Hi, I’ve got Type 2 diabetes and an underactive thyroid, high blood pressure and I weigh far too much – I probably have 5 stone to lose. I’ve just read the Fast 800 and I’m plowing through the Blood Sugar Diet recipe book and I’m planning on starting the Fast 800/BSD using TRE 12:12 to start off with. I’m planning on starting next week. Despite reading both books, recipes carefully etc, I can’t find the ‘perfect’ or correct ratio of nutrition – all I basically need to know is what is the proper ratio of carbs per day (e.g., grams), protein per day (grams) and fats per day (grams). I’m trying to change my daily goals accordingly on My Fitness Pal (which doesn’t let you eat less than 1000 calories per day) and I’m struggling – can any one help me please? Thank you very much!!

Tess

Hi Tess,

Many of us who had a lot to loose and were used to eating a high carb diet started out by simply dropping the “big” sources. – Bread, pasta, rice, pizza, sugar, flour. etc. Got used to that change for a couple of weeks while using an app to monitor where that left our macros and then tweeked them down.
I agree with you that its a pain that the book doesn’t give explicit macros, but it also doesn’t cover what to do if you have a lot of weight to loose regarding repeated cycles. As you probably know, the old cal in / cal out theory of weight loss has been discredited for long term because after a while of low cal with carbs your body will reduce your metabolic rate.

If you want to be sure you are in fat burning mode (ketosis) so you are not going to cause your body to reduce metabolic rate then you need to be under 20g of carbs a day. Some people do continue to loose weight when under 50g of carbs but for people who have been eating high carbs for a long time and have become insulin resistant 50g may not be low enough to prevent a reduction in metabolic rate if you are following this Way of Eating (WoE) for some time.

The rule of thumb on protein is 0.6g to 0.8g of TARGET weight.

With the rest of your calories coming from healthy fat.

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I use the fatsecret app. It doesn’t try to force you to eat a given number of calories.

HI Tess, I found this earlier post by LindaA really helpful. It rehearses how many calories to grams of fat, protein and carbs, and helps underpin the calculations.
Our sensitivity to carbs is individual, so you may need to experiment.
But the general rule of thumb is not to go above 50g carbs if you want to get into fat-burning mode. As JGwen, says, some need to go as low as 20g. Why not start at 50g and see how the weight loss goes, if your GP/diabetic nurse is happy with that?

Here is the earlier post – https://thebloodsugardiet.com/forums/topic/20th-feb-starters/page/4/#post-58403

Thank you so much for your help JGwen and caronl, this is really useful. It’s a shame its not more explicit in the books, but I really can’t afford to pay the £99 to join the Fast 800 programme online. I’ll aim for between 20-50g and see how it goes. I already can’t eat gluten or lactose, and I’m also trying following a low FODMAP diet because I have severe functional bowel disease, so I’m well on the way with having stopped lots of stuff already (though have been eating gluten free versions of bread, pasta etc – which are probably at least as carb-loaded as wheat). I’m approaching the idea of beans and legumes with some trepidation… and have also just managed to completely drench myself in tuna water whilst opening the tin for my lunch – wish me luck, I’m currently a walking tuna-drenched disaster zone!!

Caron, you are an angel for locating this old post. Thank you! I’ve always use LindaA’s method to establish
a winning formula for my macros, but have long since forgotten the underpinning, as you say. We answer
this question almost daily, so I’m writing this link down immediately! 🙂

Hi,
I would just highlight one point from LindaA’s post. Sorry to be pedantic but I feel its important. LindaA made the point that she has used one of the expensive breathalysers to ensure that she is in ketosis at the level of carbs she has chosen. I think its essential to not just rely on the assumption that if you are loosing weight, you will have your carbs low enough. That may not be the case.

If you are doing multiple rounds you do need to either play safe by being under 20g carbs, or using some method of testing if you are in ketosis so you can tailor your carb intake to how much your body can cope with and stay in ketosis. It doesn’t have to be the expensive breathalyser. The cheap breathalysers from ebay / amazon the AT6000 does the same job for around £10.

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The other point I would make is that the 1g level of protein per kg of ideal weight is the figure for a man, its lower for a women. But the general principle of the number of calories for each g of protein works out the same.

You’re never pedantic, JGwen 🙂 I understand the distinction between male and female, but it’s a good point to
reiterate. When I first began research in this area, the range of protein that I most frequently came across was .5 – 1.5g
of protein of every kg of ideal body weight. Gender nonspecific. I ran my numbers for 137lb 5’7″ person. I used the
middle value, 1, to figure what the maximum amt of protein might be. I believe it was 62g? I set my goal below this,
at 48-52g per day. In other words, I’ve never eaten up to the 1g level, and I still don’t. I haven’t loss any muscle mass
at 50g a day, and my hair hasn’t thinned either. I’ll be more precise when I answer this question in the future! We
are always in agreement that excess protein is an impediment to weight loss. Thank you, my friend 🙂 🙂 🙂

Hi ladies so I don’t get all the maths of x times y gives you, maths is really not my strong suit sorry. So when I put my meals into MFP I should be aiming for no more than 60g as I am sure you have told me before, but what I would like to try and do is work it out for me. So I am 5’4” and I want to be 85-86kg how do I work this out please. Thank you and sorry if I am being cheeky or just plain ignorant. Thanks birdy.

Questions are always welcome here, birdy!

First decide on the multiplier. That is, are you aiming for 1g per kg ideal body weight, or 0.5g?

Now, the ideal body weight is a wide range. For instance, a tall woman of 181cm with medium build, moderate activity has a range of 60-82kg. I’d never want to be 60kg, but 70kg would be 12-14 I think. I’m at the healthy range after 2 and a half months, and still happy to continue reducing.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator/

Fill in the calculator, decide where on the scale you prefer your ideal weight, then multiply by let’s say between 0.5 and 1 – 0.75.

If you have more questions, or if JGwen and allie have comments, I’m interested.

I love questions that come up on the forum Birdy, they either help remind me on important issues or give me a puzzle to solve.
I think that working out target weight is one of the problems that plague so many people on this forum.
I tend to keep quiet about my target weight because it has been a sore point for me most of my life. – I have the size of frame that I inherited from my father, I need male teeshirts because female ones are just too restrictive to move in and have often struggled to find nice dresses because they are just not made to be wide enough on the shoulders.
There is a problem with the BMI system that it doesn’t take into account different body shapes or fitness levels. I know that when I get down to a healthy composition I will still be in the overweight category on the BMI system. You also hear of elite athletes and rugby players who fall in the obese category.
I think the important point when it comes to calculating protein levels is not making the mistake of eating protein levels for your current weight, but to rather use a figure based around a healthy weight for your body shape.

JGwen I know what you mean as I too have inherited my fathers body type, but of course I have a females butt and hips(big and child bearing🤣) to go with it. My shoulders are broad and if I were a man I would have The best rugby legs! In fact a lot of men (including my O/H are jealous of my muscular thighs and calves! When I measured at the beginning of this WOE my calves measured 19” and they have not got any smaller, yet my thighs have🤣. My O/H said that they won’t as it is muscle! It is also why I will always find it difficult to buy knee high boots, much to my disgust as I would love a pair! Ah well maybe one day. I want to get to 13-13.5 stone, now I know I will look good and be around size 14-16 which would make me over the moon, but I also know that my BMI will still be in the overweight range! My O/H keeps telling me not to worry about that as it is not the be all or end all and that I will know I am healthy, BMI is just a small part of this.

Patricia I will try this calculation you have suggested but with this like the fat fast I don’t think my head will get around it🤣🤣. But thank you honey. 💞🦜

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