How much protein should I be eating?
How much protein should I be eating?
Protein is the only portion of this program that we ask you to keep track of. This is for a very good reason. We don't need you to meticulously pour over each gram, but everyone has an optimum value that is most conducive to their health and it's best to keep in that realm. Ideally, you want one gram of protein per day (split evenly throughout each meal) for every kilo of 'lean' body mass (that is, your body weight minus all the fat, remember we all need some fat).
The easiest way to calculate your recommended protein intake is to imagine your ideal body weight in kilograms and consume roughly one gram per minus 10%. For example, if you are a woman who is 5.4 ft (165 centimeters) tall, your ‘ideal’ weight would likely be in the neighborhood of 110 lbs (50 kilograms).
Thus, your protein intake per day should be somewhere around the 50g - 10% = 45 grams of protein, split approximately evenly between meals. This is her daily recommendation of protein, in grams. She can add 5 grams if she exercises or is unusually muscular, or pregnant. Athletes might typically add about 10 grams more.
An egg is roughly 6-8g of protein and a piece of meat the size of a deck of cards is around 15.
- Remember this is 15 grams of protein; the meat will weigh much more as it also has water and fat, so we are not talking about the 'weight' of the meat, but the protein grams.
This doesn’t have to be exact, but it’s a good ballpark figure to keep in mind when you’re eating. Males will have a little more, if you are pregnant you would add about 5 grams of protein as well.
Please see the tab "Protein Element" under "The Rosedale Program" section for more information.
Update 01-23-2015