ratio of foods page

[ilovedogs]

I am currently eating around 15%carbs/65%fat/2% protein. this is the right amount according to chronometer, however I only had 2 small chicken thighs and was over my protein, does this sound right?

[StackingPlates]

No, it sounds like your PRO is considerably low (even more important when hypocalorically dieting, participating in any sort of resistance training, and/or low CHO intake).

It would help further if you posted your age/sex/weight and overall caloric needs/goals when asking questions like this though. Helps us to not speculate...

[ilovedogs]

I am 5' 6" weigh 74.2kg, female, sedentary, and I would like to get to a goal weight of 65kg ish. When I put this info into chronometer it gave me only 983cals per day and that didn't seem right either. Oh I also put the paleo diet in the database.

[Lewis]

I am currently eating around 15%carbs/65%fat/2% protein. this is the right amount according to chronometer, however I only had 2 small chicken thighs and was over my protein, does this sound right?

Have a look at Mark's Primal 101:

Primal Blueprint 101 | Mark's Daily Apple


I don't know who chronometer is, but I think you could reasonably eat more protein than that. Mark suggests 0.7 g for each pound of lean bodymass. (See the 101 linked above). You can calculate your lean body mass here:

Diet Calculator, Body Fat Calculator

For the average person that's probably going to work out to something like 8 to 12 ounces of meat a day (or the equivalent of some of that in eggs, cheese, nuts, etc.). IOW, two small pieces of chicken in a day isn't very much. You don't need to eat masses of high-protein foods, but you're probably best to have a reasonable serving of such a food with each meal.

[StackingPlates]

Wow, not sure what this "chronometer" is but it is severely off. A high level estimate for you would be in the 1500-1750kCal/day range but this could take some trial and error to dial it in since I don't know your current BF% or age.

A good rule of thumb when calculating macronutrient goals would be to dial in your PRO and FAT needs first.

When dieting, start with something more along the lines of:

PRO - ~0.6-1.0 grams per pound body weight (note this is in lbs not kgs)
FAT - ~0.4-0.7 grams per pound body weight

Make sure you also have micro-nutrient sufficiency fulfilled before proceeding. After that is complete then fill the rest of your daily energy intake goals with whatever you feel would contribute to your long-term success (whether that be CHOs, more FATs, or more PROs).

[ilovedogs]

The site was recommended for keeping track of micronutrients and so I went on it to see if I needed supplements.
So I should be eating around 165g of protien and 114g of fat?

[Lewis]

No, it sounds like your PRO is considerably low (even more important when hypocalorically dieting, participating in any sort of resistance training, and/or low CHO intake).

It would help further if you posted your age/sex/weight and overall caloric needs/goals when asking questions like this though. Helps us to not speculate...

Here you go -- here's a figure based on body mass (as opposed to lean body mass):

A position statement published by the ADA, DOC and ACSM recommends that endurance and strength-trained athletes have between 1.2 and 1.7 g/kg (0.5 - 0.8 grams per pound) of protein for the best performance and health.

How to Calculate Your Protein Needs

That's athletes but close enough ...

65 x 1.2 = 78

You probably want to make sure you're getting an average of around 78 g of protein a day. That's going to be around 8 or 10 ounces of meat.

Percentage-wise that would probably be around 20% of calories. (Or more as a percentage, if you're calorie-restricted.)

And, actually, this chronometer is probably misfunctioning -- because if you add 65 to 15 you get 20 not 2 over.

65 + 15 + 2 does not equal 100.

[ilovedogs]

And, actually, this chronometer is probably misfunctioning -- because if you add 65 to 15 you get 20 not 2 over.

65 + 15 + 2 does not equal 100.[/QUOTE]

Sorry I meant to say 20%

That is what I mean, it said I had gone over with just two chicken thighs.

[StackingPlates]

It is probably just going by the longstanding dietary PRO recommendations calculated by various nitrogen balance studies over the years. These are bare minimum PRO requirements meant to account for nitrogen turnover processes within the body (may be a somewhat flawed measurement anyway), but other factors I mentioned earlier can potentially require that you increase this ratio.

[ilovedogs]

I will stick to myfitness pal for the macros but how do I keep a track of micros?