Protein?

AndShane

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I try and eat solid but still can’t lose the weight I need. Maybe my issue is protein? I eat chicken daily but I weigh ab 200lbs and I probably average 130-150g protein daily? Is that too low for losing weight. I workout consistently but it seems when I supplement with protein I lean out? Let me know
 
Sean1332

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I try and eat solid but still can’t lose the weight I need. Maybe my issue is protein? I eat chicken daily but I weigh ab 200lbs and I probably average 130-150g protein daily? Is that too low for losing weight. I workout consistently but it seems when I supplement with protein I lean out? Let me know
Are you sure you're in a calorie deficit? A lot of people intuitively eating may think they're in a deficit but if the scale isn't moving, they may not actually be.
 

AndShane

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I try and track it. I normally are about 2000-2500 calories. I know my exact macros for lunch and snack. Dinner gets tricky but I don’t believe I am getting enough protein? What’s recommenced for weight loss ?
 
LeanEngineer

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For 200 lbs trying to lose weight 150g protein is spot on. Like mentioned above I think you need to recount your calories and be consistent with a caloric deficit over a period of time.
 

Resolve10

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Are you sure you're in a calorie deficit? A lot of people intuitively eating may think they're in a deficit but if the scale isn't moving, they may not actually be.
This. If you aren't losing weight it isn't because you aren't getting enough protein (unless that is indirectly effecting your ability to eat less, as in if you ate a bit more protein you'd eat less carbs/fats which may help you overall eat less).

2000-2500 is a pretty wide range. If you are that unsure how much you are actually eating you may very well be over eating and above what you need to eat to continue to lose.

Keep in mind that doesn't mean you have to track precisely, but it does mean your current means of attack probably isn't leaving you in enough of a deficit to notice.
 
HIT4ME

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Are you sure you're in a calorie deficit? A lot of people intuitively eating may think they're in a deficit but if the scale isn't moving, they may not actually be.
This, except I would change one thing: If the scale isn't moving you ARE NOT in a calorie deficit.

It is just basic science. No way around it. Sean was being too nice with the MAY NOT.

Quoting @Resolve10 from another thread of yours :

Ok so you really just need to tighten things up.

It probably isn't insulin resistance (while that may play a factor that doesn't seem to be the issue here).

Your diet just doesn't seem to be you accounting for what you are actually taking in.

1) You eat a great lunch, awesome keep that up.

2) Probably need to standardize the dinner a bit more, if it really is meat and veggies, then great, but saying it isn't super clean but never bad doesn't really say anything (what does that mean?).

3) The late night snacking is probably what is derailing you. Some cookies? Several bowls of cereal? Who even knows how many calories that is if you can't track it. While having some treats or certain foods never needs to be completely off limits if you are having them every day and it doesn't sound like you are limiting them when you are you'll be likely to overconsume.
You are looking for all kinds of tricks and ways around it, but you need to actually diet. Not half azzed diet.

Get a scale. Get an app or a pen and notebook and start logging everything you eat. If it doesn't go on the scale and in the log, it doesn't go in your mouth.

If you were not eating enough protein, you would still be losing weight, but as Resolve10 said, I will give you that if you are over eating because you are making bad food choices, then improving those food choices will help you to eat less because you are more full.

For instance - if you were to try to eat 2 pounds of chicken (~1000 calories) and 8 bags of broccoli (~1000 calories) every day - and nothing else - hunger probably would not be an issue at all. Not saying to do this, just an example.

Show us a couple days of weighing and logging all that you eat meticulously on here and we can help more specifically.

Nothing about dieting is magic or all that hard to get. It is all basic. Most people just don't want to do the basics so they try to avoid them.
 

AndShane

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I do log. I am around 2000 calories daily. Maybe I’m carb sensitive or something hormonal. I ate 1100 calories for dinner. Big chicken breast and veggies with cup pasta. Lunch was 480, pre made pineapple chicken from local supplement place. Protein bar. 200 calories. Oatmeal at night. 250 calories. Scale didn’t go up but didn’t go down. I am pretty ripped but just want take to next level
 

AndShane

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I have low free test and high shbg, maybe that’s why it’s more difficult but I get what you say ab deficit. Totally get it. I’ve done the macro thing for a few weeks and didn’t lose weight but pant size. With a kid and a wife that cooks and gets pissed when I ask how much she put in, not happening but my lunch snacks are always great. Which allows me to eat a little more at night which helps me maintain
 
