1500 calories macros

#1

Am I correct that the macros for a 1500 keto diet would be about 20g carb, 45g protein, 100g fat?

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #2

We discourage people from calculating macros. Our advice is to keep carbohydrate under 20 g/day, eat 1.0-1.5 g of protein per kilo of lean body mass per day, and fill in with fat to satiety. That way the total number of calories and the macro percentages are left to the body to decide. But if you feel you must use a calculator, make it one of the keto ones, not a carb-based, calories-in-calories-out calculator.

(If you are trying to build muscles, you could possibly increase your protein consumption to 2.0 g/kg and make sure to get adequate amounts of the branched-chain amino acids.)

(Rebecca ) #3

My answer was pretty much what Paul said. I have never counted or tracked. I just keep carbohydrates way below 20 g and only eat when I am hungry.

#4

First, your math is incorrect:

100 gr fat = 900 cals
45 gr protein = 180 cals
20 gr carbs = 80 cals
Total = 1160 cals per day / not 1500

Second, unless you’re a midget 45 grams of protein is too little to maintain health. As noted by @PaulL your daily protein requirement should be based on lean body mass: g/kg. If you don’t know your lean mass and don’t know how to calculate it, you can use total body weight as an approximation - as long as you’re not excessively thin nor excessively fat.

For example, I’m male, 72" (183 cm) height, overall weight of 145 lbs (65.9 kg). I am fairly well-proportioned overall, but thin. My current protein target is 120 grams per day. So based on my overall weight, this is: 1.8g/kg. I happen to know that my ‘lean body mass’ is 123 pounds (55.9 kg), so based on LBM: 2.15g/kg. I’ve set my daily target slightly high for three reasons: (1) I usually undereat by 10-20 grams, so even when I undereat I still consume at least 100 grams of protein daily; (2) I have a physically demanding job and I prefer to make not lose muscle performing it; and, (3) protein helps to boost RMR and as you get older (which is me) that’s a good thing.

Third, in my opinion eating carbs serves no useful purpose. So ‘20 grams’ is not a target. It’s a max that you should steadily wittle downwards over time. My current max is 15 grams and I frequently eat sub-10 and occasionally sub-5 grams. Some good and nutritious protein and fat foods contain small amounts of incidental carbs and these should end up being the sole source of whatever carbs you eat daily. But the goal is less is better.

Fourth, as noted if you have reliable hunger/satiety signals let your hunger determine how much fat to eat to satisfy. This will change as your fat adaptation develops.

Hope this helps.

#5

That’s ~1200 kcal, not 1500… And not necessarily… I rather would choose 3g carbs and at least 100g protein myself (it doesn’t even matter if it’s 1500 or 1200, I need that. I couldn’t do anything below 1600 but this is my best chance). It’s individual.

Macros aren’t as important as people seem to think but they may be for a fixed person and fixed calorie intake… See my protein. I can’t keep it much lower but I pretty much need fat too so around 100g it is…

But keto only requires a low enough carb intake to be in ketosis. You can keep your fat pretty low and you still am in ketosis, we need some fat but for this low-cal I would need to sacrifice it for my all-important protein… If you are serious about 45g protein… Well, not be if possible, it’s super low, how can one eat like this to begin with?

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #6

Low carbohydrate is essential for ketosis, because high insulin (from eating too much carbohydrate) stops the liver from making ketones. But the amount of fat is irrelevant, because its effect on insulin is negligible. And we need to eat enough fat to make up the energy lost by cutting carbs. But protein is not used for energy, under normal circumstances; we just need to eat enough to make up for the daily irreducible nitrogen loss and to keep our muscles and other tissues intact.

#7

Your protein needs should be based on lean body mass, not on caloric intake.

I see keto as simply “Minimal carbs. Adequate proteins. Fats as needed (for satiety).”

So, two priorities:

  • You need to keep carbs low to stay in ketosis.
  • You need to make sure you get enough proteins. Your body needs them. Being significantly low on them over an extended period can cause the body to get them elsewhere. That may mean a breakdown of muscle tissue. Not good.

After that, ideally, it should be hunger that determines how many fats and additional proteins (and thus calories) you need to be eating, if only because leaving yourself hungry all the time means keto won’t be sustainable. You don’t need to eat all of the fats macro if you’re not hungry, because the body can make up the difference with stored body fat.

#8

The carb thing is individual. Some people feels unwell at too low for some reason (or just can’t do it as I did on vegetarian keto. I needed way more than 20g net but okay, it was special and it’s in the past). But even if vaguely “the less is better” for someone, it may not matter if it’s 3g or 22. It doesn’t seem to matter for me close to carnivore (at least if very little of it is lactose. never experimented with lots of lactose)… So I never will try to keep it even lower than that, it just would harm my mental health. Possibly my physical too but I am pretty sturdy regarding that.
Someone with a higher carb need for some reasons may need even more and if they can pull keto off with more and they feel great, why not?

No, it’s just for my body functions. I must eat high protein or else I feel I am starving, I feel miserable anyway, crave protein like crazy and probably other stuff, I never tried to eat adequate protein too hard. But I tried it and failed, I just can’t do it for more than 1-2 days and that has serious conditions too…

But I only wrote 100g protein and it’s really low. Eating even less sounds unsafe and impossible to me. Not like I ever could stay this low for more than one day… There is something strange with me but it’s fine, I just eat high protein and that’s it.

#9

That’s up to you, percentages are usually a bad way to go and you should go by grams. Starting out the 20g carbs (more or less) is a good number. Then figure your protein requirements for your body composition or your goals. The rest is fat.

1g/lb bodyweight is the typically go-to for most, it’ll give you enough to sustain muscle mass and grow as well as give your body protein for it’s other needs. If you’re obese, try to figure out your lean body mass and go by that.

You’ll notice there’s a lot of anti macro counting mindsets here, don’t let it get to you, there is no shortage of us paying attention to what we’re eating. When/If you have an issue or need an adjustment having your macros in order will give you a place to start working from rather than guessing what’s going wrong.

#10

A good starting point is

Carbs: 20g

Protein: Minimum of 1-1.5g for every kg of your weight. So if you weigh 70kg, you should eat a minimum 70-105g of protein. Depending on your situation (i.e activity level and whether you are trying to increase muscle mass)…you can go up on protein.

Fat: Fill up the rest with fat (most of which should come with your protein). Fats from things like cheese, avocados, nuts are ok too.

I don’t know your current height/weight so can’t comment on your 1500 calories.