40/30/30?

I'm interested too... that's part of my new goal.

send HelloitsDan a personal message
he promotes eating this way
but he maybe at work right now

This is what I try to follow. Not sure what you are asking though? Its not an Atkins style approach - maybe more like a "protein Power" if any. Try to trim your carbs back a bit further from the 55carb approach and fill it back with protein. Also helps to make sure your carbs are not "hollow" foods or higher sugars.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map - this is one of his posts - seems like good info on there, with links to resources available. :-)

I just worked out my figures - the way it's explained on the above link is a bit hard to understand, but here's what I arrived at after doing all the math carefully- keep in mind I am a new mom and breastfeeding, but those figures are explained below too:

per http://www.fat2fitradio.com:

Fat 2 Fit Radio's Military Body Fat Calculation on 3/28/2012:
the information that you entered:

Sex: female
Weight: 187 pounds
Neck: 15 inches
Waist: 37 inches
Hip: 43 inches

Based on this information, you have a lean body mass of 110.2 pounds. Your lean body mass includes everything in your body that's not fat. Now that we know your lean body mass, let's find out how much fat you're carrying around. We'll subtract your lean body mass from your weight and find you currently have 76.8 pounds of fat on your body.

Your body fat percentage is 41.1%. (eek!! I thought I was at 32-33% based on all the other charts!!)

You currently weigh 187 pounds with a body fat percentage of 41.1%. You would like to have a body fat percentage of 12%. Based on this information, your goal body weight should be: 125 pounds

Custom BMR Calculation:
Entered information: 34 year old female, 64 inches tall, weighing 187 pounds.

From the information that you entered, you'd like to weigh 145 lbs. (**I had to make a intermediate goal for now to avoid going too low)

Harris-Benedict Formula

There are a few different methods to calculating yourbasal metabolic rate (BMR). One of the most popular, developed in the early 1900's is called the Harris-Benedict formula. Based on this formula, your current BMR is 1609 calories.

*********Katch-McArdle Formula******* (This is the one that helloitsdan on mfp suggests you use)

The numbers above are fairly accurate, however they don't take into account your lean body mass. A more accurate formula that does take your lean body mass into account is the Katch-McArdle formula. Since many of us have scales that will tell us our current body fat, this formula may yield more accurate results. Based on the information you provided, body fat percentage of 41.1%, you have a lean body mass of 110 lbs., and your BMR is 1450 calories.

How Many Calories Should I Eat?

Based on your goal weight, the following chart was generated. The chart shows the number of calories that you should eat on a daily basis to reach your goal weight. At Fat 2 Fit Radio we advocate eating like the thin, healthy person that you want to become. The calorie levels you see in the chart are not extreme, but they do create that all important caloric deficit that is required to get you to your goal weight in a safe manner. Once you reach your goal weight, you will continue eating the same number of calories for the rest of your life to maintain that weight. You'll never be on a diet again.

Based on how much activity you do on an average day, the calories in the right column will be the number of calories that you will be able to eat at your goal weight. If you start eating those calories right now (eating like the thinner you), you will eventually become that thinner person. As you get closer to your goal weight, your weight loss will start to slow down. It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less per day (200-300) to speed up your weight loss at this point.

Activity Level Daily Calories

Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1712 (this is me currently)
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1962
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2212
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2462
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2711

so.... what this all means: my current Katch-McArdle BMR at 187 lbs is 1450 calories if my goal is to be 125-145 lbs, Based on my goal weight entered at 145, the chart generated shows the number of calories that I should eat on a daily basis to reach my goal weight and also maintain that goal weight is 1712 (at little activity level).

Based on this, my TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure- TOTAL IT TAKES TO MAINTAIN MY *CURRENT* WEIGHT) is 1712 plus 20% for a grand total of 2054- If I exceed this number, I will gain weight. It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less than 1712 per day to speed up my weight loss at this point. (typically 200-300 less *but I should NEVER reduce enough to be at or below my BMR of 1450!!)....IN CONCLUSION: my goals should be about 1500-1700 NET calories per day before any exercise (plus 500 cals for breastfeeding for a grand total daily of 2000-2200/day consumed but not to exceed 2554 which would be my TDEE w/ breastfeeding and no exercise) - wow! Far different than the school of thought of 1200 cals/day! :-) This is pretty much what I've already been doing and it's working! See my doc for my results so far. :-) Does that make it easier to understand?? It took me a while to do all the calculating, but it helps me understand my proper ranges!

***AND, keep in mind, you'd be adding back your exercise calories here too, so you'd tack on whatever you burned off to this figure still - for example, I have to consume roughly 2000-2200 cals to lose weight properly while breastfeeding, and then if I go for a 2 mile walk to burn 200 cals, then I'll need to eat anywhere from 2200-2400 cals that day. :-) again, wow!

This is no different really than what I've been currently doing- guess I just got lucky with trying not to lose weight too quickly - in fact I probably should be eating MORE because I tend to be shy of my caloric goal by a couple hundred on some days. I'm currently losing anywhere from 1 lb to 3.5 lbs / week with this method and have lost a total of 62 lbs to date (we'll be generous and say 30 of that was baby and amniotic fluids) since 12/14/11. Best of luck in everyone's journey... really, it is quite simple once you understand it.

I also have put my goals in MFP to match 40% Protein, 30% Carbs, and 30% Fat - that's just something for me to aim for. I struggle to get less carbs and more protein because I eat a lot of fruit, but I do get protein in at every meal.

Feel free to friend me if you wish to view my diary / how I'm eating. :-)

Thanks for the info. I will do a search for other threads and will take measurements so I can look at those formulas. I had my body fat tested at the gym and I believe it was 33% but I will do the calculations anyway.

sar123bear--wouldn't 12% body fat be much too low for a woman?

KristinL16- Aaaah, you are correct! I was going by the "male" chart on the ideal body fat percentage... GOOD TO KNOW!! Thanks much! I revised to 24% and that puts me at 145 lbs, which is what I based my calcs on in the end anyway, so that works out great! :-) I'll recheck the numbers, but I think I'm still ok with the figures I prepared.

I wanted to let you know that there's a calculator out there to figure out macronutrients - the site is amazing - has lots of wonderful info and calculators available.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/nutrient_calculator.htm

There's ads in the middle of the page, so just scroll down to further read up on what the results mean, etc.

Hope that helps! :-)

All I did was replace my 2 bowls of cereal in the morning with a protien shake and swap out chips/crackers for vegetable snacks.

I usually come close to hitting it every day without trying really hard. My food diary should be public so feel free to have a look.

I'm usually +/-5%. If i try I can hit it right on, again without anything too drastic. Sometimes I'll plan dinner around what the pie chart looks like.

I have set up my goals custom to match 40% Carbs, 30% Protein, and 30% Fat. I've been trying to keep my intake balanced based on this. I like what was mentioned above too about the pie chart - that's a good way to see the "big picture" and know what you need more of / less of. Being that I'm breastfeeding, my goals need to be a bit higher than the recommended levels, so I'm not upset about overages... it's going to happen. I just try to keep it even.

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