Hey Scott,

What is best to do on xmas eve other than reading MuscularStrength's forum? :-D

I've read in several places that a good amount of protein is 2.2 grams per kg of body weight. However, when I entered my info on your site to calculate my macros, it suggested >200gr of protein, which is around 4 times rather than 2.2 times my body weight.

Here is some info that I entered in the macro calculator:

1. Age: 37
2. Height: 165cm
3. Weight: 51kg
4. Bodyfat: 8%
5. Goal: Muscle Gain
6. Amount of exercise: I've been trying to go to the gym 3x a week. Recently I had to reduce to 1x a week due to my job, but trying to get back to 3x a week now. So, I filled in the macro calculator with light exercise 1-3x a week.

My question: is it important for me to take this amount of protein (>200gr) for gaining muscle? Or would it be fine for me to take less than that, e.g., 2.2 grams per kg of body weight (= around 115gr)?

I found that I can frequently meet my protein intake without having to drink protein shakes everyday if the intake is 2.2 grams per kg of body weight. However, I definitely need a protein shake to supplement my diet everyday if I need to take 200gr of protein.

Merry Xmas!

Thanks!

@johnbart Hey John! So glad to see you were cruising through the forums on Christmas Eve!

So the reason my calculator here gave you a different number is because the calculator here (or at least the option you chose) would have been 2g per pound of bodyweight. And because you weight 51kg, that's about 110lbs, so that's why you got about 200g from the calculator.

Ideally if your goal is to gain muscle, you want at least 1g per pound of bodyweight, which for you would be around that 110g - 115g mark. That would be a minimum though. If you can't hit 200g that's OK, I would suggest you aim for somewhere between 110g - 150g to start with.

Keep getting as much protein as you can from real food, but add a shake in if needed!

Remember gaining muscle is all about overall calories too, so make sure you're eating enough in general!

Hey Scott,

Happy New Year!

I see, many thanks for the clarification! So, I'll aim for somewhere between 110g and 150g.

Yes, eating enough is one of the things that I have been struggling the most with. I'll keep tracking my macros to ensure that I'm having enough calories overall as well.

@johnbart Happy New Year man! Glad that cleared things up for you!

Eating enough is crucial, for sure. But tracking is super easy, especially once you have access to the @mealplan app! And if you're still not gaining weight after a while, just increase your calories a little bit until you are gaining weight consistently!