Macro Recommendations. vs. Realistically Achievable Intake- HELP

PeachyCarol

I'd love to have some input on this.

The people I trust to know what they're talking about recommend a protein intake of .6-.8 grams per pound of bodyweight in protein and .4-.45 grams per pound in bodyweight in fat, with the remainder settling out to carbs.

I'm 52, short, get unreliable exercise thanks to medical conditions so need to do NEAT instead of TDEE with my 1210 calorie allowance.

When I crunched the numbers on the recommended intake, I got 102 grams of protein (408 calories) and 68 grams of fat (612 calories). This would leave me with only 190 calories for carbs.

That's just... not enough.

I currently weigh 170.8 pounds and am 5'1" tall.

I currently do about the correct protein intake (it's a little higher in my diary because I can't set it to 34%), 40 grams of fat and 100-ish grams of carbs.

Is this going to have long-term negative effects, should I make adjustments? If so, to what? It would be very hard for me to lower my carbs--I'm a vegetarian.

My diary's public if you want to look.

_John_

at about 30% fat, I'd think that is absolutely fine. Fat % of calories I've seen it recommended to get at least 20% of your calories and up to 40% of your total calories (usually an arbitrary reason, but never seen higher recommended here, except in an extreme bulking diet). Don't think there's any "hardline" on anything but the lower bound # there.

jacksonpt

IMO, people should view recommended macros as a range. Where you fall within that range will vary based on goals, preferences, etc.

Protein: .75g-1.5g per lb of lean body mass
Carbs: 1.5g-3g per lb of total body weight
Fats: .25g-.5g per lb of total body weight

So for a 150lb person at 25% body fat, that would mean

Protein: 84g-169g (338-675 cals)
Carbs: 225g-450g (900-1800 cals)
Fat: 38g-75g (338-675 cals)

That's just an example, but you can see how wide the ranges are and how much room you have to shift things based on your goals and preferences.

disasterman

Unless you have some very specific body composition goals I don't see why that would be much of a problem for you. Personally, I find that eating more protein-and consequently fewer carbs- helps me feel full longer, reduces my problems with acid reflux, and generally makes me feel a little better-improves my mood. I've done better at losing weight when I'm on higher protein. On the other hand, if I go too low on carbs I can feel a little sluggish on my runs or swims.

Basically at maintenance now and I've not been meeting my protein goals for some time but I'm feeling the effects of that. Bottom line is I think you can play with the numbers a little paying close attention to how you feel and how you perform against your goals. That's the great thing about logging consistently I think is you can really experiment and understand how these different things work for you as an individual.

cathipa

I would bump up your fat to at least 50g a day (for hormonal balance). Your BMR is higher than your current calorie goal so you could bump it up a bit (like 1300) and still lose. If you did .6g protein (106g) & .3g fat (51g) this would leave you with 108g carbs a day. Hope this helps!