40/30/30?

kristinL16

My aunt and uncle lost quite a bit of weight following the 40/30/30 diet and I hear about it quite often here as well. Are there easy ways/tips to stay within these guidelines? Good meal or snack ideas? Any other resources you can point me to? I will look for the book at the library but was wondering if anyone had good info to share here. Thanks!

sar123bear

I'm interested too... that's part of my new goal.

kristinL16

Nobody has more information?

lisa28115

send HelloitsDan a personal message
he promotes eating this way
but he maybe at work right now

sar123bear

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map - this is one of his posts - seems like good info on there, with links to resources available. :-)

huntindawg1962

This is what I try to follow. Not sure what you are asking though? Its not an Atkins style approach - maybe more like a "protein Power" if any. Try to trim your carbs back a bit further from the 55carb approach and fill it back with protein. Also helps to make sure your carbs are not "hollow" foods or higher sugars.

sarahbetherck

I'm set at 40/30/30 but still working on getting it right. I use a protien powder after I work out but beyond that I just try to get as much good real food that's high in protien and limit the fats and carbs where I can.

kristinL16

I am not sure how to explain what I am asking for, but here goes....:)

Right now I just have my goals set where MFP put them and I do pretty well at falling within those guidelines by just eating what I normally eat but less of it. It seems a bit intimidating to have to focus on the macronutrients as well as the calories, but if it will help me lose faster and be healthier overall, then I will do it. I'm just wondering if there are easy tips that help you make sure you have enough of each nutrient. Something like, "Eat 10 grams of carbs at breakfast, 8 grams of protein" and so on. Obviously it would vary from person to person depending on the calorie goals, but I hope that helps explain what I am looking for. If not, ask again and I will keep thinking of a way to explain it. I did get "The Formula" at the library today so hopefully that will help.

SOOZIE429

Kristin - Do a Search in the forums. There's a bunch of threads about 40-30-30.

sar123bear

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map - this is one of his posts - seems like good info on there, with links to resources available. :-)

I just worked out my figures - the way it's explained on the above link is a bit hard to understand, but here's what I arrived at after doing all the math carefully- keep in mind I am a new mom and breastfeeding, but those figures are explained below too:

per http://www.fat2fitradio.com:

Fat 2 Fit Radio's Military Body Fat Calculation on 3/28/2012:
the information that you entered:

Sex: female
Weight: 187 pounds
Neck: 15 inches
Waist: 37 inches
Hip: 43 inches

Based on this information, you have a lean body mass of 110.2 pounds. Your lean body mass includes everything in your body that's not fat. Now that we know your lean body mass, let's find out how much fat you're carrying around. We'll subtract your lean body mass from your weight and find you currently have 76.8 pounds of fat on your body.

Your body fat percentage is 41.1%. (eek!! I thought I was at 32-33% based on all the other charts!!)

You currently weigh 187 pounds with a body fat percentage of 41.1%. You would like to have a body fat percentage of 12%. Based on this information, your goal body weight should be: 125 pounds

Custom BMR Calculation:
Entered information: 34 year old female, 64 inches tall, weighing 187 pounds.

From the information that you entered, you'd like to weigh 145 lbs. (**I had to make a intermediate goal for now to avoid going too low)

Harris-Benedict Formula

There are a few different methods to calculating yourbasal metabolic rate (BMR). One of the most popular, developed in the early 1900's is called the Harris-Benedict formula. Based on this formula, your current BMR is 1609 calories.

*********Katch-McArdle Formula******* (This is the one that helloitsdan on mfp suggests you use)

The numbers above are fairly accurate, however they don't take into account your lean body mass. A more accurate formula that does take your lean body mass into account is the Katch-McArdle formula. Since many of us have scales that will tell us our current body fat, this formula may yield more accurate results. Based on the information you provided, body fat percentage of 41.1%, you have a lean body mass of 110 lbs., and your BMR is 1450 calories.

How Many Calories Should I Eat?

