Calculating protein per day

[Idunno]

I’m trying to calculate this and I’m confused.

I’m 212 pounds and the ratios is

1 gram of protein per Kilogram of body weight.

so that means I should eat 97 grams of protein per day.

but when I calculated it using the online videos I got 168 grams protein per day.

that makes no sense.

how much protein should I consume?

Im trying to lose belly fat and carnivore diet is giving me a muffin top even though i lost a few pounds i look fatter than before 

[Geezy]

Well that’s a first for me. I’ve heard of people putting on weight but not a muffin too. 
 

So how long have you been eating carnivore? 
I ask because quite often people are expecting fast miracles when they need to realize that they didn’t get they way they are overnight and the won’t change things overnight. 
 

The conventional way to calculate your protein needs is one should aim for approximately 1 gram to 1.2 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass. Lean body mass being your goal weight.  
Protein requirements may vary based on factors such as age, activity level, and individual metabolic health.

[Scott F.]

Posted on the other thread as well. 

I am at about 220 this morning. If I calculate my protein based on my current weight it would basically be 220 grams per day. I don't know my goal weight soe it is hard to the math with an unknown. 

If my end number is 185 then I would simply multiply somewhere between 0.7 to 1.2 by 185 to get the amount of protein I need each day. I am currently trying to add muscle thru eating and lifting so I am doing my math to keep my intake above 1 gram per pound of lean body mass per day. (This is hard).

The problem, or big picture, is that if both of us strike the same keys in the same order on our calculators we will both get the same response/answer/solution. Fortunately, and unfortunately, you and I are different. My 1 gram per pound may not be enough for me in my situation/scenario and 1 gram per pound for you might be way too much, or vice versa. We are different. 

In the beginning I just ate when I was hungry and I only eat meat, salt and water. This morphed my daily eating habits into only eating once per day and at times not even once per day. I did/t do any math, or track nutrients or macros or calories at all. When my body said it was time, it was time. Over a period of time my body only had a couple choices to work with and it would then tell me which one to increase and which one to increase. 

For most, and for sure myself, I think it would be hard to eliminate carbs/sugars and use a calculator to target what our body needs. That is an awful ot of change going on at the same time. For me, it was let my body work some things out and then after some time listening to my body to make change and when things somewhat 'normalize' start dialing for the aesthetics of the process. 

Successful carnivore is much more about what you are not eating that what you are eating. As crazy as that sounds. 

Scott

[Geezy]

2 hours ago, Scott F. said:

Successful carnivore is much more about what you are not eating that what you are eating. As crazy as that sounds. 

I think that says it perfectly. 

[Idunno]

On 2/9/2025 at 9:23 PM, Geezy said:

Well that’s a first for me. I’ve heard of people putting on weight but not a muffin too. 
 

So how long have you been eating carnivore? 
I ask because quite often people are expecting fast miracles when they need to realize that they didn’t get they way they are overnight and the won’t change things overnight. 
 

The conventional way to calculate your protein needs is one should aim for approximately 1 gram to 1.2 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass. Lean body mass being your goal weight.  
Protein requirements may vary based on factors such as age, activity level, and individual metabolic health.

I can’t understand the measurements. I’ve sat with paper and pen and calculator for hours trying to craft meals with 80% fat

it makes no sense

also I was losing weight but gained fat in my belly, made a muffin top. I don’t like it

did I get a muffin top eating too much butter, it was i eating too much protein?

[Idunno]

On 2/10/2025 at 9:47 AM, Scott F. said:

Posted on the other thread as well. 

I am at about 220 this morning. If I calculate my protein based on my current weight it would basically be 220 grams per day. I don't know my goal weight soe it is hard to the math with an unknown. 

If my end number is 185 then I would simply multiply somewhere between 0.7 to 1.2 by 185 to get the amount of protein I need each day. I am currently trying to add muscle thru eating and lifting so I am doing my math to keep my intake above 1 gram per pound of lean body mass per day. (This is hard).

The problem, or big picture, is that if both of us strike the same keys in the same order on our calculators we will both get the same response/answer/solution. Fortunately, and unfortunately, you and I are different. My 1 gram per pound may not be enough for me in my situation/scenario and 1 gram per pound for you might be way too much, or vice versa. We are different. 

In the beginning I just ate when I was hungry and I only eat meat, salt and water. This morphed my daily eating habits into only eating once per day and at times not even once per day. I did/t do any math, or track nutrients or macros or calories at all. When my body said it was time, it was time. Over a period of time my body only had a couple choices to work with and it would then tell me which one to increase and which one to increase. 

For most, and for sure myself, I think it would be hard to eliminate carbs/sugars and use a calculator to target what our body needs. That is an awful ot of change going on at the same time. For me, it was let my body work some things out and then after some time listening to my body to make change and when things somewhat 'normalize' start dialing for the aesthetics of the process. 

