Yet Another Macros Question Thread

segacs

I've been logging steadily for a couple of weeks now, and while I am staying under my daily calorie goal pretty much every day, I am still having trouble sorting out my fat/carbs/protein percentages.

My calorie goal is 1290 per day. (h5'1" / cw150 / tw115). I started off with a 50/25/25 breakdown for carbs/fat/protein, as per MFP's recommendation. I've seen some calculators suggest that I target as high as 45%-50% protein based on my stats, but I decided to start with the defaults and then see how I was actually eating.

Actual results? My past couple of weeks of tracking shows that I'm eating, on average, 53% carbs / 30% fat / 18% protein. In actual grams, that's 172g carbs, 43g fat, and 59g protein per day as an average. My goals are 161/36/81. So according to this, I'm eating too many carbs and too much fat and too little protein.

I guess my question is: Is this unhealthy? Should I be looking to make major changes to my diet? Or is this within the realm of normal, and I'm stressing too much about the details?

Psychgrrl

In my experience, it's not a matter of unhealthy. It's a matter of carb quality and finding out what works best for your body. Which takes some time and patience.

I normally eating more protein than carbs and in my usual daily life and that works well for me. I'm at my goal weight and am now working on body composition--I want to build more muscle.

I'd try to get your carbs from veggies and whole grains like quinoa, amaranth, spelt, etc. And avoid the oh-so-yummy stuff made from white flour.

Give yourself a break and take some time to see what works best. A couple of weeks isn't a lot of time to see results and if you constantly change things, you'll have a harder time knowing what made the difference.

harlequin0318

Im on a 30/40/30 split (carb/protein/fat) and I change that split daily according to the workouts that I do. On days that I work big muscle groups, like back days and leg days - I increase my carbs over 50%. On days where I want to burn fat, so cardio & HIIT days, I cut my carbs to 30%, sometimes less. My personal goal is to lean out and preserve my muscles.

So, this all depends on what your goals are - listen to your body, but challenge yourself. Eating clean is a lifestyle change

crisb2

@segacs wrote: »

I guess my question is: Is this unhealthy? Should I be looking to make major changes to my diet? Or is this within the realm of normal, and I'm stressing too much about the details?

For me, getting the macros right is important, because I want to make sure to feed my body the right things. The tip that I can give you is to "try out" your macros the night before, test out a few things, then add and remove here and there to reach your macros as close as possible.

Kalikel

As time goes on, you'll notice that one thing you eat has a lot of protein & fat, but another thing has a lot of protein with not as much fat, etc.

Give it some time. Play around with it.

I do not like protein foods and am currently trying to get more in without eating a bunch of fat. It's a process, for sure!! I'll get there, though.

So will you.

segacs

Yeah, I think it's because I eat very little meat. Just chicken or fish 4-5 times a week, but otherwise it's all from dairy or plant sources like beans or nuts, which are also calorie-dense and high in fat so I need to limit their intake. I don't eat red meat, pork or shellfish. And I hate the idea of eating meats or even eggs in the morning for breakfast. A typical breakfast for me is coffee, oatmeal and maybe a banana.

hill8570

Kind of depends on what your activities are and what the source of the macros are. If the carbs are from high-quality sources (not nutrient-poor stuff like junk food) and you're doing a lot of cardio-type stuff, the high-carb is helping fuel the workouts. If you're trying to do strength training, you'd be better increasing the protein %. Oh, and if you're having trouble staying full between meals, foods with higher protein % (or higher fat %, but protein is basically a 1:1 tradeoff with carbs, calorie-wise) will keep you full longer than most carb-heavy meals.

cwolfman13

There is no set macro ratio that is going to be optimal for all individuals. There isn't anything inherently "unhealthy" or "healthy" about your macro ratios. Most people who track macros do so for specific reasons...i.e. they're diabetic and need to watch carbs...fitness performance goals, etc...want to make sure they're getting enough protein, etc.

As far as "healthy" or "unhealthy" goes, that's going to have more to do with what makes up those macros than the actual ratio itself...and of course, you have to consider context and dosage...i.e. a slice of cake isn't inherently "unhealthy" as part of an otherwise balanced and nutritionally rich diet...but eating nothing but cake is probably pretty unhealthy.

segacs

Yep, agreed. And it's some and some. Definitely getting some carbs from more nutritious sources like fruits and whole grains. But I also do like my cake, so yeah, there's definitely some of that in there, too.

Anyway, I guess I've answered my own question: Carry on, and adjust if needed.

Thanks, all!