Based on your goal weight, the following chart was generated. The chart shows the number of calories that you should eat on a daily basis to reach your goal weight. At Fat 2 Fit Radio we advocate eating like the thin, healthy person that you want to become. The calorie levels you see in the chart are not extreme, but they do create that all important caloric deficit that is required to get you to your goal weight in a safe manner. Once you reach your goal weight, you will continue eating the same number of calories for the rest of your life to maintain that weight. You'll never be on a diet again.

Based on how much activity you do on an average day, the calories in the right column will be the number of calories that you will be able to eat at your goal weight. If you start eating those calories right now (eating like the thinner you), you will eventually become that thinner person. As you get closer to your goal weight, your weight loss will start to slow down. It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less per day (200-300) to speed up your weight loss at this point.

Activity Level Daily Calories

Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1712 (this is me currently)
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1962
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2212
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2462
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2711

so.... what this all means: my current Katch-McArdle BMR at 187 lbs is 1450 calories if my goal is to be 125-145 lbs, Based on my goal weight entered at 145, the chart generated shows the number of calories that I should eat on a daily basis to reach my goal weight and also maintain that goal weight is 1712 (at little activity level).

Based on this, my TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure- TOTAL IT TAKES TO MAINTAIN MY *CURRENT* WEIGHT) is 1712 plus 20% for a grand total of 2054- If I exceed this number, I will gain weight. It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less than 1712 per day to speed up my weight loss at this point. (typically 200-300 less *but I should NEVER reduce enough to be at or below my BMR of 1450!!)....IN CONCLUSION: my goals should be about 1500-1700 NET calories per day before any exercise (plus 500 cals for breastfeeding for a grand total daily of 2000-2200/day consumed but not to exceed 2554 which would be my TDEE w/ breastfeeding and no exercise) - wow! Far different than the school of thought of 1200 cals/day! :-) This is pretty much what I've already been doing and it's working! See my doc for my results so far. :-) Does that make it easier to understand?? It took me a while to do all the calculating, but it helps me understand my proper ranges!

***AND, keep in mind, you'd be adding back your exercise calories here too, so you'd tack on whatever you burned off to this figure still - for example, I have to consume roughly 2000-2200 cals to lose weight properly while breastfeeding, and then if I go for a 2 mile walk to burn 200 cals, then I'll need to eat anywhere from 2200-2400 cals that day. :-) again, wow!

This is no different really than what I've been currently doing- guess I just got lucky with trying not to lose weight too quickly - in fact I probably should be eating MORE because I tend to be shy of my caloric goal by a couple hundred on some days. I'm currently losing anywhere from 1 lb to 3.5 lbs / week with this method and have lost a total of 62 lbs to date (we'll be generous and say 30 of that was baby and amniotic fluids) since 12/14/11. Best of luck in everyone's journey... really, it is quite simple once you understand it.

I also have put my goals in MFP to match 40% Protein, 30% Carbs, and 30% Fat - that's just something for me to aim for. I struggle to get less carbs and more protein because I eat a lot of fruit, but I do get protein in at every meal.

Feel free to friend me if you wish to view my diary / how I'm eating. :-)

kristinL16

Thanks for the info. I will do a search for other threads and will take measurements so I can look at those formulas. I had my body fat tested at the gym and I believe it was 33% but I will do the calculations anyway.

sar123bear--wouldn't 12% body fat be much too low for a woman?

sar123bear

Thanks for the info. I will do a search for other threads and will take measurements so I can look at those formulas. I had my body fat tested at the gym and I believe it was 33% but I will do the calculations anyway.

sar123bear--wouldn't 12% body fat be much too low for a woman?

KristinL16- Aaaah, you are correct! I was going by the "male" chart on the ideal body fat percentage... GOOD TO KNOW!! Thanks much! I revised to 24% and that puts me at 145 lbs, which is what I based my calcs on in the end anyway, so that works out great! :-) I'll recheck the numbers, but I think I'm still ok with the figures I prepared.

