Crushed Appetite, 90g Protein, Stalling Lifts — What Gives?

I’d keep protein near 1.6 g/kg and cut sets first. 130 g for 82 kg is reasonable; 90 g for hard 4x/week may be too low.

1.6 g/kg isn't a law. On low-appetite days, 100 g plus keeping training intensity probably beats choking down shakes every day.

How many meals are you actually getting? I had the same thing and 3 bigger meals plus one shake was way easier than six small ones.

Liquid protein is an instant gag. Yogurt sits way better.

Creatinine 1.02 while lifting hard and eating meat is pretty normal. Albumin looks fine, so I wouldn’t panic over the bloods.

I went through this on a cut. My lifts held when I kept total sets around 10 per muscle per week and protein near 1.8 g/kg. When I tried to keep 18-set leg days on 90 g, my squat tanked. Not saying that’s causal, but volume and protein both matter.

What’s your weekly set count, and are you tracking bar speed or just top-set weight?

10 sets per muscle is my sweet spot too. Above that on low appetite and my joints complain before my muscles do.

I'd vote drop a set or two per lift before pouring 400 calories of liquid into the day. Appetite tends to come back around on its own eventually.

Protein powder in coffee is the only reason I hit 120 g on bad-appetite days. Tastes weird but disappears.

The scale and bar speed matter here. If sleep and stress are off, a 2.5 kg bench dip isn’t a protein puzzle. I’d track morning weight, waist, and reps before changing much.

85-95 g is low, but six weeks of low appetite isn’t automatically a disaster. What’s bodyweight doing, and how’s sleep?

When my appetite was crushed, I kept protein at 120 g with two shakes and cut my weekly sets by maybe 20%. My squat tsopped sliding, though bench took another month.

Not saying that’s your fix, just what I’d look at.

If sleep is trash, I’d cap hard sets and keep protein easy. Shakes aren’t mandatory. Yogurt, eggs, whatever you can actually eat.

Have you checked whether you're just under-eating overall? I had the same crash—protein looked okay-ish, but my total calories were down because I was full all day. I started logging 3 days, not daily, and it was obvious.

A quick fix for me was a plain PB sandwich with whole milk after training, no powder involved. Also, our local pharmacy sends grocery coupons every few months, which helps when I’m buying easy calories. Not glamorous, but it unstuck my squat. What’s your total kcal looking like?

Honestly, Hi, total newbie here (week one), so forgive me if this is obvious. Are you tracking total calories or just protein? I ask because

I’d check whether your 4 sessions are in the same gym.

I stalled my squat for 2 weeks, then realised hotel racks had different bars, plate brands, and bench height. Same load felt awful. Now I film one top set and compare bar speed, not just kg. Are you rotating gyms? If yes, maybe retest at your home gym before cutting volume. Travel gyms can fake a plateau.

Tbh ugh, the appetite crash is real. Been there—hang in there.

Maintainer here. Six weeks in, I’d zoom out: what’s your weekly average body weight doing?

If it’s flat, the 85–95g protein is probably a symptom, not the cause—you’re just not in enough of a surplus. I stopped forcing protein and started adding easy calories: olive oil on rice, granola, whole milk in oats, a handful of nuts.

Also, a 3-week squat stall plus bench dip often means accumulated fatigue. I’d consider a low-stress deload week before cutting volume—sometimes you need less total work, not less protein. What’s your weight trend over the last 14 days?

Are you tracking total calories, or just protein? On travel weeks my protein looks “fine-ish” but my carbs/fats crater, and that’s usually what tanks my squat/bench before actual recovery does.

Hotel hack: find a supermarket near the hotel, grab rotisserie chicken, microwave rice, fruit, eat it cold if needed. Also check the gym setup—my “stall” once was just a thicker bar and higher bench at a hotel.

Before cutting volume, I’d compare weekly calorie averages and do heavy days at a familiar gym if you can.

fellow cafe owner here. My appetite dies when I’m around food all day—constant micro-tastes add up, then I can’t face a real meal later.

What finally moved my intake was setting two “protein slots” between rushes, 10am and 3pm, and sipping something soft: plain Greek yogurt thinned with milk or blended cottage cheese. No chewing required. Are you eating by hunger or by clock right now? If it’s hunger-led, that 35–45

Before dropping volume, I’d check whether your sessions have quietly crept past 60–75 min. When my appetite tanked, cutting accessory junk sets—not the main lifts—and finishing with a short walk instead of more work helped hunger come back.

Track weekly average weight and waist; if weight’s flat and lifts are down, it’s probably recovery, not just protein. What’s your current set count per muscle group and how long are you in the gym? That’d show if it’s volume creep or genuinely needing less.