Macro Percentages vs. Overal Calorie Deficit

miriamtob

Hi, this is my first time posting here. I want to achieve ketosis and not sure what to have for dinner. I am wondering what is more important: for dinner I can have mostly protein, end the day with only having 9% carbs and meet my calorie goal OR I can have a veggie soup and end the day with a 500 calorie deficit (a much larger deficit than the prior), but I will have reached almost 30% carbs. Which option would you choose for weight loss and fat burning?

nill4me

Welcome. but....that, my friend is a hard question to answer without any real detail like info on what your goals are, height/weight, yadda yadda. So, the option I would choose would be to go to one of the keto calculators online, and get an idea of recommended macros for your build and calorie deficit goals.

http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com

When first starting, to help with entering ketosis (if that is one of your goals), many folks will shoot for 20g carb or less, adequate protein for their weight/build (that's where that calculator comes in handy), and then filling the rest in with fat to satiety. Capiche?

sweetteadrinker2

If you're really going for ketosis you're probably eating too many carbs, so if I were you I'd have the protein and keep carbs lower.

miriamtob

I ended up having the protein ( fish and sausage) while the rest of my family had the kale and sausage soup. It just feels strange to forgo something so low calorie, full of vegetables and good stuff. It made a huge difference in my percentages.

sbom1

miriamtob wrote: »

I ended up having the protein ( fish and sausage) while the rest of my family had the kale and sausage soup. It just feels strange to forgo something so low calorie, full of vegetables and good stuff. It made a huge difference in my percentages.

It is a really different mind set, so prepare yourself to think differently! Trust the macros (carb goal, fat goal, protein goal).

radiii

Myfitnesspal makes it a little difficult to do, but I would really suggest working on thinking about things in terms of grams, not percentages. Having a general idea of a ratio is probably a good thing, but in the end grams are what matters. If you're looking to do keto and get into/stay in ketosis, I'd recommend starting here:

http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/

The golden rule with macros:

Stay at or below your carb goal (in grams)
Try to meet your protein goal (in grams)
Eat as much fat as you need to be satisifed.


I can maybe give you some personal examples to show how percentages don't matter quite as much. Here are my ratios as a 6'4" 248 pound, 38 year old male:


2056 kcal Daily Calorie Intake
20 g Carbohydrates (4%, 80 kcal)
120 g Protein (23%, 480 kcal)
166 g Fat (73%, 1496 kcal)


The 20g carbs/120g protein matter to me. Not the 4%/23%. If I eat a lot and eat 3000 calories one day, that doesn't mean I still want to be at 4% carbs which would put me at 30g carbs. No, I want to continue to limit myself to 20g carbs and screw the percentage.

Maybe one day I'm not very hungry, and I only eat 1700 calories. Ideally, I would still have eaten 120g protein, and I would still be at or under 20g carbs, so that means I probably just ate a lot less fat that day. That changes my %'s totally. But that is irrelevant, only the grams of each macronutrient I ate matters


Its impossible to be perfect on this. The carb limit is the most important one and the one to be most strict about. I aim for 120g protein but some days I eat 150+ and maybe some days (probably rarely for me) I eat 100 or less. But I have that aim and I try to get pretty close to it most days. The % doesn't matter a darn bit.


I hope that helps!

JPW1990

I agree with worry about grams, not percentage. Don't expect to hit all your numbers exactly, on the rare occasions I do, I think oh neat, but that's about it. Get as close as you can to your protein, and plan around the carbs. To fit in that soup it sounds like you would've had to avoid them the rest of the day.