Macros - Protein Issue

Hi.
So for the past week i've been trying to stick to a breakdown of 40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% fats in my daily diet. However i seem to be constantly blowing past my allowed fats number (46grams) and coming up well short of my protein target (207grams).

Any advice on what kinds of foods i could be eating that will allow me consume the correct number of protein every day but stay below my fats limit?
Thanks.
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Replies

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    What is your height and weight?
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    No need to get that much protein... for protein aim for a goal of 0.8ish grams of protein per lb of goal weight. So if your goal is to weigh 140 your protein minimum should be set at 112 grams. 20% fat is quite low.

    I would suggest aiming for a minimum of 0.4 grams per lb of goal weight. So again with a goal of 140 that would be 56 grams minimum (and more is fine too)
  • Dano74
    Dano74 Posts: 503 Member
    Open up that diary and let's see where you're loading up on the fats...
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    46 grams is hardly loading up on fats.
  • nowhere123
    nowhere123 Posts: 29 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    What is your height and weight?

    6 foot 1.
    210 pounds.
  • nowhere123
    nowhere123 Posts: 29 Member
    Dano74 wrote: »
    Open up that diary and let's see where you're loading up on the fats...
    I didn't know I could share the diary.
    Here you go: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/paddyryan355

    Thanks.

  • nowhere123
    nowhere123 Posts: 29 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    No need to get that much protein... for protein aim for a goal of 0.8ish grams of protein per lb of goal weight. So if your goal is to weigh 140 your protein minimum should be set at 112 grams. 20% fat is quite low.

    I would suggest aiming for a minimum of 0.4 grams per lb of goal weight. So again with a goal of 140 that would be 56 grams minimum (and more is fine too)

    Ok i'll re calibrate my goals based on this information.

    I was led to believe that a 40/40/20 split between carbs, protein and fats was the way to go.
  • nowhere123
    nowhere123 Posts: 29 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    No need to get that much protein... for protein aim for a goal of 0.8ish grams of protein per lb of goal weight. So if your goal is to weigh 140 your protein minimum should be set at 112 grams. 20% fat is quite low.

    I would suggest aiming for a minimum of 0.4 grams per lb of goal weight. So again with a goal of 140 that would be 56 grams minimum (and more is fine too)

    Ok i'll re calibrate my goals based on this information.

    I was led to believe that a 40/40/20 split between carbs, protein and fats was the way to go.

    So based on your advise I'm aiming for 145.6g of protein and 72.8g of fats. Can I assume the rest should be carbs?
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    No need to get that much protein... for protein aim for a goal of 0.8ish grams of protein per lb of goal weight. So if your goal is to weigh 140 your protein minimum should be set at 112 grams. 20% fat is quite low.

    I would suggest aiming for a minimum of 0.4 grams per lb of goal weight. So again with a goal of 140 that would be 56 grams minimum (and more is fine too)

    Ok i'll re calibrate my goals based on this information.

    I was led to believe that a 40/40/20 split between carbs, protein and fats was the way to go.

    So based on your advise I'm aiming for 145.6g of protein and 72.8g of fats. Can I assume the rest should be carbs?

    Personally I'd aim for .8g of protein per pound of body weight (I'm 5'4" and 140lbs and shoot for 140g of protein for myself). I agree on fats. And yes, the rest in carbs.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    No need to get that much protein... for protein aim for a goal of 0.8ish grams of protein per lb of goal weight. So if your goal is to weigh 140 your protein minimum should be set at 112 grams. 20% fat is quite low.

    I would suggest aiming for a minimum of 0.4 grams per lb of goal weight. So again with a goal of 140 that would be 56 grams minimum (and more is fine too)

    Ok i'll re calibrate my goals based on this information.

    I was led to believe that a 40/40/20 split between carbs, protein and fats was the way to go.

    So based on your advise I'm aiming for 145.6g of protein and 72.8g of fats. Can I assume the rest should be carbs?

    Yes, then use the fat and protein as minimums and the carbs as a max.
  • nowhere123
    nowhere123 Posts: 29 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    No need to get that much protein... for protein aim for a goal of 0.8ish grams of protein per lb of goal weight. So if your goal is to weigh 140 your protein minimum should be set at 112 grams. 20% fat is quite low.

