Protein/Carb ratio?
 

I'm back on track. Need to lose 120 pounds (actually a bit more, but I'll be ecstatic with that!) and hoping fitday will help.

I need to figure out what my protein/carb balance should be though.

Any advice?

I'm not a nutritionist at all, but I also am trying to lose 124 pounds. So far I'm down 64 pounds, so a little better than 1/2 way. I started off not paying any attention to the ratio, I was just watching my calories. Then one day I ate waaayyy more than I was allowing myself and yet I weighed less the next day. This of course was cause for some further investigation of those calories. So I did a little studying of what I had eaten and realized that I lost more weight on the days when my carbs were less than 50%, proteins around 30% and fats around 20%. So then I started playing with that and found that if I kept the carbs around 40%, proteins at 35% and fats at 25%, my weight loss is even better. Provided I keep the calorie burn higher than my intake I'm almost guaranteed a tiny bit of weight loss everyday. Everyone is a little different, so give yourself a little time to get it figured out for your own body.

Ultimately, you'll have to tweak ratios to fit your own body chemistry (no two people are the same, unfortunately), but I have had the best luck on around 50% fat, 20-30% carb, 20-30% protein. Might sound counterintuitive, but I try to minimize carbs instead of fat. Reasoning is that at least for me, eating fat serves as kind of a fuse to light up all the fat that's sitting around my body. Carbs just interfere with that process.

The reason for the variation above is that it's hard to peg down exact ratios without getting monotonous with food choices.

Good luck!

-Nik

I can add to that, attesting to the differences! I experimented with different ways and feel best on 55% carbs, 25-30% protein, and 15-20% fat. I feel best with that and it's also been successful to getting me to my goal. Your body is so individualized that it will take some trial and error. The FitDay logs will help keep track of the proportions on any given day; you might want to jot down how you feel physically and try to match it up to see if there are any patterns.

BRILLIANT! People often forget/ignore the psychological component to all of this. Keeping a log/journal/diary/whatever you call it of how you feel after eating certain foods, how you feel when you eat a certain way, even how you feel after exercising a certain way and summarizing it all at the end of the week can help you figure out exactly what works for you in terms of both diet and exercise. Great tip!

-Nik

Thx, Nik...I'm a psychologist, so that's what I always look for first ;). In addition to what you said, how and what we eat are so often tied to emotions...even celebrations and mourning revolve around food to a degree. Figuring out that cycle is the first step in making healthy changes both in eating and in coping!

First of all, thanks for the variety of responses. It's nice to know I'm not nailed down to a number from some chart somewhere :)

Second, thank you for some targets to aim for. In looking over the last couple of days, I can see already that I'm over carbing and under protein-ing. By a lot I think. So I at least know where my focus needs to be.

Very very true. I'm an emotional eater--frustration is my downfall! Allergies, winter, you name it! It affects what and how much I eat. :(

I know that with an hour of hard walking 5 days a week, I am going to see some changes fairly soon, if I can control my food.

Hey Montana! That walking will certainly do you good. As a matter of fact, for some folks (me included), exercising when I'm frustrated or cranky or down takes away the urge to eat and puts me in a better mood. Know your triggers, avoid them if you can, and if you can't, have another plan in place to help you deal with them.

Also, once you start to see some changes, your motivation to control your food should increase. Keep in mind that it takes several weeks to form a habit; it won't always feel this hard :).

Actually for myself, I've decided that a lifetime spent over-carbing and under protein-ing was the main cause of my obesity. Now that I have a really good handle on it, I've actually found that I'm not an emotional eater at all. My real eating problem is that I'm a carboholic, with a protein avoidance issue.

