| | Water Fasting

I’m so confused by protein. Help?

I’m (44F, 5’4” and 158 lbs, GW: 130 lbs) doing 18:6 and have calculated my TDEE. I’d like to both lose weight and gain muscle. I’ve found my sustainable exercise that brings me joy - Pilates reformer classes - and take about 4-5 classes a week, which I usually supplement with 1-2 strength training classes per week.

Here’s my confusion on protein:

Thanks for any tips/clarity!!

Stop Fasting Alone.

Get a private coach and accountability partner for daily check-in's and to help you reach your fasting goals. Any kind of fasting protocol is supported.

Request more information and pricing.

Answer

My advice would be to try to get more protein from the food itself and potentially trying a higher quality protein. Im fasting while trying to gain muscle and thats whats worked best for me. Some good sources of lean protein that aren’t as obvious that I enjoy includes beans, yogurt,tofu, and turkey. And finding a good quality protein helped me so that I can the most amount of protein for the least amount of calories. My favorite one is Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey Protein. And as far as i’m aware drinking protein after your workout or later in the day doesn’t have any negative side effects so theres no harm in keeping your fast and drinking your protein shake later on in the day. These are some things that helped me so I hope this works or provided some insight!

Answer

I’ve heard and generally experienced that it’s hard to lose weight and bulk on muscle at the same time. So kind of a case of choose one for a bit and then switch to the other.

For example since December, according to body scans, I’ve “lost” roughly 6lbs of skeletal muscle mass, but do feel like I’m slimming down as a whole too. I can kick myself for a bit, but at the same time, as long as I can continue losing the body fat, I can always bulk up on muscle later.

I need to do heavier lifting during what resistance training I get right now.

Answer

There’s a lot of literature saying that protein intake windows offer maximum efficacy. This likely is a mix of truth and propaganda by protein manufacturers.

Your protein count is a bit high. Most literature recommend for muscle building 1g protein per lb of lean body mass, 1lb per body weight to be safe.

You will need to find various high protein sources. Chicken is your friend now. Lots and lots skinless chicken. You’ll find that eating that much lean protein isn’t exactly easy, but it’s not impossible. Beef jerky is a great option. Find some without sugar.

Related Fasting Blogs