kimmer, how can we look at your fitday

[everythingstaken]

But Jackie, you DO lift weights. And you exercise. Which is all that you can do to retain muscle. And you're doing fabulously with it.

It wasn't meant to be harsh, it's just a fact of life. People say that losing weight too quickly makes you lose muscle as well as fat. Which is true. As well as people that sit at watch TV at night before bed. And people who lose weight slowly. And people that ... it's just a normal thing, and not at all a good argument for not consuming too few calories when diet isn't used in conjunction with exercise.

[Kimmer]

The thing about muscle is your body will have the mass it needs depending on your lifestyle. The RDA of 60 gm is an average number for average people which would include those who do average exercise or average weight bearing exercise.

Competitive weight lifters may need more (probably less than what we see on this BB), but few of us are in that category and they don't have excess body fat. Even if they are eating more protein than needed, the 40% carb conversion is being burned via hours of lifting.

Think of toddlers, who pretty much don't focus on protein, yet grow at an astonishing rate. How are they building muscle, bone and tissue without large amounts of protein? Quick, without looking or thinking, what would the protein requirements be for a 2 year old? OK, let's say it's XX amount. Now, what about toddlers, finicky eaters in general, who don't eat that amount? They still grow. They look good. They have tons of energy.

Starving people in Africa who have next to nothing to eat and certainly not large volumes of protein, are strong enough to walk miles and miles each day to get water, work hours farming in fields and other fairly strenuous activity. No loss of strength. No excess body fat to draw on.

Two famous weight loss surgery patients, Al Roker and Carnie Wilson, both have stated they exercise 1 hour or more per day. How much protein do you think they're taking in with stomachs the size of an egg?

Only Americans are obsessed with having lots to eat.

[tita2005]

Thanks Kimmer!

I needed to hear that. I've grown accustomed to eating more food since I've gotten older. And I knew in my teens and twenties, that you just don't need that much food. I'm slowly getting back to that!

Thanks,

Theresa