40/30/30

HacheraTsarine
HacheraTsarine Posts: 278 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi peeps!

I'd like to know : when people say they focus on a 40/30/30 carb/fat/prot ratio, is it based on grams or on calories?
I know that a gram of carbs or of prot is 4 cal. and a gram of fat is 9 cal (well, that's what I remember from organic chemistry classes, lol)....

Replies

  • TwinkieDong
    TwinkieDong Posts: 1,564 Member
    I could be wrong but I think it is your macros. Your daily totals that you try to achieve. If you log your food, mfp will tell you what that percentage is at the end of the day.
  • ShaSimone
    ShaSimone Posts: 270 Member
    I think it's meant as a percentage of the daily calories.. I have mine at 40% protein, 30% fat, 30% carbs.
  • endureandpersist
    endureandpersist Posts: 59 Member
    I believe it's percentages...
  • HacheraTsarine
    HacheraTsarine Posts: 278 Member
    yes 40%/30%/30%, I get that, but here's math

    If it eat a 100g meal (for example) and I use grams to calculate the percentage

    40% carbs / 30% fats / 30% proteins = 40g carbs / 30g fats / 30g proteins
    1g of carbs or proteins is 4 cal. 1g of fats is 9cal.
    so : 40%/30%/30% = 40g/30g/30g = 160cal / 270cal / 120cal

    If I eat a 350cal meal and I use calories to calculte the percentage

    40% / 30% / 30% = 140cal / 105cal / 105cal = 35g / 11.7g / 26.25g

    In both examples, the amount (in grams or in calories) of carbs and proteins are almost the same (160cal vs 140cal & 40g vs 35g for the carbs; 120cal vs 105cal & 30g vs 26.25g for the proteins).
    But depending of whether I use calories or grams for my calculations, the amount of fats is higher than the amount of carbs and proteins (calorie method) or lower (gram method).
  • kr1stadee
    kr1stadee Posts: 1,774 Member
    I don't think the percentages is meant to make heads spin with math. The daily % is 40 P, 30 C, 30 F, for the day. I don't break my meals up into %, I preplan and make sure I hit the appropriate numbers
  • LadyPakal
    LadyPakal Posts: 256 Member
    Average over the day, not per meal. I don't even average over the day but if I go over on carbs, under on protein one day I will reverse that the following day so carbs are under & protein is over.

    You can over think this stuff - it shouldn't be a chore. MFP calculates them all for you as you log.
  • sgod50
    sgod50 Posts: 1,129 Member
    It's based on calories, not grams. So you will eat far less grams of fat than protein since fat is higher in calories per gram.
  • HacheraTsarine
    HacheraTsarine Posts: 278 Member
    It's based on calories, not grams. So you will eat far less grams of fat than protein since fat is higher in calories per gram.

    Thank you for you answer! :D
  • timbrom
    timbrom Posts: 303 Member
    Oh for crying out loud, how is everyone not understanding the simple question? It's a percentage of total calories. So significantly fewer grams of fat than carbs or protein because as the OP stated so succinctly, a gram of fat has more than twice the calories of a gram of protein or carbs.
  • HacheraTsarine
    HacheraTsarine Posts: 278 Member
    Oh for crying out loud, how is everyone not understanding the simple question? It's a percentage of total calories. So significantly fewer grams of fat than carbs or protein because as the OP stated so succinctly, a gram of fat has more than twice the calories of a gram of protein or carbs.

    And thank you for that. And for confirming the answer, too I know it seems like I'm overthinking this, but I'm an overthinker. Hehe :D
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
    A little advice from my own experience: you might want to experiment with changing those macros. 30% fat is far too low and 40% far too high for many people with metabolic issues. I would argue that 30% fat is too low for everyone, but whatever. I'm just suggesting that if you are ever struggling, try something different.

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