why do you need so much protein when cutting?

[mrcupide2]

Sorry maybe a noob question. But my main concern is obviously losing fat. So why do you need so much protein to do so? and if I up my protein ..dont I have to up my calories? for instance if I drink another protein shake or eat another chicken breast..it has more calories..answers please.

[Shr3dJunki3]

When you lose weight, you lose fat and muscle, but having a good protein intake shifts your body towards burning fat instead of muscle.

[mrcupide2]

So what do I do if I wanna bulk up? eat more....eat more protein? cut out cardio???

[bleed27gr33n]

So what do I do if I wanna bulk up? eat more....eat more protein? cut out cardio???

Eat more protein, eat more food. You should never cut out cardio. It keeps you fit and in shape.

[Shr3dJunki3]

So what do I do if I wanna bulk up? eat more....eat more protein? cut out cardio???

If you want to bulk, protein intake could be a bit higher if you want, but 1 gram per lb of LBM I believe is suffice. Eat your protein and eat a bit more, just enough to put on muscle, not fat.

Cardio isnt necessary if you dont like doing it.

[senor_mortgage]

Also important to note that its not just the consumption of protein but also consistent weight training. Basically if you don't lift weights hard, your body will eventually find that calorie hungry muscle is more expendable than spare fat (though its more an issue as you get lower in weight). If you don't eat enough protein, your body cannot adequately recover from those weight workouts. Outside of newbie gains, most people will not gain a lot of muscle size while on a cut, though if your are consistently lifting hard, strength can improve. Keeping muscle is important as it keeps your metabolism higher and weight training can burn more calories than cardio over time (calories burned while lifting calories burned repairing muscle). The general rule of thumb is that enough protein is 1g of protein for every pound LBM (lean body mass). Some recommend 1g per lb of weight or even more. Adjust accordingly.