What percent Carbs/Fats/Protein should we aim for?

shareenlisa
shareenlisa Posts: 1
edited December 18 in Food and Nutrition
What is the percent Carbs/Fats/Protein should we aim for? I was told 40% carbs, 20% Fats and 40% Proteins but on MyFitnessPal daily summary they suggest 55/30/15. Anyone have a suggestion?

Replies

  • js370
    js370 Posts: 140
    I've got mine set to 40C/30P/30F. It's a reasonable setting, and it's working for me.
  • claybornfletcher
    claybornfletcher Posts: 6 Member
    I stick to a moderate carb diet with high protein and low fats. My ratios usually look like 50-56% Protein, 30-35% carbs, and 10-14% Fats. I'm not carbofobic or anything, I just know that anything that can't be stored in the liver or muscles could end up as adipose tissue. I've found that a higher protein, moderate carb diet works best for me: high thermic effect of the foods that I eat while keeping carbs just high enough (170-200g/day) to fuel my workouts, allowing me to really bring it to every routine, every day. However, this is just me, and what works for me may not be ideal for the next guy or girl.
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,728 Member
    I generally eat 40/30/30
  • CoachDavidJ
    CoachDavidJ Posts: 8 Member
    Try to keep you healthy fats above 20%. They are crucial for hormone production. Your macro goals really need to match your weight loss goals. 50P/30C/20F is great for fat loss. Even 40/40/20 would work. Really both hinge on your deficit and are you being honest with how much you are taking in and how much work you are putting out. Keep at it! You'll get it!
  • susieq101178
    susieq101178 Posts: 305 Member
    Mine is also set to 40/30/30
  • claymic
    claymic Posts: 34 Member
    i am doing 30/30/40 (carb/prot/fat) but i still try and not have all my carb allowance... managing to limit it betwee 50 and 70g a day
  • Stewie316
    Stewie316 Posts: 266 Member
    Mine is set to 50/25/25 (carb/fat/protein), but I try to aim for 30% protein. My goal is to gain muscle.
  • strawberrie_milk
    strawberrie_milk Posts: 381 Member
    Mine is 40P/30C/30F
  • DiscipleOfChrist29
    DiscipleOfChrist29 Posts: 84 Member
    Everybody is so different. Seems hard to decide what to do so I will try a few out. 50/25/25 will be my first go at it. I love myfitnesspal... I am starting at 190cm and 116kg. For those guys that pray please say a few for me. This is a serious lifelong battle of mine.
  • garyhorder
    garyhorder Posts: 21 Member
    This is all so confusing / worrying for somebody who has never checked their fitness / health levels, now i find im checking calculators, measuring body parts ive never even thought to measure, and checking everything that enters my body, i just hope i have my goals / weight loss / percentages set correctly for a god weight loss ..... *edit* actually after reading through this and checking some calculators have now set at 30 c 50 p 20 f
  • agrasso88
    agrasso88 Posts: 33 Member
    I'm hitting 5/25/70 on LCHF. It is working extremely well. Down 20kg in 5 months.
  • ruthejp13
    ruthejp13 Posts: 213 Member
    33/33/33
    What irks me is the whole percent thing. You want to meet basic minimums and not exceed maximums. Depending on your calorie intake and amount of exercise, protein should be calculated first as grams, not percentage. Then you need to meet a minimum of fat. After that you can divvy up the rest as your choice of heathy fats or carbs.

    I set my Mfp for 50% fat but some days my pie chart is 50% carbs.
  • tiggsnanny
    tiggsnanny Posts: 366 Member
    I keep changing mine because I really don't know what i'm doing :laugh: I basically, just try to eat at a deficit, i'm not too good with the macro thing lol
  • DianeinCA
    DianeinCA Posts: 307 Member
    Here's how I set mine: first, I figured out my TDEE-20%, which was about 2000.

    Then, I figured out my protein needs, based on my BF%/lean body mass: 112g

    112 x 4 = 448 calories. Round it up to 500. That's 25% of 2000.

    Then my fat%. I think the calculation was body weight x .3 = 48g. 48 x 9 = 432. I also rounded this up to 500, also 25%.

    The rest is carbs.

