Had a talk today with a guy who was sort of offended for some reason about me not eating animal products and lifting weight. He said I’d never get enough protein (never heard that one before!!!). Because lentils aren’t a thing in a world of steaks.
Anyway he said that you need at least 200 grams of protein each day when you lift but that’s of course nonsense. Not saying you shouldn’t do it, but you don’t need to either.
I’m averaging around 110-140 grams a day and I’m doing fine at ±80kg body weight.
Not a body builder here, but I think I read somewhere that the average American eats twice the suggested amount of daily protein (which makes sense when over a third of USians eat fast food every day). As a vegan I mostly get my protein from plant based meat subs, nuts, and broccoli. I recently read the CriticalResist fitness article on prolewiki, and I’m pretty sure both of you are in the healthy protein range for weight lifting (though the meat-eater is a little high).
Actually due to the kinds of processed foods Americans eat they typically get less protein than what is recommended and this causes overeating. Your body focuses on protein and macronutrients first as these are the most important. The body doesn’t want to stop eating until those needs are met. Since so much or our food is processed and thus low in macronutrients and consists so much of empty carbs it causes people to naturally over eat in calories in order to meet those protein and macronutrient needs. This is why whole, unprocessed, high protein foods are so important. Regardless of if it’s meat or vegetable.