Ketogenic Diet ! What macros should I aim for ?

lovelyketolilly
lovelyketolilly Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
MyFitnessPal suggest I eat about 1400 ish cals a day. What % should my fat, carb, and protein should I be at? I would appreciate help (in terms of grams) ! Currently @ 189.8 but i think ive plateaued. I am using this app for more accountability and reflection! Any help would be greatly appreciated ❤️

Replies

  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    lovelyketolilly wrote: »
    MyFitnessPal suggest I eat about 1400 ish cals a day. What % should my fat, carb, and protein should I be at? I would appreciate help (in terms of grams) ! Currently @ 189.8 but i think ive plateaued. I am using this app for more accountability and reflection! Any help would be greatly appreciated ❤️

    fat should be like 60-75% ,15-30% of protein and the rest carbs is whats recommended by most sites. but you can play around with the percentages to see what works for you. just make sure you keep carbs low enough for ketosis. also make sure to get 3500-5000 mg of sodium per day and get enough potassium and magnesium to prevent the keto flu(electrolyte imbalance)
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    For those calories, under 20 g if carbs would be 5%m and under 40 g would be 10%.

    Your calories are not that high so I would go with at least 20-25% protein. More is often better. That won't even get you to 90 g of protein.

    And fat is the rest.

    As mentioned, more sodium than normal is REALLY helpful too.

    Good luck.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited November 2018
    lovelyketolilly wrote: »
    MyFitnessPal suggest I eat about 1400 ish cals a day. What % should my fat, carb, and protein should I be at? I would appreciate help (in terms of grams) ! Currently @ 189.8 but i think ive plateaued. I am using this app for more accountability and reflection! Any help would be greatly appreciated ❤️

    Protein is important, so I'd do .8 g x goal weight. So if it's around 130, maybe 100-105 g protein.

    That's 400-420 of your calories, which leaves you about 980-1000 cal.

    Most people will be in ketosis under 50 g carbs (even net carbs, but I'll keep it simple). So make 50 g a hard cap on carbs (200 cal) and try to make sure you eat a good variety of vegetables and other carbs with fiber.

    You are left with about 780-800 cal fat, which is around 85-90 g.

    That means 15% carbs, 30% protein, and 55% fat, but it would be fine to be under carbs and go over protein and fat. More important to hit protein than fat if low for a day. Net carbs will likely be 35 g or under.

    Reason why protein is important: http://caloriesproper.com/protein-ketosis-and-lean-mass/
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,420 MFP Moderator
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    Rea20021989 wrote: »
    I'm not sure why it's suggested 'more is better' for proteins. Generally protein in grams should be 1-1.5g/kg of lean weight (i.e. your body weight without fat/your goal weight). Excessive proteins convert and metabolise similarly to glucose/carbs, spiking your insulin response. 25% protein is more of a maximum, and only then if you're training hard or trying to build muscle, not reduce fat, usually?

    This is a demand driven process (and biologically speaking, expensive) and only happens if you are REALLY pounding down the protein - I have eaten upwards of 200g of protein with no effect on my BG readings and not being knocked out of ketosis.

    Let's also add the fact that roughly 40% of glucenogenesis is from fat. So too much fat converts to glucose.

    Op, that range of protein should be higher during dieting. Protein is literally the most important macro. It reduces muscle loss, improve metabolic function, is thermogenic (takes more calories to metabolize), has the highest satiety impact (along with fiber) and makes you look get leaner.

    The evidence suggest 1.5-2.2g/kg of weight. Roughly, that should be about g/ per lb of goal weight. On average, women should be in the 100-130g/day range.

    Carbs should be at 20-50g. And fat is the rest. And remember, that is no bonus for extra fat.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    Rea20021989 wrote: »
    I'm not sure why it's suggested 'more is better' for proteins. Generally protein in grams should be 1-1.5g/kg of lean weight (i.e. your body weight without fat/your goal weight). Excessive proteins convert and metabolise similarly to glucose/carbs, spiking your insulin response. 25% protein is more of a maximum, and only then if you're training hard or trying to build muscle, not reduce fat, usually?

    Personally i've gone from 24 stone to 11 stone in 18 months and i try to keep my macros around 5% carbs (usually 10-20g), 20% protein (usually 58-68g) and fats at 75% (90-120g). Everyone is different. Play around with different things. I just know what I've researched and read, and it corroborates what I've experienced (e.g. i'll stall if i eat too much protein).

    I meant more is better than 20-25%. For 1400 kcal that is 70-87g of protein, which is not a lot while losing, especially if one is active. Closer to 100g and more may be better for those who are hoping to preserve lean tissue, or build more muscle mass.

    As mentioned, gluconeogenesis is mostly demand driven. If you take into account that eating protein will raise insulin, any extra gluconeogenesis will generally not raise BG. YMMV

    I eat almost as a carnivore, and can go days without more than a couple of trace carbs. Eating that much meat does not raise my BG - I have checked with a blood glucose monitor. Carbs (especially refined or juiced) will raise my BG a lot. Protein and fat do almost nothing.

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