Amount of Protein - Clarification Please?!

[RoryL]

I completely understand about the storage issue. I'll drop $300, then when I get home, I have no room for everything I bought. "I'm so keen-o on beef-er-reeno." (Kramer) Seinfeld qoute, haha. I'm actually going to buy a freezer for my garage to address the issue since the one in my fridge can't hold a small cow.
You can purchase protein powder really cheap online. Nevertheless, I'll stress again that I prefer foods to shakes.
Keep working at it, modify as needed, and keep the great attitude, Spunky.

[Spunky]

How many grams of protein did I have today? I had 168 grams of protein :cool:

Okay, so it was with the aid of protein bars pre and PWO. I really feel like I've been eating all day. After a big sleep in, I cooked my breakfast (I can't remember the last time I did that. I'm a cereal girl.), then I went out to buy yet more protein, then munch, munch, munch, gym, munch, munch, munch.

At the moment I'm on school holidays, so it didn't really matter that I did little else today other than achieve my protein quota. However I became concerned about sustaining this level of food preparation and consumption after several weeks when I go back to school. So I wrote out a diet for myself (!!!) based around the main protein foods that I'm eating and the frequency I should be able to eat, then I fleshed it out with the other stuff. It looks like this:

Breakfast#1 - mixed cereal, lite milk, two spoons of yogurt. = 16grams
(sometimes I will train here)
Breakfast#2 - 2 boiled eggs on brown toast, slice of cheese, 1/2 a tomato = 27.5 grams
Morning tea - Almonds & a piece of fruit = 6grams
Lunch - Ham & salad (cucumber, capsicum, carrot, snow peas, tomato) = 11grams
Afternoon - Can of tuna, slice of cheese = 43.1grams
(sometimes I will train here)
Late arvo - Oriental rice bowl & a piece of fruit = 8grams
(sometimes I will train here)
Dinner - Steak or chicken breast, peas, zucchini, carrot = 34grams
Evening - Yogurt, fruit = 10grams

That would give me 155.6grams of protein Should I be concerned about cholesterol if I eat two eggs everyday? About five years ago my Mum had angina and high cholesterol, but I got mine checked and it was okay. This is a big change to my diet though. Maybe I'll just get it checked again in a while.

Anything obviously wrong with this diet? Should I be eating the same on a day I don't train? I won't eat the same thing every day, but the above seems like a pretty good basis.

[Eric3237]

Originally Posted by sdf42450

the RDA is based on the food pyramid, which has caused a tremendous increase in obeseity and health related problems since it's inception

Give me a break. Do you really think people are obese and unhealthy because they adhere to the food pyramid? There are way too many factors to consider to back up a statement like that.

The food pyramid wasn't desinged for bodybuilders. Whether fifty grams of protein is accurate or not, it is certainly not necessary for the average individual who doesn't bodybuild or exercise very much to be taking in scads of extra protein. And the actual statistics show that Americans take in a whole lot of protein. We are one of the most meat heavy nations in the world. Yes, on average more than 50 grams a day.

It is generally acknowledge that athletes or weight training individuals need more protein. It is just how much more protein that is the debate. As bodybuilders we tend to advocate around 1.5 to 2 grams per lbs of lbm a day. There is research to back that up and is what I recommend and what I have had the best results from.

In order to make a point, we do not need to pretend that a bodybuilder diet is appropriate for everyone. It is not. Are we talking about Atkins here, or what?

Likewise, I would like to see some real info about these obese and protein deficient individuals in AMERICA.

However, I am not trying to muddy the waters for you, Spunky. I think you are on the right track. I've also heard that it can be difficult for women to get their abs back in shape after pregnancy. But if it has been four years then the abdominal wall should be healed and if you get on a consistent program I bet you'll see results.

[Eric3237]

I thought I'd resurrect this thread with this quote from Lyle McDonald because it speaks to the confusion so many people have about the RDA of protein:

Contrary to what many dietitians believe, the RDA was never meant to provide protein requirements for active individuals. In fact, the RDA handbook, which is the official guidelines handed down from the government regarding dietary needs, states "No added allowance is made here for the usual stresses encountered in daily living, which can give rise to transient increases in urinary nitrogen output. It is assumed that the subjects of experiments forming the basis for the requirement estimates are usually exposed to the same stresses as the population generally."