How Much Protein Should I Eat in a Day?

This is a question I get a lot.

Below is what I wrote to a women who was thought she knew how many calories she needed to eat.

E-mail:

How Much Protein Should I Eat in a Day? 26 grams right?

Answered Email:

That isn't enough.

First you will need to do some math.

ACE Manual uses this calculation:

Your weight in lbs divided by 2.2 = your weight in kilograms

take your weight in kilograms x 0.8 to 1 = protein requirements

Athletes should use "1".

To lose fat do the math above using your current weight.

That would mean you should eat 60.4 g of protein a day.

As you lose fat you will need to recalculate.

That would break down to 3 meals at 12 grams and 2 snacks at 12 grams

Or For you: you are eating 2 snacks of Greek yogurts at 13 g, then 3 meals should be 11.3 g.

NOTE:

1. According to the USDA Food Guide, adults should consume 91g of protein a day, based on a 2,000 calorie a day diet. Protein should make up approximately 18 percent of your total daily calories.

2. Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook pg 130 Multiply your weight in pounds by one of the following: Sedentary adult 0.4: Active adult 0.4-0.6: Growing athlete 0.6-0.9: Adult building muscle mass 0.6-0.9

3. Arnold Schwarzenegger The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding pg 725: 1 gram of per pound of body weight

4. ACSM (American Collage of Sports Medicine) RDA- 0.8g/kg bw/day ƒ: Endurance athlete-0.9-1.4 g/kg bw/day: Strength athlete-1.5-1.8g/kg ƒbw/day

5. AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America) your weight x it by 0.45 = body weight in KG: Mulitiply that by 0.8 = grams needed in Protein

Protein is so important for repairing and building your muscles as well as helping you lose fat.

Let's Get Healthy,

Coach TIA

Need a little more help with the calculations, read below?

For a 140 lb women

140/2.2 = 63.6

63.6 x 0.8 = 51 grams of protein

Athletes should use "1"

140/2.2 = 63.6

63.6 x 1 = 63.6 grams of protein

More simply put....

If you weigh 122 lbs

If you wish to lose body fat use this calculation

122.2/2.2 = 55.55 x 0.8 = 44.44 g of protein per day is

For athletes who want to lose weight and/or gain muscle

122/2.2 = 55.55 x 1 = 55.55

* If you wish to maintain you could only use your LBM.

86.8 / 2.2 = 39.46 x 0.8 = 31.6 g of protein per day

* I rarely ever use this calculation because it is so hard to gain muscle that there really isn't a great benefit to use it.

Let's Get Healthy,

Coach TIA