Carb / Fat / Protein %?

phildawson75
phildawson75 Posts: 205 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Does anyone get close to their weekly 55% carb / 30% fat / 15% protein ? Where do these magic %s come from?

I always seem to be way over in my carbs, never get close to the fat level, and although get my protein never really feel like iv had that much. Should I eat more good fats, what should I go for to raise this and lower carbs? I'm on 1200 so it seems quite limiting to get a perfect balance :/

Carb / Fat / Protein
Week1: 70 / 16 / 14
Week2: 65 / 20 / 14
Week3: 73 / 14 / 13
Week4: 66 / 18 / 16
Week5: 64 / 22 / 13
Week6: 62 / 19 / 19

Replies

  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    Those numbers are the MFP defaults, which I believe are based (loosely, at least) upon the USDA "Food Pyramid" recommendations.

    I changed mine to 40% carbs / 30% protein / 30% fats, for a few reasons:

    - I feel better with a lower (but not ketogenic) carb intake. I don't subscribe to the "carbs are evil" school, but 55% is excessive to me.

    - I don't believe the protein recommendation is high enough to help maintain lean body mass (i.e. muscle) while in a caloric deficit (normal recommendation, especially if you're strength/weight training is around 1g per pound of lean body mass)

    - Fat and protein are both more satiating (filling/lasting) than carbs, which gives me less hunger and better compliance.


    Just a suggestion based on your post - 1200 calories is very, very low for a male, especially if you're working out at all. You may want to take a look at Helloitsdan's first post in this thread and consider upping your calorie intake:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    there are several items in your log that have calories but not the full nutrition, so it's hard to know what's actually happening.

    Make sure you eat some fish or other omega-3 sources and you can eat more fat for sure. The standard settings aren't great - the sad old Standard American Diet - shoot for 33% protein (100g) , 30% fat (40g - less than half the UK recommended daily for a man) and by deduction 37% carbs. This reduces the optional food group (carbs) while retaining the essentials.
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
    I use the default settings for percents. In any event, I see two major problems with your diary. First, as was mentioned, a lot of your food items do not have the full nutritional information, which will put your information off. The second is that you are not eating a lot of vegetables. Try replacing some of the servings of fruit with veg, and add more vegetables to your meals. That will help you stop eating such a carb-heavy diet.
  • AmIhealthyyet
    AmIhealthyyet Posts: 361 Member
    I changed mine and keep carbs much lower (no grains or procccessed foods) my carbs are set at 10%. Works for me, sugar kills me and keeps me fat and bloated!
  • jumadey
    jumadey Posts: 60 Member
    Those numbers are the MFP defaults, which I believe are based (loosely, at least) upon the USDA "Food Pyramid" recommendations.

    I changed mine to 40% carbs / 30% protein / 30% fats, for a few reasons:

    - I feel better with a lower (but not ketogenic) carb intake. I don't subscribe to the "carbs are evil" school, but 55% is excessive to me.

    - I don't believe the protein recommendation is high enough to help maintain lean body mass (i.e. muscle) while in a caloric deficit (normal recommendation, especially if you're strength/weight training is around 1g per pound of lean body mass)

    - Fat and protein are both more satiating (filling/lasting) than carbs, which gives me less hunger and better compliance.

    I changed mine to 35% Carb, 30% Fat and 35% Protein for similar reasons. I try to have most of my carbs at breakfast and lunch, then and have meat or fish for dinner with loads of veg.
  • Hendrix7
    Hendrix7 Posts: 1,903 Member
    Tesco Light Choices

    You eat a lot of these ready meals, this and bread/pasta/rice is where the majority of your carbs come from.

    I haven't seen the nutritional info/ingredients list for these ones but ready meals tend to have added sugar, especially the "Diet" ones.

    Eat less of these and more lean meat/veg/salad your cook yourself, steak, fish, chicken, turkey, eggs etc.

    That's half of your carbs gone and and way more protein in your diet in one go. I would personally never want to get more than 50% of calories from carbs, not because carbs are bad, but this just doesn't leave enough room for good fats and protein.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    I've changed mine a few times because I'm not really sure what I'm doing and my weight loss is quite slow.

