Protein/Fat/Carb Balance

[jenh718]

I know the Whole 30 is not about counting and tracking everything but I find it helpful personally because I've had issues with portion sizes and just generally overeating. Tracking my food is helping me see how many calories and what kind of calories I'm putting in my body every day. It works for me.

That being said, because I'm using a mainstream calorie tracker (myfitnesspal.com) it's not giving me a clear idea of what protein/fat/carb balance should be. Can someone tell me what I should be aiming for. I have a tendency to have a vegetable and fruit heavy (fruit lesser though) diet because I get bored with meat and I want to make sure I'm not going overboard.

[Carie Skeahan]

The Nutrition Workshop Packet says to eat three meals a day. Base each meal around your protein source. All protein sources should be roughly the size of your open hand. Fill the rest of your plate with veggies. Occasionally add a small amount of fruit. Add fat as recommended below:

all oils - 1-2 thumb sized portions

all butters - 1-2 thumb sized portions

olives - one open heaping handful

coconut flakes - one open heaping handful

nuts and seeds - one closed handful

avocado - 1/2 - 1

coconut milk - between 1/4 and 1/2 of one 14oz can.

I am not sure if this is what you are looking for. I do not keep track of calories, but I hope this helps. Basically, get a plate, put some meat on it, fill the rest of your plate with veggies and add fat.

Also, if you are getting bored, take a look at this website/book. http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/wellfed/ There are plenty of resources on the web for Paleo eating...just make sure the recipes are W30 approved.

Again, I hope this helps.

[cysgr8]

Carrie, is that an open hand full of meat including The fingers? I thought it was a palm size... And should that fat recommendation be per meal? Maybe I'm not eating enough fat..

[Carie Skeahan]

Open hand not including fingers. hahaha...I didn't know how to explain it. Thank you for asking for clarification.

Yes, the fat recommendation is per meal.

[OldFarmer]

jenh, I use fitday for tracking. I'm past my first Whole30 and didn't start using fitday until I was running into some issues and used it as a troubleshooting tool.

What I discovered was I do best with calories at about 35% protein, 15% carb and the balance fats, and to keep losing weight I need to consistently keep calories around 1400 per day. I go lower and crave sugars, I go higher and weight loss stalls.

Maybe you need to find your own balance, though, by watching your moods/performance/etc. and recording along with your food intake. The nice thing about fitday is all the graphs and tables. It really helps me keep my head about the results. Combined with eating with a Whole 9 attitude, I feel freed from the emotional traps of dieting, and I can focus on a lot more than my weight changes.

[jenh718]

Thank you guys for your help. When you've mindlessly overeaten for so long, it's hard to trust your body to tell you when it's full. Tracking is helping me with that.

I am trying to lose weight while doing this, I'm 5'6" and 175 pounds. Though maybe less since I'm half way through my Whole 30. I've been sedentary my whole life so it's not like there's a lot of muscle in that 175 either.

Would anyone mind weighing in on my diet yesterday?

I took in 1,700 calories (I worked out so I got extra) and that was 90 grams of carbs, 110 grams of fat and 87 grams of protein. Does that sound right?

This is what I ate...

Breakfast

Smoothie with 1.5 cups strawberries, 1/2 can full fat coconut milk, 1.5 cups raw kale

After Workout

1 hard boiled egg, 1 cup strawberries (I had some that were about to rot to use up)

Lunch

Ground pork hash (1.5 cups) and 1/2 an avocado

Before I took a long walk, I had a snack of 1/2 a Larabar

Dinner

2 cups braised purple cabbage (in coconut milk and oil)

1.5 cups pork hash

Does that seem like a good balance?

[cysgr8]

To me it seems like youre not getting enough protein in the morning... 1 egg...? But im no expert...

[Robin Strathdee]

Jenh -

It seems to me that, while your calorie number looks ok, you're not getting a lot of bang for your buck. Personally, I want to feel like I've got a lot of food on my plate and that means a good size serving of protein and tons of veggies, with some happy fat as a dressing so to speak. My suggestion would be to up your protein in the morning and make sure you focus on veggies (especially the green ones) at every meal.

[SummerGirl]

The Nutrition Workshop Packet says to eat three meals a day. Base each meal around your protein source. All protein sources should be roughly the size of your open hand. Fill the rest of your plate with veggies. Occasionally add a small amount of fruit. Add fat as recommended below:

all oils - 1-2 thumb sized portions

all butters - 1-2 thumb sized portions

olives - one open heaping handful

coconut flakes - one open heaping handful

nuts and seeds - one closed handful

avocado - 1/2 - 1

coconut milk - between 1/4 and 1/2 of one 14oz can.

Wow this is an eye-opener for me. I'm not having half enough fat! I didn't realise the good fats portion per meal should be so big. Must up it and see how I go.

[Shawnamarie10]

Hello!

I am on day 6 of my whole 30 and am feeling pretty good overall, with the exception of yesterday (I had terrible sluggishness, almost a hangover feeling!).