    That's how I arrived at 50/25/25. I haven't seen any reason to change the ratio as I've been losing weight, so I've stuck with it.

    Every day I pay the most attention to the protein column on my Food page: am I getting close to 112g? If not, step it up. If I am, woot, now I pay attention to overall calories.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    I decided on the percentage based on the actual grams recommended. My doctor told me to stick to approx 180 grams of carb daily because of my recent T2 diabetes diagnosis. Currently that means 40% for my macro (I am doing 30 P and 30 F for the others).
  • ruthejp13
    ruthejp13 Posts: 213 Member
    Here's how I set mine: first, I figured out my TDEE-20%, which was about 2000.

    Then, I figured out my protein needs, based on my BF%/lean body mass: 112g

    112 x 4 = 448 calories. Round it up to 500. That's 25% of 2000.

    Then my fat%. I think the calculation was body weight x .3 = 48g. 48 x 9 = 432. I also rounded this up to 500, also 25%.

    The rest is carbs.

    That's how I arrived at 50/25/25. I haven't seen any reason to change the ratio as I've been losing weight, so I've stuck with it.

    Every day I pay the most attention to the protein column on my Food page: am I getting close to 112g? If not, step it up. If I am, woot, now I pay attention to overall calories.

    That is exactly the way you should do it!!! Great job!!! As for the poster after that said carbs first because doctor said it was necessary for diabetes - that's wrong. The American Diabetes Assoc. FINALLY recanted that erroneous information.
    http://www.atkins.com/Science/Articles---Library/Diabetes/American-Diabetes-Association-Reverses-Itself-on-L.aspx
    I first heard about the reversal in recommendation from a medical class I was taking online on Diabetes from the University of Copenhagen.
  • FaylinaMeir
    FaylinaMeir Posts: 661 Member
    I'm gonna be the weird one because I try to get atleast 60% if not closer to 70% carbs, and the rest split between fat/protein. I don't have an issue feeling hungry and the weight comes off.

    And NO I'm not diabetic, I don't have thyroid issue, etc I'm healthy.
  • CharleneM723
    CharleneM723 Posts: 80 Member
    I love the idea of finding protein needs first. I also read that when trying to lose weight, one should almost double their protein RDA. I have mine set at 40/30/30. I am 28, 137lbs, female trying to lose.

    Charlene
  • Charlottesometimes23
    Charlottesometimes23 Posts: 687 Member
    Here's how I set mine: first, I figured out my TDEE-20%, which was about 2000.

    Then, I figured out my protein needs, based on my BF%/lean body mass: 112g

    112 x 4 = 448 calories. Round it up to 500. That's 25% of 2000.

    Then my fat%. I think the calculation was body weight x .3 = 48g. 48 x 9 = 432. I also rounded this up to 500, also 25%.

    The rest is carbs.

    That's how I arrived at 50/25/25. I haven't seen any reason to change the ratio as I've been losing weight, so I've stuck with it.

    Every day I pay the most attention to the protein column on my Food page: am I getting close to 112g? If not, step it up. If I am, woot, now I pay attention to overall calories.

    That is exactly the way you should do it!!! Great job!!! As for the poster after that said carbs first because doctor said it was necessary for diabetes - that's wrong. The American Diabetes Assoc. FINALLY recanted that erroneous information.
    http://www.atkins.com/Science/Articles---Library/Diabetes/American-Diabetes-Association-Reverses-Itself-on-L.aspx
    I first heard about the reversal in recommendation from a medical class I was taking online on Diabetes from the University of Copenhagen.
    No, it's not wrong. Some people are on medication that can result in dangerous hypos if they don't manage their carbs eg. Metformin. The website you linked is the Atkins website pushing their own agenda. The ADA recommends diets that suit the individual, which may or may not be low carb depending on the situation.

