A website I was on said that in order to burn body fat, I would have to eat around 82 grams of protein a day! That seems excessive to me. I would be literally living on soy if I had to eat that much protein. Is this accurate? How much protein do you eat? I will admit that at the moment, I am not building as much muscle as I would like to, but eating lots of soy seems unhealthy to me. And eating a lot of protein, especially from soy, causes me NOT to lose fat or gain muscle. So, what gives? :confused:

A website I was on said that in order to burn body fat, I would have to eat around 82 grams of protein a day! That seems excessive to me. I would be literally living on soy if I had to eat that much protein. Is this accurate? How much protein do you eat? I will admit that at the moment, I am not building as much muscle as I would like to, but eating lots of soy seems unhealthy to me. And eating a lot of protein, especially from soy, causes me NOT to lose fat or gain muscle. So, what gives? :confused:


Hmm...I bought into that and gained weight. To lose weight you have to burn more than you take in...simple as that. You can food combine to get equal portions of protein and carbs but it never worked for me. I started eating mostly veggies and fruit and dropped a bunch of weight...but remember to not eat over your calorie limit. )It's really all about calories.

Sounds to me like it is a low-carb diet (which means high protein and higher fat than normal), which is not really sustainable on a vegan/vegetarian diet. And even when I ate meat, I could never, ever eat 82 grams of protein in a day. Egads.

The idea behind reducing your carb intake and increasing your protein intake is to put your body into a state of ketosis ("an abnormal increase of ketone bodies in the body in conditions of reduced or disturbed carbohydrate metabolism [as in uncontrolled diabetes mellitus"]). It is not a normal state to be in, but the Atkins' diet tries to tell people that it is. I think I have even read about there being some sort of ketone test strips. :dizzy: Yeah, you lose weight on it, but it is not healthy and it is not sustainable at all.

Cutting calories is only part of the battle. If you cut your calories too drastically, your metabolism will slow down. I have had experience with cutting my calories drastically and seeing my weight loss slow down and almost plateau and have read about other people having similar experiences. You need to eat to keep your metabolism working well, but you don't want to overeat and you don't want to eat empty calories. Soda has no nutritional value, and yet tonnes of calories. Vegetables, on the other hand, have a lot of mass (fibre) to help fill you up, lots of nutrients, but less calories. I am convinced that this is how we are meant to eat. :D But then, I am a vegan on a vegan website, aren't I?

Gosh, I think eating 82 grams of protein a day would be pretty easy, even with only moderate amounts of soy. I often get 60-65 without even paying attention.

How much do you weigh? It really is dependent on the amount of lean body mass you have...it's hard to say how much protein you'd want without knowing your weight.

The thing is, ANY extra calories you take in get converted to body fat, whether they are from fat, protein, or carbohydrates. So if you are eating a sufficient amount of protein, and you add more without cutting the calories somewhere else, the protein will just be converted to fat instead of being used.

I disagree strongly with the "calories in/calories out" theory of weight loss, but I'll leave that for another thread.

If you are concerned about building more muscle, try spreading your protein foods out over the day, rather than eating them all in one sitting, because you may not be absorbing it all that way. Also, make sure you eat a high-protein snack before and after working out, because that's when your body uses protein most efficiently.

OK, here's a food day with more than 100 grams of protein. Some soy, but not excessive. This seems totally doable to me, and you could totally cut out the soy if you wanted to and still be above 80.

Breakfast: tofu scramble made with nutritional yeast (25g) with 2 slices whole-grain toast (8g) with earth balance

Snack: apple (1g), seeded whole-grain crackers (4g) with 2 tablespoons almond butter (8g)

Lunch: black bean soup (18g), 1 cup steamed broccoli (6g)

Snack: carrots (3g) and hummus (10g)

Dinner: chickpea curry (16g) over brown rice (4g), mixed vegetable salad (4g)

Total: 107 grams protein

Mollygoat, how are you getting 10grams of protein in your hummus??? Or 6 grams of protein in steamed broccoli? Or 3 grams protein in carrots?? You are probably using multiple portions?

As for the weight loss thing, don't worry about getting that much protein. My husband gets about 65 grams a day and he's doing fine for weight loss.

Edit: Wow. I was surprised to find out broccoli does have 6g of protein per cup. Wow again.

