TN50 #94, Muscle Math, 24 October 2022
Hi Team,
Happy Monday and welcome to The Next 50 #94. Let’s start with a question:
- Do you eat enough protein?
I’ve asked this question before in an earlier TN50 and I am asking again.
Protein is the foundational MACRO of your EAT plan, before you consider fat and carbs you should be making sure you are eating enough protein every day. Protein has 4 calories per gram and, once digested, acts as the building material (amino acids) for all your lean body mass. Protein is not stored for later use, like fat and carbs and must be replenished daily.
If you answered “yes” to question #1, my next question is:
- What is your personal minimum daily protein requirement, in grams?
If you answered yes to question #1 you should know the answer to question #2. Wait, you don’t know. You answered yes to #1 and you don’t know the answer to #2, embarrassing!
Just kidding, I got you! I built a super simple worksheet so you can figure out your minimum daily protein requirement, I even converted the multipliers to pounds because this is AMERICA Baby!
Muscle Math – Protein Baseline Worksheet
- How much do you weigh, in pounds? __________ lbs.
- Pick your Protein Multiplier:
Multiplier 1: I am constantly training for a marathon or other long event; or I work out hard 5 – 7 days a week and I have an active job.
Multiplier 1 = 0.728
Multiplier 2: I move regularly, but I’m not training for a marathon or the CrossFit Games. *
Multiplier 2 = 0.591
- Minimum Daily Protein Requirement (MDPR):
Multiply your Weight, from 1. __________ X your P Multiplier from 2. __________
Answer = __________. This number is the minimum amount of protein, in GRAMS, you need a day.
Example:
- Tonya weighs 130 lbs. and she works out intensely 5 – 7 days a week. When she isn’t working out, she is a Ranch Hand in Wyoming.
- Weight = 130 lbs.
- Protein Multiplier = 0.728
- MDPR = 94.64 grams, or 95g
- Tonya needs to eat at least 95g of protein every day.
- Breaking your MDPR up into 3 meals or 2 meals and a snack can look like this:
- 3 meals: 35% Breakfast, 30% Lunch, 35% Dinner
- 2 meals and a snack: 40% Breakfast, 20% Snack, 40% Dinner
Examples:
- Tonya’s MDPR is 95g’s:
- 3 Meals = Breakfast – 34g, Lunch – 29g, Dinner – 34g
- 2 Meals and a snack = Breakfast – 38g, Snack – 19g, Dinner – 38g
- What your MDPR looks like:
- Beef, Chix, Fish, Pork: 1 ounce = 7g’s P
- Sausage: 1 ounce = 5g’s P
- Bacon: 1 strip = 4g’s P
- Deli Meat: 1 ounce = 5g’s P
- Egg: 1 whole = 6g’s P
- Cow’s Milk: 1 cup = 8g to 13g’s P, depending on brand
- Black Beans: half a cup = 7g’s P
Examples *
- Tonya, 3 Meals (remember the MDPR is the minimum requirement):
- Breakfast, 34g’s = 4 eggs and 3 strips of bacon, total P = 36g
- Lunch, 29g’s = Mixed green salad with 5 ounces of chicken, total P = 35g
- Dinner, 34g’s = 6-ounce filet, total P = 42g
- Tonya, 2 Meals and a snack:
- Breakfast, 38g’s = Steak (4 ounces) & Eggs (3 whole), total P = 46g
- Snack, Meal Replacement Bar, total P = 20g
- Dinner, Chipotle Burrito Bowl, Chicken, No Rice, Black Bean, Tomato Salsa and Lettuce, total P = 40g
* These examples are references for protein and not a recommendation for a complete diet. This Protein Baseline Worksheet is designed to help you build a protein focused foundation as part of a complete EAT framework.
This worksheet is a composite of science backed literature and interviews I have recently heard.
- Stuart Phillips on the Found My Fitness pod, Dr. Rhonda Patrick’s show
- Don Layman, Ph.D. on The Drive pod, Dr. Peter Attia’s show
As a sidenote, Peter Attia uses a simple 1 gram of protein per pound of body multiplier in his personal eat protocols, Dr Phillips’ research indicates this may be overkill, Attia is also working out somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 MET Hours a week (if you don’t know what that means, it means he trains A LOT) so maybe he is taking a better to have and not need approach to his MDPR.
As always share the post with your team or anyone who might find it useful.
Have a good one, Alex
