Where to start with macro goals?

erinelizabeth882 · March 2015

I'm very new to all of this and right now my goals are the standards MFP set them as so 50-30-20 for carbs, fats, and protein. However, in having trouble losing body fat and I'm wondering if these goals could be related to that issue.

My goals are to get from 133 to between 115-120 but what I'm really concerned about is losing body fat. I started at around 28% body fat and have fluctuated throughout the course of the two months that I've been tracking. The lowest it's been is about 26%, but that's been at the higher fluctuations of my weight (around 128). Basically when I lose a few pounds, I tend to gain or maintain body fat. I understand sometimes that losing weight means losing ALL weight including muscles, but I want to focus my efforts on loss of body fat. My exercise regime currently consists of group exercise classes like TRX, body pump, kickboxing, running, hiking, biking, yoga. All of my resistance training is generally low weights with higher reps or uses body weight. I'm not looking to do heavy lifting or be a high performance athlete, I just want a nicer, leaner looking body, and to be more healthy and in shape in general. Could my fat to carb to protein ratios be holding me back from losing body fat?

ew_david · March 2015

How long have you been doing this? Are you tracking your intake? Logging exercise calories? Eating them?

You don't have much to lose, so it's going to be a somewhat slower process. Your macro goals are secondary to your calorie goal. You have to first figure out if you're in a deficit or not.

erinelizabeth882 · March 2015

I've been logging pretty regularly for 2 months. I log exercise calories and eat most of them back, but usually have a caloric deficit by the end of the day.

And I do understand that with less to lose, it will be slower. The thought just came up when reading someone else's post about what their macro ratios were, and most if not all the posts I read had very different goals that what MFP set for me.

Thanks!

ew_david · March 2015

Macros are important, but in the grand scheme of weight loss, calories come first. I mean, if you were bodybuilding, yes, your macros would need to be specific to that goal. But if you're just wanting to lose some weight, calories take precedence.

I do 40/30/30. I feel better when I have more protein than what MFP says I should. But it's a matter of preference.

MrsRuh · March 2015

My trainer was just explaining this to me this morning and went in and reset all of my goals because I'm in the same boat. Protein, protein, protein. If you are exercising that much, the ideal amount of protein intake is 1gram per pound of body weight. This helps give you energy and retain your muscle while shedding body fat. Stick with a regular healthy diet and supplement protein for your snacks to make up the deficit without adding a ton of calories into the mix. I particularly enjoy Cellucor Whey Protien, it mixes well without clumps and their flavors are amazing. Set your protein to that its close to your body weight and adjust the other macros accordingly.

ew_david · March 2015

Protein recommendations are usually 0.8-1 lb of LBM, not total body weight.

MrsRuh · March 2015

I'll just call my trainer a liar and just leave this here then. I'm never claimed to be an expert, just trying to help based off of what I've been told and have read myself.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbprotein.htm

ew_david · March 2015

Whoa...no one was attacking you. Jeez.

Chain_Ring · March 2015

Easy there, MrsRuh............Perhaps all that protein has put you on edge?

PRMinx · March 2015

Travis_2 · March 2015

Most trainers are liars. Burn them all at the steak. Mmmmm. Steak.

Holly_Roman_Empire · March 2015

So is a 300-pound person trying to lose weight supposed to eat 300 grams of protein? That's constipation waiting to happen!

homerjspartan · March 2015

Actually if you truly want to beast up, it should be total body weight. Just check my gainz....

EddieHaskell97 · March 2015

I'll call your trainer a liar. Your own link says:

Dieting 0.35 - 1.0g/lb bodyweight That's quite the range, but seems a bit lower than protein, protein, protein"

Capt_Apollo · March 2015

did you even read the thing you posted??

so yeah, a body builder might need 1+ gram of protein to meet their needs, but OP needs that at the very most.

ew_david · March 2015

LolBroScience · March 2015

Just FYI if you read the sources from which that article is created... none of them recommend 1g/lb...

In summary, protein requirements for athletes performing strength training are greater than for sedentary individuals and are above current Canadian and US recommended daily protein intake requirements for young healthy males (obviously) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7550257

Strength athletes probably need about 1.4-1.8 g.kg-1.day - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1474076

Now, that's not to say it would be harmful to take in 1g/lb necessarily; but, you'd probably see a greater benefit allocating those additional saved calories to carbs.

Cortelli · March 2015

I am a believer in setting targets for fat and protein in grams (derived from bodyweight and LBM estimates) and then letting the rest fall where they may. In that case, my protein and fat macros are targets, not limits. But of course MFP only uses % for macros. So I determined my protein and fat goals (in grams), determined my calorie target, and then fiddled with the percentages to get the fat and protein about where I want them. Of course, when I log exercise, it mucks up the individual targets of each macro, but at this point I've been at it long enough that I just know what those targets are in any event.

I use about 1.1g per lb of lbm for a protein target when I am in a deficit, sometimes a little higher. I use about 0.35g per lb of bodyweight for a fat target. The rest goes to carbs.

The percentages in MFP will therefore vary, sometimes quite a bit, when I move from a deficit or surplus calorie goal or vice versa.

I don't worry if I go over on protein and fat and therefore my carbs suffer, but I am not as active as you - you may need to be more circumspect about maintaining sufficient carb intake to fuel the sorts of exercising you're doing.

skullshank · March 2015

MrsRuh · March 2015

Pretty sure the article or one of its references addresses this, specifically to that weight actually. 300lbs should intake the maximum allowance of 200grams. Anymore than that and your kidneys will not work they way they should.

Docmahi · March 2015

My name is chris - ppl tell me i know things about the body

your trainer is an idiot, and linking BB.com articles does not make arguments more valid... 1gm per pound of total bodyweight is overkill on protein - but thats just my opinion and im sure that trainer is sooooper legit

To the OP - you need to figure out what macros work for you - use any macro calculator and get a baseline of what you should be shooting for; for instance say at 130ish pounds it tells you to eat 200g carbs, 125protein and 60 fat (I'm totally making up these numbers) do that for two weeks - if you maintained and hit those exact macros correctly using a scale you now have a baseline - if you want to lose weight drop your carbs a little bit from the baseline (nothing drastic maybe 25g of carbs) and see how you do the next week - if you lost then great keep it going if not maybe you need to up your exercise or decrease the cals further - that choice is yours. Lifting heavy will give you the body you want, you will be lean you will have visible abs and a skinny waist, you will not be bulky, your booty will look amazing and you will feel stronger

Where to start with macro goals?

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