Carbs,Fat,Protein

i did 50% protein, 30% carbs, and 20% fats. I lost about 50lbs in 13 weeks on that formula. Whatever works for you is what works i guess, but I believe in a higher protein diet. I think it is easier to stick with and you feel more sated. Protein can be inexpensive also, chicken, tuna, and whey

I started here August 17, doing 50 carbs, 25 protein, and 25 fat. I've lost 12 pounds doing that, and I'm very happy with those results.

I have had great success with 50% carbs, 33% protein and 17% fat. Try and make sure the carbs are complex rather than simple and fat is heart healthy...no trans, saturated and hydrogenated fats.

The recommendations I've seen are 55-65 g of protein a day for a menstruating women.

If you are dieting, though, you might want to get more to help preserve your lean muscle tissue. Also, protein is a nice steady fuel that lasts a long time. I find that I am less hungry when I have a protein-based snack over a carb-based snack.

I currently do the South Beach ratios of 30/30/40 - 30 % protein, 30 % fat and 40 % carbs.

After all my research, and all the studies, and understanding what protein does in the body, I just don't believe a very high protein level does anything dynamic. What it DOES do is change your body chemistry, which may help you lose weight for a little while (maybe up to about 6 months), but for it to be permanent, you need to continue to eat that way while still making sure you aren't deficient in other areas. For instance, the Mediterranean diet is considered, by a majority of studies and experts, to be the most effective long term diet to not only help lose weight, but maintain a healthy dietary intake (vitamins, minerals, macro nutrients) permanently.


PLEASE NOTE: people who eat high protein diets have a higher (this is documented, I forget where, but I can look it up if need be, but it's easily googlable.)percentage of vitamin deficiency. Please take care to have blood tests taken every few months if you do a high protein, low carb diet. These types of problems don't manifest immediately and can lead to issues later in life. That's my biggest issue. As I said, I don't see any reason high protein is bad for you, as long as you are smart about it, talk to a dietitian, talk to a doctor, and make sure you have enough vitamins and other minerals coming in as well (and I don't mean supplements, supplements have their own downfalls).

Nobody's bashing proteins, but I like to step back and look at it logically. If your diet is healthy, and you're not losing weight on it, short of an allergy to certain carbohydrates (that is medically possible by the way, you can test for it), then most likely it isn't the ratio of carbs/fats/proteins, more probably it's your assumptions (I.E. what your TDEE is, how many calories you burn during exercise, how many calories are in the food you eat...etc.).

And, yes, chicken, tuna, and whey are relatively cheap for meat, but ounce for ounce chicken is still 2X as expensive as whole grain rice, beans, and even more so than whole wheat pasta. Tuna is even more expensive, I don't know what the cost of whey is because I don't use it. But what I can tell you is, protein without any carbs is very difficult to keep up long term. Not that it can't be done, or that it isn't healthy if you do it right, but it's not the only way.

Lets be realistic people, ANY diet that has relatively healthy foods (of any of the macro nutrient types) will allow you to lose weight if you eat at a calorie deficit and do even a modicum of exercise. But the assumption is that you are correctly gauging your TDEE. If you start out with the wrong numbers, no matter what your ratios, you will fail! And yes, I know there are some of you out there that have done it on high protein, this isn't knocking that, just saying it's not the only way.

keeping this to read later!