• protein alone does NOT build muscle

protein supports muscle & its growth, but in order to actually build it you must be in a caloric surplus. i'm literally not building muscle on an average of 2000cal/day (a deficit for me) so you probs won't build it on 800 or any deficit

^^ and too, if muscles start to show while eating high protein, it's likely that you're losing fat and revealing the muscle, not gaining more muscle. remember that losing weight is great for the ED, but losing fat is what we reeeally want!

• protein typically isn't v high cal!

great for the ED mind!! 100g of raw salmon (21g protein) is 127cal. lots of diff tuna packs (~18g protein) are 70-110cal each. 100g of edamame is 109cal (11g protein)

^^ BUT! vegan options for protein may be higher cal (ex. 50g red lentils is 171cal for 13g protein). that's usually bc those sources are higher in carbs or fat instead of mostly protein like meat would be. you could eat less lentils for cals, but you'd also get less protein

• how much protein should you eat?

allegedly 1g per pound body weight or 1.6g per kilo. u hoes never listen so you probs won't do this (even though you should bc you are starving!!) so just try to make protein your highest percentage macro if u track it

^^ you could also aim to get 20-30g of protein per meal & if you can, aim to get 30-50g per meal!

• pro tip

try & diversify your protein sources. u shouldn't get all ur protein from just eggs or just chicken. i utilize meat, eggs (vegan) protein powder, yogurt, veggies, and grains for protein (tl:dr diff protein sources have diff amino acids & ur muscles need them all)

okay that's it!! this is short & i'm no expert. so many ppl are scared of protein bc of gym bros, but seriously unless you start consistently lifting heavy (>10lb weights) eating a lot more cals AND getting enough protein, you won't build muscle. it's a very difficult thing to do