Since I've increased my calories and am maintaining, I'm trying to focus more on nutrition. I'm having a hard time dividing up my calories properly to reach nutritional perfection.
Do you have days where you get the exact ratio carbs/fats/protein that you desire, as well as meet all your vitamin and mineral needs? If so, wanna post your meal plan so that the rest of us can learn from your example?
I personally don't strive for any particular percentages. Not exact ones anyway. I try to make each and every meal and snack a healthy one. I do try to get in a fair amount of protein. I eat only lean fats and not too much of it. I also eat some of the healthy fats, like avocado and a bit of olive oil I eat tons of vegetables. The only carbs I eat are from veggies and the occassional fruits. So, I really don't worry about EXACT numbers.
I eat only lean fats and not too much of it. I also eat some of the healthy fats, like avocado and a bit of olive oil.
What do you mean by "lean fats"
To the OP: if you are concerned, use "Fitday" or a similar service to help you see the exact percentages of your nutritional profile
Everyone eats differently. Some choose a 30/40/30 plan, some eat mostly protein and fat, some focus on eating 30% and under of fat daily, still others eat mainly carbohydrates.
Can you see a doctor and get a referral to a nutritionist?
Baffled, I'll never have a nutritionally perfect day, that's for sure.
My focus is on calories, protein, and carbs. So long as I keep my carbs around 100 grams and eat more grams of protein than carbs, I'm happy. If I'm maintaining, I keep my calories under 1600 and if I'm in weight loss mode, under 1200.
Fat always seems to take care of itself and stays under 40 grams without me thinking about it.
That's about all I can wrap my head around at once!
My focus has always been on calories and fat. I don't worry about carbs or protein. I know I get plenty of protein because I eat a good amount of fish and other lean meats and sometimes for a quick snack I'll scramble up a couple of egg whites. Plus I eat deli meats and boneless/skinless chicken breast in my pitas (which I eat almost every night).
I like using fitday to see how many nutrients I'm getting from the food I eat, plus I take a multivitamin every day because since I only eat about 1200 calories a day, I know I don't get everything I need from food alone.
I use Nutridiary to log my foods. This is how I know that I'm never having a 'perfect' day. I imagine that it would be virtually impossible to cover all the nutritional bases without extensive planning though. (Which is why I asked the question). I almost always hit my Vitamin A, C and fiber requirements, but I tend to have too much fat and not enough protein (my goal is 150g--30%--, and I've never come close!). I also never seem to get enough iron or calcium.
The problem for me is that I'm maintaining on 2000-2200 calories a day, and I can't possibly imagine any legitimate reason for not being able to fulfill all my nutritional needs with so many calories to play around with. In the end, I think too many of my calories go to fat and alcohol...(two of my favorite food groups).
But then, you can't have everything Thanks for your responses.
I'm not sure this helps any but I was curious so this is what I found. I used the reports part of fitday.com over the last month.
1510 calories
31% protein
35% carbs
30% fats
4% alcohol (hmmm)
Without adding in the vitamins I take, I'm short e, k and zinc.
You can look back and see what I ate. It's not fancy but apparently it covers the bases pretty well.
I'm not sure this helps any but I was curious so this is what I found. I used the reports part of fitday.com over the last month.
1510 calories
31% protein
35% carbs
30% fats
4% alcohol (hmmm)
Without adding in the vitamins I take, I'm short e, k and zinc.
You can look back and see what I ate. It's not fancy but apparently it covers the bases pretty well.
Where in reports did you find that? I've looked and I'm not seeing any averages.
I do keep tabs on my nutrients and I tend to run a bit low on Vitamin D, Iron and Pantothenic Acid as far as meeting DV through food.
The iron surprises me because I eat a lot of protein and leafy greens, but not a lot of red meat and really, when I think about it, the best food source of iron is probably fortified cereals and I eat oatmeal.
And I keep looking up where to get pantothenic acid and forgetting.
Although many of the nutrients I am probably getting more than I know because they are not on food lables.
I used FitDay for about a week. It was too time-consuming for me. I track points thru Weight Watchers, have kept my weight off 2 1/2 years (well, I'm 4 lbs. over ideal right now, but am working on getting it off).
I think if you're eating a lot of produce, whole grains, lean protein and some fats (especially nuts, flax, avacado, olive oil) you are probably just fine. Note: I am not a nutritionist!
What do you mean by nutritionally perfect? Are you going by RDA/USDA standards? I'm not so sure it's possible to have everyday be perfect. I do understand striving for it though.
Here is what fitday says my averages are for the last month:
1506 calories
32% fat (I'd like that under 30%)
49% carbs (I'd like that higher)
17% protein (I'd like that between 10-15%)
2% alcohol (all from wine)
My main deficiency is in calcium, but I don't worry about it. I tend to side with the studies that show bone loss is due more to excess protein not lack of calcium. I won't get into it too much because I know just saying this much will anger people. So please, don't get mad at me! This is just my personal choice in regards to my personal nutrition. I don't expect anyone else to believe as I do. There are a lot of studies out there and we have to follow what is right for us as individuals. That being said, I do take a multi-vitamin which is probably why my other numbers are in range or above.
My main deficiency is in calcium, but I don't worry about it. I tend to side with the studies that show bone loss is due more to excess protein not lack of calcium. I won't get into it too much because I know just saying this much will anger people. So please, don't get mad at me! This is just my personal choice in regards to my personal nutrition. I don't expect anyone else to believe as I do. There are a lot of studies out there and we have to follow what is right for us as individuals.
I think we may have read the same studies, articles and sources and I am not mad to hear you say this at all
A Nutritionally Perfect Day
I imagine that it would be virtually impossible to cover all the nutritional bases without extensive planning though. (Which is why I asked the question). I almost always hit my Vitamin A, C and fiber requirements, but I tend to have too much fat and not enough protein (my goal is 150g--30%--, and I've never come close!). I also never seem to get enough iron or calcium. 
Well Linda ... you have to be a detail hunting geek like me and examine weight loss sites half to death. 
I think we may have read the same studies, articles and sources and I am not mad to hear you say this at all 