Based on Marcus's post, I came up with a ratio of 51:29:20, carbs:protein:fat. I'm starting out trying to eat 2400 calories a day (2700 would be best, but I'm still scared of gaining weight with that much, I'll increase it once I see its safe) spread out through 6 meals. So I figured if each meal is going to be 400 calories, I would need about 51g of carbs, 29g of protein, 9g of fat in each meal. To get started I wanted to make a meal using those figures out of my favorite food, Ground Turkey and Veggie Mix.

Nutritional facts for the veggies are:

80g serving
Fat 0g
Carbs 10g
Protein 3g

and for the turkey meat:

4oz serving
Fat 10g
Saturated Fat 3g
Carbs 0g
Protein 21g

So I thought, "ok, simple enough I'll have 5 servings of veggies, and 5oz of meat, that would give me about 50g of carbs and about 31 grams of protein, and 12.5g of fat" I didnt worry too muich about the extra fat, figured I would just make other meals less fatty.

Then the problem hit me, "wait a minute, the veggies have 3g of protein per serving." So I would get 15g more protein from the veggies, making my meal 50g carbs, 46g protein and 12.5g of fat, throwing my ratio WAY off.

My question is, do I count the protein in the veggies too or just the protein coming from the meat. I got even more confused when I tried to throw in milk into the mix. If anyone can give me any help or tips that would be great. :tu: Then I can be on my way to :eat: right and making my :db: beneficial.

To make things easier, I'd stop worrying about getting those number to line up for every meal. Just try to get the numbers to add up in your totals for the day. If they're off by a bit, no big deal. They're just a guide, if you don't hit them exactly, it won't significantly effect your diet for the day.

Getting them to add up in a day makes things a lot easier. Still wondering though, if I count all protein, no matter if it comes from meat or veggies? I'm especially curious about simple and complex carbs, do I count them all towards my total? I was kind of dissapointed to find out milk has simple carbs :( and I dont want to drop milk from my diet.

Getting them to add up in a day makes things a lot easier. Still wondering though, if I count all protein, no matter if it comes from meat or veggies? I'm especially curious about simple and complex carbs, do I count them all towards my total? I was kind of dissapointed to find out milk has simple carbs :( and I dont want to drop milk from my diet.
Yes, all protein counts, even if it comes from a Snickers bar.

As far as carbs, all carbs count the same towards your totals. They're all 4 calories apiece. The difference is that simple carbs (high glycemic index) absorb very quickly and are dense. Complex carbs (low glycemic index) are typically higher in fiber, absorb slowly and are not dense.

For example, compare the portion size of 40 carbs of broccoli vs. 40 carbs of table sugar. The portion size of table sugar will be tiny compared to the portion size of broccoli, because the simple carbs in the sugar are much denser than the complex carbs in the broccoli. In general, the lower glycemic index the carb, the slower it will be absorbed (good) and the more full it will make you feel (also good).

In the end, though, carbs all count the same in your totals, regardless of where they come from.

Thanks for that clarification, I think I have a much better understanding on this now.

Did you really have to use a snickers bar as an example, I think thats kinda brutal in these forums :d_frown: , those are my favorite, and now I'm craving it :drool: