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Ratio - help!

pablohoney1981
pablohoney1981 Posts: 3 Member
edited February 17 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all! I started back on my diet this week, i'm going away in 5 weeks and although not ideal I want to shift as much as possible in that time (i'm about 4 stone overweight) I know from previous diets that if I limit my carbs (i'm a bread fiend, bowls of pasta, rice, sushi, if it has a carb in it i'll eat it!) then I lose weight a lot quicker thank just counting calories.

Now having joined this site I see I can change my goals, however i've no idea what % to set carb, fat and protein at!? Also I should say I don't eat meat, so I probably don't get as much protein as others doing a low carb diet.

I am not wanting to cut carbs altogether, but i'm avoiding bread, pasta, crisps, sugary snacks, basically all the rubbish I usually eat! As an example yesterday I had a Salmon salad and for dinner i made a veg fritatta with goats cheese and 1 tiny new potato sliced into the fritatta with my veggies.

I've currently got my carbs set at 20% and 40% for fat and protein, but does that sound healthy!?

Any help appreciated!

Replies

  • KatissimusDorsi
    KatissimusDorsi Posts: 79
    Generally here is how I would tell most people to set their macros:

    1) Determine how many calories you're going to be eating

    2) Determine the amount of protein you'd like to be eating. (Ranges are all over the place, anywhere from .5 - .8g per pound bodyweight optimal for muscle retention)

    3) Fill out the rest of your calories with carbs and fat as you see fit. I'd recommend doing this by personal taste and happiness preference. It doesn't have to be the same everyday.

    The reason that low carb diets make you drop weight quickly is:

    1) Most importantly - you'll drop a ton of water weight. Carbs cause you to hold onto water, and when you stop eating them you shed plenty of water along with it. This is weight that doesn't matter for aesthetics.

    2) Decrease in calories unintentionally - anytime you completely cut out a food group or entire macronutrient, you're going to drop your calories whether you mean to or not.

    So, my advice would be to follow steps 1-3 above.
  • Michelleljohnston71
    Michelleljohnston71 Posts: 1
    does Crystals light lemon aid count as water??
  • kitlynnJ
    kitlynnJ Posts: 78 Member
    This topic might help with setting your macros:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    As an example yesterday I had a Salmon salad and for dinner i made a veg fritatta with goats cheese and 1 tiny new potato sliced into the fritatta with my veggies.

    The potato was a bad idea
  • pablohoney1981
    pablohoney1981 Posts: 3 Member
    Why is that Chief? Just out of interest, as i'm not looking to cut out carbs completely and I was still under 50g that day?

    Just out of interest?
  • pablohoney1981
    pablohoney1981 Posts: 3 Member
    Well that was very helpful lol!

    :-s
This discussion has been closed.

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