    I would suggest aiming for a minimum of 0.4 grams per lb of goal weight. So again with a goal of 140 that would be 56 grams minimum (and more is fine too)

    Ok i'll re calibrate my goals based on this information.

    I was led to believe that a 40/40/20 split between carbs, protein and fats was the way to go.

    So based on your advise I'm aiming for 145.6g of protein and 72.8g of fats. Can I assume the rest should be carbs?

    Yes, then use the fat and protein as minimums and the carbs as a max.

    So my goal is to lose weight. Should I be hitting those numbers each day or is coming up short of them a good way to lose weight?
    Thanks again.

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    No need to get that much protein... for protein aim for a goal of 0.8ish grams of protein per lb of goal weight. So if your goal is to weigh 140 your protein minimum should be set at 112 grams. 20% fat is quite low.

    I would suggest aiming for a minimum of 0.4 grams per lb of goal weight. So again with a goal of 140 that would be 56 grams minimum (and more is fine too)

    Ok i'll re calibrate my goals based on this information.

    I was led to believe that a 40/40/20 split between carbs, protein and fats was the way to go.

    So based on your advise I'm aiming for 145.6g of protein and 72.8g of fats. Can I assume the rest should be carbs?

    Yes, then use the fat and protein as minimums and the carbs as a max.

    So my goal is to lose weight. Should I be hitting those numbers each day or is coming up short of them a good way to lose weight?
    Thanks again.

    aim to be close to your goal total cals (+/-100) is fine, but you should hit the fat and protein minimums. Protein, while in a deficit, will help you retain lean muscle.
  • dariusshaw
    dariusshaw Posts: 29 Member
    Paddyryan or anyone how do you share your food dairy via mobile
  • elljay47
    elljay47 Posts: 10 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    No need to get that much protein... for protein aim for a goal of 0.8ish grams of protein per lb of goal weight. So if your goal is to weigh 140 your protein minimum should be set at 112 grams. 20% fat is quite low.

    I would suggest aiming for a minimum of 0.4 grams per lb of goal weight. So again with a goal of 140 that would be 56 grams minimum (and more is fine too)

    @ericklrb - is that the same for females too?
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    elljay47 wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    No need to get that much protein... for protein aim for a goal of 0.8ish grams of protein per lb of goal weight. So if your goal is to weigh 140 your protein minimum should be set at 112 grams. 20% fat is quite low.

    I would suggest aiming for a minimum of 0.4 grams per lb of goal weight. So again with a goal of 140 that would be 56 grams minimum (and more is fine too)

    @ericklrb - is that the same for females too?

    It would be for women as well, yes
  • RebeccaNaegle
    RebeccaNaegle Posts: 236 Member
    lean beef 96/4, chicken breast, grilled without butter oil etc. Tuna is basically fat free, so are egg whites (I boil and fry them depending on what kind of mood Im in). Also protein powder is usually fairly fat free. I only eat 28 grams of fat day, compared to 130 grams of protein, so I know the feeling!
  • RebeccaNaegle
    RebeccaNaegle Posts: 236 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    No need to get that much protein... for protein aim for a goal of 0.8ish grams of protein per lb of goal weight. So if your goal is to weigh 140 your protein minimum should be set at 112 grams. 20% fat is quite low.

    I would suggest aiming for a minimum of 0.4 grams per lb of goal weight. So again with a goal of 140 that would be 56 grams minimum (and more is fine too)

    Ok i'll re calibrate my goals based on this information.

    I was led to believe that a 40/40/20 split between carbs, protein and fats was the way to go.

    404020 is not a bad way to go. maybe do 35carb 25fat 40protein?
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    lean beef 96/4, chicken breast, grilled without butter oil etc. Tuna is basically fat free, so are egg whites (I boil and fry them depending on what kind of mood Im in). Also protein powder is usually fairly fat free. I only eat 28 grams of fat day, compared to 130 grams of protein, so I know the feeling!

