I’ve got some whey protein on order, this’ll be the first time I focus of my protein intake and I’d like your feedback.
I want a basic, simple, nothing-unusual, nothing-hard-to-pronounce, base framework to my diet so I’m more likely to get the protein I need.
Assumptions:
1.6-2g protein per kilo needed (80kg so 130-160g/day)
Training two sessions in a day (Full distance mid vol tri plan)
A bit less or a bit more protein won’t kill me
My body will absorb a max of 20-30g per sitting
This has been debunked. You can safely have more than 30g and the body will be able to handle it just fine.
If you want to split your meals into 6 for psychological benefits, you can, but your body will burn more energy from the thermic effect of digestion if you have fewer larger meals.
Incorrect. The optimal rate for absorption on a bell curve is around 20-30g but your body quite simply doesn’t just go “we’ve had 30g thanks, straight to the anus with the rest pls”
Plenty of room for salad and veg in there, Natural/0% fat yogurt is another protein source not to overlook.
Whey should really be to make up any shortfall rather than a primary source. Eggs have the highest bioavailability and won’t effect blood cholesterol so you can go wild on these.
I think this is a great plan. Your plan seems to be based on another assumption I’d like to make explicitly, ‘Get my protein from food, not supplements’. And whilst 20-30 g isn’t a hard limit, it does seem like a good guideline for pacing your protein intake over the day.
My personal jury is still out on whey protein. As it comes from milk, and is a by-product of making cheese, I tend to allow it as real food, but don’t overuse it. I like Matt Fitzgerald’s Diet Quality Score (DQS) approach, and you might want to splurge $1.99 on it. If I remember right, your first whey protein is considered quality, and subsequent ones not. I do like the DQS approach, and suggest you track your diet in it fro a week or two. If you’re getting scores of 15+ you’re doing good, and it helps you identify both gaps and oversupply.
This is a good point. I like Fage 0%, which is 120 calories, 7 grams sugar and 23 grams protein per cup. The whole milk version is 210 calories, 7 grams sugar (the same as the 0% version) and 20g protein.
your list is similar to what I do to hit 200g of protein a day. At 56 years young I’ve seen surprising strength gains in the gym by increasing protein. We’ve always eaten a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables. And I have whey protein on hand for days when my schedule makes it difficult to get protein from real food.
Honestly if you’re eating yogurt you should be eating plain yogurt - non-fat or whole milk doesn’t matter - if it is flavored it has a ton of crap in it
Knudsen low fat cottage cheese has 11g or protein in 1/2 cup serving, 90 calories, and 20 calories from fat. About half the protein as Fage 0% mentioned earlier, for roughly the same calories.
I like this PT’s videos, new one on eating plan for hardgains. Sorry fellow cyclists, no killer shots of 2000 watt producing quads ha ha, and you need to mentally substitute ftp increases for strength gains in gym.
It’s a bit tricky to keep up, so far I’ve been using ‘The Whey’ with semi milk once per day to supplement, but mostly it’s from food.
Protein
Day 1 130g
Day 2 180g
Day 3 130g
Day 4 190g
I’m recording on MyFitnessPal so I can’t help notice that it’s telling me to consume more carbs and sugars most days, then theres fruit and veg…but on the protein front I think I’m making good headway.
