My thoughts on macronutrients

I can't believe I am blogging so much this month..lol Anyway I have been really perplexed lately by the whole macronutrients dilemma. I am sure you all have heard of the Zone diet which breaks it down to 40 30 30 (carb/pro/fat) there are also crazy ones like the 30 bananas a day 80/10/10 diet which a lot of raw vegans do. It is also known as the fruitatarian diet. I tried the 80/10/10 for 2 weeks. I kept track of all my nutrients on cronometer.com. This website has really opened my eyes to what nutrients I was lacking in and those I was getting a whole bunch of. It breaks down all your food into percentages and also gives you calorie goals based on the macronutrient ratio that you desire. So I plugged in 801010 and went shopping for a crap load of fruit and veggies. I ate soooo much and never felt worse! I cannot believe I lasted 2 weeks on this diet. My skin dried out my lips cracked my fingers were so dry my skin was literally cracking and bleeding. Oh yeah and horrible acne! It was horrible! People on the website and tons of raw vegans talk about how this diet is great...I say it's for the apes. Speaking of apes this diet is based on the theory that we should eat more like our ancestors the primates (chimps, apes) who mostly graze on fruit all day. Those who disagree with this diet do not think that human intestine were meant to digest this much fruit. I have to agree my gut was so bloated all the time and I put on 5 lbs in the 2 weeks. I was tired and had no energy. So obviously I have switched up my diet. I have read a lot about how a low fat vegan diet is healthy for you and also how there is no need for a lot of protein. I changed my macronutrient ratio to 64/12/24 carb/prot/fat. From what I have researched women need a good amount of fat in their diet to keep our bodies healthy. I noticed as I started eating more fat (nuts, coconut oil, seeds) my skin looks better I am no longer bloated and lost those 5lbs immediately. Weird huh? Fat is my friend. I eat a tsp of coconut oil a day and I really think it is making me feel so good. It is yummy over sliced bananas in the morning. I realize that as long as I get some sprouts and a wide range of foods like Chia, hemp and nuts I get all the protein I need in my diet. Recommended is .8 x your weight in kilograms. I exceed that which is also recommended if you do weights or any resistance exercises. I recommend reading The China Study. Research shows we don't need more than 10% of our calories from protein. Especially not animal protein. Which will give you cancer and heart disease...like most americans die from! What it boils down to is how you feel. You have to listen to your body. Some foods I know I don't digest well....if you are not digesting it then you can't use that food as fuel properly. If you can eat fruit all day and feel good go right ahead. Not me I'll keep eating at this ratio now.... I do change it up though especially if I need to Carb Up for a long endurance training session. I have a Duathalon coming up in Feb. I will keep you updated on my training for that. I hope this post did not confuse anyone...Trust me I am still researching and learning about macronutrients. I think my next blog will be on micronutrients....whole nutha issue :) Stay tuned folks....