    Why so low fat consumption.... please recall some vitamins and minerals are fat soluble, not to mention fat is good for skin, hair, digestive system, nails, and for satiety for many people.
  • RebeccaNaegle
    RebeccaNaegle Posts: 236 Member
    28 isn't super low if you are a small framed female. It is about 25% of my daily calories, and 28 grams is what my body does well on, maintaining/increasing muscle while losing fat.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    edited September 2016
    28 isn't super low if you are a small framed female. It is about 25% of my daily calories, and 28 grams is what my body does well on, maintaining/increasing muscle while losing fat.

    that is 25% of a 1,000 cal diet, which I consider a VLCD. unless you are below 5' and obese I would not suggest less that 1200 (which is too low for most). This may work for you, but are you sure it is the most ideal for your health? Have you had blood tests confirming you are not deficient in any vitamins or minerals?

    my diet is basically 50-55% Carbs, 20-25% protein and 25% fat.
  • RebeccaNaegle
    RebeccaNaegle Posts: 236 Member
    Yes. I am fine. I feel great at 28grams and start to feel like crap when I have days that I go over. I eat around 1200, and I'm still cutting. My TDEE is around 1400-1500. 25% was an estimate.
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
    I personally prefer to calculate by grams per pound of body weight as recommended above. Going by 40/40/20 would be much more protein than I need to eat, I would prefer to put that towards more carbs or fats, rather than protein over kill.
    Plus when you go by body weight, protein stays fairly constant whether you are eating at maintenance, or doing a bulk, or a cut. To me that makes more sense than dropping protein because your calories drop.
    (Ex. I was maintaining at 2300 cal, 150 protein, which is .8g/lb. I am 5'1'' and have a lot of extra body fat, so this is a great plenty for me.. When I switched to cutting at 1800 cals, my protein is still 150 grams.
    If I used 40/40/20, I would have been eating 230 grams of protein, and then 180 for my cut. Way more than I need.)
  • Dano74
    Dano74 Posts: 503 Member
    Yeah, you're not really killing yourself on fats. There's a couple days where you're a few grams over- and those are easy to spot- lasagna and chowder- which isn't a big deal if you make them fit but you're not doing too bad.

    As for protein, you're just not eating a lot of protein dense foods- you're eating carbs with smatterings of protein. That's an easy enough fix with either supplementation if you don't feel like loading up on meat all day... but I'm like a broken record here-- egg whites do wonders if you can get past the fact you're drinking pasteurized egg whites (flavorless- it's really not bad). 1 cup is 26 grams.

    @RebeccaNaegle has some god protein recommendations.
  • nowhere123
    nowhere123 Posts: 29 Member
    Dano74 wrote: »
    That's an easy enough fix with either supplementation if you don't feel like loading up on meat all day... but I'm like a broken record here-- egg whites do wonders if you can get past the fact you're drinking pasteurized egg whites (flavorless- it's really not bad). 1 cup is 26 grams.

    I can easily eat more meat every day. I had myself convinced to avoid it (total nutrition newbie here...). Lean beef, tuna, chicken etc.

    This pasteurised egg whites you refer to, how do you make that?

    Thanks to all who replied.
  • nowhere123
    nowhere123 Posts: 29 Member
    dariusshaw wrote: »
    Paddyryan or anyone how do you share your food dairy via mobile

    Settings / Sharing & Privacy / Dairy Sharing / Public
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    What is your height and weight?

    6 foot 1.
    210 pounds.

    Honestly, you can eat up to 1g/lb of your lean mass or more if you're trying to build muscle. You don't HAVE to, but I find it helps, and I try to stick to around 1g/lb of my goal weight which was 195. I'm actually almost 10 lbs below that goal weight now, so my protein intake ranges from 170-200g per day sometimes a little less sometimes a little more. Any excess isn't stored as fat if you're working out and staying at your maintenance calorie goals or at your diet goal calories. But in answer to your original question, I found it much easier to hit my protein goals by starting the day with a protein shake. I was also severely deficient in fiber most days so I hacked my breakfast to generally include bran cereal and a 60g protein shake (that's 2 scoops of whey isolate chocolate or vanilla). A friend here on MFP suggested a shake in the mornings to kick start my protein intake and it helped me a bunch reach my goals. As far as the fat, you should have no problems going over your goal as long as you stay within your calorie goal. A healthy amount of fat is also required to build muscle and maintain a good hormone level.

    Try popping over to iifym.com and use their calculator, it'll default to .7g/lb or .8g/lb but you can adjust it to 1g/lb if you want. Technically the 'bro science' we all read about says 1g/lb of lean body mass. So if I weigh 185 and am at 11% body fat, my lean body mass is around 165lbs, so at 1g/lb of lean body mass all I really need would be 165g of protein a day. With my morning shake and all the meat I tend to eat I have no issues hitting that goal. I'm 6'2" 182lbs at the moment. I've been able to build significant muscle over the last six months by keeping my protein and fat levels up, even though I'm not in a surplus most days. I'm also trying not to be in a deficit either, so there's that.

