What is the best way to divide protein/fat/carb intake for w

olymp1a

Quick question here. What is by your opinion and personal experience the best way to divide protein carb and fat intake for maximum weightloss while building some strength at the same time?

I am currently usually eating 40% carbs, 35% protein and 25% fat but there are so many days I feel exhausted. I do dancing and zumba for cardio and then power & ashtanga yoga for strengthening which is quite physically demanding. So I wanted to ask you what works for you???

Jadesfattorment

I do 55% carbs 15% protein %30 fat
that is just what MFP set me at though and it's working for me so I just stay with that.

PBJunky

Don't use percentages....

1 gram of protein per lb of lean body mass
0.45 - 0.6grams of fat per lb of body mass
The remainder should be carbs

SergeantSunshine_reused

I don't use percentages. I go by grams :]

1g/lb lean mass in PRO
.35g/lb bodyweight in FAT

Those are minimums ^^

Rest of my calories go to carbs usually

Edit to add: PB!! You beat me to it xD

flimflamfloz

50 prots / 35 carbs / 15 fat currently.

I believe (from what I have read) and seeing your numbers that you should lower carbs slightly, and in fact eat more prots than carbs "for maximum weightloss while building some strength at the same time".

However, it is also important to change these numbers from time to time (which is why they are just guidelines for me, but I will have days with more carbs/fat too).

randa_behnam

my trainer told me to do 40% carbs 40% protein and 20% fats

but now i do 45% protein 35% carbs and 20% fat because im trying to reduce my carb intake,

snookumss

Would peeps kindy inform us why we need a specific amount of fat? I have been wondering the purpose of fat because I would assume we don't need much. Why is there a particular figure?

olymp1a

Would peeps kindy inform us why we need a specific amount of fat? I have been wondering the purpose of fat because I would assume we don't need much. Why is there a particular figure?

Please please read this article, fat is really important in a balance diet for so many reasons. The tricky part is to manage and intake the right kind of fat!

http://www.freefitnesstips.co.uk/20-benefits-of-dietary-fat.html

Lyadeia

Would peeps kindy inform us why we need a specific amount of fat? I have been wondering the purpose of fat because I would assume we don't need much. Why is there a particular figure?

I can't answer on the specific figure, but 15% of total cals. is considered bare minumum. Sunshine's figure would have me at 30%. I personally like 20-25% as that works for me. Anyway, your body needs fat. Dietary fat does not make you fat. It is used by the body in so many important processes...going "fat free" can cause horrible health issues.

I personally eat around 45% protein/35% carbs/20% fat but I don't stick to that strictly. As long as I get my protein in, I'm good.

I don't think there is one best way, though. Just find what you like, what makes you healthy, and what you will stick to! Without restricting anything, that is.

QueenStromba

Fat is used for a lot of things in the body. The cell membrane is made from fat for example, as are some of our hormones. Our bodies aren't capable of making all of the different fatty acids it needs so has to get some from our diets. Fats are also essential in the diet because a lot of vitamins and minerals are fat soluble meaning that you'll not find them in sufficient amounts in foods that only have trace amounts of fat. Carbohydrate is the only macronutrient that we don't actually need to eat.

SergeantSunshine_reused

Fat is used for a lot of things in the body. The cell membrane is made from fat for example, as are some of our hormones. Our bodies aren't capable of making all of the different fatty acids it needs so has to get some from our diets. Fats are also essential in the diet because a lot of vitamins and minerals are fat soluble meaning that you'll not find them in sufficient amounts in foods that only have trace amounts of fat. Carbohydrate is the only macronutrient that we don't actually need to eat.

Beat me to it!

For some really good reading:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/a-primer-on-dietary-fats-part-2.html

crux

In the end I guess you pick your dietary camp / diet guru and go with that...

I like a few others on here follow the grams per pound method. Because of that then it's not as cut and dried as simple percentages would have you believe... Your total calories consumed has a huge influence.

My Example...

