I am 5 feet 8.5 inches tall and cutting. I calculated the amount of calories for maintance is 2300.

This is the last couple days of my diet.. I am wondering what is the best allocation to carbs, protein, and fats.. I'll list what I ate during the day too if requested. Here is the breakdown.


Calories Eaten Today
grams cals %total
Total Calories: 1833
Fat: 30 271 16%
Sat: 3 31 2%
Poly: 4 36 2%
Mono: 4 36 2%
Carbs: 243 707 41%
Fiber: 67 0 0%
Protein: 185 739 43%
Alcohol: 0 0 0%

Calories Eaten Today
grams cals %total
Total Calories: 1746
Fat: 33 295 18%
Sat: 5 42 3%
Poly: 4 36 2%
Mono: 4 32 2%
Carbs: 258 755 46%
Fiber: 69 0 0%
Protein: 151 605 37%
Alcohol: 0 0 0%

Lots of people go by :
40% protein
30% carbs
30% fats

any reason?

Well it really depends on one's goals. Since you are cutting you want to have a higher protein lower carb diet to ensure you minimize muscle loss, and low carbs to help with fat loss.

I take it if one was doing alot of extreme cardio, hiit, workouts they would have a high carb moderate protein diet.

Just depends on your goals i suppose

fat intake is way too low...16%?? I'd up it to at least 25% if not 30%. cut carb intake to make room for fats.
protein seems fine.

basically when cutting, I find it most effective to restrict carbs (usually carb cycling) so you can limit the intake of 'readily available energy' and force the body to tap into stored fat.

yeah, I have tried carb cutting for a couple days... but I always just end up with too much protein... people on here say that more than 1g per pound of weight is too much.. what do you think of this malkore?

This is what my diet looked like yesterday while trying to restrict carbs.. keep in mind i'm 150 pounds.


grams cals %total
Total Calories: 2082
Fat: 98 879 44%
Sat: 13 121 6%
Poly: 15 138 7%
Mono: 21 193 10%
Carbs: 106 283 14%
Fiber: 35 0 0%
Protein: 207 828 42%

It's really hard to stay full on things like peanut butter which is so calorie dense for such a small amount of food. Same with almonds.. the fat was also made up of flax seed, fish oils, and 2 whole eggs.

Your protein intake isn't really THAT high. Thats 1.38 grams of protein for every lb

Most people advise not to go over 1.5 so it seems to me that your protein intake is fine.

By the way, What kind of foods are you eating to get that much protein, because i am the same weight and just curious to see how your getting that much.

chicken breasts, tuna, eggs, go lean cereal, steaks, fish, whey protein (on training days, and occasionally on non training days), high protein and low carb tortillas (8 g protein, 19g carbs with 14 g fiber, 80 calories), flax seed, almonds.

That's pretty much my main protein sources if i'm not forgetting anything.

I input all of my diet on fitday.com and it's really surprising how the protein all adds up. I always have protein in every meal too.

Oh. My definite sources of protein are Turkey slices ( 5gram a piece ), 1-2 cans of tuna ( 38 grams ), nuts, and some bread ( 4 grams ). I try to get as much chicken and fish as I can, but we dont make meat every single night ( though Im having fish tonight ). I think I need to buy some whey protein to get my protein easier. Don't have any egg whites either..

Oh I eat alot of kidney beans as well...7grams per 1/2 cup. so each can is like 14 grams

I hope this is appropriate to ask here (maybe it is posted somewhere), but what is your current body fat %? That affects your protein needs too (not just total weight)...

I just got it tested today, 9.0%

Given that you're at 9% body fat and cutting, I'd make sure to keep your protein level on the high side (at least 1 lb, if not closer to 1.5 per lb). Otherwise, I'd be more worried about muscle loss in the process. No need to go catabolic!

I didn't think of that.. but I remember people saying that during their cutting sessions they always have more protein than when their bulking..

comments anybody?

I don't think it's that people eat more protein when cutting, just that they cycle lower carbs. Your diet does look pretty good tho, especially if you can get some more healthy fats in there. I initially had trouble getting my fat intake up, but almonds and natural peanut butter are great for that. I have had some trouble keeping my carbs under 50% though. I'd love to get them down to around 30-40% with a good chunk of that being fiber. I notice someone mentioned kidney beans, i tried them once in chili and really liked them. How do people eat them for everyday use?