BMR? Macros? Which one?!

jbheller14

Hi! I'm so frustrated trying to figure out how many calories I should make as my goal each day. I've calculated my BMR, TDEE and also changed my macros. Everything I read says you should have 1g protein/lb of body weight, but that puts my protein %way higher than suggested. Anyone have a lot of knowledge in this field to help? I need to lose about 17lbs to reach my goal of 125lbs. Thank you!

juggernaut1974

For weight loss, your TDEE is the number to start with.

With 17 lbs to lose, your goal should be to lose somewhere around 0.5-1.0 lbs per week.

Take your TDEE; subtract around 250-500 calories from that. That's your daily calorie goal.

Protein should be somewhere around 0.7-0.8 grams per pound of body weight - no need for 1.0. So at 142, shoot for just over 100 grams of protein per day.

Fat should be around 0.3-0.4 grams per pound - so around 50 grams per day.

The rest, fill in as you desire

Sabine_Stroehm

jbheller14 wrote: »

Hi! I'm so frustrated trying to figure out how many calories I should make as my goal each day. I've calculated my BMR, TDEE and also changed my macros. Everything I read says you should have 1g protein/lb of body weight, but that puts my protein %way higher than suggested. Anyone have a lot of knowledge in this field to help? I need to lose about 17lbs to reach my goal of 125lbs. Thank you!

The average person doesn't need 1 gram per pound of body weight.
Possibly not even 1 gram per pound of LEAN body weight.
Why not do a nice 40/30/30 split and focus on eating a balanced nutrient dense diet?

sjohnson__1

Agree with both of the above posts.

1g per pound is an easy number and is higher than the minimum needed for efficient muscle building/maintenance. Therefore, it is often referred to as a rule of thumb for it's simplicity. Juggernaut laid it out nicely for you (> or = 100g protein, > or = 50g of fat). Once you hit your minimum protein and fat needs, eat as you desire.

Pay attention to total calories for weight loss.

kristen6350

It's 1g protein for a 1lb of LEAN body weight. But that's only a suggestion, it isn't needed to lose weight. It just helps preserve muscle as you lose. The MFP calculator gives you a very low ball protein number. When losing, I tried to stay around 100g/daily, but that doesn't mean I met it EVERYDAY. I'm 150lbs if that helps...

The thing you need to me the most aware of while trying to lose is keeping your calories near the limit you've defined for yourself. So say it's 1500, the closest to that number EVERYDAY, will produce the greatest results and it won't leave you missing anything. With only 17lbs to lose I wouldn't set my deficient more than to lose .5lbs/week or 1lb week. The slower you do this the better results you'll have in maintenance.

rileysowner

jbheller14 wrote: »

Hi! I'm so frustrated trying to figure out how many calories I should make as my goal each day. I've calculated my BMR, TDEE and also changed my macros. Everything I read says you should have 1g protein/lb of body weight, but that puts my protein %way higher than suggested. Anyone have a lot of knowledge in this field to help? I need to lose about 17lbs to reach my goal of 125lbs. Thank you!

Frankly, you are overthinking things. For calories what this site would give you for no more than one pound per week weight loss are good as long as you realize it does not include your exercise calories which you should eat back at least a portion of when you exercise. Different macro breakdowns may be helpful, but the most important thing is calories. If you want a good ratio of Carbs/Protein/Fat 40/30/30 percent is what I would suggest.

juggernaut1974

rileysowner wrote: »

jbheller14 wrote: »

Hi! I'm so frustrated trying to figure out how many calories I should make as my goal each day. I've calculated my BMR, TDEE and also changed my macros. Everything I read says you should have 1g protein/lb of body weight, but that puts my protein %way higher than suggested. Anyone have a lot of knowledge in this field to help? I need to lose about 17lbs to reach my goal of 125lbs. Thank you!

Frankly, you are overthinking things. For calories what this site would give you for no more than one pound per week weight loss are good as long as you realize it does not include your exercise calories which you should eat back at least a portion of when you exercise. Different macro breakdowns may be helpful, but the most important thing is calories. If you want a good ratio of Carbs/Protein/Fat 40/30/30 percent is what I would suggest.

I'd only point out that OP indicated she has calculated (or more specifically I assume, estimated based on an internet calculator) her TDEE, which already includes exercise calories. If she starts with that number, then she would NOT eat back exercise calories.

If she uses MFP's tool to calculate her daily calorie goal, then yes, a reasonable portion of exercise calories should be added to her daily goal.

jbheller14

Thank you all! You're all so helpful and I appreciate your responses! That totally makes sense about the protein intake you all discuss. .thank you!