Fat and carb intake help!

sarabclaypole

Morning! Just been thinking about how much carbs and fat I should be eating? I'm getting my protein in pretty well x

kindrabbit

I've just checked and MFP recommends I have 50% carbs, 20% protein and 30% fat. That's what it tells me if I ask for a custom goal. It doesn't know my personnal goals except for the 1lb a week goal so I'm not sure how it comes up with those figures.

I have amended it to 40% carbs 40% protein and 20% fat. Seem logical to me to go low fat. I did try going lower carb but found it almost impossible to stick to. I'm loosing weight faster than my desired 1lb a week (famous last words!!) and life's too short to loose bread from your life eh?

Will be interested to see others answers to this one.

Of course, I don't really focus on macros as much as I should. I'm just happy to stay in my calorie deficit most days!!

Christine_72

Calorie deficit is more important than your macros, at least in the beginning. Don't be afraid of fat, eating fat does not make you fat. Eating too much does
FYI my macros are set at;

Protein- 35% 148g
carbs- 35% 148g
Fat- 30% 56g

callsitlikeiseeit

christinev297 wrote: »

Calorie deficit is more important than your macros, at least in the beginning. Don't be afraid of fat, eating fat does not make you fat. Eating too much does

that

i dont even know what my macros are. at this point, its not a concern to me and they arent usually in the red, so whatever they are, they are within what i *normally* eat.

sarabclaypole

sarabclaypole

These are my current goals x

sarabclaypole

Any comments/opinions welcome x

Sued0nim

Your goal weight loss per week is too high - reduce it to 0.5lb a week

macros are personal

I set my protein at 0.8g per lb of LBM and it's basically the only thing I watch ... I eat about 50- 60% in carbs .. because that works for me

Sued0nim

Very Active is a difficult activity level to acheive - this should be your activity in life without purposeful exercise - are you actually a full-time sportsperson / manual labourer?

sijomial

With so little weight to lose 2lbs a week loss is a bad idea IMO but have you actually been losing at that rate?
I don't like ratios for macros as my calorie needs and therefore calorie targets vary enormously from day to day.

I regard protein and fat as minimums and carbs fall wherever they fall within that day's calorie goal.
This works for me:
1g protein / lb of LBM
0.4g fat / lb of bodyweight

sarabclaypole

I am pretty active I work 5 days a week quite a physical job and I work out 6 days a week (between 1-3 hours each time) x

sijomial

sarabclaypole wrote: »

I am pretty active I work 5 days a week quite a physical job and I work out 6 days a week (between 1-3 hours each time) x

Workouts aren't part of your activity setting.

sarabclaypole

Ah that I didn't know lol x thanks

callsitlikeiseeit

sijomial wrote: »

sarabclaypole wrote: »

I am pretty active I work 5 days a week quite a physical job and I work out 6 days a week (between 1-3 hours each time) x

Workouts aren't part of your activity setting.

if you go by TDEE, it is, isnt it? (i dont know, i go by standard mfp guidelines, but i *think* thats what ive heard)

Sued0nim

sarabclaypole wrote: »

I am pretty active I work 5 days a week quite a physical job and I work out 6 days a week (between 1-3 hours each time) x

Workouts aren't included in activity level

And you would have to be doing heavy labour all day at work to achieve highly active - go back and revisit the settings - unless you have been losing weight at this level because your body knows better than calculators

Christine_72

sijomial wrote: »

sarabclaypole wrote: »

I am pretty active I work 5 days a week quite a physical job and I work out 6 days a week (between 1-3 hours each time) x

Workouts aren't part of your activity setting.

why is it every tdee calculator states:

Sedentary- little to no exercise
Active- exercise 3-4 days a week
etc etc

RodaRose

Fat could be increased. It is right at the edge.

Blueseraphchaos

If you use highly active as your activity level, just make sure you don't log your exercise because that would be counting it twice, resulting in inadvertent overconsumption of calories.

I forget my exact macros, but i do know i raised my fat and lowered my carbs because I've noticed the more carbs i eat, the more i want, whereas with more protein and more fat, I'm less hungry.

Sued0nim

christinev297 wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

sarabclaypole wrote: »

I am pretty active I work 5 days a week quite a physical job and I work out 6 days a week (between 1-3 hours each time) x

Workouts aren't part of your activity setting.

why is it every tdee calculator states:

Sedentary- little to no exercise
Active- exercise 3-4 days a week
etc etc

On MFP which is NEAT calculation and exercise on top, so people (naming no names ) can still lose at sedentary

sarabclaypole

RodaRose wrote: »

Fat could be increased. It is right at the edge.

Thank you xx

sarabclaypole

Blueseraphchaos wrote: »

If you use highly active as your activity level, just make sure you don't log your exercise because that would be counting it twice, resulting in inadvertent overconsumption of calories.

I forget my exact macros, but i do know i raised my fat and lowered my carbs because I've noticed the more carbs i eat, the more i want, whereas with more protein and more fat, I'm less hungry.

Thanks x

sarabclaypole

Thank you everyone for your input xx
Have a great day! Xx

pzarnosky

christinev297 wrote: »

Calorie deficit is more important than your macros, at least in the beginning. Don't be afraid of fat, eating fat does not make you fat. Eating too much does
FYI my macros are set at;

Protein- 35% 148g
carbs- 35% 148g
Fat- 30% 56g

Not entirely true.. yes calorie deficit is important for weight loss but your macros are also extremely important depending on your exercise goals/routines. Example, if you run a decent amount, say 5-10 miles a week or more, carbs should be a higher percentage of your intake. If you are big into weightlifting, you'll want a higher percentage of protein to help maintain your muscle gains while on a deficit.

Christine_72

Yes, that's why I said, in the beginning. Too many people tie themselves up in knots trying to get their calories and macros perfect.
Hitting your macros by going over your calories isn't going to work either. Get the hang of one, before you start stressing out about the other.
I definitely keep an eye on my macros, but didn't in the very beginning.