    You'll get 100 different opinions on how much protein to eat, and honestly after reading dozens of articles I can't really say who's right. I settled on 1g/lb of lean body mass just to stop second guessing it.

    My current macros are Protein at 36% Fat 32% and Carbs at 32%. It seems to maintain my weight and allow me to progress (albeit slowly.. again, I'm not in surplus) on my strength training.
  • nowhere123
    nowhere123 Posts: 29 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    What is your height and weight?

    6 foot 1.
    210 pounds.

    Honestly, you can eat up to 1g/lb of your lean mass or more if you're trying to build muscle. You don't HAVE to, but I find it helps, and I try to stick to around 1g/lb of my goal weight which was 195. I'm actually almost 10 lbs below that goal weight now, so my protein intake ranges from 170-200g per day sometimes a little less sometimes a little more. Any excess isn't stored as fat if you're working out and staying at your maintenance calorie goals or at your diet goal calories. But in answer to your original question, I found it much easier to hit my protein goals by starting the day with a protein shake. I was also severely deficient in fiber most days so I hacked my breakfast to generally include bran cereal and a 60g protein shake (that's 2 scoops of whey isolate chocolate or vanilla). A friend here on MFP suggested a shake in the mornings to kick start my protein intake and it helped me a bunch reach my goals. As far as the fat, you should have no problems going over your goal as long as you stay within your calorie goal. A healthy amount of fat is also required to build muscle and maintain a good hormone level.

    Try popping over to iifym.com and use their calculator, it'll default to .7g/lb or .8g/lb but you can adjust it to 1g/lb if you want. Technically the 'bro science' we all read about says 1g/lb of lean body mass. So if I weigh 185 and am at 11% body fat, my lean body mass is around 165lbs, so at 1g/lb of lean body mass all I really need would be 165g of protein a day. With my morning shake and all the meat I tend to eat I have no issues hitting that goal. I'm 6'2" 182lbs at the moment. I've been able to build significant muscle over the last six months by keeping my protein and fat levels up, even though I'm not in a surplus most days. I'm also trying not to be in a deficit either, so there's that.

    You'll get 100 different opinions on how much protein to eat, and honestly after reading dozens of articles I can't really say who's right. I settled on 1g/lb of lean body mass just to stop second guessing it.

    My current macros are Protein at 36% Fat 32% and Carbs at 32%. It seems to maintain my weight and allow me to progress (albeit slowly.. again, I'm not in surplus) on my strength training.

    Thanks.

    Any good recipe suggestions for a protein shake before i turn to goole?
    Oh and my body fat % is 30 at the moment and i weigh 210. I'd like to get to 182 pounds and 10-15% body fat.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    Any good recipe suggestions for a protein shake before i turn to goole?
    Oh and my body fat % is 30 at the moment and i weigh 210. I'd like to get to 182 pounds and 10-15% body fat.

    Agreed, my goal was always around 180 to 185 with 10% body fat. I'm not there yet, close some days, but it's been rough getting there. As far as the shake I use straight up whey isolate protein chocolate or vanilla in water. 2 scoops of the stuff I buy is 60g protein. The brand I use (just because it's readily available where I live and cheap) is Body Fortress Super Advanced Whey Isolate. Wal-Mart carries it.
  • Dano74
    Dano74 Posts: 503 Member
    Dano74 wrote: »
    That's an easy enough fix with either supplementation if you don't feel like loading up on meat all day... but I'm like a broken record here-- egg whites do wonders if you can get past the fact you're drinking pasteurized egg whites (flavorless- it's really not bad). 1 cup is 26 grams.

    I can easily eat more meat every day. I had myself convinced to avoid it (total nutrition newbie here...). Lean beef, tuna, chicken etc.

    This pasteurised egg whites you refer to, how do you make that?

    Thanks to all who replied.

    You don't make them. They're the egg whites in the cartons in the egg section of the grocery store. Crazy convenient.
  • dariusshaw
    dariusshaw Posts: 29 Member
    Would someone look at my diary I opened the sharing thing want to know if I'm doing okay I know some of the portions are small but eating baked chicken and brown rice in a few hours hope that raise it up