Protein question

dhldc85

Hi,

So am have decided to concentrate on my macros and eat 40% carb, 30% protein and 30% fat. I am just confused what is what. Obviously I should count fruits and whole grains as carbs, but are veggies counted as carbs as well? and are nuts counted as fat or protein? Also, is cheese (mainly things like cottage cheese and low fat mozzarella cheese sticks) considered protein or fat. I was trying to keep this more simple because the thought of counting the percentage of carbs, fat and protein in every single food seems like a lot. It would be mush easier to just throw a specific food such as cheese for example into the fat category even it is does contain amounts of protein and carbs. Any help or clarification on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks :-)

MrsJBro

The easiest way for you to solve this is to look at the Food Guide. The Canadian Food Guide website actually allows you to create a personalized food guide using foods you typically consume. That should help you determine which is which.

bokodasu

Unless you're going to eat nothing but protein isolate, Crisco, and sugar, you're going to be better off tracking what's actually in your food and not guessing.

But you're using MFP, right? It does all the calculations for you. Just log your food and look at the totals in each category, no big deal.

JesterMFP

Just enter the foods into the MFP food diary, and it will tell you how many grams of each macronutrient each item has. Assuming you have adjusted your MFP goals to 40% carb, 30% protein and 30% fat, then your goal number at the bottom of your diary will reflect that.

writetomab

If you are using MFP it works all that out for you.... I.e. If you put down you had 30g of cheese it will work out the fat and protein quantities... If for some reason the food you eat is not in the database then just create a new food and add the nutritional details on the packet that should tell you the quantities of carbs, fats, protein etc.

JossFit

Just enter the foods into the MFP food diary, and it will tell you how many grams of each macronutrient each item has. Assuming you have adjusted your MFP goals to 40% carb, 30% protein and 30% fat, then your goal number at the bottom of your diary will reflect that.

^^

Also, most foods are a combination of macronutrients... even veggies (which are mostly carbs, yes) have small amounts of protein. Protein sources like beef have fat as well, and packaged foods have a wide range of ratios. Just plug in your foods and let MFP do the work for you!

dhldc85

Great, thanks for all of the replies. I have to admit, I haven't been great about entering my food into MFP since I have started NROWL4W. I know that diet plays a huge rule in the "muscle building and toning" process so I know I need to place more focus here.