INPUT ARTICLE: Article: For fitness, you may need a rough sense of how many of your daily calories come from protein. This can help you calculate things like your macronutrient requirements. It's fairly simple to determine how many of your daily calories come from protein. Figure out how many total grams of protein you consumed in a given day. You can use an online calorie calculator to measure the grams of protein in any given food you consumed. You can also use nutritional labels. A gram of protein contains roughly 4 calories. Multiply the total grams of protein by 4 to determine how many total calories in protein you consumed in a day. To convert ounces to grams, it can be helpful to use an online conversion system. The number of grams in an ounce is inexact, but it's somewhere around 28.3. It can be difficult to convert by hand and may be easier to do the conversion with an online system. You may also have to round numbers when converting ounces to grams. It can also be helpful to know what percentage of calories from protein a given food contains. Start by multiplying the number of protein grams by 4 to figure out how many calories of protein the item has. Then, divide the number of protein calories by the total calories in the food and multiply the sum by 100. For example, say a food contains 200 calories and 8 grams of protein. Multiply 8 by 4, which is 32 protein calories. Divide 32 by 200, giving you 0.16. When multiplied by 100, this comes out to 16, so 16% of the calories in that food come from protein. If you want to apply your knowledge to your diet, spend some time figuring out your rough protein requirements for a healthy diet. You can do this by talking to a doctor or fitness specialist about your diet, lifestyle, and any goals you have regarding fat loss or weight loss. A fitness specialist or doctor can help you figure out roughly how many calories from protein you should eat and if what is a high or low percentage protein in a given food based on your specific needs. It is generally accepted that your diet should consist of 40% carbohydrates, 40% protein, and 20% fat. This will vary depending on your diet, so do consult your doctor or dietitian. However, becoming aware of the percentage of protein you are getting in your diet can be useful as many people have too much of at least one of these macronutrients.

SUMMARY: Calculate your total daily calories of protein. Determine the percentage of calories from protein in a given food. Know your rough protein requirements.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: The process is incredibly simple and requires items you probably have laying around your house already. Put two tablespoons of white flour into a bowl and add about lukewarm water slowly. Begin with just under one cup of water, stirring with a fork, whisk, or kitchen mixer to get the lumps out and ensure an even texture. Keep adding water little by little until you reach the consistency you desire. It should have a smooth texture: not runny, but not thick like dough. You will cover the mask form with newspaper strips to give yourself a nice surface to decorate. Keep in mind that glossy paper from magazines and coupon mailers won't work very well, so find actual newspaper. Cut the newspaper into long strips about 1 inch in width. You'll need to layer the mask about three times, so make a lot of newspaper strips. The length of the strips doesn't matter as much as the width, but extremely long strips the length of an actual newspaper page will be unwieldy and messy when soaked in paper mache paste. You can purchase Venetian mask molds inexpensively at craft stores or online. If you have access to a printer, you can simply find a template for Venetian masks online and transfer it to cardboard using iron-on transfer film. Load your inkjet printer with the transfer film. Print the template image onto the transfer film. Peel off the plastic cover and press the template image against a piece of cardboard. Use an iron to apply heat to the back of the transfer film for 20 seconds or so (follow the instructions that come with your specific brand of transfer film.) Slowly peel back the film to reveal the transferred image on the cardboard Use an exacto knife to carefully cut along the borders of the template to create a cardboard mold of the mask. Make sure to cut out the eye holes as well. You need holes in the corners of the mask so you can insert string or elastic to hold the mask onto your face. Use a hole puncher or a sharp object like an exacto knife or scissor blade to create the holes. This process can be very messy, so you may want to do this outdoors, weather permitting. If you're working indoors, spread newspaper over the surface you're using to protect it from the paper mache paste, which will drip everywhere. Dip a strip of newspaper into the paper mache paste so it's completely soaked from end to end. Run your fingers along the length of the strip to remove excess paste. Layer it over the Venetian mask template, making sure to smooth out bumps and wrinkles. Repeat this process with your newspaper strips until you have completely covered the template. While the newspaper strips are still fairly wet, use your exacto knife to locate and cut out the two eye holes from the template and two string holes you created. If you wait until you've completed the entire paper mache process to do this, you may have trouble locating the holes, so you want to do this step for each layer of newspaper strip you apply. Layer the strips in different directions horizontal, vertical, and diagonal in order to achieve an even, natural effect. Remember to cut out the eye and string holes from time to time, so you don't lose track of where they are. When you've created at least three layers of paper mache over your mask template, you're ready to let the project harden. Put the mask somewhere it won't be disturbed and let it air dry for about a day. You can put it in the refrigerator to speed up the hardening process. When it's completely hard and dry, you're ready to decorate your mask.

SUMMARY:
Make the paper mache paste. Tear some newspaper strips. Obtain a Venetian mask template. Cut holes in the corners of the mask. Cover your mask template in paper mache strips. Cut out the eye and string holes. Apply two more layers of newspaper strips. Let the mask dry.