1 gram of Protein per pound of body weight each day. (minimum)
0.33 grams of fat per pound of body weight each day. (minimum)
All the rest = carbs

For me at 180 lbs, that's;

180grams of protein every day = 720 calories (approx)
60 grams of fat's every day = 540 calories (approx)

These are minimum figures, I tend to exceed them every day! Especially Fat's!!! but then I normally have a lot of spare calories to exceed them with.

But if I was on a low calorie diet of say 1600 calories a day, then this diet would become a high protein diet by default, with only 340 calories left over for carbs or 85 grams of carbs per day...

Low calorie diet

---

1600 cals

Percentage wise it would look like..

45% Protein
34% fat
21 % Carbs

I may expect to lose weight fast on those kind of numbers, but personally I could not stick to it for more than a month at the most!

High calorie diet

---

2750 cals

But while I'm endurance training and eating an average of 2750 net cals a day, the same guidelines pan out into a much more comfortable %

26% Protein
20% fat
54% carbs

That diet % I can easy stick to forever! I just don't lose much weight, just slowly grind off the body fat %.

kikkipoo

I have been told 40/40/20 repeatedly by books and trainers that it is what I swear by.

Sidesteal

Quick question here. What is by your opinion and personal experience the best way to divide protein carb and fat intake for maximum weightloss while building some strength at the same time?

I am currently usually eating 40% carbs, 35% protein and 25% fat but there are so many days I feel exhausted. I do dancing and zumba for cardio and then power & ashtanga yoga for strengthening which is quite physically demanding. So I wanted to ask you what works for you???

I also use min values set in terms of g/lb as a few other people in this thread have mentioned.

Given your percentage split above, I would speculate that your energy issues are actually from calorie intake being set too low, but I'm completely guessing here since I don't know how many calories you are eating.

What do you average for calorie intake over a week or so? (Not net cals, just the amount you eat).

Going4Lean

I change it all the time, but right now I have it at 35 carbs 35 proteins 30 fat.

stubbysticks

For weight loss it doesn't matter that much which ratio you use, because as long as you're in a caloric deficit, you will lose. The ratios are more important for fitness goals & since you are experiencing noticeable effects in how you feel, it's good that you're looking at this.

First you need to make sure you're eating ENOUGH, sounds like you exercise a lot so you'd want to keep your deficits less than 1000.

Beyond that, calculate your protein needs as others have mentioned then set your protein ratio so that the value comes out at or above it. The rest of the calories can be whatever you want. If it were me, that would depend on whether I needed to eat more or less. If I needed to eat more & was having difficulty, I'd go heavier on fat to meet my calorie needs. If I was trying to avoid being hungry, I'd go heavier on carbs so I could eat more.

olymp1a

Quick question here. What is by your opinion and personal experience the best way to divide protein carb and fat intake for maximum weightloss while building some strength at the same time?

I am currently usually eating 40% carbs, 35% protein and 25% fat but there are so many days I feel exhausted. I do dancing and zumba for cardio and then power & ashtanga yoga for strengthening which is quite physically demanding. So I wanted to ask you what works for you???

I also use min values set in terms of g/lb as a few other people in this thread have mentioned.

Given your percentage split above, I would speculate that your energy issues are actually from calorie intake being set too low, but I'm completely guessing here since I don't know how many calories you are eating.

What do you average for calorie intake over a week or so? (Not net cals, just the amount you eat).

Well last week for example I had 9000 calories (gross) but in general I've been on a diet by a nutritionist who for the last weeks has given me daily intake of 1200 calories and asked me not to eat my exercise calories back. That means that there are days when I ate 1200 but I burned 1100!!!

I suspected this is the reason why I was feeling like that so I visited another nutritionist today who proposed a 1300-1400 calorie plan and always eating most of my calories back... I'll try it and see how it works.

Since I was never interested in nutrition that much I just wanted to get a few ideas. I am not here just to lose weight, I aim to a lifetime change so any feedback is highly appreciated!