Macronutrient Ratios And Which To Use With Beachbody Workouts

Let’s face it, you have been pushing play and going hard at your Insanity or P90X workouts. Yet you just aren’t seeing the results you were expecting. The first thing we need to do is look at your nutrition and what exactly you are putting in your mouth. Your overall results will come from your nutrition so we need to get a handle on it right from the beginning. What I have learned is even though you may be getting the right amount of calories, that sometime isn’t enough. It comes down to what kind of calories you are eating in terms of Protein, fat and carbohydrates.

First we need to determine your goals with your program. Whether it be weight loss, weight gain, fat cutting or muscle building you will need to fine tune what you eat.

The USDA recommends that based on a 2,000 calorie diet, you would need 91 grams of protein, 65 grams of fat and 271 grams of carbs which breaks down to 18% protein, 29% fat and 53% carbs. (20-30-50) However if you are looking to cut down on fat 30% fat maybe to high for you.

A recommended starting point would be to go with a ratio like 30-20-50. (Protein – Fat – Carbs) We have raised the protein level here to burn more fat and feed the muscles based on the fact that we are now working out. You don’t want to lose muscle while losing fat, losing muscle can lower your metabolism.

Since you’re reading this, you probably want to know the best macronutrient ratio to get rid of extra fat.

We know that each individual is unique, but this is also true for our individual physiology and metabolic rate. Even though, we need to understand that there is no “one size fits all” ratio that will allow everyone to get rid of extra fat.

However, there ARE some general rules that can be used for most people who want to get rid of extra fat and have long-term fat loss.

What Are Used in some Beachbody programs:

P90X

Phase 1 50-30-20 (Protein – Carbs – Fat)
Phase 2 40-40-20 (Protein – Carbs – Fat)
Phase 3 50-30-20 (Protein – Carbs – Fat)

P90X2

Phase 1 50-25-25 (Protein – Carbs – Fat)
Phase 2 30-40-30 (Protein – Carbs – Fat)
Phase 3 25-50-25 (Protein – Carbs – Fat)

P90X3

30-40-30 (Protein – Carbs – Fat)

21 Day Fix

30-40-30 (Protein – Carbs – Fat)

21 Day Fix Extreme

30-40-30 (Protein – Carbs – Fat)

Insanity

40-40-20 (Protein – Carbs – Fat)

Insanity Max 30

30-40-30 (Protein – Carbs – Fat)

22 Minute Hard Corps.

30-40-30 (Protein – Carbs – Fat)

How do we Convert Percentages to grams?

Once you have determined the macronutrient ratios you will be using, you can easily calculate how many grams of each macronutrient you should be eating. We first need to figure out how your calorie needs per day with your workout. You can use the “Caloric Needs Calculator” with your Free Team Beachbody account here.

daily calories x percent protein / 4 calories per gram = grams protein
daily calories x percent fat / 9 calories per gram = grams fat
daily calories x percent carbs / 4 calories per gram = grams carbs
For example, if your daily calorie needs are 2000 calories and you choose proportions of 30% protein, 20% fat and 50% carbohydrates:

2000 x .30 / 4 = 150 grams protein
2000 x .20 / 9 = 44 grams fat
2000 x .50 / 4 = 250 grams carbs

What Macronutrient Ratios should I use?

People looking to add a lot of muscle will generally go with a ratio like 40-20-40. (Protein-Fat-Carbs)
People looking to add weight would use a ratio like 30-15-55. (Protein-Fat-Carbs)
Those looking to cut down their fat percentage may do something in the range of 35-20-45. (Protein-Fat-Carbs)

There are different levels for each of the macronutrient percentages and we need to see where exactly they fall so for the purposes of our discussions, let’s clarify what we mean when we’re talking about high, medium and low carbohydrate, macronutrient percentages.

Carbohydrate definitions:
Very high carb = 65- 70% +
High carb = 55-60%
Moderate carb = 40-50%
Low carb = 25-35%
Very low carb (ketogenic) = about 5-15% or 30-70 grams per day

Protein definitions:
Very high protein = 41-50%+
High protein = 31-40%
Moderate protein = 25-30%
Low protein = 15-24%
Very low protein = less than 15%

Fat definitions:
Very high fat = 40% +
High fat = 30%-39%
Moderate fat = 20-29%
Low fat = 10-19%
Very low fat = less than 10%

How do I Track My Macronutrient Ratios?

What I use is My Fitness Pal to track my nutrition. There you can track everything to fine tune your nutrition. It’s a free service, you can create an account by clicking here. Once you log in you can click “Goals”, then click “Change Goals”, Select “Custom” and click “Continue”, here we can set our overall calorie intake goal, as well as the Macronutrient Ratios we want to hit. Once you have it set where you want click the “Change goals” button to save. Now when you enter food in the journal you can see where you stand.

*Tip – One helpful tip for me was to enter my food the day before, this makes it much easier to tweak and fine tune your nutrition. You can plug in food you may eat and edit and add as you need to hit your set goals.

Macronutrient Final Thoughts

This may seem like to much work for you, but I can tell you after pushing play everyday to a program like Insanity you are gonna want to make sure you are eating the right ratio’s. It’s far to hard of a workout not to see results. Want results? Do your nutrition the RIGHT WAY!

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