Protein Requirements and low calorie diet

[fatblackguy]

I am 240lbs and my primary goal is to lose weight/fat while maintaing muscle and my secondary goal is to build muscle with weight training. I have never lifted weights before. My diet is low calorie (2050 calories) with an emphasis on eating as much protein as possible within my calorie limit. My problem is that i cant get anywhere near the 1g of protein per lb of body weight on my low calorie diet unless I go over. My questions on protein are below:

1) I am currently taking in approximately 100g of protein daily. Is this enough considering my primary goal? Secondary goal?
2) Will I not acheive beginner gains in weights because I am not taking in enough calories and protein?

3) If I am not taking in enough calories\protein but lifting weights am I wasting my time? Am I building anything?

[Shox]

Protein wise, you want to try eating foods like tuna, eggs, lean meats. Just supplement what u need with protein shakes, for example i normally have 2 protein shakes a day to reach about 180g's. The requirement is 1g of protein per lb of LEAN body mass, so depending on what your lean body mass is you're probably looking at a fair ammount less than 240g's a day if ur fat. (Prob more like 180)

[lovestolift]

1) I doubt it. Protein is important whether you are eating to gain or lose.
2) Possibly. At the very least, you won't see the results that you could have seen eating at maintenance, and definitely won't see the results you would have seen above maintenance.
3) I wouldn't say you are wasting your time, but as I stated in 2), you won't get much out of it. The amount you are eating is very low for a guy your weight, even if weight loss is your goal.

My suggestion is to work on getting stronger first. Run your numbers through the equation in my signature, then eat that using the 8 rules. By eating maintenance with sound nutrition and lifting progressively heavier weights you will see some positive results.

[fatblackguy]

I am currently 5' 7" 240lbs.... 40% body fat......which leaves my lean mass at 144 lbs. I will admit I feel kinda starved on my diet especially considering im lifting heavy weights and perfoming cardio 3 times a week for 30 minutes. I toss and turn all night because I am hungry. I do drink a protein whey shake (w/ water) everyday especially post work out. I didn't want to do a protein shake before bedtime because thats more calories and I've read that protein whey gets absorbed too fast with water to be helpful. I will look at the calories equation and maybe readjust my intake.

[lovestolift]

The Cunningham Equation is a good start because it will take into account your muscle mass when determining your intake. What method are you using to determine your body fat percentage? Most don't seem to be very accurate above 25%, so I'd take it with a grain of salt. The tape measure method is probably best for someone with a higher percentage.

[fatblackguy]

According to the website I am 30% body fat. According to my tanita weight scale i am 40% body fat. I was researching body fat caliper but I didnt know which were accurate.

[lovestolift]

According to the website I am 30% body fat. According to my tanita weight scale i am 40% body fat. I was researching body fat caliper but I didnt know which were accurate.

Tanita uses a bio-electrical impedance, which is not very accurate. Calipers are accurate, but not for a heavier person, since they hold a good majority of their fat viscerally. Where you are right now, I would suggest using the tape measure method. It's pretty hard to have 40% body fat. The more fat you have, the more muscle it would require to move you around. To achieve such a high percentage you would have to be very sedentary, in my opinion.