Alright, the first thing I will mention is I'm not trying to cut out fat, or reduce my carbs. I'm just trying to find a new balance.

I ran out of money to have chicken breast every morning ( ) so I'm back on the eggs.


This morning my breakfast looked like this.

English muffin (with whole something)--140 calories
+ 2 tsp of low calorie margarine ---27 calories

3 fried (?) eggs, no grease, no milk, no salt or any spices, absolutely plain --210 calories

Banana- 7.7 oz (with the banana peel, and results according to fitday)--130 calories.

10 grams of Medium Cheddar Cheese---40 calories
250 ml, or otherwise 1 cup of milk ---136 calories

So approximately 683 calories (A rather large breakfast, but it helps me go all day long)

Now theoretically, it looks pretty balanced, I have my grain, my meat, my fruit, my dairy.

But when I look at Fitday, it says this.

39% Fat (29)
40% Carbs (73)
21% Protein (35)

Now..I'm happy with where carbs are sitting, but I was under the impression that protein and fat (the healthier of fat choices) should be at about 30% each, rather than what they are now.

But that confuses me a little bit too, because for the most part my meal wasn't a bad selection. It had a good amount of calories to keep my body going, and was for the most part healthy.

So I guess what I'm asking is, should I be concerned? Should I try to change my protein vs. fat, or is it alright to leave it like that?

Edit: And also how to add more protein.

you might get a protein/fat shift to more balance if you maybe went with

2 whole eggs
2 egg whites...

(and add a little bit of olive oil to the spare yolks and use it as a conditionder for your hair


but I don't think it looks bad in general... i think it's the entire day you want the balance..

I'll consider the egg thing, though the thought of egg in my hair somehow makes me twitch a little bit (but I remember the oil from that one horrible time in my life I caught lice ..gag)

I was under the impression that if you kept the 30-40-30 at all your meals you'd have an easier time with the balance, but perhaps I'll wait it out to see how the next dew days go.

Thanks.

I try to get my balance throughout the day, not meal-by-meal. Breakfast for me this morning was a chunk of leftover pork tenderloin, so I'm at 28%/0%/72% at the moment.

In your shoes, I might swap the lowfat margarine for peanut butter, and switch milks (136 cal/cup is about 3% milkfat; I can get 1% protein-fortified milk that's 120cal, 2.5g fat, 10g protein). 2% cheese is also a pretty easy substitute if you normally use shredded prepackaged cheddar, and that gets you more protein and less fat.

I drink 2% milk, which is 130 calories per cup, but I round it to 136 for fitday. I don't switch to skim, or 1% because I don't have the money to buy milk myself.

Peanut butter I would have done, had I not had the eggs on the english muffin. I don't imagine peanut butter and eggs tastes fantastic , but I see what you're getitng at.

Cheese, I use real cheese vs. processed/sliced. Again, can't afford to buy my own cheese. My mom buys whatever cheese she can afford (usually its on sale).

But, I don't know that I'm looking to lower the fat intake from certain sources such as cheese, or milk as much as I'm looking to bring the protein up to 30%.

Health is tricky.

It's a zero-sum game, though. If you want to bring your protein up while keeping fat the same, you'll have to lower carbs. If you want to bring your protein up while keeping carbs the same, you'll have to lower fat.

You have to lower the % of one or the other, but that's different than lowering the intake.

By substituting two egg whites for one full egg, you double the protein from that. All the protein in an egg is in the whites. If you are putting the eggs on the muffin, I would just skip the margarine. I don't know about low fat margarine, but regular margarine uses hydrogenated oil. Hydrogenated oil is worse for you then saturated fat. You should try to avoid them if at all possible. Also, by adding the cheese you are adding some protein and calcium, but you are also upping the saturated fat. Get your calcium from the milk on your list and leave it at that.

If you need a little extra fuel for the day, throw a sliced up pear and some cut up grapes with that banana and make it a fruit cup. (it will increase the fiber of the meal, too)

Fitday gives me 3g protein from a white, 3g protein from a yolk, 6g protein from a whole egg. Dunno if that's accurate or not - where did you get your numbers from?

Actually, there is protein in egg yolks as well, just not as much as there is in egg whites. Combined egg yolks and egg whites offer not only more protein than one or the other, but egg yolks also have other important nutrients that the egg whites do not. I choose to eat both to collect the benefits of both.

And like I said, I'm not trying to to cut my fat intake back. The only fat I try to avoid personally are trans fats (although I'm aware that both milk and cheese contain them). Milk and cheese have their health benefits too, and I will not worry about the fat I'm getting out of products that have proven health benefits.

Likewise, the margarine I use is not made with Hydrogenated oil. That has been a big thing in my house long before my weight loss journey, because my mother decided that her children wouldn't be putting that junk into their bodies. And at 25 calories per 2 tsp, as long as I take the time to measure it out I'm not worried.

I had no clue! That seems as unfair as olive oil containing saturated fat (which it does, alas).

Oh, well. You do what you can.