I weigh 210lbs., and my target is now 187.
I started at 387 for the record…so yeh, the end goal is a total 200lb loss.
I think I’m supposed to consume 210x1.5g protein daily = 315g. If that’s correct, I’m hard pressed to get it.
I do not eat that much “real” food and the shakes are not THAT tasty such that I’ll consume enough to cover that number.
What should I do? Force myself to eat? Force more shakes?
The issue I have is, in losing the fat I’ve taught myself to stop consuming whatever as soon as I’m sated, so consuming anything when I’m not actually hungry is challenging now thank God. It’s maybe going to be hard to get enough protein.
Suggestions?
Not if you are still trying to lose weight.
What do you typically eat in a day? (Since you don’t eat much real food)
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out of bed, a 20-40mg protein shake, then a surge pre-workout 40 mins later.
Post workout 1.5 hours later, 20-40mg protein
2 hours later, maybe some shepherd’s pie courtesy of my missus
2 more hours later, 20-40mg shake
In the midst of this, I consume let’s say, 64 oz of water, and 2-4 servings of mxied vegetables. IF I have carbs, it will be in the form of a grilled cheese sandwich, and I’ll have a can of tomato soup with it.
This is a typical day’s worth of what I eat.
An atypical day may add I dunno, a cheeseburger or a sausage biscuit from McD’s.
Oh, I drink 4-8 cups of coffee, powdered creamer, no sugar. I avoid sugar like it is effin poison, as I was once insulin dependent and preswently need no medication for it, and do not ever ever want to deal with diabetes again.
That is all
Unpopular opinion here but I am skeptical that someone “must” eat 1.5g / lb of protein to prevent muscle loss while in a calorie deficit. I think you can monitor your muscle mass while in a deficit by continuing to lift weights and gauge if you are losing a lot of strength, a little strength, or none at all to determine more or less how that is going. Pair that with what is going on in the mirror and I think you will be better off than force feeding yourself to reach 300g of protein a day. This may work against your ability to diet down as you think you must drink 2-3 extra shakes a day when your body is telling you it is fine without it.
Protein is great and delicious but probably the difference for you between 200 g and 300g is maybe just a bunch of protein getting converted to glucose through other pathways.
Not a scientist or otherwise knowledgeable enough person myself to say what is really going on but maybe I can help stir the Tnation hornets nest and some other fine folks will chime in with how they see this issue as well.
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I agree with @mechinos I wouldn’t just get stuck on the 300. I believe 200 would be plenty at this point. A lot of the calculations are based off LEAN body mass, not just scale weight.
I like to eat so having that small amount of food would not work for me but, it’s obviously working for you.
@T3hPwnisher has this eating stuff down to a science maybe he can weigh in.
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I should have prefaced my comment with it was coming from a person whom ate 9 whole eggs with steak and toast for breakfast today on a whim but now am telling you less protein may be fine.
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Appreciate the tag @ChickenLittle !
I don’t see any reason for a 300g protein intake here. If you like eating that much protein, that’s awesome, but no point forcing it
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Awesome! Congratulations on your success so far.
FWIW, I agree with pretty much everything that’s been said to this point.
Keep up the good work!
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I agree with everyone else that 200, maybe 250 grams is probably enough. To get there, I would just make a few tweaks to what you’re doing now.
Add a half a scoop or a full scope more protein powder to your shakes. Or consider using ultra-filtered, high protein milk like Fair Life. You’re already drinking them, so bump the grams of protein per shake from 30 to 50.
For your 2 Real Food meals, swap out the low protein stuff like potatoes and soup for meat. 4-8 oz of beef or chicken for each of those meals will give you another 25-50 grams of protein, x 2.
Also, maybe reconsider this limited-time eating window. Cramming everything in during 6 hours is tough. Even going 3 hours instead of 2 between feedings might help your appetite a bunch.
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Congrats on the incredible progress!
I’ll be like the 50th person at this point to say you don’t need that much protein. I actually have a theory that there’s more of an absolute than relative need, then total calories. In practical terms, I still think that’s ~200g for you (like everyone else said).
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To summarize pretty much everyone, I’m hearing, “You don’t really NEED that much but if you want to amp yours up a little it’s not a terrible ides, and here’s a few suggestions.”
This is precisely why I asked here.
Okay. And here’s the gold nugget I got and will use:
I’ll add a scoop here and there to tweak my total as desired. I like MD prison best but was out and have a different one I’ll add to the MD when it is delivered. My God protein was hit hard by inflation!
Thanks very much ya all! I think I have what I need 
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I feel this post deserves more appreciation! Breakfast of champions!
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Hey, great progress! Seriously, that’s impressive.
I’m chiming in to agree that your protein can be lower. Maybe calculate it to desired lean body mass instead of current weight, then your desired body is in matinance mode.
So, eating trick here to jam more food in, or at least make it easier. I used to be a huge stoner and alternating salty munchies and sweet munchies could make me put down a shit ton of food. Thank god for teenage metabolism.
It was stuff like fried chicken tenders and cosmic brownies, but I’ve transferred the principle to protein. Alternate a spiced chicken breast
with a chocolate protein shake. Have some scrambled eggs with veggies and hot sauce, then make one of shugarts protein desserts.
Also drinking a ton of water makes me hungrier.
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This may sound odd. And I realize I may have indicated getting enough protein is a challenge, but I do like the shakes and they go down the gullet pretty easy…I’m not having much trouble consuming the protein in shake form presently . That can change and likely will. Guess what I’m saying is, at least 120g of it isn’t terribly hard to do. I’m trying to eat meats when I eat anything that isn’t a protein powder dunno see well. I reckon I’m getting 200g regular and it’s not as difficult since I took a suggestion from here n started
All good