do you puree pumpkin seeds? Soak them, boil them or what? I used to eat handfuls before the No Snack rule but I always assumed they were more fat than protein? If they have a high protein content I'll add a tablespoon to my fruit, yogurt and bran cereal breakfasts.