How many grams of fat, fiber, carbs?
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How many grams of fat, fiber, carbs?
| Mon, 06-18-2007 - 8:36am |
Hi All,
I'm starting a very strict 1200-1400 calorie diet for a month. I have 10-15 pounds to lose and am frustrated. Someone told me that perhaps I am not getting enough grams of fiber and protein, and too many grams of carbs (I do not intend to give up carbs). I'm 35 and my metabolism has slowed. Do any of you have some suggestions? I've only found suggestions of percentages, not actual grams.
Thanks so much in advance,
Robin

Hi Robin! Welcome to the board!
Generally plans will talk in percentages because they are taking into account different amounts of total calories. To figure out how many grams of the macronutrients (fat/carbs/protein) you need to do some calculations.
Each gram of carbs or protein is 4 calories. Each gram of fat is 9 calories.
So normally a low carb diet will have you around 40% of your calories coming from carbs. Then splitting the remaining calories between your protein and fat. (This is actually the exact numbers for a diet like the ZONE diet). This would mean that if you were taking in 1400 calories:
1400 * 40% = 560 calories from carbs.
560/4 = 140 grams (dividing by 4 since each gram is worth 4 calories)
1400 * 30% = 420 calories each from protein and fat
420/4 = 105 gram of protein (dividing by 4 since each gram is worth 4 calories)
420/9 =
Hi Robin.....good luck on your journey to health and fitness! (I'm so happy Miranda had that wonderful post posted. I'm not good at keeping up with those numbers at all.) Have you tried fitday.com yet? It's a great resource for seeing your numbers in black and white!
Oh yea....and welcome to the board :-)
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My 2 cents (I am not a dietitian, just speaking from experience and personal research)...
The correct percentages depend on you. I take a higher proportion of protein and less carbs, because I tend toward hypoglycemia and hunger. Other people may feel foggy if they don't get enough carbs, and people with blood choleserol issues need to carefully monitor their saturated/trans fats and cholesterol.
For me, 40/30/30 (C/P/F) is the ideal split my nutritionist gave me way back when; I've been hovering at a 30-something for each category lately, according to FitDay. I personally lost significant weight and felt really good when I was on Atkins; however, I eventually decided I was not comfortable with the heavy reliance on fats, especially meat.
Fiber helps you feel more satisfied, so I suspect that the more you get the easier it will be to stick with your plan. Grab a copy of The Zone if you are looking for a structured plan in the 1200-1400 range. The 40/30/30 split and roughly 1200 a day is exactly how that is structured. It relies on large quantities of veggies to keep you full.
Whole foods--fresh fruit, unprocessed veggies, whole grains--will help you stay satisfied on a smaller number of calories than will processed foods.
Hope that helps!
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