40/30/30

**Cinnabon** · 10-06-2004, 09:36 PM

My goal is to find a well balanced diet. I was advised of the 40/30/30. I thought all this time it was 40- prot, 30 carbs and 30 fat. Can someone shed some light on his subject. I work out thats why I "assumed" the higher protein, but its 40- carb, 30- prot, and 30 fats. The whole thing for this is to get my hormones going again because I had been starving my body... Please help.

**Jodi** · 10-06-2004, 09:38 PM

It should be 40% protein, not 30%. Who told you the protein was 30%?

**Lurker** · 10-06-2004, 09:41 PM

See and I always thought 40/40/20, then your carbs and protein are balanced and you have enough fat to keep you saited.

**milliman** · 10-06-2004, 09:54 PM

Originally Posted by Jodi

It should be 40% protein, not 30%. Who told you the protein was 30%?

The 40:30:30, better known as the Zone diet, is by Barry Sears. The 40 does refer to carbs. The numbers refer to the percentage of caloric intake from each group of stuff.
He did a whole bunch of studies on athletes and regular people and found that this helped to keep your Insulin and Glucagon hormones at good levels rather than shooting all over the place. Athletes performed very well, even professional athletes. I new some marathoners who swore off carb loading before a race to do this instead.

I did the EAS contest and used this with fantastic success. If you are trying to do body building, you will find it lower in protein than most bodybuilders would suggest for optimal muscle growth. So you need to decide what your long term goals are.

**milliman** · 10-06-2004, 09:59 PM

Sears later came back and said people got too hung up on being in a perfect ratio of 40:30:30. He said as long as you were near this ratio then it worked well keeping you in hormonal balance (as opposed to something like Atkins).

So 40:40:20, or 30:40:30 all will probably work just fine. He just was not talking about going to the extremes like 50:50:0. Although this works in the short run, it is not healthy in the long run.

**Jodi** · 10-06-2004, 10:03 PM

Living in a bodybuilders lifestyle, I rarely let my protein go below 40%. Zone diet is just that, a diet. Bodybuilding, IMO, is a lifestyle

**milliman** · 10-06-2004, 10:11 PM

Originally Posted by Jodi

Living in a bodybuilders lifestyle, I rarely let my protein go below 40%. Zone diet is just that, a diet. Bodybuilding, IMO, is a lifestyle

Yep, it is a lifestyle.

**tjwes** · 10-06-2004, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by Jodi

Living in a bodybuilders lifestyle, I rarely let my protein go below 40%. Zone diet is just that, a diet. Bodybuilding, IMO, is a lifestyle

Well said,as usual !!

**Cinnabon** · 10-07-2004, 06:36 AM

My main goal is that I was practically starving my body and Im looking for a better balanced diet and not to gain but to maybe even loose a bit. I can work with the 40/30/30 as long as the 40 is protein on a 1200 calories diet.

**Velvet** · 10-07-2004, 09:24 AM

Originally Posted by Cinnabon

My main goal is that I was practically starving my body and Im looking for a better balanced diet and not to gain but to maybe even loose a bit. I can work with the 40/30/30 as long as the 40 is protein on a 1200 calories diet.

What are your stats Cinnabon (bf%, height, weight)? 1200 cals seems a bit low

**milliman** · 10-07-2004, 11:34 AM

as a general rule of thumb for caloric intake, you could use the following:

10 calories per pound for losing weight
12 calories per pound for maintaining weight
15 calories per pound for gaining weight

This would be off of a normal body weight for a person your size.

**nikegurl** · 10-07-2004, 12:00 PM

..i think a lot of people would lose weight at 12 calories/pound of bodyweight. i can cut at that and i don't have a fast metabolism

**Vieope** · 10-07-2004, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by milliman

The 40:30:30, better known as the Zone diet, is by Barry Sears. The 40 does refer to carbs. The numbers refer to the percentage of caloric intake from each group of stuff.

What? Isn´t that the same.. come again?

**Jodi** · 10-07-2004, 12:21 PM

Originally Posted by milliman

as a general rule of thumb for caloric intake, you could use the following:

10 calories per pound for losing weight
12 calories per pound for maintaining weight
15 calories per pound for gaining weight

This would be off of a normal body weight for a person your size.

IMO this is off. I can cut at 13 cals per pound and maintain at 14-15, sometimes 16 cals per pound. 10 cals per pound is the very minimum one should cut at or you could risk your health.

**milliman** · 10-07-2004, 01:27 PM

This was a general rule of thumb for less active people trying to determine their caloric needs. For active people, these amounts would have to be increased based on their level of activity and overall muscularity. As we all know, muscles burn more than fat.