I wanted to let you know that there's a calculator out there to figure out macronutrients - the site is amazing - has lots of wonderful info and calculators available.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/nutrient_calculator.htm

There's ads in the middle of the page, so just scroll down to further read up on what the results mean, etc.

Hope that helps! :-)

graelwyn

•Sex: female
•Weight: 126 pounds
•Neck: 12 inches
•Waist: 25 inches
•Hip: 35 inches

Based on this information, you have a lean body mass of 106.1 pounds. Your lean body mass includes everything in your body that's not fat. Now that we know your lean body mass, let's find out how much fat you're carrying around. We'll subtract your lean body mass from your weight and find you currently have 19.9 pounds of fat on your body.


Your body fat percentage is 15.8%.

Interesting to know, I am not doing too badly then.

enginerd81

All I did was replace my 2 bowls of cereal in the morning with a protien shake and swap out chips/crackers for vegetable snacks.

I usually come close to hitting it every day without trying really hard. My food diary should be public so feel free to have a look.

I'm usually +/-5%. If i try I can hit it right on, again without anything too drastic. Sometimes I'll plan dinner around what the pie chart looks like.

sar123bear

I wanted to post another update to further explain this concept because there may have been some confusion in how I worded the original post...

>>>>using www.fat2fit.com: My current Katch-McArdle BMR at 187lbs is 1450 calories. If my goal is to be 145 lbs, my TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure- TOTAL IT TAKES TO MAINTAIN MY CURRENT WEIGHT) is 1712 (BMR @ sedentary) ***plus*** 20% for a grand total of 2054- what this means is if I exceed this number, I will gain weight. **Based on a sedentary level of activity, 1712 is the number of calories that I will be able to eat to lose weight now and maintain my goal weight.<<<<

Maybe I could have worded it better!

Here's another few ways to look at this:

I said: my TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure- TOTAL IT TAKES TO MAINTAIN MY CURRENT WEIGHT) is 1712 (sedentary) ***plus*** 20% for a grand total of 2054-

I probably should have said "My recommended calorie deficit of 1712 plus 20% is equivalent to my TDEE figure of 2054 (aka Maintenance calories needed at my current weight).

Let's keep in mind that the average female needs around 2000-2100 calories to maintain their weight (TDEE) (add 500 if you're a male), so if your TDEE is not close to this, your figures are likely wrong. (maybe not so in extreme situations like morbidly obese or close to goal weight, but it helps to have an idea of what figures make sense)

Again, how I arrived at TDEE in the original post was by taking my recommended deficit amount to eat according to fat2fit's calculator and then adding 20% to that figure to arrive at my maintenance or TDEE calories. It's kind of a backwards way to do it - a very confusing method if you ask me... I was so proud that I figured it out that I wrote that post. haha!!

You could use probably any calculator and enter your current weight, and ask what it would take to "maintain" that weight... it should spit out your what people call your TDEE or maintenance calorie requirement at your current weight (keep in mind as you lose weight, you'll want to recalculate this, especially if you're stalling)- freedieting.com has a calculator that will recommend your maintenance (aka TDEE) and your recommended fat loss calories (aka in my example appx 1700) and if applicable your "extreme" level of fat loss, which I found to be close to the BMR figure. *I do not recommend anyone eat at the extreme figures.


The only thing with the freedieting.com calculator is it doesn't take into account your body fat percentage, so the figures may be off a tad.

More simply put, getting a 500 calorie deficit from 2000-2100 should put you in a range of 1500-1600 calories equaling about 1 lb/week loss.... and if you look at it even another way being 20-30% deficit from recommended maintenance levels you arrive at the following:

2000 - 20% (400) = 1600
2000 - 30% (600) = 1400
2100 - 20% (420) = 1680
2100 - 30% (630) = 1470

Given these figures, the typical female should "normally" be within these ranges **(net)** to lose weight at a healthy level, retaining muscle mass as much as possible: roughly 1400 to about 1700. And, these figures are based on **sedentary** activity level. This should also help you avoid plateaus!

