What is the most effective ratio of P/C/F? I've seen 40/40/20's and 35/45/20's and 30/50's/20's etc etc

I'm a little concerned because I am currently on 40/40/20 and thus, consume approximately 190g P/ 190g C/ 42 g F, but I weigh ~145 pounds (I heard somewhere you should have, daily, 1g of P for each pound you weigh.)

Anyone care to help a little noobie out?

I think you will find that there is no answer to your question, "what is the most effective ratio?"

The reason you see different ratios is that different people discovered that a different ratio works best for them. Some people use less protien for the exact reason you describe. I used 40.40.20, and it worked, but the others could have too maybe.

Too much protein could be bad as you don't use it all, but perhaps (at least in my case) consuming low fat protein sources filled me up and limited the number of tasty fatty carbs I used to eat.

It gets complicated to answer what is most effective in general. To answer the question, what is the most effective ratio for you, you unfortunately have to try them out yourself and see how it goes.

Perhaps someone in your weight range has a specific ratio that works and they can recommend it as a starting point. But if not, just go with one and try it out. Goodluck. And welcome to the forums.

There is nothing wrong with 'not using' protein. It is a great themogen and it is very difficult for your body to turn it into fat. At 155 I am cutting with 180-200g protein and 60-80g fat. Carbs depend on workout/non-workout and vary recently from 140-250g. I vary carbs much more than protein and fat.

I really hate the ratio method of computing macros as it is meaningless without telling us how many calories you are eating. Notice that to make the numbers meaningful you had to specify your weight and g of each macro - that is how you should think of the macros! Get enough protein with each meal, enough good fats, then add the rest depending on your activity level - more fat for less activity, more carbs for more acivity, untill you find the right ballance for you.

My macros have ranged recently from 36/25/39 (p/c/f) to 28/39/33 without changing the amount of protein and only changing the amount of fat by 15g!

EDIT: I realized the above is wrong, I got my f and p mixed up on the second number - should have been 33/39/28 p/c/f

Really? I try to hit only 20% fat daily. (50g)

Should I go a bit higher?

My numbers are in the range of 50:35:15 p:c:f. I started with 40:40:20 many moons ago, and it evolved into the ratio I use today through a combination of including foods I like and trying to keep carbs a bit lower since I am horrendously carb sensitive. Give it time, track your diet, make sure you analyze what you're eating periodically. Record everything with some organization to it (spreadsheets are great!) so you can tell what you were doing and when, this way when you stumble onto a ratio/diet that works best for you, you'll know it - the numbers will reflect the improvements in your strength, body fat, etc... and from there, you can duplicate the effort, and even improve on it.

There is no one magic ratio - we're all different. A good starting point is 40:40:20, but that's not gospel, it's just a starting point...

-R

Really? I try to hit only 20% fat daily. (50g)

Should I go a bit higher?

I used to be on a low-fat diet, until I realised it was killing my fat loss. I tried upping my fat intake and it just made the world of difference, both for fat loss and health.

I'm sure I could reduce my intake of saturated fats and not affect my diet/health (maybe improve it!), but I still do better with more saturated fat than carbs in terms of feeling full, total calorie control and maintaining an even energy during the day. I always used to think - fat=high calories=eat more calories during the day, but I find this is not the case. In fact my low calorie days are often my highest fat days.

50g of quality fat is definitely more than enough for your health. However, 90g is not harmful IF you include enough healthy fats. I usually end up with something like 30% saturated, 45% mono and 25% poly. Thes are approximate since I'm not anal about tracking exact amounts. I just make sure I get a decent amount of omega-3's (8-15g) each day and don't overdo the fattier red meats over the course of the week.

The ratios of fats are probably more important to your health than the actual amounts. 50g of fat with very lilttle omega-3 is going to be worse than 100g with decent proportions of sat/mono/poly/omega3 etc..

Ulimately you will have to figure out what works for you, but I wouldn't have a closed mind about what is best either way (lower or higher).

Don't forget to review 60%C/20%F/20%P. This one has many calling it the ideal cutting diet. It has too many carbs for my system but might fit into the plans of others. As you see, Macro levels run all over the scales. All have been justified by someone.

50p/30c/20f is good

50p/30c/20f is good
That's about mine too, carbs mostly PWO and PPWO.

50p/30c/20f is good

I'll 3rd that :)

50p/30c/20f is good

I use that for my cutting. It has worked like a charm sofar!
So I'll forth that :tu:

My macros for today are 30.19 f/29.86 c/37.88 p

Going to see how it works for two weeks. My saturated fat % of the total fat is 27%, which I just checked. I have no idea about the poly and mono.

As I write this post I finish eating my beef jerky (which gives me a whooping 7g saturated fat) :drool:

although I intended to do 40/40/20 it ended up being more like 50/30/20.

I guess I just like protein better than carbs.

My macros for today are 30.19 f/29.86 c/37.88 p



I just realized this doesn't add up to 100%. Close enough I guess but kind of defeats the object of 2 sig figs!