Carbs protein fat ratio?

Magenta

Hi all,

Can anyone tell me what ratio of carbs, protein and fat I should be aiming for to lose weight? I'm female, 5'9" and 155lb and looking to slim down to 140lb.
At the moment I am eating 1500 calories a day and going for 50% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein, is this OK? I've looked at different websites but they all say different things and the advice on this forum generally seems to be spot on so thought I'd ask!

Cheers

Parsley

Magenta wrote: »

Hi all,

Can anyone tell me what ratio of carbs, protein and fat I should be aiming for to lose weight? I'm female, 5'9" and 155lb and looking to slim down to 140lb.
At the moment I am eating 1500 calories a day and going for 50% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein, is this OK? I've looked at different websites but they all say different things and the advice on this forum generally seems to be spot on so thought I'd ask!

Cheers

i think 40% protein, 30% carbs and 30% fat is a decent fat-loss ratio.

Dotcomdolly

Parsley wrote: »

i think 40% protein, 30% carbs and 30% fat is a decent fat-loss ratio.

I set up a myfitnesspal account and this is what I'm aiming for - finding it very difficult though.

EileenG

To some extent it depends on your calories. I would aim for 1g of protein per pound of lean mass (total weight minus fat), enough fat for health, and divide the rest out as you want. The lower your calories, the more important it is to make sure you have enough protein and fat, and the less important the carbs become.

For instance, if you were eating only 1000 cals a day (not recommended) then 20% for protein would be only 50g of protein a day, which is very low for someone on slimming diet. If you eating 3000 cals a day, you'd be eating 150g of protein, which is probably more than you need.

Dotcomdolly

EileenG wrote: »

To some extent it depends on your calories. I would aim for 1g of protein per pound of lean mass (total weight minus fat), enough fat for health, and divide the rest out as you want. The lower your calories, the more important it is to make sure you have enough protein and fat, and the less important the carbs become.

For instance, if you were eating only 1000 cals a day (not recommended) then 20% for protein would be only 50g of protein a day, which is very low for someone on slimming diet. If you eating 3000 cals a day, you'd be eating 150g of protein, which is probably more than you need.

That's interesting Eileen thanks. At the moment on mfp I have 1200 cals and goals set at 40/30/30 which allows me 150g protein per day. But using your calculation I should be only having 95g. I must go tinker with it to get the protein down to that - so should I keep fats at 30% and leave carbs as whatever is left?

EileenG

40% of 1200 cals is 120g of protein.

Personally, I'm not a fan of keeping carbs high, particularly if calories are low. Protein and fat are both essential nutrients, while non-veggies carbs are optional. If calories are low, you'll need more than 30% of calories as fat to get all the fat soluble vitamins you need.

Mellor

Dotcomdolly wrote: »

That's interesting Eileen thanks. At the moment on mfp I have 1200 cals and goals set at 40/30/30 which allows me 150g protein per day. But using your calculation I should be only having 95g. I must go tinker with it to get the protein down to that - so should I keep fats at 30% and leave carbs as whatever is left?

I think you need to check your numbers again.
1200 cals at 40/30/30 is 120g protein, 90g carbs and 40g fat

1g per lb was the min target, not the max you should have.
Where did you get 95g? In the OP you said you were 155lbs. So i'd aim for 120-150. The split above 40/30/30 split at looks pretty good to me.

Dotcomdolly

Mellor wrote: »

Dotcomdolly wrote: »

That's interesting Eileen thanks. At the moment on mfp I have 1200 cals and goals set at 40/30/30 which allows me 150g protein per day. But using your calculation I should be only having 95g. I must go tinker with it to get the protein down to that - so should I keep fats at 30% and leave carbs as whatever is left?

I think you need to check your numbers again.
1200 cals at 40/30/30 is 120g protein, 90g carbs and 40g fat

1g per lb was the min target, not the max you should have.
Where did you get 95g? In the OP you said you were 155lbs. So i'd aim for 120-150. The split above 40/30/30 split at looks pretty good to me.

I'm not the op just wading in. I'm 130 lb and 28% bf.
Sorry must has misread somehow, yes when set at 40% it is 120g of protein - so is that too much? Should I tweak it down a bit?

Mellor

I don't see why you should tweek it down if you are going to increase carbs to compensate. More protein is better than more carbs imo.
It doesn't have to be lean mass, lots of people use total weight. I aim for 170-200g a day.
If you are happy with 120g, and enjoy the meals then stick with it.

Dotcomdolly

Mellor wrote: »

I don't see why you should tweek it down if you are going to increase carbs to compensate. morep rotein is better than more carbs imo.
It doesn't ahve to be lean mass, lots of people use total weight. I aim for 170-200g a day.
If you are happy with 120g, and enjoy the meals then stick with it.

Thanks mellor, I was reacting to eileens post above re 1g per lean body mass which for me is 95g. It's a bit redundant anyway ! - I am only doing this cc etc a week and I haven't been meeting my daily Macro quotas at all, even though I'm having protein at every meal and no bread pasta etc
Here's my food diary, would love some feedback

Magenta

Dotcomdolly wrote: »

Thanks mellor, I was reacting to eileens post above re 1g per lean body mass which for me is 95g. It's a bit redundant anyway ! - I am only doing this cc etc a week and I haven't been meeting my daily Macro quotas at all, even though I'm having protein at every meal and no bread pasta etc
Here's my food diary, would love some feedback

Maybe it would be better if you made your own thread as this one has gotten derailed somewhat!

To get back to my original question, I should go for 40% protein and then 30 and 30 for fat and carbs?
I'm currently aiming to burn 1500 calories per week through exercise also. Is there any truth in that it is better to eat carbs earlier in the day? I usually have a chicken salad sandwich for lunch and chicken with a lot of veg for dinner.

EileenG

It is normally assume that eating carbs earlier in the day is more effective, but I seem to remember hearing of a study recently that night time carbs were very anabolic (muscle building). I'll look it up and see the details.

However, it really does come down to calories (assuming you are eating good quality whole foods and not processed crap).

Mellor

Magenta wrote: »

Maybe it would be better if you made your own thread as this one has gotten derailed somewhat!

To get back to my original question, I should go for 40% protein and then 30 and 30 for fat and carbs?
I'm currently aiming to burn 1500 calories per week through exercise also. Is there any truth in that it is better to eat carbs earlier in the day? I usually have a chicken salad sandwich for lunch and chicken with a lot of veg for dinner.

You question has already been answered.
It doesn't matter a whole lot. Total calories is far far more important than macro ratios