Percentage of Carbs/Proteins/Fats??

I've been trying to follow a 40% protein/40% Carbs/20% Fat (or less) eating breakdown every day. But, I wanted to get everyone's opinion about this. I know the goal is less fat. However, how important is the split of protein and carbs macro breakdown?

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I don't know whether the breakdown is especially important but would have thought that someone consuming 40% of their daily calories in the form of protein could find they're not getting enough in the way of wholegrains, fruit, starchy vegetables and other fibrous foods.   It's a question of balance.  The usual breakdown is more like 20-25% protein, 50-60% carbohydrate and 25-30% fat.   Which is how a traditional meal is usually comprised and is therefore reasonably easy to work with.  I don't think the goal really is 'less fat' incidentally.  Very low fat diets aren't especially healthy.  The body can only get certain nutrients from fat and can't create them itself.

How did you hit on that particular diet?

I was on a body building website and that's seems to be a lot of the talk surrounding macros when trying to preserve muscle and lose fat...Here's a typcial day for me @ 1600-1650 cals. It try to get most of my fats from nuts. But, this is the most balanced I've ever eatened. :-)

Meal 1: Cottage Cheese (130 grams)

Meal 2: Oatmeal; tsp of honey; 2 egg whites

Meal 3: 2 tbsp of Natural Peanut Butter and 4 crackers; apple

Meal 4: Tuna (140 grams); black beans (65 grams); cantaloupe

Meal 5: Cottage cheese and 15 grams of raisins

Meal 6: Steak (150 grams); 1 cup of broccoli; 200 grams of watermelon (snack)

Body-building is a very specific game.    The phrase I would suggest is this.... 'don't do anything to lose weight that you can't see yourself happily doing for the rest of your life'.   Being brutally honest, your menu looks functional but pretty cheerless/tasteless.  Now if you can hand-on-heart tell me that you'd be happy eating egg whites, cottage cheese and watermelon for the rest of your life I'd say 'go with it'... but I'd suggest that you're going to need a lot more variety if you're going to get the right nutrition, prevent boredom and make it work in real life i.e. not be the one at the restaurant that can't find anything on the menu to eat :-)

Actually, the FDA guidelines for protein to carb ratios has been revised, and the new guidelines are very close to what you have laid out. 40% protein is not excessive and is in fact very healthy and very doable. You can boost the carbs and bring the protein down a bit, but you should realize that you might not intake enough protein that way to build muscle. If you're goal is to build muscle and/or lose weight, then it's best to take in at least 1gram of protein per pound of body weight and keep fat intake below 30% of total calories. If you're into marathon running and endurance sports, then your carb intake needs to be higher and you can bring your protein consumption down.

As far as maintaining a high protein diet goes, I do it myself and find that trying to get all your protein intake from things like cottage cheese and egg whites is not only BORING, it's next to impossible. I have at least 2 or 3 protein shakes or smoothies each day, and sometimes a tasty protein bar. I have a light breakfast of fruit and coffee, and a normal lunch and dinner with some sort of lean meat, vegetables and a starch such as rice or pasta. My calorie intake hovers between 1800 and 1900 and I take in about 200g of protein a day. And I've lost 8 pounds and gained muscle.

You are both right....this diet is a little bland..However, it does help me be able to KNOW what my macros are. I used to eat entirely too many carbs (60-70%). So, this breakdown is helping me be less carb dependent. I need them to fuel my workouts. But, I'm a bit carb sensitive and can't lose weight efficiently if they're too high.

I've been experimenting with other recipes, though and do have a weekly cheat meal/snack to give me a little treat. It's just so time consuming to plan new recipes. But, I'll eventually get there. :-) My protein averages 145-190 grams a day (38%-42%).  I can't even think about how to include any more as I absolutely loathe protein shakes. I tried a scoop in my oatmeal and it was terrible. So, I try to get my protein from natural foods. I'm going to shake it up every couple weeks with the food breakdown (30/50/20, etc.). But, this is helping me get through my hellish workout sessions....3 days/week of weight training and 4-6 days of cardio! As of today, I've lost 40 lbs since March 29th!!

Have you tried to use the exchange system at all?  It is by the ADA and began for diabetics, but anyone can benefit.

Instead of trying to figure out everything individually, you learn groups of foods.  For example, the "Lean Protein" exchange has for 1 ounce:  55 calories, 7 grams of protein, and a 1-3 grams of fat.  And you can pick anything off that list. 

So you could exchange your 5 ounces of steak for dinner for 5 ounces of grilled tuna steak, or 5 ounces of white chicken meat, 5 oz of diet cheese... anything on the list.

It gives you variety, but all the values are the same across the group.  So, its easier to figure out.