Protein Questions

Ok, I’ve lifted a lot in the past, and have now been out of it for about 4 years. I’ve started back recently and come up with a few workouts and diet i learned from sifting through all of these articles. My questions are, knowing that all people are different, how much protein is too much in a sitting? How much does coordinating protein consumption with the time of day I workout matter? Whats a good ratio between supplement protein and food protein?

Stats are: 6’0 200 lbs, trying to bulk, workout at about 7pm.
Taking the advice found here I keep a food log and on average I consume about 50g fat, 110g carbs, 260g protein. About 1/2 of the protein comes in the form of Grow! and all protein is divided about evenly throughout the day.

Thanks for your responses and such a great site! Off to read another dozen articles!

jm, there is no single number. It depends on the individual, your body size, what else you’re eating with it, etc.

If you read through some of Dr. John Berardi’s articles, you will see a theme where he recommends not mixing fats and carbs (much) in the same meal, but always having protein. So you’ll see P+F meals commonly later in the day, and P+C meals earlier when insulin sensitivity is higher.

That all gets thrown out the window (as documented excellently by David Barr) post-workout, where you want to feed your bodies fast carbs and fast protein as much as possible. In other words, Surge.

Keep reading. You’ll find this stuff!

Here is a really great place to start if you haven’t read it yet:
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=629609

[quote]jmbundy wrote:
Ok, I’ve lifted a lot in the past, and have now been out of it for about 4 years. I’ve started back recently and come up with a few workouts and diet i learned from sifting through all of these articles. My questions are, knowing that all people are different, how much protein is too much in a sitting? How much does coordinating protein consumption with the time of day I workout matter? Whats a good ratio between supplement protein and food protein?

Stats are: 6’0 200 lbs, trying to bulk, workout at about 7pm.
Taking the advice found here I keep a food log and on average I consume about 50g fat, 110g carbs, 260g protein. About 1/2 of the protein comes in the form of Grow! and all protein is divided about evenly throughout the day.

Thanks for your responses and such a great site! Off to read another dozen articles![/quote]

This is barely enough info to answer. Are you bulking?Cutting?Maintaining?
This nutrient breakdown is not bad, but it looks to me on first glance to be short of calories. At barely 2000 calories for a 200 pounder who works out, you are on the low side. If you do any cardio or work manually, you are well under nourished to grow or even maintain the muscle you have.

Try to get as much from natural/real food as possible and use the supplements for just that. Also in case of convenience. A 50% increase in your current carb intake would be my first advice–depending on goals. Don’t be afraid of fruits,vegetables and good ole complex carbs. These are NOT the carbs resposible for fat America. Stay away from processsed foods and sugar drinks and eat all you want. At that size–you can eat quite a bit more and do your body good.

Sorry–just saw the bulk part

You know my advice from here-----eat----

Eat as clean as possible, but don’t get ridiculous about it. To bulk effectively you need the extra cals available for when the body wants to grow. You can not time this perfectly, so make the food avaiable consistantly to your body.

250-300g/p
200-250g/c
50-100g/f

Oh, and don’t forget to lift heavy and appropriate to your goals.

The “too much protein at one sitting” question has been around for ages - and it’s a justifiable one.

Suffice it to say that at 200 pounds, a roughly 200g protein intake is reasonable… divided by six meals…equals about 35g per meal. Biologically, the limitation in immediate protien intake and usefulness is more metabolic/ muscle tissue based than intestinal absorption-based as so many people dwell upon.

But the replies here are right… peri-workout eating differs greatly, being a singular time when we want insulin surges. And calories. Protein synthesis is energy costly after all.

Thanks for the responses, I’ll try to increase my calories with some veggies and fruits, as far as the protein i find that i am craving it early morning and feel like crap if i don’t have 2-3 scoops of Grow! Then about 2 hours later I’m hungry and eat a decent breakfast of about 40g protein. I just didn’t know if basically 100g protein in two hours would all go to use or i would be wasting a lot and should therefore increase protein later in the day by 50 or so.
Thanks again