Ratio of foods

Anything that fits into the calorie goal MFP suggests for you. You need a certain minimum of fats (0.35-0.45 grams per pound of bodyweight daily would be reasonable for most people), the rest can be carbs, or can be more protein or more fats, if that helps keep you full and happy.

It's good to eat plenty of varied, colorful fruits and veggies, generally. Which ones work best depends on your personal carb goal. Some folks find carbohydrate foods filling (maybe especially ones like oatmeal, whole potatoes, starchy veggies, and that sort of thing); others find that carbohydrate foods aren't filling and spike their appetite. That may take some experimenting, to figure out what's best for you.

80 grams of protein will require a minimum of 320 calories (of course, the protein foods will often contain some fats or carbs, not just pure protein). Estimate your fat grams, multiply that by 9 (number of calories in a gram of pure fat), and you'll know how many calories the fats will require. Then you can set your MFP profile to come close to those gram numbers, in percents. You don't have to hit them exactly exact every day. It's fine to exceed protein or fat goals, as long as overall balance over time is semi-close, on average.

For estimating purposes: Pure protein or carbs are about 4 calories per gram. Pure fat is about 9 calories per gram. Alcohol is none of those, but is about 7 calories per gram, if you consume any of that.

hamza_chandler wrote: »

I have a question someone might be able to answer. I’m trying hard to stick to my macros and I understand the split should be 40% protein, 30% fat and 30% carbs. I’m currently using 43% protein, 22% carbs and 32% fat. I’m currently not using my daily allowance for fat and carbs. Is this going to be an issue if trying to lose weight and tone up? Even with my carbs so low I still have enough energy in the day. I’m trying to get understanding on how macros work. Thanks in advance

You can gain, lose, and maintain on any macro ratio, so feel free to eat whatever macro ratio you like (as long as you are hitting minimums for fat and protein.)

That said, 40% protein is likely unnecessarily high, especially if you are active and eating back your exercise calories as you should.

Here's a reputable protein calculator:

https://examine.com/nutrition/protein-intake-calculator/

I shoot for @ 500 calories of exercise per day, and when I achieve that, using the MFP default of 20% protein aligns with the protein recommendation from examine. If I were completely sedentary, I'd need to bump it up to 30%.