How much protein per meal at least?

[michaelv92]

I’m finding myself having to spread my meals out to 6-7 meals per day, but I can’t seem to get 20-30g of protein per meal which I read is recommended for bodybuilding.

How important is that or is it just overall protein throughout the day/after workout that’s more important?

[snailsrus]

Doesn’t matter how much per meal just get .6-.7 grams per lb of body weight minimum a day

[AdamWW]

What do you mean you ‘can’t’?

[Paulie1986]

Get meals to about 4 a day and..wait. You're struggling to get in 20-30g? I have tuna in tortilla wraps and they have 10g protein between them. That's befo' I get in some o' that Freddie Mercury tuna. Nearly 40g there already.

[michaelv92]

What do you mean you ‘can’t’?

I’m dealing with gas and bloating issues so Im starting from scratch basically

[michaelv92]

Get meals to about 4 a day and..wait. You're struggling to get in 20-30g? I have tuna in tortilla wraps and they have 10g protein between them. That's befo' I get in some o' that Freddie Mercury tuna. Nearly 40g there already.

I’m having bloating issues so I don’t really want to cram 800 cals in one meal lol. I’m spreading them out through 6-7 meals and I’m at 147g of protein atm. I’m tryinf to build back up.

I’m not good with variety when it comes to food also. I get overwhelmed with the amount of info online. I basically eat the same meals every day. Chicken breast, ground turkey, rice, pasta, salad/zucchini, oatmeal, banana, sunflower seeds, sunflower seed butter/avacado

[TolerantLactose]

Have you considered that not all meals need to have the same macro breakdown or calorie counts?

[michaelv92]

Have you considered that not all meals need to have the same macro breakdown or calorie counts?

Admittedly I’ve become obsessed with numbers. Seeing the amazing physical change I’ve had has me completely obsessed with numbers. Bodybuilding overall has me so obsessed. It’s almost like “omg if I don’t eat x amount of protein in this meal, I’m sacrificing gains.

I’m aware of it but just coming here for reassurance that I’m going overboard and am just too obsessed.

[bigstrongguys]

Admittedly I’ve become obsessed with numbers. Seeing the amazing physical change I’ve had has me completely obsessed with numbers. Bodybuilding overall has me so obsessed. It’s almost like “omg if I don’t eat x amount of protein in this meal, I’m sacrificing gains.

I’m aware of it but just coming here for reassurance that I’m going overboard and am just too obsessed.

Just look on google for high protein meals and optimize it towards that. Like for dinner have two chicken breasts, rice and brocolli. Nice and healthy with seasoning, then have nuts throughout the day, glasses of milk if you're paranoid and oatmeal in the morning with peanut butter. Next thing you know you're getting in loads of protein.

[michaelv92]

Just look on google for high protein meals and optimize it towards that. Like for dinner have two chicken breasts, rice and brocolli. Nice and healthy with seasoning, then have nuts throughout the day, glasses of milk if you're paranoid and oatmeal in the morning with peanut butter. Next thing you know you're getting in loads of protein.

Well the issue isn’t getting in protein, my issue is I’m having some sort of bloating issue. I’ve been through it all. Colonoscopy, ct scans, MRI. All coming up negative so I’m trying a low fodmap diet atm. I’ve also had an injury thats still around and kept me out of the gym and literally just laying down all day.

So I have multiple issues conflicting each other unfortunately lol. I’m 5’6, about 147lbs. I was at 160. I felt great headinG into my cut.

I’m at around 2500 cals rn which I hope is enough to put on a little size and get some of the weight back without cardio, just lifting 3-5 days a week.

[snailsrus]

Admittedly I’ve become obsessed with numbers. Seeing the amazing physical change I’ve had has me completely obsessed with numbers. Bodybuilding overall has me so obsessed. It’s almost like “omg if I don’t eat x amount of protein in this meal, I’m sacrificing gains.

I’m aware of it but just coming here for reassurance that I’m going overboard and am just too obsessed.

I think you need to step away from the counting before you have a full blown eating disorder

[miscbrah44]

why do ppl take this so serious

u aint jay cutler bro just eat food and train

[AdamWW]

I think you need to step away from the counting before you have a full blown eating disorder

Yeah I’m getting bad vibes from that description...

Sucks how easily people become obsessed and disordered from something that has the potential to be such a positive thing.

