Popeye was on the right track, but....

After recently comparing my calves to those of a long-lost relative of Olive Oyl, I feel like I must bring up another member of that cartoon family.  You know, Popeye the Sailor Man, the one who ate spinach and suddenly acquired superhero powers.

While it may have done a service by encouraging kids to eat their vegetables, spinach alone couldn't have made Popeye's disproportionate arm muscles so big.  Spinach is a source of protein, but it's an incomplete source.  It lacks all of the nine essential amino acids that a complete source of protein has. 

Of course, Popeye is only a cartoon, but I mention all of this to lead to my other point... protein intake.  A piece of meat (preferably chicken or fish) goes well with those vegetables. 

For my vegetarian friends, I've read mixed opinions on whether tofu is a complete protein.  Lentils mixed with brown rice are a complete protein.  Soy is also complete protein, but I've also heard other negative things about soy.  I won't go into it all of it here, but you can always message me for a further dialogue on this.

I've heard different things, and while trying to get bigger, I went with one suggestion that I try to match protein grams to pounds of my body weight per day.  That would put me at about 170 grams of protein per day, which I probably get close to reaching some days.  I have oatmeal every morning with berries a scoop of peanut butter, I drink the egg whites and then the MusclePharm Combat powder with milk afterward, another small bowl of oatmeal during the day with a scoop of protein powder later in the afternoon, raw almonds, greek yogurt, vegetables, I eat a ton of chicken (recently a little sirloin steak here and there on weekends), other small meals and things throughout the day, etc.

BUT --  a couple of weeks ago, a trainer friend (who also has a master's degree in kinesiology, so I listen to everything she tells me) made another suggestion.  She says to avoid potentially hurting my kidneys, I modify the current protein intake and instead base it on another formula.  This one makes more sense:

First, you convert your weight in pounds to kilograms.  I'll use my own as an example.  At last check, I was 168.7 pounds, but I'll round up:

169 (lbs) / 2.2 = 76.8 kilograms

You then multiply your weight in kilograms total by 1.5

76.8 x 1.5 = 115.2

So, based on this formula, in order to gain mass, I need to eat about 115 grams of protein per day.  I have a feeling I'm still jumping ahead of this number.  It is tough to measure grams throughout the day, but I usually try to keep a rough estimate running in my head.

Anyway, this is what I'm trying now. 

I'm always open to suggestions for myself -- or hearing about what you're doing.  Please let me know!