I know the suggested protein is like around 1g/1lb lean body mass but I’m wondering if anyone has direct experience eating less than that and still gaining strength.
1 Gram Of Protein Per Pound of Lean Body Mass
That is a good recommendation.
However, the issue is that most individual don't really know what their Lean Body Mass is.
In all methods of determining Lean Muscle Mass there is a plus/minus component. And all of these method have flaws.
Secondly, the amount of protein intake appears to be more relevant to...
Leucine Intake
Leucine is the "Anabolic Amino Acid" ensures muscle mass is maintained and/or muscle mass is gained.
Research (Drs Layne Norton and Donald Layman) have demonstrated that a certain amount of Leucine per serving is required to maintain and/or increase muscle mass.
Age Dependent Amount of Leucine
1) Younger individual, into there 20's, respond to around 2.5 gram of Leucine per serving.
2) Older individual, around 30 plus need around 2 gram plus of Leucine per serving.
Younger individual system are more effective than older individual.
Thus, older individual need more to elicit the same response.
Leucine Content of Foods
The Leucine in High Quality Proteins (Meats and Dairy) are around 8%.
Thus, an individual consuming whole food would obtain around 2.4 gram of Leucine from 30 gram of High Quality Protein; around 3.2 gram from consuming around 40 gram of High Quality Protein.
Another factor regarding maximizing Muscle Protein Synthesis is the...
Refractory Period
One of the keys to maximizing Muscle Protein Synthesis is the timing of when it is ingested.
The old traditional method of consuming protein approximately every three hours is incorrect, out dated information that continues to be perpetuated.
Maximizing Muscle Protein Synthesis
Research (Drs Layne Norton and Gabe Wilson) determined that Maximum Muscle Protein Synthesis is optimized when protein intake occurs every 4 - 6 hours.
Sponge Analogy
Think of the body like a sponge. When the sponge is soaking wet, it cannot absorb any more water until the sponge dries out. Once the sponge is dry, it absorbs more water. The same applies with protein, medication, resistance training, etc.
Diet and Protein Intake
The type of diet an individual is on also plays into the amount of protein intake.
1) Ketogenic Diet
Individual on the Ketogenic Diet appear need less protein.
That because research (Volek and Phinney) determined that Leucine levels increase and were maintained to a greater extent with individual on the Ketogenic Diet.
Ketones provide a protein sparing effect with Leucine. Source: The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance.
Somewhere between 1.2 to 1.7 gram of High Quality Protein per pound of body weight are recommended.
Intermittent Fasting Ketosis
As we know, in fasting the body utilized ketone more effectively.
Research shows that fast of up to 72 hours utilize ketones/body fat, while preserving muscle mass.
With that said, let's look at...
1 Gram of Protein Per Pound of Body Weight On Keto
One research article found that there was an increase in muscle mass on the Ketogenic Diet when protein intake was increase to 1 gram per pound.
The caveat was that to ensure ketosis was preserved, fat intake needs to be 70% plus of Total Calorie Intake with carbohydrate kept at 50 gram or less.
Based on that, let look at the example of a...
200 lb Lifter
1) 200 gram of Protein Per Day/800 calorie from Protein. If Protein were maintained at the 25% of Total Calories (the top end of Protein on a Ketogenic Diet) that would mean...
2) To maintain a Fat Intake of 70% of Total Calories an intake of 248 grams of Fat/2240 Total Per Day is required.
2) Carnivore Diet
Due to the higher percentage of Protein:Fat Intake, greater Protein intake is required.
That because the higher protein intake does allow individual to be in ketosis, or if so the time in ketosis is limited.
With the higher protein intake, the body primary source of fuel continues to be glucose rather than ketones.
Protein is converted into glucose, via gluconeogenesis.
3) Standard High Carbohydrate American Diet
The amount of Protein Intake on this diet usually needs to be fairly high.
The amount of Protein Intake required is depended on the Activity or Sport; how much glucose is required and how much glucose (carbohydrates) are consumed.
If an individual is not consuming enough carbohydrates to meet the glucose demand for a Glycolytic Energy System Activity, Training Program, or Sport, gluconeogenesis occurs.
That means protein is necessary for repairing and building muscle is converted to glucose.
up to 183 right now (from 175). Pants still fit the same. Not sure if someone can gain that muscle muscle in 4 months but maybe? 
