Help with macronutrients

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ColtonMiller56
ColtonMiller56 Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I'm an 18 year old male,5'11,160 lb. I recently started going to the gym again and eating better. Upon writing this I have went to the gym 36 days in a row and am seeing great results. I am trying to maintain my body weight and just become cut so I eat my maintenance calories of 2,500 a day. I am doing a 40% protein 40% carb 20% fat macro split. This requires me to eat 249 carbs, 249 grams of protein, and 55 grams of fat. My question is since I only weigh 160 pounds is eating 249 grams of protein a day okay , or should I lower my protein intake and eat more carbs or fat? Thanks for any suggestions.

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  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    Why are you eating 249g of protein? That is so excessive, especially in comparison to your fat.
    Eat .8g protein per pound of lean body mass.
  • ColtonMiller56
    ColtonMiller56 Posts: 6 Member
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    Idk that's how the math worked out for my macro split but I usually only eat about 200 grams. I'm trying to lose that last little bit of fat I have left on my stomach and put on muscle at the same time so I'm trying to eat less fat but not cut it out completely. I have seen good results so far but it's hard to eat that much protein everyday . Do you think I should I eat more fat or carbs?
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    ColtonMiller56 wrote: »
    Idk that's how the math worked out for my macro split but I usually only eat about 200 grams. I'm trying to lose that last little bit of fat I have left on my stomach and put on muscle at the same time so I'm trying to eat less fat but not cut it out completely. I have seen good results so far but it's hard to eat that much protein everyday . Do you think I should I eat more fat or carbs?

    I think you should lower your protein because that is an absolutely unnecessary amount to be consuming per day. Your macros are very unbalanced at a 40/40/20 split. Like I said, you only need .8g/lb lean body mass. Adjust your other macros to your liking after you get your protein down to what you should be eating for your lean mass.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    missiontofitness wrote: »
    ColtonMiller56 wrote: »
    Idk that's how the math worked out for my macro split but I usually only eat about 200 grams. I'm trying to lose that last little bit of fat I have left on my stomach and put on muscle at the same time so I'm trying to eat less fat but not cut it out completely. I have seen good results so far but it's hard to eat that much protein everyday . Do you think I should I eat more fat or carbs?

    I think you should lower your protein because that is an absolutely unnecessary amount to be consuming per day. Your macros are very unbalanced at a 40/40/20 split. Like I said, you only need .8g/lb lean body mass. Adjust your other macros to your liking after you get your protein down to what you should be eating for your lean mass.
    AFAIK it's 0.8g per lb, or 1g/lb of LBM. Although the lower goal is likely fine for non-lifters or people who just prefer lower protein. I go by 0.8g/lb myself, down from almost 1g/lb total! Much better eating less, can't imagine eating like 200+g of protein.

  • loulamb7
    loulamb7 Posts: 801 Member
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    .8 to1g of protein per lb of LBM as a minimum target
    0.35g of fat per lb of total body weight as a minimum target
    the rest as carbs
    Set your % based on the above. It worked out as 45%/25%/30% (C/P/F) for me but might be different for you.

    Check out: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

  • ColtonMiller56
    ColtonMiller56 Posts: 6 Member
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    Ok I'll try a 45%/30%/25%(C/P/F) split, it's a lot more reasonable. Thanks for the help everyone.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
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    Everyone's are going to be different, based on their goals, so you need to play with them. For instance mine are 35/35/30.
  • ColtonMiller56
    ColtonMiller56 Posts: 6 Member
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    My goal isn't to get real big but get a lean physique with some muscle on it. What macro split do you think would work best for that?
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
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    Heres a good place to start: http://iifym.com
  • loulamb7
    loulamb7 Posts: 801 Member
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    Everyone's are going to be different, based on their goals, so you need to play with them. For instance mine are 35/35/30.

    Yes. ^^^^

    Do the math and percentages based on your weight and LBM. And don't forget that the protein and fat numbers are minimums not max. Your macros should also be based on your goals.

    Use the IIFYM calculator http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ to help sort your numbers.



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