    Anyway, I do 50-55C, 20-25P, 25F Too much protein does my digestive system no favours.
  • kamaperry
    kamaperry Posts: 885 Member
    I do a ratio, of 80/15/5 80 fat, 15 protein, and 5 carbs
  • ladymiseryali
    ladymiseryali Posts: 2,555 Member
    Depends on what you're doing. If you're just following a standard eating plan, then 40/30/30 is probably good. However, if you're following something like keto or low carb, your macros should be 5/75/25. So it really depends on how you're eating. I eat keto, so my macros are the example I provided.
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  • navygrrl
    navygrrl Posts: 517 Member
    I keep changing mine because I really don't know what i'm doing :laugh: I basically, just try to eat at a deficit, i'm not too good with the macro thing lol

    This is pretty much what I end up doing as well, LOL. I just switched to 40C/30P/30F, with an emphasis on trying to meet my protein goals. I found that I'm stalling out on my strength gains, so I thought that perhaps adding more protein would help with that.
  • danofthedead1979
    danofthedead1979 Posts: 362 Member
    whatever you choose, remember you still need to enjoy food, i tried to go protein heavy at first believing this would help me lose more weight quicker, but got fed-up with the restrictions. if you are trying to lose weight, i would worry more about how many calories than what specific macros make up those calories. you cant go wrong with a balance of carbs/protein/fats, i wouldnt fret too much about sticking to a rigid macro formula. a calorie is a calorie.
  • niknokd
    niknokd Posts: 127 Member
    MFP's default settings tend to be higher carb/lower protein than a lot of people prefer. I do 45C/25P/30F but I usually go over my goal on protein! :)
  • Eleonora91
    Eleonora91 Posts: 688 Member
    Mine has always been 50% carbs, 20% protein, 30% fats
    I tried to increase my protein intake to 25% but it didn't last long, so I recently got back to 20%.
    I don't know my BF% and my lean mass either, but this works for me. I usually can live on less fats but I can't say no to my carbs.
  • ruthejp13
    ruthejp13 Posts: 213 Member
    Here's how I set mine: first, I figured out my TDEE-20%, which was about 2000.

    Then, I figured out my protein needs, based on my BF%/lean body mass: 112g

    112 x 4 = 448 calories. Round it up to 500. That's 25% of 2000.

    Then my fat%. I think the calculation was body weight x .3 = 48g. 48 x 9 = 432. I also rounded this up to 500, also 25%.

    The rest is carbs.

    That's how I arrived at 50/25/25. I haven't seen any reason to change the ratio as I've been losing weight, so I've stuck with it.

    Every day I pay the most attention to the protein column on my Food page: am I getting close to 112g? If not, step it up. If I am, woot, now I pay attention to overall calories.

    That is exactly the way you should do it!!! Great job!!! As for the poster after that said carbs first because doctor said it was necessary for diabetes - that's wrong. The American Diabetes Assoc. FINALLY recanted that erroneous information.
    http://www.atkins.com/Science/Articles---Library/Diabetes/American-Diabetes-Association-Reverses-Itself-on-L.aspx
    I first heard about the reversal in recommendation from a medical class I was taking online on Diabetes from the University of Copenhagen.
    No, it's not wrong. Some people are on medication that can result in dangerous hypos if they don't manage their carbs eg. Metformin. The website you linked is the Atkins website pushing their own agenda. The ADA recommends diets that suit the individual, which may or may not be low carb depending on the situation.

    Anyway, I do 50-55C, 20-25P, 25F Too much protein does my digestive system no favours.
    Diabetics absolutely need to MANAGE their carbs and they need to manage their medication. However they can reduce their carbs and medication and do better.
  • AHack3
    AHack3 Posts: 173 Member
    After I learned a little bit of what type of Metabolism I have (I'm a Balanced Oxidizer), I have found that eating 40/30/30 works best for me. You will need to learn what percentages work best for you. Everyone is different.
  • Swiftlet66
    Swiftlet66 Posts: 729 Member
    I'm trying to test out the macro ratios too. Right now, I'm doing 65% carb, 20% fat, and 15% protein and this ratio feels pretty good to me.
  • 34blast
    34blast Posts: 166 Member
    I'm a big fan of all things in balance. I set mine at 40C/30P/30F. I usually end up at 45/25/30 . If I feel I'm too low in the protein area, I have a protein shake. I find less fat and I have hunger problems. Fat and proteins tend to make me feel fuller longer. If I eat about that ration, I never have hunger issues, but everyone is a bit different. Also I find I feel great about that level and workouts seem to work good that way.

    So 40/30/30, if you go to a sandwhich place, load up on veggies, sometimes double the meat depending upon the place and skip the chips and it works out pretty close.
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