HIT4ME

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I do log. I am around 2000 calories daily. Maybe I’m carb sensitive or something hormonal. I ate 1100 calories for dinner. Big chicken breast and veggies with cup pasta. Lunch was 480, pre made pineapple chicken from local supplement place. Protein bar. 200 calories. Oatmeal at night. 250 calories. Scale didn’t go up but didn’t go down. I am pretty ripped but just want take to next level
I have low free test and high shbg, maybe that’s why it’s more difficult but I get what you say ab deficit. Totally get it. I’ve done the macro thing for a few weeks and didn’t lose weight but pant size. With a kid and a wife that cooks and gets pissed when I ask how much she put in, not happening but my lunch snacks are always great. Which allows me to eat a little more at night which helps me maintain
Look, I am not trying to be a jerk - and I could be wrong - but your posts look to me, someone who is objective - to be full of corners that are being cut and excuses. I am not AGAINST you when I say this. I do it too. It's human nature. It doesn't make you weak or bad or stupid or anything. The reason I call it, is because I have seen it in myself so I recognize it when I see it. I FEEL IT FOR YOU.

People come on here ALL THE TIME and have these issues and I WANT my and others' advice on here to turn into someone coming back and saying, "Heck yeah - that's all it was!! I had to change a few minor things that involved some practice and work and it worked!" Then I want you to be sitting where I am in a couple months telling the next guy on here..."Hey pal, I get it...here is what to do."

When I see, "I log" followed buy "A big chicken breast and veggies with a cup of pasta" - that's an example of what I'm trying to hammer home. What is a big chicken breast? How many calories are in a "big" chicken breast? You measured the pasta - great! You did that and I think that's great. But what did you put on the pasta? Anything? Dry? Oil? Sauce? I am assuming you had it dry, so that's cool - you measured it and ate it. Still - was your chicken breast 4 oz? 8 oz? 10 oz? Both 8 and 10 oz. to me are "big". Sure it's only 60 calories difference....but 60 calories over 4 meals is 240 calories/day or almost 1700 calories/week - or half a pound of fat loss. And if you're ripped already, that may be the rate of fat loss/week that you can expect - a half a pound - so that extra 2+ oz. of chicken per meal may be the issue (not saying it is, just creating examples).

Maybe I am being too harsh on it, and if so, I am sorry if I am wrong - but jumping to "I am carb sensitive" or "Insulin resistance" or "I am not eating enough protein" alongside, "My wife gets upset when I ask how much she put in it" - these are all excuses. I get the wife thing - but it is still an excuse. My dad had a stroke and he can't shop for his own food or cook his own food, etc. - so he is highly at the mercy of my mom's decisions. But you can take control of your situation and cook your own food. Prepare your own stuff. If your wife makes something and won't tell you what's in it, make something yourself. Or just ask for the recipe, figure out what is in it, and weigh it yourself if you can.

And in light of me being too harsh - if you KNOW you are doing everything right and you are logging and I'm wrong and just an idiot or a jerk (all extremely likely) - then don't beat yourself up about not having the scale move for a week or two. The scale is JUST a tool. A lot of them are not accurate to 0.5 pounds. A lot of people don't weight themselves every day over and over to get enough data to really see 0.5 pounds of fat loss. If you weigh yourself once or twice a week...well, maybe on day 1 you were a little dehydrated and on day 7 you were holding some water and the scale is the same but your actual body composition changed by a pound or two.

The fact that your pant size went down is a great sign - and that's another tool. I often use a tape measure around my waist every day when I am seriously dieting and take my body weight, bodyfat %, waist measurement every morning (personally I do weight 2x per day often) - and I recognize these are all tools. Sometimes my weight is the same but my waist has reduced. Sometimes I am bloated and my scale is showing me down a pound while my waist is up 1/2" or even an inch. None of them are the end-all, be-all. They are all just measuring tools.

Measure everything as precisely as you can (food, bodyweight, waist, etc.) - make sure you are being honest and then you will KNOW you are doing things right. If you KNOW you are in a calorie deficit, then give it time. Some weeks you may not lose anything, and others you may suddenly drop 2 pounds. If you go a couple weeks and no change in any measurements, then you know you are NOT in a calorie deficit and you need to drop calories more somehow.

If you have all that down, then playing with macros can help. Eating the right foods is a big step toward not being hungry. I used the chicken/broccoli example as an extreme example - but a protein bar/protein powders are not usually very filling. There are some studies that do show increasing protein by drinking a shake with 25 grams of protein before meals will reduce how much you eat during the meal - and protein is satiating a lot of the time - so maybe you will find it easier to follow a diet that gets more of the 2000 calories from protein than one that gets less. Nothing wrong with that. Give it a shot. But calories in/out ultimately determine weight loss. Protein determines health and lean mass retention. The trade off is that too much protein can leave you feeling low on energy.
 

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