Jodi, you are in fantastic shape and do a lot of cardio, so you are a finely tuned calorie burning machine. The amount you eat would not work for most beginners.

My brother in laws were professional tennis players and if they ate anything less than 6,000 calories, they lost weight. If they ate that amount now, they would look like a whale on the beach.

**milliman** · 10-07-2004, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by Vieope

What? Isn´t that the same.. come again?

J was saying the 40 in 40:30:30 referred to calories from protein. I was saying the ratio's used referred to the zone diet, and under the zone diet, the 40 refers to your calories from carb intake.

**Jodi** · 10-07-2004, 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by milliman

This was a general rule of thumb for less active people trying to determine their caloric needs. For active people, these amounts would have to be increased based on their level of activity and overall muscularity. As we all know, muscles burn more than fat.

Jodi, you are in fantastic shape and do a lot of cardio, so you are a finely tuned calorie burning machine. The amount you eat would not work for most beginners.

My brother in laws were professional tennis players and if they ate anything less than 6,000 calories, they lost weight. If they ate that amount now, they would look like a whale on the beach.

If you knew me you wouldn't be saying that. I barely EVER do cardio.

I have a slow metabolism too, very slow.

I have success with most of my clients and the people I help on here with the caloric range I specified.

**Pirate!** · 10-07-2004, 02:58 PM

Originally Posted by milliman

as a general rule of thumb for caloric intake, you could use the following:

10 calories per pound for losing weight
12 calories per pound for maintaining weight
15 calories per pound for gaining weight

This would be off of a normal body weight for a person your size.

Not to but heads, but 10 kilocalories per pound of body weight a day is way low. Of course it varies per person, but the vast majority of people that exercise do not need to go this low to lose fat. I can cut great at 16, but I am a 28 year old man.

On the subject, 40/30/30 usully means 40% carbs. There is no reason to eat more protein than carbs. Your body will just break off the amino group and turn the protein into carbs. This is a very metabolically expensive path to get glucose. However, it may aid satiety. You were not wrong about your ratio, though.

**CowPimp** · 10-07-2004, 05:08 PM

Originally Posted by nikegurl

..i think a lot of people would lose weight at 12 calories/pound of bodyweight. i can cut at that and i don't have a fast metabolism

I agree. I was eating about 12 calories per pound and losing 2 pounds per week. I am not naturally thin. I am 19, so my metabolism is still high relative to the rest of the population, but it is probably naturally below average for someone my age.

**milliman** · 10-07-2004, 05:48 PM

Wa a a a, everybody is picking on me . . .

I was just trying to be helpful. The amounts I posted above were from the EAS guys and they worked well for me. (@ 41 years of age - contest age)

When I was 19, I would eat 2 foot long subs for lunch, have an afternoon snack and 2 more foot longs for dinner. I had the proverbial hollow leg.

I can't even come close to that now.

I think everyone has a different metabolism and needs to start at some baseline level of caloric intake. Then they should use the calipers (pinch test) each week to measure their specific results. If your millimeters of pudge are going down each week, then it is working. If they are staying the same, you need to cut the calories a little more. But what is right for a 195 lb 19 year old who plays soccer will not work for the same 19 year old who is a bookworm. And it will not work for a 47 year old fart like me.

And there is nothing more motivating than seeing the millimeters of fat melting away each time.

So start somewhere and see how it goes.

**Jodi** · 10-07-2004, 06:50 PM

Nobody is picking on you. We just don't want anyone eating less than they need to for health reasons. In the sticky there are suggestions for regular semi-active adults and cals per pound. Of course the best way is to figure it out yourself.

**milliman** · 10-07-2004, 07:22 PM

What, my dear, is "the sticky" ?

Please Blue Bunnie, do not answer that !

**Jodi** · 10-07-2004, 07:31 PM

This is the sticky at the top of the Diet & Nutrition Forum. It's title Guide to Cutting, Maintenance and Bulking

Guide to Cutting, Bulking & Maintenance

**milliman** · 10-07-2004, 07:42 PM

oh h h h . . .
Now that is nice.
It shows I still need to explore the outer regions of this site to find other cool stuff.

Thanks.

ps: how do I start a thread ? I only seem to be able to do it thru the new member area and I can't find it in the FAQ stuff. Or anywhere else that I have looked.

**BulkMeUp** · 10-08-2004, 08:21 AM

Originally Posted by milliman

ps: how do I start a thread ? I only seem to be able to do it thru the new member area and I can't find it in the FAQ stuff. Or anywhere else that I have looked.

Above the stickies and to the left of the page numbering is a 'new thread' button.

**milliman** · 10-08-2004, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by BulkMeUp

Above the stickies and to the left of the page numbering is a 'new thread' button.

Gracias

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