44g protein. Seriously?

ryangomes

So, my dietician uses Cronometer, and I am really liking all the data it gives me, but he left me at the strict ketogenic setting, which automatically gives you a range of 44-48g protein/day. He also has fancy machines that measured my TDEE and my body composition. According to my scan, I have 120 lbs. of lean muscle, which means Cronometer has me set to .3g/lb of lean mass. I feel that this is way too low, but have been maintaining it for 5 weeks. My weight loss has been painfully slow--like 1-2 lbs every 3 weeks. Wondering if this is because my protein is ridiculously restricted. Is anyone else sticking to these protein macros? How have your results been?

OptiMystic2

I'm also on the same strict protein setting, keto diet. I wasn't making much progress the first couple weeks. Then I started doing the same amount of calories/protein but as intermittent fasting. There's a lot of different information out there but I think Jason Fung, an endocrinologist, presents well. As does Dave Asprey .This all started for Me 2 years ago reading Bulletproof. So what's working best for me is not too much fat in my am coffee, I think that was throwing me over for total calories, and then fasting till about 2 p.m. and keeping my eating window between 2 and 9 p.m. My goal is to stop eating around 7:30, but I always seem to habitually pop something into my mouth right around 9. So for me it's a goal to stop eating a little earlier. But that is picked my weight-loss up 2 to lbs a week, even 3 lb one week.
2 years ago I was shoving 6 to 10 cookies in my mouth and then switching over and eating a half bag of corn chips. I was shoving stuff in my mouth even though I was uncomfortably full. I knew something was terribly wrong with my diet and my cravings. Now I have no problems fasting until 2pm, yesterday I even fasted all the way till 5 cuz I was very busy doing physical work out in the yard. It's shocking to me that I've overcome this craving thing. I'm almost to my goal weight and body strength.
Wishing you luck to reach your goals.

Susan_RD_101

@ryangomes

The reason your RD doesn't want to set protein too high is it can take you out of ketosis. However, this level of intake is pretty low for most males, especially since lean muscle mass can be lost while following a keto diet. I'd maybe suggest increasing protein intake to 1 g per kg (2.2 lbs) of ideal body weight. You can monitor your urine during this time to ensure you are staying in ketosis.

Weight loss also has more to do with your total calorie intake than macro split. However, I think your rate of weight loss is sustainable and less likely to cause your metabolism to slow down over the long-term.

Kind regards,