Whey Protein... Yay, or nay?

I didn't read that link you posted yet. I'd stay away from fad diets or any diet that tells you to exclude a basic food group - my opinion of them is they're nonsense at best, dangerous nonsense at worst. You can probably talk to a competent dietitian for free and I suspect he or she would share my opinion about fad diets. I've gone from 215 last May to 180 today (I'm 73") simply by getting plenty of exercise, and limiting junk (anything with high fructose corn syrup, or high in saturated fats) in my diet. As to what else I eat, portions, etc. I have eaten as much of whatever I want. Notice I didn't say anything about eliminating anything like fats - your body needs fats, it just doesn't need 50% of your caloric intake in fats. Where possible I've tried to eat more frequently during the day, like having a couple healthy snacks in addition to meals, this is widely believed to help. My exercise routine is swimming 3 or sometimes 4 times a week, 3,000-3,500 yards/hour, and lifting weights and spending 30 minutes on the elliptical machine at the gym the other 3 days a week. On sugars, I meant reduce refined sugars (soft drinks being the best example).

The thing with no carb diets is that it puts your body in a state of ketosis, which, with the express intent of burning body fat, is a good thing. Problem is, it takes a very small amount of carbohydrates to take your body out of this state. Could you have enough energy to swim when in ketosis? I believe you could, if you're not in a competitive swimming environment. If you're a casual, recreational swimmer, I think you would be fine. But, if you're a very active person with competitive swimming on top of it, I would encourage the intelligent intake of carbohydrates to fuel your exercise. Brown rice, sweet potatoes, oats, etc... More or less, a ketone diet is effective for, say, high level amateur and professional bodybuilders. It isn't something that I suggest for clients that have busy schedules (read: almost everyone) or competitive athletes.

Some research suggests athletes have higher requirements than the U.S. RDA, and suggests the figure of 1.2-1.4 g/kg body weight per day. I've also heard that, but than again I also read that 1.8+ g/kg is meant for people that are very active (lift weights/swim/run). Does anyone know the exact amount required for athletes? A little confused on how much protein I should be getting daily to build additional muscle with my workouts.

I need more stats to give more advice. Age, height, weight, date&score on last APFT, what score are you aiming for on your next test, etc. edit: I looked at your profile and see you're a chaplain assistant. Interesting. I'm curious what rank you are. I remember chaplains started at O-3 but I never met a chaplain assistant. 19, 70", 165lbs, 247 on MAY07 (Haven't taken one since I arrived here). I'm aiming for a 270 by April, it's achievable I think. Chaplain Assistants help out the Chaplain in physical security/force protection of the Unit Ministry Team and everything that we are acountable for. We purchase supplies for religious services, and religious service support. We plan and execute retreats and other events. We have a direct line to our Battalion (or higher echelon) CSM on issues of unit morale. We are the drivers for the Chaplain in a non-combat environment, and we are the gunner in a combat environment. It is a jack of all trades MOS. Chaplains I believe start off between O1-O2, I think they may be granted O3 upon completion of their required training. I am currently E-4(SPC). -Jared

If you are getting a lot of aerobic exercise, which it sounds like you are, I'd say eat all the carbs you want. Reduce sugar (edit: REFINED sugars) and saturated fat. You can probably get the max score on push-ups if you work at it - I remember a lot of people including myself were able to. Not many people were able to max the run or sit-ups. I think the best score I ever got was 260-265. Now that you mention it I remember seeing a chaplain candidate at Ft. Bragg in 1992, he was an O-2 and had some sort of branch insignia none of us had seen before, which got us to talking with him. Good job on getting promoted to E-4 by age 19, it sounds like you have plenty of motivation. You'll do fine.

So when you say sugars does that include natural sugars such as fruit? I haven't been eating fruit since I started the diet, just been taking multi-vitamins. Sit-ups I always max, 92 reps being my latest. Pushups I usually hit 60-70% and the run I ALWAYS struggle with. -Jared