might be a dumb question but i am wondering...

[A H]

This might be my dumbest question yet but...
1)How do I figure out my Protein Carb and Fat percentages? I know it is recommended to follow the 40/ 30/ 30 plan but I just want to be sure that I am right. I know that these Macros are usually measured in grams so how do I figure out what percentage of my calories are going to each...

2) I am a pretty religious counter and I am hoping to use that to my advantage in the program but in the past I have been swayed in wrong directions by faulty labels (ex: the spray butter snafu that got me thinking I was maintaining on 700 calories a day....not my high point). Because of this I am a little leary in trusting the number of calories in foods and how I prepare them etc. I eat a lot of fish (Talapia) and vegetables ( brocolli, cauliflower, mushrooms etc) that I put in a pan with non- stick spray etc as well as whey protein, yogurt, apples etc. is there any reason why I should feel that I am misjudging my calories or things I should keep in mind. I would like to slowly increase my calories and protein but I am leary that i will unknowingly eat way more than my maintenance #s. any advice is great...Thanks again for the support

[realcdn]

1) How are you counting your calories now? To know your percentage of each, just divide by the total. For 2000 calories, you would want roughly 150g protein, 200g carbohydrates, and 66.6g fat. If you're using any kind of software it will usually give you percentages.

2) Non-stick spray also has calories. Some of them play around with unrealistic portion sizes to make them zero calories. I use a canola oil spray that adds 10 cals per second. However, I know some label a serving as 1/3 of a second so they can say there are zero calories in them. I'll use the spray sometimes to roast vegetables, but I'm very aware of counting the seconds. Watch out for any label that shows a very small portion with zero calories, or zero fat. Manufacturers play a lot with that to make them more appealing.

I use FitDay (but the purchased version) to track calories. They have a free online tracker. Calorieking is also (I believe) a free online tracker. It has more prepackaged foods in it if you're using them.

[DirtyMartini]

Have you ever used something like fitday.com or calorie-count.com? Those will calculate those for you.

Alternately, you can manually write down the macros (in grams) of everything you eat, total each macro up individually, then multiply each total in grams by the number of calories in each gram (fat = 9 kcals per gram, protein & carbs are 4 kcals per gram, etc - you can find this with a google search). Then, divide those totals by your total calories.

For example, if I ate 1800 calories today and 120g of protein, I would calc:
120g x 4kcal/g = 480kcal
480/1800 = .26666 or 27%

that's kind of a pain in the ass though.

[DirtyMartini]

Originally Posted by realcdn

To know your percentage of each, just divide by the total. For 2000 calories, you would want roughly 150g protein, 200g carbohydrates, and 66.6g fat.

Or, you could just do it this way.

[realcdn]

Originally Posted by DirtyMartini

Or, you could just do it this way.

Yes, but I forgot to add the calories per gram.

[missjane]

This thread should help:
Math problem - ratios and grams

[A H]

wow that is kinda tricky, maybe I'll try fit-day... thanks again!