Carbohydrates, protein and fat are the major macronutrients that your body needs in large amounts for good health. Certain diet plans or nutrition regimens ask you to keep track of the percentage of these macronutrients you consume each day to help manage your weight, improve sports performance or simply experience good health. The Institute of Medicine, for example, recommends that the average person consume between 45 and 65 percent of daily calories from carbohydrates, 10 to 35 percent from protein and 20 to 35 percent from fats. By carefully tracking your food intake, you can figure out the percentage of carbs, protein and fat you consume in a meal.
Step 1
Write down everything you ate in your meal. Deduce portion sizes by weighing the food on a food scale or with measuring cups and spoons. Include beverages and condiments in your tally.
Step 2
Use an online program or a nutrition reference book to determine the calories and total grams of carbohydrate, protein and fat of the foods included in the meal. Add up each amount.
Step 3
Multiply the carbohydrate and protein grams by 4, the number of calories per g of these nutrients. Multiply the fat grams by 9, the number of calories per g of fat. For example, if you found that a 370 calorie meal contained 50 g of carbohydrates, 20 g of protein and 10 g of fat -- 200 calories of that meal comes from carbohydrates, 80 calories come from protein and 90 calories come from fat.
Step 4
Find the percentage of carbohydrates in your meal by dividing the calories from carbohydrates by the total number of calories in the meal. For the example from step 3, divide 200 by 370 to find that the meal contained 54 percent carbohydrates.
Step 5
Find the percentage of protein by dividing the calories from protein by the total number of calories in the meal. For the example from step 3, divide 80 by 370 to find that the meal contained 22 percent protein.
Step 6
Find the percentage of fat by dividing the calories from fat by the total number of calories in the meal. For the example from step 3, divide 90 by 370 to find that the meal contained 24 percent fat.
Tips and Warnings
- Several online food diaries, including The Daily Plate on Livestrong.com, figure out the percentages of carbs, protein and fat in each meal for you.
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