I am wondering about fat intake. I have been using coconut oil, bacon grease (uncured, no nitrates) and evoo while cooking, but is that alone sufficient as a fat source? Or should I also have a solid fat source, like an avocado or something with my meal? I made a crockpot meal yesterday and didn't necessarily have a fat source, save the veggies as a side cooked in coconut oil. I have definitely been eating nuts and avocados, but haven't been as mindful about always having a fat source because I have been cooking with fatty oils.

Thanks!

[Robin Strathdee]

Hi Shawna!

You might try adding some avocado in with your meals, or adding a little extra fat to dress your food. What really kill my energy level, though, is not getting enough carbohydrate. I'm not sure about your activity level, but I work out (CrossFit) 3 or 4 times a week and spend my days chasing two preschoolers through their summer vacation. I find that if I don't take in enough carbohydrate during the day my workouts and mood suffer and I feel like a slug trying to run a marathon. I would experiment with adding a little extra starchy veg to your plan and see how you feel.

[Carie Skeahan]

^{IMO it depends on a couple of things: 1) How hungry you are and 2) The fat content of your protein source.}

^{If you are making a fatty piece of meat (burgers or a fatty steak), plus roasting carrots in coconut oil, you probably would not need to add an additional fat source. If you are making chicken breast (less fatty) with sautéed brussel sprouts in bacon grease, you could go either way. That is where your hunger comes in - if you are hungry and the chicken and brussel sprouts are not satisfying your hunger, go ahead and add an additional fat source.}

^{Generally, I do add fat to my meals on top of cooking oil and/or a fatty piece of meat, but not necessarily in large amounts.}

^{I hope this makes sense, it really just depends on the context of your meal/day.}

[Shawnamarie10]

Okay, definitely helpful and makes sense! Thank you both!

[sweetpotato]

AHHHH this thread is so helpful!! I knew I wasn't eating enough fat. Now to just figure out where to get the extra from.

[karacooks]

One thing to keep in mind is that everyone is highly individual, but overall some guidelines tend to be standard and show good results. A good rule of thumb is to get 1g of protein per pound of lean body weight (not total body weight) and .4g of fat per pound of overall bodyweight and then let carbs fall where they will.

So for example, someone who is 175 and 30% bodyfat (estimated) will eat about 122g of protein (175*70%) and about 70g of fat (175*.4) at a minimum. The rest can be made up of carbs (on Whole30 I'm assuming that would be all fruit and veg and sweet potato carbs), or you can eat more of the protein and fats.

If you're going to track (I plan to), that would be a good starting point, anyway.

[Vicks]

What a great thread. I've been wondering the same thing. I'm tracking on fitday and today I had a way too much fruit, but I don't always. Today came out to 61 g fat, 91 g carb, and 91 g protein.. I'm thinking now I should save the fruit/sweet potato carbs for workout days (or just eat less overall) and get most of my daily carbs from veggies without worrying too much about getting enough unless i feel a drop in energy..

[Robin Strathdee]

Hi ladies!

I just wanted to pop in here (again) and mention that we recommend against weighing, tracking or measuring your food. One of the purposes of the program is to learn to eat Good Food when you are hungry, eat until you're satisfied, and break the reliance on numbers to tell us what we do and don't need. There is plenty of learning and experimentation you can do without plugging all your numbers into a spreadsheet. Plus, we don't believe that consistently (even obsessively) tracking numbers helps you build a healthy psychological relationship with your food.

If your end-goal includes weight loss, that's fine. You will probably see some at the end of the program. But this is not a weight loss plan to be tweaked and tailored for maximum fat loss/muscle gain/whatever. If you continue with the same eating plan after your 30 then - by all means - tailor away. But for now, while you're doing the Whole30, please focus on building a healthier relationship with food and increasing your awareness of how it affects your body.

(I know this sounds a little preachy, and I'm sorry that I'm not sorry, but I've seen too many folks miss the point of the program completely because they were focused on an end goal like weight loss and not on changing their Food Life.)

[Vicks]

Ah! Totally understand. I have had problems with bingeing in the past so I figured I'd keep track, but, when I'm eating this way, I find it almost impossible to overeat anyway (silly me). I guess I just wanted to make sure I wasn't messing up by eating too much or little of one thing. I'm not doing this for weight loss, I'm just wanting to feel better in general energy-wise. You're not preachy at all, that's how eating should be! I'm really grateful that there the whole9 team is made up of smart people like you to remind us not to sweat the small stuff and worry about what really matters- eating real food and how it makes us feel.

[MicheleC]

I have been journalling my food on the forum. Not specific amounts just general what I am eating. Is that bad to do?

[Carie Skeahan]

Michele - that is perfect. Log what you are eating here, in the Forum, for the purpose of increasing your awareness of how it affects your body, noticing trends, accountability and getting feedback. What Robin is talking about above is totally different.