Just out of curiosity, how many grams of protien do we need to maintain our muscles? There are sites that say carbohydrates are more important for maintaining muscles, but most say that protien is. So, what percentage of you calories should be protein?

a) 15%
b) 20%
c) 25%
d) 30%
e) 35% or above

Percentages are irrelevant. The minimum requirement for protein is a matter of weight, not a matter of how much food you're eating. So if you're dieting via calorie restriction, your percentage of calories from protein must be HIGHER than if you're in maintenance.

The most common recommendation I've seen is that you need to eat 0.8 gm of protein per pound of body-weight. (Coincidentally, I believe that's about what the average, non-dieting American eats.)

I eat around 50% carbs, 30% fat, 20% protein and it has worked for me. I pay attention to the quality of both the carbs and the fats.

My doctor told me to be careful with protein, as generally people tend to eat too much! ??

Not dieters. Typically dieters don't get enough.

I have heard that you need about 8 grams of protein per day for every 20 pounds of body weight. An average person (150 pounds) needs about 60 grams of protein per day. That comes out to 240 calories or about 12% of the calories in a 2000 calorie diet.

This is a very rough estimate. If you are growing, building muscle, mass, or recovering from surgery, you will need a bit more. Also, it depends on the quality of the protein. The standard diet is 60-30-10 which means 60% of the calories from carbohydrates, 30% from fat, and 10% from protein.

But who really knows?

And the experts disagree, by huge amounts. You've heard "8 grams per 20 pounds of body weight" while I've heard "0.8 grams per pound of body weight." Maybe some day they'll come to some agreement. Until then, we live in the dark.

I have a question about all this if its ok..

On fitday.com I watch my nutrition per day [mostly].

Most times I get WAY too much Vit A, which is a fat soluble vitamin that stays in the body and itsnt pee'd out..
Ok, now if we can get an overload of nutrition we eat, couldnt it be wise to say just listen to your body?

Today, I have no desire whatsoever for fruits or veggies. What if some days I am carb heavy, or protein heavy.
And for a few days I just cant bear to eat them.

How can those %'s actually work daily?
Maybe this is why formulated diets dont work. If I had to eat a fruit of veggie today, I would get discouraged and not want to diet anymore.
Everyone who reads my food journal knows me and my relationship with watermelon. But today.. I couldnt eat it if I was forced too.

What do you all think?

Hiya baby! I just wanted to know if someone was thinking like me.
I am not a xerox copy of someone else.. How can it all perfectly work for all.

Like today. I had cereal, and a hamburger for lunch. Not in the mood for veggies and fruits...so I am saying my body has had enough for awhile LOL

I've had the opposite experience. By taking a "no excuses" perspective and sticking to it, I no longer experience days where I don't want fruits or vegetables. I consider it a non-negotiable for me, and I find that doing so helps support my continued maintenance success.

While I agree that everything discussed is just "on the average" it is useful to note that most people are closer to the average than to either extreme, in just about any situation. This is because most natural systems tend to vary around a mean, in such a manner that the vast majority of the population is close to the mean, while a very small amount of the popluation (the "outliers") are further away from it. I can't think of any biological systems that spread instances evenly along a spectrum.

Emily quit sassing my text LOL
I never said I was literate lol

Emily you are as unique and precious as I am girl. Thats what makes the human race awesome. Wouldnt it have been sad if God made all our flowers green like the grass, so everything would be alike? Sam I am would be the only one liking that haha

Ok Bicker now on to you... I am really sorry about this, but I have to read your posts alot and substitute some of your words to my simple ones to understand you sometimes. hehe
I think I see what you are saying, I am not mean,,, I am on the fence with everyone else..LOL
Well, let me see if I can say this a bit better. Everyday I go wayyyyy off the chart at fitday concerning my Vit A. It said in a health article that I read we shouldnt go over 10,000 of those units of Vit A a day or it will become toxic to us. Well heck in three days I am there lol
So, if I stay on plan and not rebel against it, I will become a toxic dump. lol
So, when my mind says ewwww to veggies and fruit, I listen.
Does that make sense?
I feel like I am talking to Einstein with you, hehehe

Thanks, I think. :)

My only comment is listening to what my body wanted is what got me overweight in the first place. What got me back in shape was following a good eating plan and making sure I had a balanced diet every day.

I think we listen to our desires, not our needs.
But when we become really tuned in to our bodies, learn what makes it tick, we can tell if we have had enough of one thing or not..
Or at least I can.
I dont get protein enough I think that is why sometimes I crave that aweful peanut butter............either than or my fat content is too low..lol

I don't believe everyone can expect to tune into what their bodies actually need -- indeed, I think that we don't even know what our bodies actually need, and so as a result I don't put much stock in relying on gut-feel for these types of things. Rather (and the results published by the National Weight Control Registry bear this out) weight-loss success is typically traceable back to making deliberate lifestyle changes.

Re the poll, on most days I'd say I come in about 50-30 of carbs to protein with 20 percent fat. I'm kind of like Bird Songs, though, in that I believe in listening to my own body on any given day to decide what I should eat. Remembering to drink water is a number one thing I need to do for my body.

Bird Songs, I think peanut butter is a great food, especially the natural kind with no trans fat! :)

Re the poll, on most days I'd say I come in about 50-30 of carbs to protein with 20 percent fat. I'm kind of like Bird Songs, though, in that I believe in listening to my own body on any given day to decide what I should eat. Remembering to drink water is a number one thing I need to do for my body.

Bird Songs, I think peanut butter is a great food, especially the natural kind with no trans fat! :)

Sorry for double post. I tried to delete one, but it won't delete. Need to go back to bed! :tomato: