Meal Plans With a 60-20-20 Ratio

A 60-20-20 meal plan is the first step to good nutrition

A 60-20-20 meal plan will differ for every person, because it is a matter of proportion rather than objective amounts -- 60 percent carbohydrates, 20 percent fats, 20 percent proteins.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates (carbs) provide four calories per gram. So, if you need 2,000 calories per day, your diet should have 300 grams of carbohydrates. The carb content of a food can be found by looking at the nutritional label and subtracting the fiber. If a serving of bread has 20 grams of carbs and 5 grams of fiber, the serving has 15 grams of carbs.

Protein

Protein also has four calories per gram. However, you only need 20 percent of your calories to come from protein -- 400 in the case of the 2,000 calorie diet. This means you need 100 grams of protein per day, which comes from things such as meat, beans and milk.

Fat

Fat is more dense than carbs or protein, with 9 calories per gram. So, while 400 calories need to come from fat, you can consume this amount by only eating around 44 grams of fat per day. Fat comes from things such as butter, oil, meat and nuts. However, it is present to some extent in almost all foods.

References

• Body Recomposition: Diet Percentages
• American Chronicles: Diet Schedules for Weight Loss