[userDKUBMCDU1Q7]

yeah i know what u mean . I have trouble affording protein all the time. What i need to do is start buying bulk protein powder. Carb and fiber wise, Oats, Pasta, and canned fruit are pretty cheap.

[kauseemcee]

Bout tree fiddy..


Seriously, it really doesn't matter as much as people think it does.

[Mrpb]

I’m finding myself having to spread my meals out to 6-7 meals per day, but I can’t seem to get 20-30g of protein per meal which I read is recommended for bodybuilding.

How important is that or is it just overall protein throughout the day/after workout that’s more important?

Not every meal has to have it. As long as you have at least 3 or 4 meals with ~20-30 gram quality protein per day you're fine.

Doesn’t matter how much per meal...

Actually for those that want to maximise their muscular potential protein distribution does matter. Alan Aragon and Brad Schoenfeld wrote a good paper about it: https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/arti...970-018-0215-1

Based on the current evidence, we conclude that to maximize anabolism one should consume protein at a target intake of 0.4 g/kg/meal across a minimum of four meals in order to reach a minimum of 1.6 g/kg/day. Using the upper daily intake of 2.2 g/kg/day reported in the literature spread out over the same four meals would necessitate a maximum of 0.55 g/kg/meal.

[brit-iron]

I find beef easier to digest and fish. I get the 95% lean beef. Just varying your diet could improve digestive problems.

[air2fakie]

Admittedly I’ve become obsessed with numbers. Seeing the amazing physical change I’ve had has me completely obsessed with numbers. Bodybuilding overall has me so obsessed. It’s almost like “omg if I don’t eat x amount of protein in this meal, I’m sacrificing gains.

I’m aware of it but just coming here for reassurance that I’m going overboard and am just too obsessed.

I’ve also had an injury thats still around and kept me out of the gym and literally just laying down all day.

OP, if you approach nutrition anything like you approach your workouts - you'll be going overboard in the wrong direction because of some misconception you have. If you're always getting a diff injury every month you'll always be sacrificing gains no matter how much protein you eat per meal.

[paulinkansas]

This doesn't answer your question, but might give you something to think about. My wife made a big pot of gumbo yesterday. 4 protein sources. Beef, chicken, pork, shrimp. I figure a variety of protein sources in a meal are better than just one source, but I have no scientific evidence. Have you ever seen a small Cajun?

[taydbear7]

why do ppl take this so serious

u aint jay cutler bro just eat food and train

He was a terrible QB for the Bears

[wilkinkc]

He meant the bodybuilder Jay Cutler

[TolerantLactose]

He meant the bodybuilder Jay Cutler

He's a pretty bad QB too.

Also:

[blue9steel]

Total protein intake is much more important than protein timing. That said, there is some evidence that there may be a minimum and maximum amount of protein per meal to optimize effectiveness. If you're eating that many meals then not all of them need to contain protein and you may be better off condensing your intake into say four larger protein feedings per day rather than 7 tiny ones.

[Mrpb]

Total protein intake is much more important than protein timing. That said, there is some evidence that there may be a minimum and maximum amount of protein per meal to optimize effectiveness. If you're eating that many meals then not all of them need to contain protein and you may be better off condensing your intake into say four larger protein feedings per day rather than 7 tiny ones.

It depends. For example in this study the MPS response to eating only 0.8 gram protein per kg evenly spread came quite close to eating 1.5 gram per kg unevenly spread (figure 4): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4280213/

Going by their data it would stand to reason that eating ~1.0 gram per kg evenly spread would match the MPS response of eating 1.5 gram per kg unevenly spread.

[Garage Rat]

Lots of good answers above^^^.
Natural bodybuilders can't assimilate as much protein as professional bodybuilders.
Your intake will be much lower than what you read in many articles of eating one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.
.6 to .7 grams as mentioned above is probably more realistic.
And you might want to try eating more easily digestible protein like eggs,egg whites,white fish like sole or flounder.
Even a whey or casein protein for one meal protein source.
Dont force feed yourself.
Thats the one thing i didn't care for when i competed was just like you mentioned eating at certain times and making sure i ate all my food each time,it became a chore.
I wouldn't do that way knowing what i know now.
Good luck.

[TheShadowMan]

I just think about daily totals, and divide whatever i'm having per meal by how many total meals there are in the day. Right now i'm having two a day, so my total's around 180 for protein so I go for 90 or more a meal.