Too Much Protein?

Using Fitday, here’s the macronutrient breakdown of what I typically eat on a non-training day:

Fat: 78g ; 701 cal
*Sat Fat: 26g (12g from MuscleMilk)
*Poly: 11g
*Mono: 16g
*(Strange that the 3 don’t add up to 78g)

Carb: 237g ; 781 cal
*Fiber: 42g

Protein: 270g ; 1079 cal
*75g of protein is from supplements
*51g of protein is from grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans
*144g is from yogurt, milk, chicken, and fish

Total Calories: 2692

Is this too much protein? Are the calories okay? I weight 146 lb, 5’8.5, and I’m trying to gain muscle.

This could be more than enough, but it’s best to overdue if you’re the skinny type. Also note that protein from grains and such is incomplete and it’s very difficult to calculate exactly which foods complement eachother to produce complete protein.

But for your weight and height the diet seems fine, hope it comes from good sources. Add a decent training regimen and 8 hours of sleep(mandatory for thin guys trying to put on muscle) and you’ll see great results.

I know ideal protein needs are from 1 - 1.5g per pound of body mass. That would be roughly 200g of protein. But is this 200g suppose to come purely from powder, meats, and dairy? Or is protein from fruits, veggies, grains, beans, and nuts included?

Yeah, and my diet, for the most part, comes from whole food sources, with the protein fairly equally divided among the 6 meals.

(2 small chicken breasts = a whole lot of protein, is there a ‘maximum’ amount of protein one should consume in a single meal?)

I would suggest eating more calories, when I was at that weight(same height) I had to get alot more than that, but that’s just me. Throw in some more carbs and fat.

For gaining mass, I’m betting that isn’t enough calories. When I was at 145 I needed 4000 to add 1lb/wk and that was without cardio or much lifestyle movement.

The protein is a good level to start with, but as with most things, try it out and try different levels. Some people feel like shit on high protein, and some can’t gain anything without lots of it, so it’s somewhat individual-dependent.

There isn’t any evidence (as far as I know) about max protein per meal, but it’s best to spread it pretty evenly throughout the day to keep continue blood amino acid levels steady. I like bulking massive-eating sytle - seperating fatty acid intake and glucose intake, always keeping the amino acids steady.

For bulking - depending on your insulin sensitivity, etc I would start with more insulin spiking meals than fatty acid meals. But you don’t have very many carbs, so if you were going to increase calories, I’d start there, going first with peri-workout and breakfast meals. Just monitor your progress weekly and write everything down, adjust things as you go and keep track.

You’ll learn how best to do things for your body and in the long run this will make things much quicker and easier.

As far as the fat not adding up, that is somewhat of a concern. Without knowing what foods you eat, it’s hard to say, but I use fitday and have always been on the money, so I’m guessing it might be from hydrogenated fats (trans fats). I’d check the individual foods, and see how they are totaled, it may just be an error. Or maybe you didn’t enter the fat breakdown for a custom food. Anyway, check it out.

For additional input, you should post the actual foods you are eating. But just keeping a food diary is a great start. But I highly suspect you will need to add calories to get bigger.

Well, I try to even out protein as much as possible but like I said, 1 8 oz salmon fillet or 2 small chicken breats eaten with beans can easily reach 50+ grams of protein.

Anyways, here’s what I ate that day:

immediately upon waking:
1 scoop nitrotech in 8 oz water

breakfast:
1/2 cup Oatmeal (measured before cooking)
1 tbsp natural peanut butter
1 cup of 1.5% milk
1/2 banana
1 slice cantaloupe
3 egg whites

snack:
3/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt
2 tbsp toasted wheat germ
1/3 scoop nitro-tech
1 slice cantaloupe

lunch:
~7 oz grilled salmon fillet
3/4 cup spinach sauteed in olive oil
1/2 cup stewed pinto beans
1/3 of a large orange

snack:
smoothie made with:
1 cup skim milk
1 scoop muscle milk
1/2 banana
3 strawberries
1 tbsp wheat germ

dinner:
2 small chicken breasts
3/4 cup stewed navy beans
1 cup of lettuce
1 tomato
1/3 of a large orange

snack:
1 cup skim milk
2 scoops muscle milk
1 tbsp ground flaxseed

The diet is normally higher carb than this as I usually eat a medium sweet potato isntead of the beans for lunch and dinner.

I have been gaining fairly consistently with this diet (around 10 lbs in 2 months)

If you are gaining, then just keep it up. If you aren’t gaining, start eating more. Don’t eat crap though. Unwanted fat is just bad. You CAN gain muscle and keep fat to a minimum. Its hard, but it can be done.

Just keep eating the fruits and veggies and get plenty of healthy fats in. Also, I don’t think there is anything wrong with getting 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight since your body is always replacing proteins.

loctite_zexel, if you’re not getting enough calories, you might think about also adding more fats. Just avoid trans fats like the plague.

Hypothetically, if it myself that was asking myself these questions, there are a few things that I would do.

Switch protein powders, Why?

*18g of Sat Fat in 1 shake is way too much for me. I would try to keep all of my fats as close as possible. I don’t want a high Saturated diet.

*12g of carbs is WAY too low for gaining any mass.

*6g of sugar, is 6g I don’t need.

They taste great. OK. I would get a new powder.

*No way I would be eating ‘lite’ yogurt, skim milk, or whatever.

  • I would train hard, and sleep lots.

  • I would not do any cardio…for awhile.

*Up those Carbs!

  • I would not worry about getting so much protein. I would worry about which protein…and when.

Chances are, at that weight I wouldn’t be lifting anywhere near enough to need that much protein.

*I would try to consume 2692 cals by lunch. (That’s where a better weight gainer would come in handy)