Nutrition advice

Im 5"6, 120 lbs. pretty lean, but sti have some body fat that i would like to lose (especially around my hips). I am also lookin to tone my body. Im pretty active i work out about 3 times a week but am starting to up that to 5-6 days a week.

I am a vegetarian an have been loggig my foods in an app for a while. I eat pretty healthy, salads, quinoa, eggs, fruits, lentils. But have a sweet daily (sometimes dark chocolate, cookie etc). Ive managed to get about 50 g of protein daily at the most. Ive gained some muscle over the years but id liketo really gain some. Should i increase my protein? I need guidance on how much to eat daily? I think i might be eatin too little protein.

Any advice is appreciated!!!

I think you should up your protein intake to at least 120 grams per day. Many people will tell you different things about how much protein to take in daily. But, keeping it to a gram of protein per however many pounds you weigh has always worked well for me.

Sunwarrior, ive been trying to get to 60 and thats hard! Do you drink shakes multiple times a day? I have one a day most days but i still struggle to get 60 gms.

Do u mind suggesting foods to add a significant amount of protein in each meal?

What do you guys eat that has about 20 gms of protein that i could have in one meal?

Hello Natigirl,

As SunWarrior said, you will hear a lot of different things amount the proper amount of protein needed. In my opinion, many people are over doing it on protein. I personally only get slightly over 1 gram of protein per KILOGRAM of my body weight and maintain my muscle mass at 165 lbs around 12-13% body fat. To figure you KG weight, divide your weight in pounds by 2.2

I would recommend between 1-2 grams of protein per KG of body weight, depending on the individual, their goals and their workout routine.

I base my opinion on varous studies or sports nutrition organizations. For example, the International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends 1-1.6 grams of protein per KG for endurance athletes and 1.6-2 grams/KG for strength athletes. Swiss Forum for Sports Nutrition recommends 1.6-1.9 grams/KG for both endurance and strength. A Nitrogen balance study (nitrogen balance is related to your protein intake) recommends 1.41 grams/KG for strength athletes. The US RDI is only .8 grams/KG for the average sedentary american.

As far as foods high in protein, beans/nuts/seeds/nut butters are all good. And don't forget that many vegetables such as broccoli, kale, collards, turnip greens are high in protein compared to the amount of calories they contain, much more than most people realize.

I know that the normal thing you hear is protein from non-animal sources isn't as high quality as plant based proteins. I believe this opinion comes from the amino acid profile makeups. But I believe there is something the scientific community is missing about plant proteins and they are actually better quality proteins. I have no studies to back this hypothesis of mine up, just my experience from eating plant proteins.

As far as getting 20 grams of protein in a meal, eat 1 cup of kidney beans and 2 tablespoons of sunflower seed butter and you got 21 grams right there.

Awesome thank you!!

Phyto is correct. The RDA for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body-weight.

For athletes, up to 1.4 grams per kilogram of body-weight may be beneficial.

I usually have some nuts and seeds for breakfast and lunch and then I have 1.5 cups of lentils and .75 cups of brown rice, giving me a daily total of about 100 grams of protein, which is about 1.4 grams per kilogram.

Some days I only get 1 gram per kilogram. Even as a hardcore athlete, I think 1 gram per kilogram is fine.

Make sure you are getting enough calories, enough micronutrients, enough phytonutrients, and that you are eating a variety of foods!

What do you guys eat that has about 20 gms of protein that i could have in one meal?

Some suggestions:

1. 200 g cooked lentils (16 g prot) + 1 slice whole wheat bread (2 g prot) + 25 g dry roasted peanuts (6 g prot): Total Protein = 24 grams

2. 100 g boiled soy beans ( 14 g prot) + 50 g oats (dry weight;7 g prot) : Total prot = 21 grams.

3. 30 g (raw weight) soy nuggets cooked ( 15 g prot) + 50 g oats ( 7 g prot) + 10 g almonds ( 2 g prot) : Total Prot = 24 grams....

These are only a few.. One can always increase quantity of lentils or consume more soy beans or soy nuggets to get high quality protein.