    Mine is at 35/30/35 now.
  • angelloverlil
    angelloverlil Posts: 2 Member
    How do you change the settings to reflect new percentages?? I am finding that I eat more protein than suggested...Thanks in advance!
  • Hendrix7
    Hendrix7 Posts: 1,903 Member
    How do you change the settings to reflect new percentages?? I am finding that I eat more protein than suggested...Thanks in advance!

    home - goals - change goals - custom
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    Yeh, I regularly fail to hit the default targets, I'd be disappointed if I didn't.

    65% Fat, 10 to 15% Carb, 25 to 20% Protein is my ideal day.

    But I don't have a near pornographic profile pic to back me up so just ignore me :)
  • angelloverlil
    angelloverlil Posts: 2 Member
    Thanks!!! That was easy...:) Now I have to figure out what is the best balance for me...
  • Lina4Lina
    Lina4Lina Posts: 712 Member
    I changed mine to 60c/20f/20f but I'm not too concerned about meeting those exact numbers. It is just my personal preference but my actual percentages fluctuate. For me, the fat is really the only one I have to watch and ensure it doesn't go to high.
  • mrsains
    mrsains Posts: 104 Member
    I changed mine to 40% carbs / 30% protein / 30% fats, for a few reasons:

    - I feel better with a lower (but not ketogenic) carb intake. I don't subscribe to the "carbs are evil" school, but 55% is excessive to me.

    - I don't believe the protein recommendation is high enough to help maintain lean body mass (i.e. muscle) while in a caloric deficit (normal recommendation, especially if you're strength/weight training is around 1g per pound of lean body mass)

    - Fat and protein are both more satiating (filling/lasting) than carbs, which gives me less hunger and better compliance.

    ^^This for me too^^ I feel much better at 40% carbs... 55% was overkill for me.

    Your protein numbers seem extremely low... I aim to eat at least 95 grams of protein a day and I'm a 5'2" 110 lbs. female... ? You might want to up that! :)
  • lreyenga
    lreyenga Posts: 37
    I just moved to a new country (from the US), and food options here are very different, though I have been surprised how many brands do show up when I scan the barcode! I have noticed something interesting though, before moving I would always eat too many carbs & sugar by MFP's default %'s and I was always hungry.

    Here there are fewer processed foods, so I buy for example, 10% fat greek yogurt instead of a fat free greek yogurt with fruit added. I am finding that I am having much less trouble staying within my calorie goal eating more fat and rather than all low fat options and trying to keep full with fruit/veggies. Amazing!

    Granted, I didn't log for a month in the transition and gained the few lbs back that I had lost, so we will see if this change lasts now that I am back to logging and exercising regularly.
  • Lina4Lina
    Lina4Lina Posts: 712 Member
    I changed mine to 40% carbs / 30% protein / 30% fats, for a few reasons:

    - I feel better with a lower (but not ketogenic) carb intake. I don't subscribe to the "carbs are evil" school, but 55% is excessive to me.

    - I don't believe the protein recommendation is high enough to help maintain lean body mass (i.e. muscle) while in a caloric deficit (normal recommendation, especially if you're strength/weight training is around 1g per pound of lean body mass)

    - Fat and protein are both more satiating (filling/lasting) than carbs, which gives me less hunger and better compliance.

    ^^This for me too^^ I feel much better at 40% carbs... 55% was overkill for me.

    Your protein numbers seem extremely low... I aim to eat at least 95 grams of protein a day and I'm a 5'2" 110 lbs. female... ? You might want to up that! :)

    You really don't need that much protein. I eat 60g to 90g protein/day and as long as i lift weights, I haven't had an issue with maintaining lean mass or even building it.
  • mrsains
    mrsains Posts: 104 Member
    I changed mine to 40% carbs / 30% protein / 30% fats, for a few reasons:

    - I feel better with a lower (but not ketogenic) carb intake. I don't subscribe to the "carbs are evil" school, but 55% is excessive to me.

    - I don't believe the protein recommendation is high enough to help maintain lean body mass (i.e. muscle) while in a caloric deficit (normal recommendation, especially if you're strength/weight training is around 1g per pound of lean body mass)

    - Fat and protein are both more satiating (filling/lasting) than carbs, which gives me less hunger and better compliance.

    ^^This for me too^^ I feel much better at 40% carbs... 55% was overkill for me.

