*MACROS* - please look at my food diary - am i following the correct macros?

cassie858

Hi there! I am 27 and trying to cut fat (whilst maintaining as much muscle as possible!). I do 2x HIIT cardio sessions per week and 3x weights strength training per week.

Going by IIFYM.com calculator which has recommended me to eat 1420 calories a day to be at a 20% deficit, I have set MFP goals accordingly. (ALTHOUGH, as MFP only allows percentages , the protein reads 124g goal, but I actually aim for 135g protein).

My question is, as IIFYM is fairly flexible with macro ratio (I know that high protein is more important for cutting than it is for bulking) are my macros correct? I have set my protein to 1g per lb (I weigh 135 lbs)... so I always try to hit 135g protein, I quite often go over, but I rarely reach my carb / fat.. is this okay? Am I eating too much protein? Is 80-100g carbs per day too little?

Secondly, fats.. I have NO idea what to set for my fat goals. Currently they are set to 47, I aim to always stay under 47, sometimes I don't get anywhere near it. Is this okay?

Any advice would be ever so gratefully received! Thank you

pinggolfer96

It's important that you hit your protein and fat macros as these are essential macronutrients. Proteins to repair tissues in the body and fats for optimum hormone functions and nutrient absorption. Focus on hitting those first and then worry about filling in carbs. Just have balanced meals or if you have a lot of protein in the morning then plan for a carb heavy or fatty meals later in the day and vice versa. Hope this helps!(: and you can only tell if your macros are correct based off what the scale and mirror say. Online calculators are a good starting point, but everyone is different and just adjust if you need to.

tararooksby

I'm curious what you're eating to hit or exceed that protein goal. I can never seem to hit mine and the number is similar to yours.

ObiWanJacoby_

As a good number fats should account for 20%-35% of your total calorie intake. So for you, 32g-55g would be a good range. Your protein goal is good, some research shows 1.1g-1.2g of current body weight so 148g-162g. Carbs will then fill in what ever calories are left. So 32g-55g of fats at 9kcal per gram, would give you 288kcal-495kcal, protein 148g-162g at 4kcal per gram would be 592kcal-648kcal, leaving carbohydrates to make up 135g-69g or 540kcal-277kcal depending on which end of fats and proteins you go with.

If you're interested in reading more, I recommend looking at www.aworkoutroutine.com and www.acaloriecounter.com both are free websites ran by one guy and have an ABUNDANCE of information and knowledge on fat loss and muscle growth.

Good luck and keep up the good work!!!

cassie858

@tararooksby - my diary is open, have a look!

cassie858

wow @ObiWanJacoby_ - brilliant mathematics! Thanks for the advice, I will be sure to read the article It is reassuring to know that I'm following the correct macro guidelines, I will make sure to hit my fat goals in future.. from reading discussions on here it looks as though some people have an even lower carb intake than me! I want to have enough strength to be able to fuel my workouts, I wasn't sure that 80g was enough?

TR0berts

Your protein goal is a little higher than it needs to be. 1 gram per lb of lean body mass - not total weight - is the typical goal.

Not knowing your lean body mass is, but seeing that you're a female who's trying to cut fat, I'm going to go with a general estimate of around 25%? That puts you at 101 g of protein per day. More is fine, but probably not necessary.

Fat, on the other hand is 35-40% of total weight. And it's a minimum recommendation. As such, 47-54 g of fat per day is good. Again, more is ok, but not necessary.

The rest can be carbs, fat, or protein. Or alcohol, if you so choose. But, since you're doing HIIT and strength training, I'd recommend mostly carbs, so that you have enough readily available energy to complete your workouts.

To recap

I'd suggest whatever % puts you at around 100 or so grams of protein. At 1420 Calories per day, 30% is the closest.

At 1420 Cals/day, 50 grams of fat (splitting the difference) is also about 30%.

That leaves you with 40% for your carbs.

Not exactly unexpected, this is the fairly typical 40/30/30 c/f/p split that you may have heard of previously.

Upstate_Dunadan

My macros are at 35/30/35 (Carbs/Fat/Protein). I'm trying to shed about a few more pounds while adding muscle (or not losing any), so similar goal.

I start with the following formula, based on a lot of research -

Protein = 1 gram per pound of total bodyweight (helps keep you feel full as well as preserving muscle)
Fat = .45 grams per pound of total bodyweight
Carbs = Whatever is left of your daily calories

I did recently tweak this because I felt the carbs were too high and I was sick of eating carbs during the day. I just upped my protein and lowered my carbs a bit. Now, if I go over or under on one or the other, I'm not too worried.

RodaRose

Your days look pretty good. You could cut a little from carbs to get more fat.

cassie858

That's great guys thank you so much, makes everything a lot clearer, sometimes you just need reassurance you're on the right track!

@TR0berts really in depth advice thank you!!! I'm 20% bf so does this mean I only need 108g protein per day? I thought it was 1g per lb of total body weight as @sm4astan also suggested, or 1.2g per lb lean body mass? Which would take me back up to 130?

jeffpettis

For someone your size using either LBM or total body weight isn't going to make that much difference either way. Just do whichever works best for you. Someone that is very obese should use their goal body weight when figuring protein percentages instead of total body weight.

cam52404

great post! Im about the same weight as you, so I get to hijack the info! lol Ive spent so much time trying to set my own goals on MFP, its driving me crazy. It shows up right on the computer, but not on the app (always shows default info on the nutrition tab?? grrrr....