Any way you look at it, you should be close to those figures. Does that help??

Now, for breastfeeding, add 500 calories to these figures if you're breastfeeding a younger baby (1-6 mo's old), and possibly less as you wean. * I have a theory though that as your babe starts "getting into things and walking" you'll be naturally increasing your activity level... so maybe not reducing your calories as they wean is key here - just a thought. In other words, you may need MORE calories. It's an idea worth entertaining! see this calculator for calories burned taking care of baby (light effort): http://www.fitday.com/webfit/burned/calories_burned_Child_care_standing_dressing_bathing_grooming_feeding_occasional_lifting_of_child_light_effort.html

I also want to add a note on exercise: if you're working out, you should allow yourself extra "fuel" to be sure not to double up on your deficit... and keep in mind inches rather than pounds will fall off when adding activity- don't get discouraged with the scale not moving downward if you're exercising!!!! Just use a more appropriate measuring method, such as progress pictures and body measurements... even a caliper to measure body fat. It is entirely normal and a good thing to gain weight while you're exercising - therefore, the scale is often not the best tool to keep you motivated! Weight loss/changing your body composition is such a gradual process that you or others may not even notice the difference right away. It's incredibly helpful to "see" the difference instead of getting discouraged with the scale number. You may be tempted to further reduce your calories below the recommended levels (1400-1700) but trust me when I say cutting calories further is the last thing you want to do. If anything, adding "heavy" weights vs cardio is the best tool for losing fat and retaining muscle to supercharge your metabolism / keep it high!

Hope this helps!

sar123bear

I have set up my goals custom to match 40% Carbs, 30% Protein, and 30% Fat. I've been trying to keep my intake balanced based on this. I like what was mentioned above too about the pie chart - that's a good way to see the "big picture" and know what you need more of / less of. Being that I'm breastfeeding, my goals need to be a bit higher than the recommended levels, so I'm not upset about overages... it's going to happen. I just try to keep it even.

Mommyof3texans

I have mine set to 40/30/30, feel free to check out my diary for ideas. I primarily strive to get the protein while eating as healthy as I can and the other two macros tend to fall into place by themselves.

shaleigh07

Bump

Toddrific

The easiest way I've found to do the 40/30/30 is to watch total caloric intake and protein intake, the rest sort of falls in place.

Kerri_is_so_very

bump

BigRich822

I use 60/20/20.

mathteacher2010

I am doing the Petite Advantage diet, by Kim Karas. It's based on a formula of 40% carbs, 35% protein, and 25% fat. I use the MFP iphone app to plan my days. There is a pie chart that tracks protein, carbs and fat. If I want something specific for a certain meal, I plug it in, then plan the rest of my day around it. I keep playing with it until the pie chart comes out close to the above numbers. Even though protein powder shows up in a lot of the suggested meals, I don't like the taste, so I don't use it. I just put in a lot of good, lower-fat protein sources. I am eating a lot of good, real food, and have lost 9 lbs in one month. I am 58 years old, and that's the best I have done in a long time. The plan combines the diet with exercising on TRX straps, which is a great workout.

kristinL16

It sounds like most people are looking at their total values for carbs/fat/protein rather than making sure that individual meals and snacks are balanced 40/30/30? According to the book I read it seemed that all meals and snacks should be balanced and that seemed more complicated than what I wanted to make this. It would definitely be easier to just focus on the daily totals but I am wondering if the results would be the same? My totals for last week without really trying to keep them at 40/30/30 ended up at 43/39/18. I need to cut the fat down a bit and increase protein.

sdm329

I have a really stupid question. How do you set 40 30 30 in MFP?

andeey

I have a really stupid question. How do you set 40 30 30 in MFP?

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals

Go to the My Home tab and then click on Goals and then choose Custom Goals and continue and then you can change the numbers that to suit.

Toddrific

I have a really stupid question. How do you set 40 30 30 in MFP?

My Home/Goals/Change Goals/Custom

sdm329

Thanks Andeey & Neoterrar - I really appreciate the help.