Thanks. What is it they say? It takes 6 weeks to break a habit, I hope it's 6 weeks to MAKE a habit. When my husband told me how impressed he was by my getting up at 5 a.m. to walk, I told him to be impressed 6 months from now when I'm still doing it! :cool:

Wow, some great tips!!! i am also a carboholic! looking at my food log shows i'm really over in carbs and under in protein. seems whatever you eat has carb and so much of it too, and for protein, i just don't like so much of red meat and get bored with chicken and not a fan of fish at all. :(
i'm in the lookout to find some very low carb foods that i can take with the ease of mind, eggs seems to be a very good choice, and thanks to Nik i've got a list of low carb fruit and vegetables. does anyone has a source for low carb food items? if you do, could you please post the link?
i want so much to make my weight loss story, also a success story and i need your help. :D

my goodness, i checked again, seems my fat intake has been around 25-40%?????? i never noticed this before, and my protein intake? only 15 %!!!!
i guess i'm lost! wont lose weight until i get my ratio right! :eek:

All I know is that I was appalled to see how many carbs are in beans of all things. I used to think that all vegetarians needed to do to get their protein was to eat a lot of beans. :rolleyes: Not so much

They are making more and more bread items that are lower in carbs. Flatouts are a great wrap--we bought the multigrain ones--and the sprouted wheat and flax bread is good. But I've pretty much gone from 2 pieces of toast (when I eat toast) to one piece, no matter what kind of bread I'm eating.

A lot of the low fat foods have increased carbs (usually sugar) to make them taste better. Check the difference in nonfat sour cream versus low fat versus whole fat sour creams. :eek:

I can't stand fake sweeteners, so try to use tiny amounts of real sugar or honey or other types of sugar. And go with no sugar if possible.

And the difference in complex carbs like whole fruits, whole grains etc. versus simple carbs like white flour, peel-less potatoes and white sugar is also something I try to consider. If my carbs are high, I try to have them high because I was eating whole food.

I'm sorry you don't like fish, because I was astounded to see that a whole can of water packed tuna had 0grams of carbs and was LOADED with low-fat protein. That was the only day so far that my proteins were HIGHER in percentage than my carbs.

ETA: I am also considering trying to find a protein powder that I can add into my morning pre-workout smoothie that isn't loaded with carbs for flavor. Just to boost my protein.

Thank You for your response Chris.

if only for low carb and hight protein, i have to like fish. i'll give it another try and see what happens. also, next visit to grocery store, i'll look for low calerie, low carb options. i'm starting to make a list of all this information that i have gathered, and plan to print it and carry it around with me, to remember and stick with the plan.
for so long i have been frustrated about my weight and have tried so many different things, but have seen no result. i am hoping limiting the carb intake and getting more protein will be the answer to my problem.

Thank You again and good luck to you (and to all of us):)

Hi Farar...I definitely support you trying fish, but my perception is that if you just flat out don't like something, don't force it; that won't be a "lifestyle" you can live with and you will fall off the wagon eventually. Do you like less "fishy" fish, like shrimp or crab?

You also may want to Google "glycemic index" to find foods that have lower impact on your body's sugar levels, rather than only looking for "low carb" things. Everyone has their own optimal ratio of protein/fat/carbs, and what works for others may not work for you, so plan on doing a little bit of experimenting and listen to what your body is telling you.

What are your ratios now? There really isn't an absolute "right" and "wrong," but once you hit the one that is optimal for your body, you'll know it!!

I just wanted to point out that, although beans are higher carb, they're also higher fiber, which helps level out the blood sugar. The benefits of beans usually far outweigh the high carb content.

Yes, beans are good, they are after all the "musical fruit". LOL. We eat beans around here 1-2 times a week, and they never seem to slow me down the way white flour carbs do.

Hi Cassie,

thanks for the info. i do like shrimp and crab meat a lot more than fish, i don't mind canned Tuna either, but just don't like to touch or prepare uncooked fish.:o
my ratio was carb/fat/protein 55/30/15, but with the new changes it is 50/25/25. i still think i might do better with lower carb and fat, but have to try the and see.
i admire that you know how to listen to your body, i don't know how to, and i guess it's the reason it's really messed up. i have hypothyroid and low iron and low b12, and border line cholestrol. :eek:
i definatly search for glycemic index on the internet, see what i can find. i have to also find out how my body will react to beans, i do like beans. hopefuly they like me too.:)

Good luck! It is definitely a learning process and trial and error. With logging everything, it makes it easier to see what eating patterns make you feel good and what makes you feel not so good.

