How much protein should you intake?

             

                Once you begin a workout routine where you want to begin to gain muscle you might look into adding additional protein to your diet. But how much do you need? And how much is too much? If you are an athlete or a new gym rat your diet now might not be meeting your protein needs.

So how much do you need?

This is how you calculate your protein intake:

1. Weight in pounds divided by 2.2 = weight in kg
2. Weight in kg x 0.8-1.8 gm/kg = protein gm.

Use a lower number if you are in good health and are sedentary (i.e., 0.8). Use a higher number 1-if you are under stress, 1.3- if you are pregnant, 1.3- if you are recovering from an illness, 1.8- if you are involved in consistent and intense weight or endurance training.

Example: 145 lb female who is a regular exerciser and lifts weights
145 lbs/2.2 = 65kg
65kg x 1.5 = 97.5 gm protein/day

OR use this protein calculator 

If you are wanting to calculate your protein based off of what you burn please refer to my previous page where you can find your Basal Metabolic Rate to see how much you burn per day. 

Once you add protein to your diet make sure to increase your water intake. When you eat more much protein, water is taken away from your large organs to digest and breakdown the protein. If you do not increase your water it might cause your organs harm or worse begin to shut down. So make sure to drink your water!!