    Your protein numbers seem extremely low... I aim to eat at least 95 grams of protein a day and I'm a 5'2" 110 lbs. female... ? You might want to up that! :)

    You really don't need that much protein. I eat 60g to 90g protein/day and as long as i lift weights, I haven't had an issue with maintaining lean mass or even building it.

    Yes, well certainly he should be eating more than he is now (averaging around 15 grams/day)... that was my point!
  • Lina4Lina
    Lina4Lina Posts: 712 Member

    Yes, well certainly he should be eating more than he is now (averaging around 15 grams/day)... that was my point!

    Those are percentages, not grams. 15%. I eat between 15-25% of protein/day.
  • MTBrob
    MTBrob Posts: 513 Member
    I have different fitness goals.. But I do a 50% Protein 30% carb and 20 % fat on 1900 calories. While I shed some excess fat.. Then I will probably move to a 35 45 20 in same order.
  • mrsains
    mrsains Posts: 104 Member
    Those are percentages, not grams. 15%. I eat between 15-25% of protein/day.

    Ahhhh makes so much more sense than 15 grams! Anyway, still 15% is very low if ya ask me, but I'm no expert.
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
    I don't use the goals that MFP gives.. I eat 40/30/30. I get my carbs from vegetables, occasionally high-fibre sources, etc,... I may have different goals than other people since I'm trying to lose fat
  • phildawson75
    phildawson75 Posts: 205 Member
    Cheers for all the replies! :wink:
    Just a suggestion based on your post - 1200 calories is very, very low for a male, especially if you're working out at all.

    Yeah the 1200 cal is only a temporarily twelve week thing whilst I slim down (I'm almost half way through now). I should have said this was net, and usually have in the region of 1500-1700 food depending on my activity level. It'll go back up to ~2200, once I hit around 140 lbs, which is roughly my maintaining amount.

    I only do walking at the moment, with a small amount of various crunches/press-up each day. I'm also work 6am-6pm where 99% of that is sitting behind a desk. :/
    there are several items in your log that have calories but not the full nutrition, so it's hard to know what's actually happening.

    Make sure you eat some fish or other omega-3 sources and you can eat more fat for sure. The standard settings aren't great - the sad old Standard American Diet - shoot for 33% protein (100g) , 30% fat (40g - less than half the UK recommended daily for a man) and by deduction 37% carbs. This reduces the optional food group (carbs) while retaining the essentials.

    Yeah it seems quite misleading, I'm going to try and make sure the things I have most often always have the extra dietary info as a lot gets missed in the stat totals.

    I'm going to try and eat a lot more fish too, I occasionally have salmon sushi but thats as far as it goes other than a cod & chips takeaway! :embarassed:
    I use the default settings for percents. In any event, I see two major problems with your diary. First, as was mentioned, a lot of your food items do not have the full nutritional information, which will put your information off. The second is that you are not eating a lot of vegetables. Try replacing some of the servings of fruit with veg, and add more vegetables to your meals. That will help you stop eating such a carb-heavy diet.

    This is one of those things I know I should do, I really want to change this and start eating more veg. I actually like veg but completely fail just walking past most of it like it's not there when I'm in Tesco.

    Someone mentioned I should make a list before I go so I actually make myself buy them. I have a bad habit of buying the same items each week. I think the key issue is thinking if I buy this what am I going to do with it, so I'm going to try and get a bit better at planning what I want to cook a week ahead so shopping isn't a pain.
    Tesco Light Choices

    You eat a lot of these ready meals, this and bread/pasta/rice is where the majority of your carbs come from.

    I haven't seen the nutritional info/ingredients list for these ones but ready meals tend to have added sugar, especially the "Diet" ones.

    Eat less of these and more lean meat/veg/salad your cook yourself, steak, fish, chicken, turkey, eggs etc.

    That's half of your carbs gone and and way more protein in your diet in one go. I would personally never want to get more than 50% of calories from carbs, not because carbs are bad, but this just doesn't leave enough room for good fats and protein.

    Yeah the ready meals were suggested to me at the start of my dieting as a good way to stick to the calories. I've found out that none of them taste very good lol :frown: (the only okish one is the chicken tikka).

    I've kinda learnt that I can make all these myself and just cut the portion size to make them *light*. They are handy when I've got no time, but I'm going to try cooking my own food and freezing any extra when I know I need a quick meal.

    I'm glad to say the freezer only has two of these crappy meals left in it.

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