The quick answer really depends on your nutrient ratio. I'll cover that in a
second in detail but for most people...

BASIC RATIO:

50% carbohydrates; 25% protein; 25% fat

At those ratios, you get 116.7 calories from carbohydrates; 58.3 calories from
protein; 58.3 calories from fats. You can adjust the above ratio to account for
more protein, less fat, more carbs and such using the formula outlined below.

What you are about to discover is a sure-fire, effortless way to easily
determine an appropriate nutrient ratio for your own personal goals.

While there are several methods to determine your nutrient ratios, this will
explain two popular methods referred to as the ISSA 1-2-3 Nutritional
Rule-of-Thumb (International Sports Sciences Association). Once you know how
many calories a day you need, you can determine the correct ratio.

Let's examine the ISSA intake guideline of approximately 1 part fat, 2 parts
protein and 3 parts carbohydrates. This is generally accepted as a safe way to
burn fat for those who are weight training and exercising.

If you were to follow this rule, you would guarantee you you'd be following a
diet that was low in fat, moderate in protein and high in carbohydrates.

This probably comes as no surprise but this rule-of-thumb makes it amazingly
easy to prioritize your thinking when it comes to purchasing food, preparing
meals or even eating out! You won't be like a rat trapped in a maze anymore.

What I am about to share are two methods for determining your nutrient ratios
based on the 1-2-3 rule.

Method 1

If you were any good at math, you can see that the 1-2-3 rule adds up to 6
parts. 1 part fat, 2 parts protein and 3 parts carbohydrates add up to 6 total
parts. That is about the number of times per day you should be eating. Small but
frequent meals that you might have read about elsewhere.

First, dividing up the number 1400 by 6 will give you 233 calories per part.

Second, knowing that one part equals 233 calories we can figure out the number
of calories for each part based on the 1-2-3 rule-of-thumb.

Fat: 1 part x 233 = 233 calories allotted to fat

Protein: 2 parts x 233 = 466 calories allotted to protein

Carbs: 3 parts x 233 = 699 calories allotted to carbs

Note: If you don't know how many calories are in fat, protein and carbs, let me
show you really quick so we can continue on with figuring the proper ratios.
You'll use this later to keep it handy.

Fat = 9 calories per gram

Protein = 4 calories per gram

Carbohydrates = 4 calories per gram

Finally you should begin to notice that if you take the calories allotted to
each part and divide that number by the numbers above you get:

Fat Calories: 233/9 = 25g of fat

Protein Calories: 466/4 = 116 grams of protein

Carbohydrate Calories: 699/4 = 175 grams of carbs

Figuring out the ratios at this point is just as easy as dividing the nutrient
totals by the overall calorie totals.

For example, 233 fat calories / 1400 overall calories = 16% fat. Carrying on
you'll see this is broken down into:

Fat: 17% (rounded up)

Protein: 33%

Carbs: 50%

How's that for determining your own custom ratio? Now you know how to figure out
how many grams of what nutrient you need per day using this simple rule.

Using a diet tracking program, that task should be as easy as cutting a fresh
apple pie! But we aren't finished yet...

Method 2

But what if you don't want to just follow the simple 1-2-3 rule to lose weight?
What if you really want to build muscle and you know you will need more protein?

That's where you simply modify the above rules to ensure protein is the #1
factor in your calculations. If you're thinking you have to reverse the formula,
you are right but it's easy if you know how.

Example: Male, 200 lbs, 15% body fat, competitive athlete; using 1.14 grams of
protein per lb of body weight for this example.

Protein:

1.14 x 200 lbs = 228 grams of protein a day. If you recall, we know that protein
has 4 calories per gram right?

228 grams x 4 calories per gram = 912 calories from protein

Based on the daily calorie needs we used above, 912 protein calories / 3000
overall calories = 30%

30% of the overall calories we need a day are from protein.

Fat:

While the RDA might recommend 30% or less of your calories from fat, keep in
mind the 1-2-3 rule which states that 1 part is fat.

1 part in this guideline is roughly 16.6% (but we'll just round that up for
now).

All this means is you want to get 17% of your total daily calories from fat.

17% x 3000 total daily calories = 510 calories from fat...

Are you with me still?

Let's figure out how many grams that is simply by recalling that a gram of fat
is 9 calories.

So 510 fat calories / 9 calories per gram = 56 fat grams per day!

Note: This may be a reduction for some people considering that it's quite
possible you were getting 50% of your total calories from fats. If this is the
case, you might just have to adjust the ratios at this point so it's not too
drastic of a change. Slow and steady changes win the race.

Let's keep going.

Carbohydrates:

3000 daily calories - 510 fat calories - 912 protein calories = 1578 carb
calories.

Again, if you recall there's 4 calories in a gram of carbohydrates.

1578 carb calories / 4 calories per gram = 395 grams of carbs per day.

If you ever wanted to know the specific ratios, it's just as simply as taking
the nutrient calories divided by the number of overall calories.

In this example, 1578 carb calories / 3000 daily calories = 52%. So 52% of your
overall daily calories come from carbs. You can do the same formula for the rest
to see the exact nutrient percentages as shown in Method 1 above.

Hopefully you are still reading and if you are then just remember no matter if
you use Method 1 or Method 2 of the 1-2-3 rule-of-thumb that is 1 part fat, 2
parts protein and 3 parts carbohydrates, it's valid for most people who are
trying to melt fat while exercising. The rule can be changed to allow for muscle
gain or fat loss.

How much fiber do I need each day?

Dietary fiber is material from plant cells that cannot be broken down by enzymes
in the human digestive tract. There are two important types of fiber:
water-soluble and water insoluble. Each has different properties and
characteristics.

* Soluble -- Water-soluble fibers absorb water during digestion. They increase
stool bulk and may decrease blood cholesterol levels. Soluble fiber can be found
in fruits (such as apples, oranges and grapefruit), vegetables, legumes (such as
dry beans, lentils and peas), barley, oats and oat bran.

* Insoluble -- Water insoluble fibers remain unchanged during digestion. They
promote normal movement of intestinal contents. Insoluble fiber can be found in
fruits with edible peel or seeds, vegetables, whole grain products (such as
whole wheat bread, pasta and crackers), bulgur wheat, stone ground corn meal,
cereals, bran, rolled oats, buckwheat and brown rice.

The American Heart Association Eating Plan suggests eating a variety of food
fiber sources. Fiber is important for the health of the digestive system and for
lowering cholesterol. Total dietary fiber intake should be 25-30 grams a day
from food, not supplements. Right now dietary fiber intakes among adults in the
United States average about 15 grams a day. That's about half the recommended
amount.

Marc David is an innovative fitness enthusiast and the creator of the "The
NoBull Bodybuilding Program" on

http://www.NoBullBodybuilding.com He can show you how to reduce your body
fat thru diet, how to gain weight or create more muscle thru an abundance of
workout tips by training LESS! Not more. He dispels many "bodybuilding myths",
tells you what most people never realize about nutrition, and what the drug
companies DON'T WANT YOU to know. Go to:

http://www.NoBullBodybuilding.com to find out more about The NoBull
Bodybuilding Program.

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