I still don't eat 82 g a day. :p

Mostly I try to eat healthy foods. I don't concentrate so much on how much protein I am getting, but I try to eat protein rich foods, fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

I build muscle just fine. I tried increasing my protein and didn't notice a darn bit of difference in my muscles, how I felt, or even on the scale.

to me too - sounds like low carb diet. and the only reason those are effective is becasue all the body has to digest is the protein, and protein isnt even used for energy, so you're literally starving your body. it's called keosis or something like that. dont do it. there are serious side effects that can happen from going low carb. you could just eat when you're hungry, and not when you're not hungry, and do physical things that you enjoy - ice skating? possibly? that's my physical activity. if you just choose something just so you can work out - i dont think it's as easy to stick with it. good luck!

82 grams of protein doesnt seem like that much for a vegetarian/vegan..
i usually get around 50-65 grams a day...and almost never from soy..
theres always beans..rice or hemp protein..whole grains..nuts and nut butters..and many other vegan sources of protein..

:yes: :yes: what ^^^^^ said!

Protein doesn't have to come from soy - rediscover things like beans and brown rice and nuts and nut butters. Thats how I get most of my protein anyway. I maybe have 1.5 serv. of soy per day, at MOST, and I have no problem getting enough protein.

So, all I can say is BALANCE, BALANCE, BALANCE. :D Believe it or not, too much of anything (even good things like fruit and veggies), can be harmful. Thats why those no-carb or high-protein diets are so dangerous. Make sure you get a balanced diet of carbs, protein and all that good stuff, mix in some exercise (which I already know you do :up: ), and you should be fine.

Forget the article - how do you feel about your diet? Are you happy with the results? These things matter as well. :)

Hmmm...I need to be consuming AT LEAST 65 I'd say, because I weight-train and unless I drink a shake or something, most days I struggle...

Then again I don't eat seitan like I should...and I avoid nut butters most times b/c of the fat content...

CK, if you're weight-training, I think the 80-gram estimate is fairly accurate...I've read 1 gram per pound of body weight...but with that number... :eek: I call it a 'good' day at 80...

:nigel: Cheers.

actually, it's .8 grams of protein/KILOGRAM of body weight for non athletes, and 1-1.6 grams of protein per KILOGRAM of body weight for athletes, with (1-1.3 grams per kg/day for endurance athletes and 1.2-1.6 grams per kg/day for strength athletes) the higher ranges being for the athletes who are either training more, or who have mroe lean body mass to sustain.

Now that I think about it, I may eat around 60 grams a day. I often have a couple servings of whole grains in the morning and LOADS of veggies. I had no clue about the protein in broccoli. Hmm.

To the person who said to eat mostly veggies and fruits, that IS pretty much what I am doing and I am not gaining any muscle. If you look at my meals in IAT, I eat loads a veggies. :bobo:

well, if you're not getting the results you want (i.e. no muscle) I'd think its time to do some modifying of your diet or workout, or both. :)

I'm sure a more knowledgable person may have some info. on how to gain more lean muscle. For me, I tone pretty easily with just situps/crunches and dance exercises. But that may just be me.

Hmmm... (checks internet) .... A cup of broccoli according to the nutritional analysis site I often use is 2.48 grams. That's more like what I was thinking....

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

this is the site I use when I don't have a label ;-)

Mollygoat, how are you getting 10grams of protein in your hummus??? Or 6 grams of protein in steamed broccoli? Or 3 grams protein in carrots?? You are probably using multiple portions?

I'm going by what I think is a reasonable amount of hummus (or whatever) to eat in one sitting, not 1 serving hummus. Kind of like how 2 pieces of toast is 2 "servings" of toast. Does anyone really only eat 2 level tablespoons of hummus as their snack? Not in my world....

100 calories of broccoli has 8 grams of protein. When I steam my broccoli it fits more into 1 cup then would fit raw. Hence 6 grams.

This is one meal plan I would consider a healthy amount of food to eat in a day for someone who excercised vigorously. People (and brands of hummus) are different, so your mileage may vary. :tired:

Virtue, your advice was wonderful and I do incorporate many whole grains and beans into my diet. :) Which we ALL should, not just veggies. But, I went to the USDA site and did some research. I noticed that soy protein isolate DOES have the most amino acids (WAY more than I could ever get from the oats I am eating), even more than most meats. Yes, I know that it isn't whole or all that good for me, but I believe that my undercomsumption of amino acids is what is causing low muscle growth. I *am* aware of the risks of comsuming too much of this stuff, so I don't need any advice like that. I know balance is the key to good health.

I bought a gigantic jar of NON-gmo SPI shake stuff and stocked up on edamame beans. I just want to feel strong again. So, I hope this works. ::crosses finger:: I will not OD on the stuff. Only incorporate a tiny bit each day.