Carb/Protein/Fat Ratios

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Hi everyone, was wondering what people's thoughts are on the ratios for Carb/Protein/Fat if my goal is weight loss. I have been eating Paleo/Primal for about 3 years. I have been trying to lose the same 10lbs for 6 months and can't seem to get any lasting results and I believe it's due to too high a fat intake. Would love to hear anyone's ideas of breaking the plateau with altering their ratios or having a goal as far as how many grams of each carb/protein/fat. MyFitnessPal has me at 1200 cals/day and I usually end up with 300-400 extra with daily exercise to use with that.

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  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
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    Why are you blaming fat first? Most often it's sugar that is the culprit. What are your ratios now? Are you already at a healthy weight but just want to see a lower number on the scale? Why not forget the scale and just eat your healthy food and get strong?

    Why are you only eating 1200 calories? Surely as three years Paleo you are aware that MFP default settings SUCK bad. Under-eating led me to losing lean body mass and slowing metabolism. You need adequate high quality food for a healthy body, and it takes a healthy body to shed excess fat (assuming that you have any).

    Your diary is CLOSED. I'm suspecting that you are under-eating (no, I know you are based on 1200 calories!) and probably eating too little fat based on your focus of weight loss only. You need fat for healthy body function, 50% or more of calories. I can't advise much of anything without seeing your diary.

    Ideal ratios vary for each person, and it doesn't have to be rocket science (ie if you are already at a healthy weight then keep doing what your doing, maybe eating less sweet things). I have health issues and am not highly active so my carb intake is low. I don't do it to maximize weight loss (which is stalled due to chronic under-eating! thanks to MFP recommendations and not using my own brain!) I do it to maximize health.
  • ortega1990
    ortega1990 Posts: 236 Member
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    Everything Akima said ^^ . Paleo and counting calories don't go hand-in-hand.

    And to add: your brain and body need fat! Healthy fat: olive oil, coconut oil, and yes animal fat... stay away from the bastardized "vegetable" (corn, canola) oils... you probably already know this though. Fat is what keeps all the neurons in your brain firing and connecting properly. Fat is not the enemy.... some day everyone will come back around and away from all the non-fat, low-fat crap they've been eating for the last 20 years.
  • Kristina115
    Kristina115 Posts: 5 Member
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    I think that if you have a specific goal of fat loss, it's okay to track your food to ensure that you are getting the macros you need (if you are cutting your calories for fat loss, then you are likely going to lose some muscle at the same time).

    In general, I try to keep my fat/protein/carbs at 50%/35%/15%, however it very much depends on what kind of exercise I'm getting in that day. For example, if I'm lifting weights, then I'll need more carbs after your workout to bring protein to your muscles, but that's very different than going on a long walk.

    What kind of exercise are you doing?

    Plateaus suck, but normally the way out of them is to shake things up (i.e. give your body a different challenge).