For 2 years I tried to “hit my protein macro” as dictated by one of the more dogmatic Facebook groups. Their figure equated to 2.25g/kg lbm as a MINIMUM for me. I was gaining weight, and not in a good way. Also, any attempt to do anything that required any endurance would result in me being a shaking mess. I repeatedly queried it with the group only to be told that the solution was guess what? Yep, to eat more protein. I also queried the lack of any colour on a Ketostick. Ever. And was told this was because I was uber adapted from following their gospel. But I kept questioning things and eventually I got ejected for being a troublemaker (and after I had been removed, was mocked and ridiculed by two particularly vicious female mods)
The turning point for me was podcast 33. Since then I have dropped my protein to approximately 1.0.-1.5g/kg lbm and suddenly I’m finding it easy. As soon as I reduced the protein, hey presto, dark purple Keto pee. I can go walking in the bush for 2 hours in a fasted state even.
My theory is that my body couldn’t tolerate that much protein and was producing lots of insulin, causing weight gain and stopping ketone production. The end result was I had no fuel to burn, I wasn’t in ketosis so couldn’t access my fat, ingested fat was low due to the doctrine of the fat-phobic protein-a-holiac group. The only macro I had in abundance was protein so my body was constantly trying to fuel itself on demand by converting protein to sugar. I can remember some of my shakey bush walks, I’d walk for 10 mins and then had to stop for 10 mins to get the strength to go again. It was ridiculous.
And the real kicker was all the bullshit I was fed about how my organs and muscles would waste away if I didn’t hit their protein macro, yet I now regularly consume less than half their recommendation and have been steadily gaining lbm despite doing very little exercise. My diet now hardly looks “low protein” and it’s strange also how a lifetime of living on cornflakes, sandwiches and pasta bake didn’t leave me as weak as a kitten.
Everyone needs to find their own level but I believe the case for protein has been overstated. I’m just not sure whether we should be eating as much as we can get away with or as little as we can get away with.