Macronutrient ratio for weight loss?

[springlakecake]

I am 38 year old female and I'd like to lose 20-30 pounds.  What is a suggested macronutrient ratio?  

[skuggi]

Here are a couple links I found:

An article comparing different ratios: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=diets-protein-carbohydrates-fat-fiber

A calculator: http://macronutrientcalculator.com

[Dominique]

Rather than focusing on your macronutrient ratio, you may want to pay attention to what you are eating: get your carbs from veggies and non-processed food rather than grains and processed food, replace bad fats with good fats, replace sugary drinks with plain water etc. You probably also want to increase your proteins in order to be able to exercise more.

[springlakecake]

Sure, that makes sense, thanks!  I was just wondering about how much percentage should come from protein, fat and carbs.  

[Dominique]

I think it doesn't really matter: weight loss is mainly a question eating less than what you burn. You can achieve this with a high-carb/low-fat diet, or a low-carb/high-fat diet, as long as the calories are the same.

[Inga]

Your macros depend on your diet plan:

If you are doing a "zone" type plan your macros will be 40%carb, 30% fat, 30% protein. 

Low carb plans will vary as to how much carb they allow and whether they have an "induction phase" in the beginning. Average is 60%F/30%P/10%C.

The plan I have reached my goal weight with and feel great with is 801010, that is 80%C, 10%P, 10%F. 

[springlakecake]

Sounds good, thanks 🙂  Looks like I am getting about 40% carbs 30% fat and 30% protein. 

[Ukase]

Here's something to consider:

Suppose you've found the perfect macronutrient ratio. In my case, I'd love 50% protein, 30% fat, 20% carbs. So...now what? I go through the foods I eat, and go through the drudgery of entering the macro-nutrient data. And, the ratio is way off. I take some things out - but, then the calorie count is off and the meal doesn't taste right.

It seems to me to be a tremendous amount of work (to keep that ratio or approximately close over time)  and I can't honestly say it does anyone any good to go through all that math when all they need to do is try to cover the basics. Eat veggies, no matter how disgusting they are. Eat some fruits, but not too many because of the sugars. Eat proteins. Have some carbs - but not too many. Have some fats, but try to make them the "healthy" ones. And, while you're eating all that stuff, burn more calories than you consume.

[Inga]

Personally, I'd never allow protein to reach 50%, but actually doing it is pretty simple. If you put in what you eat from day to day (your default diet) your ratios probably stay pretty stable, most people's do. So changing them is just about making some substitutions to tweak them the direction you prefer and then re-stabilizing at those ratios. 

[LCHFmom]

I would say it depends on how "fast" you want to lose...  And how does your body handle carbs and proteins.  

I am on 70%  fat / 20% protein / 10% carb and I do not limit calories.  I would look to see what you typically ate in the past, calculate those percentages - and make modifications to that. 

[springlakecake]

Thanks for the input. I was never actually entering in all the information or trying to over complicate things.  have been logging in my foods (on this site). Every day it gives you a percentage for each fat, carbs, protein.  I just thought if I were "off" I could tweak my diet.  

[Inga]

yup, what mom said!