Fat / Carbohydrate Percentage

School_Boy_Error

Hello,

How much will my percentage split affect energy levels? I'm not exceeded my calorie allowance for a day but I'm hoping for 65% carbs and 15% fat - some days I'm pretty close, others 55% carbs and 25% fat but still not exceed my overall calorie allowance.

Will this have a significant effect on energy levels? I know I can get energy from both so just a bit confused...

benevempress

Yes, you get energy from food. There isn't a one-size-fits-all macro split that will make every person perform at their best.

Fat, protein, and fiber all help you feel full longer. How you distribute your percentages of carbs/fat/protein is as individual as each person and I suggest you keep track of how you feel using each percentage that you try. 15% fat seems very low. You don't have to restrict dietary fat intake to lose weight. Eating fat is not the reason a person is overweight. Too many calories from any source will trigger our bodies to store the extra energy as fat.

Dietary Fat is used by your body in the following ways.

A source of energy – Our body uses the fat we eat, and fats we make from other nutrients in our bodies, to provide the energy for most of our life-functions
Essential fatty acids – Dietary fats that are essential for growth development and cell functions, but cannot be made by our body’s processes. Your body needs them for brain development, controlling inflammation, and blood clotting.
Proper functioning of nerves and brain- fats are part of myelin- a fatty material which wraps around our nerve cells so that they can send electrical messages. Our brains contain large amounts of essential fats
Maintaining healthy skin and other tissues. All our body cells need to contain some fats as essential parts of cell membranes, controlling what goes in and out of our cells
Transporting fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K through the bloodstream to where they are needed
Forming steroid hormones needed to regulate many bodily processes

BikeTourer

I find that many people pick whatever diet aligns with their favorite food group rather than sound nutritional science. I agree with the previous person's post 15% is really low for fat. Have you even tried following the default macros before going on a modified plan? I lost all my weight trying to align with the default macros and really had great success maintaining following the default macros. The only days I struggled where the days I was way out of whack on my macros. And the most common one that caused me issues was being way under on fat.

LaMartian

Don't do percentages. Get a total Calorie goal in mind. Since you're gaining, 0.8g of protein per pound of current body fat per day will do, as will 0.5g of fat per pound. Those are minimums. Hit those every day, then fill in the rest of your Calorie goal with whatever you want. You will gain.

maxit

LaMartian wrote: »

Don't do percentages. Get a total Calorie goal in mind. Since you're gaining, 0.8g of protein per pound of current body fat per day will do, as will 0.5g of fat per pound. Those are minimums. Hit those every day, then fill in the rest of your Calorie goal with whatever you want. You will gain.

I agree with not using percentages. Get your goals in mind (I couldn't tell if gaining or maintaining is your goal). The fat & protein macros are the minimums to hit - depending on the goal, your fat macro might be .3-.7g per pound of body weight, and your protein macro from .8-1.5g per pound of body weight.

spamantha57

The percentages will be based on your, & how you individually feel. I've experimented with quite a few different ratios over the years, & what I tried 3 years ago would affect me differently now. 3 years ago I tried for 30+% fat & didn't work well, but now I do 35% or more & feel great. Good fats are really helpful to your system. For myself I don't really need over 40% carbs, but that's probably not true for most people. Track your food for a week or two without trying to fit in certain macros & see how you feel, then adjust accordingly. This is where I usually start with for people I train.

School_Boy_Error

Great, thank you. I'm a comparative cyclist and it's the middle of the racing season so a book I'd read recommended a 68 carbs 16 16 day and protein split to have the energy to race and train hard.

I'm happy at the weight I am so I tend to aim for 2000 base calories and then whatever I exercise. I'll keep an eye on my percentages and see how I feel.

calichiro

I used to have horrible blood sugar swings and inconsistent energy. Then I switched to paleo and it handled it.

I shoot for 50% fat, 30% protein, and 20% carbs. I'm usually a little over on fat and a little under on protein. At these ratios, my energy is always good, even if I miss a meal.

You just have to find what works for you. I couldn't eat a low fat diet; I'd always be hungry and derail myself because of it.

GaleHawkins

We are all different. In my case I found it was the macro % that managed my cravings so I automatically stop eating when full causing the calories to be a non issue. It means in my case the type of calories that I eat and their ratio (my macro) rules my weight management.

I do agree macros may change over time. I think after my 40 years of IBS resolved eating my current macro I started getting nutrients out of what I eat so perhaps that is the reason of no cravings for the last 1.5 years so no over eating like for the past 40 years?

So few established knowns about diets makes it hard because we are all different on the inside.

KetoneKaren

What everybody else said. I do best on 50% fat, 30-35% protein, 15-20% carbs similar to @calichiro.

sijomial

School_Boy_Error wrote: »

Great, thank you. I'm a comparative cyclist and it's the middle of the racing season so a book I'd read recommended a 68 carbs 16 16 day and protein split to have the energy to race and train hard.

I'm happy at the weight I am so I tend to aim for 2000 base calories and then whatever I exercise. I'll keep an eye on my percentages and see how I feel.

As a competitive cyclist percentages are even more irrelevant as your days when you are cycling will have very different needs to non-cycling days.
Suggest you switch to protein and fat as minimum goals in grams and fill the rest of your calorie allowance with whatever suits you or your particular needs on the day. Carbs are king for energy when cycling.

On high calorie days when I'm riding my carbs are sky high and fat and protein minimum goals are easily exceeded as the calorie allowance that day is so high.