Thursday, February 7, 2008

Carb:Protein ratios

I have just started back to training (as opposed to exercising irregularly for health) and have been ravenous. It always happens that my appetite picks up after a week or two of regularly training. However, with trying to get all of the protein that I need (I weigh about 55kg and need around 80g of protein/day, ie. 1.5x my weight) I find that I'm also eating a lot of carbohydrates. Do you guys have any ideas for getting more protein without all the extra carbs? I know that carbs are important... I just find that I gain a bit of unwanted fat when my appetite picks up like this and I think a lot of it is attributed to my increase of carbs. It probably doesn't help that it's cold here and my body is storing up to last the winter!

Also, I am going to buy some Vegan protein this weekend (I just checked on the VeganEssentials website and I can get it cheaper online than at the stores by my house... oh how I hate markups!). So that should help. Any other suggestions?

5 comments:

Matthew Ruscigno said...

Weight gain is due to an excess of calories, either from carbohydrates, protein or fat. It is a little more complicated than that, but it's true that if you overeat protein the excess calories will be stored as fat.
Check your hydration. Sometimes when we are dehydrated we confuse our sense of thirst for hunger. I use water to control over-eating, but currently am not controlling it very well.

Matthew Ruscigno said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Matthew Ruscigno said...

What do you think the CHO to PRO ratio is in these babies?

Crystal said...

Haha... those babies have a lot of things in them, but protein probably isn't one of them!

Jen said...

I think the key thing that helps me up my protein healthfully is to make sure that I make every bite count by eliminating any junk calories. Personally, I find that I have a hard time increasing my protein intake without increasing my fat intake. But in terms of balancing protein & carbs, I guess I'd try to not to waste any carb opportunities - use higher protein grains, like quinoa, brown rice, and oats, and avoid the low protein grains.

Just out of curiosity, what do people think is the ideal ratio of carbs to protein to fat? I've seen so much conflicting advice that I'm not sure what to strive for. I usually feel pretty comfortable with about 15-20 percent protein, 10-20 percent fat, and the rest carbs, but I know that seems like a low protein ratio to many people. Thoughts?