Successful carnivore is much more about what you are not eating that what you are eating. As crazy as that sounds. 

Scott

Woah, you can’t just have beef and water because that’s only 20% fat.

i simply don’t understand how to calculate the diet

why are people saying to eat 80% fat and at the same time saying they only eat beef and water. Your calculations are way way off.

isn’t a beef only diet too much protein? Does protein give us muffin tops or is it fat?

I don’t understand why people are adding all this butter? Doesn’t butter make you fat?

This should be simple but everything is contradictory. I dunno who’s advice to follow 

[Geezy]

Butter doesn’t make you fat. Fat doesn’t make you fat.

Eating carbohydrates makes you fat. 
 

You still are not understanding that you don’t have to eat as much fat as protein to achieve 70% fat to 30% protein. 
Let’s say you eat one pound of hamburger. That hamburger is 70% beef and 30% fat and when it’s though cooking you have the rendered fat left in the pan. You can just pour out that rendered fat over the burger like an gravy and eat it. You will be getting a good fat to protein ratio that you don’t need to add anything to. It’s simple, no calculating m, no measuring no nothing. Just cook and eat. 
Now if you don’t pour the fat over it then a couple of tablespoons of butter go good with it but you still don’t need to calculate anything. 
You are really overthinking this way of eating and making it much more difficult than it needs to be. 
One of the great beauty’s of eating this way is the simplicity of it. You don’t have to count anything. You don’t have to measure anything and comp calculations are necessary.Just eat fat, meat, salt and water. That’s it. It don’t get any simpler than that. 
 

[Scott F.]

As said, I think you are trying to make it work on the calculator first and foremost. A buddy of mine just started a couple months and he thinks along the same lines. In our younger years he was heavy into the weights and dabbled in bodybuilding for a stretch. He became accustomed to counting everything from macros to carbs to protein and back then 'fat' was evil. This past month we have had a number of conversations where he is trying to plan his meals with co-pilot and chatGPT. He is not happy with the math and is struggling to understand as well. 

I think you are trying to make fat grams, fat % and fat calories be equal. They are not. Plus, for most of the population 'fat' is still considered taboo as that is what has been taught for many years. Maybe part of the 'taboo' is why you are putting emphasis on the 'fat math'.

I went 7+ months and didn't factor or calculate anything. Beef salt and water. I used the fat content as a lever based on my stools and the adjustments continue because life continues to change.

The last two months I have calculated protein for muscle building. I am trying to hit in the neighborhood of 200 grams of protein so I have used co-pilot to track/keep tabs on protein. I don't factor in the fat content in hitting the protein target.

I hope you can figure out what works for you. I'm not much on giving advice but I would say ditch the calculator and eat meats, salt and water until you are full. Then wait til you are hungry again and repeat. 

As far as the muffin top, I'm at a loss there as well. I started off at 306 and now I am down to the muffin top but that is much more understandable. Hope you get it figured out.

Scott

 

[Orweller]

On 2/10/2025 at 9:47 AM, Scott F. said:

I am at about 220 this morning. If I calculate my protein based on my current weight it would basically be 220 grams per day. I don't know my goal weight soe it is hard to the math with an unknown.

Set your goal weight 10 pounds less, if you look to lose weight as well, and take these steps in 10lbs. a time. 

[Orweller]

On 2/11/2025 at 8:31 PM, Idunno said:

Woah, you can’t just have beef and water because that’s only 20% fat.

i simply don’t understand how to calculate the diet

why are people saying to eat 80% fat and at the same time saying they only eat beef and water. Your calculations are way way off.

isn’t a beef only diet too much protein? Does protein give us muffin tops or is it fat?

I don’t understand why people are adding all this butter? Doesn’t butter make you fat?

This should be simple but everything is contradictory. I dunno who’s advice to follow 

Fat only makes you fat when you add sugar. Fat by itself is a far more effective fuel source than sugar (carbs) due to biochemical and hormonal response of the body. It's the combination of fat and sugar that will do the trick. Also Randle cycle. 

"The Randle cycle is a metabolic process that describes how the body chooses between using glucose or fatty acids for energy. It's also known as the glucose-fatty acid cycle."

I would say 70% of your daily calories should be from fat, and 30% from protein. People add butter sometimes so they make sure they get enough fat. Too lean will keep you hungry and may elevate insulin levels. The fat is the fuel after all. The protein is the builder. 5% of carbs if you must, squeezed in between the aforementioned macros. 

I hope this clears it up. It can be very confusing. Sugar (carbs) make you fat. End of. Fat simply does not. There's a lot of propaganda out there, because there's money to be made with you being fat and sick. 

We have eaten less meat than ever in the history of humanity, but yet we are the fattest, the sickest people ever. We've got cavities, cancer, heart disease, liver and kidney conditions that have never been seen before with so many people. All that while our healthcare has the most technology than ever, medicine, knowledge. It's quite an eye opener, and perhaps a shock. We've all been there.