I have incorporated Greek yogurt as a protein source, too, trying to get up to 30% or close to it. For one container, there are anywhere from 12-16 grams of protein. I also eat Special K Protein for breakfast (10 g); I know it is "processed," but the grains are good and the protein helps. Between that, lowfat cheese, almonds, lean meats, fish once or twice a week, and a splurge on good quality turkey lunchmeat, those are my main protein sources. It's hard to get it up there when you're not used to it. Have fun experimenting with things!

MontanaCricket:
If you are looking for a good Whey Protein you might consider the one I use. I get it at Wal-mart. It is Body Fortress-Super Advanced-Vanilla. Each scoop is 135 cal. 2.0g fat, only 3.0g Carbs and 26g Protein. I add 2 scoop to 1-1/2 cups milk. I really like the flavor. I also add strawberries or banana for variety.

and i was thinking i don't like protein so much because it means fish and beef and chicken!!!! i love the protein sources you mentioned Cassie, now, thinking of protein does not make me sick, thanks to you Cassie. :D
and Chris, i know a good protein powder that has no carbs in it, it's by gold standard and is 100% egg white but i have the vanila custard flaour and it tastes deliciuos!!!! i love the smoothies i make with it! give it a try and see how you like it. i think they have it in chocolate flavour as well!;)

i have found a great tasting protein powder called Protein Complete 40. the chocolate tastes like chocolate cake batter. it has 40 grams of protein per serving and only 203 calories.

Thanks all for the protein powder advice. I ended up at GNC (yeah I know, over priced) and found some "tasteless" powder called "any whey". It has 70 calories, 17 grams of protein and 1 gram of carbs per serving.

Yeah, it was, shall we say "interesting"? I added it to my morning smoothie of plain low fat yogurt, fresh strawberries and soy milk and I think I'll cut it in 1/2 tomorrow cause I thought I was going to throw up I felt so overly full afterward.

It's not bad, just not, well, yummy.

I can't do "sweet" first thing in the morning at all, makes me sick! So that's why I was looking for flavorless. My unsweetened shake is plenty sweet!

wish i had that attitude towards sweet, i could have sweets anytime of the day!
but i noticed someting interesting yesterday, i tried some sweets and it made me feel sick, i thought something was wrong with that, but hopefully my tastebuds are trying to be nicer to me and help me lose weight?:D

@farah,

That's a good sign! It means your body is adapting to needing less carbs. Hopefully this will be followed by a reduction in appetite so you won't feel a need to be eating all the time (a big problem for me when I followed a high-carb, low-fat diet).

-Nik

hi Nik,
the funny thing is, on fitday, i'm eating a lot more than i used to. seems like i was starving myself, the first few days, my calorie count was on average about 700, max 900 and about 85% of it from carbs:eek:. and i felt so weak and tired, and funny enough i didn't even know the reason:o
but i found out i should eat more so my metabolism starts working and i have tried to cut down on carb and have more protein. i just hope i don't gain more weight in the meantime my body's adjusting. :)

NICE!!!!!! for the first time my Carb/fat/pro looks good, it is 47/16/37! :cool:

Good luck Montana, I have been on and off every diet known to man . Eat this not that... Now I am also trying to look at nutrition and ratio's, I just started with fitday, and am very surprised at my fat intake , I feel like I will learn alot from the nutritional breakdown charts . Strength in knowledge right?
I am trying to loose the mind set of dieting. I want to eat for health and of course enjoyment. I have come to conclusion that I am over weight because food is my crutch(drug of choice). So what am I using food to hide from? Thats my journey.
I started out need to loose 106 pounds, a little more would be ok to. That is magic number to get to a considered healthy BMI. I am down 20 pounds, but it has been a long journy to get here. Two years been down a liitle more back up to starting weight, as I have said tried several things looking for a quick fix.They dont exist so now trying to face my feelings, and start new healthy habits with exercising and eating well.
I will think of you on your walks as I go to the gym . Keep on stepping and next year at this time think how great we will feel.

Just for fun, try this online metabolic type test to see what they recommend for ratios.

Metabolic Typing: Self Test from Natural Health Yellow Pages