What's more important Macro or calorie Level

viren19890 · January 2016

Hello,

If I'm able to eat 1 gram of Carbs, 1.10 gram of protein and 0.20 grams of fat per lbs of body weight but I'm under my daily calorie goal. Will I stay healthy and still lose weight?

Let's say my daily calories goal is 2400 but I'm able to achieve the aforementioned requirements within 2000 calories, will I continue to lose weight and maintain muscle and stay healthy?

Past couple of days I reach my protein, Carb ratio well before I reach my calorie Level and this week so far I haven't even seen a single lb of weight dropped even though my day ends in deficit.

So what's your take?

75in2013 · January 2016

Calorie level is more important. If you stay on a deficit you will lose weight.

After calorie deficit I only aim for a good protein level. I also try to get vitamins, minerals etc. in my diet. I pretty much don't care about carbs or fat.

Plateaus happen. Sometimes for very long time. Don't get discouraged!

Best way to maintain muscle is to work out while you diet.

Measuring is a better indicator than weighing on a scale btw.

missblondi2u · January 2016

Calories are king! At least for weight loss. If you're just starting, I wouldn't worry about macros until you get a handle on weighing and logging to your calorie goal. Or like @75in2013 said, just make sure you get enough protein. After you get that locked down, you can tweek your macros.

ClosetBayesian · January 2016

viren19890 wrote: »

Hello,

If I'm able to eat 1 gram of Carbs, 1.10 gram of protein and 0.20 grams of fat per lbs of body weight but I'm under my daily calorie goal. Will I stay healthy and still lose weight?

Let's say my daily calories goal is 2400 but I'm able to achieve the aforementioned requirements within 2000 calories, will I continue to lose weight and maintain muscle and stay healthy?

Past couple of days I reach my protein, Carb ratio well before I reach my calorie Level and this week so far I haven't even seen a single lb of weight dropped even though my day ends in deficit.

So what's your take?

Also, weight loss is not linear; sodium in the food you eat can have an impact on day-to-day weight fluctuations; look for a trend over time (a month or two). How much do you have to lose? Have you just started?

viren19890 · January 2016

ClosetBayesian wrote: »

viren19890 wrote: »

Hello,

If I'm able to eat 1 gram of Carbs, 1.10 gram of protein and 0.20 grams of fat per lbs of body weight but I'm under my daily calorie goal. Will I stay healthy and still lose weight?

Let's say my daily calories goal is 2400 but I'm able to achieve the aforementioned requirements within 2000 calories, will I continue to lose weight and maintain muscle and stay healthy?

Past couple of days I reach my protein, Carb ratio well before I reach my calorie Level and this week so far I haven't even seen a single lb of weight dropped even though my day ends in deficit.

So what's your take?

Also, weight loss is not linear; sodium in the food you eat can have an impact on day-to-day weight fluctuations; look for a trend over time (a month or two). How much do you have to lose? Have you just started?

Started on Jan 1, 2016 with 230 lbs and last week Saturday I was at 221.6 and now whole week I'm at 222.8 sometimes 222

Will measure tomorrow again but don't know what scale would say. However I feel like waist size might have dropped 0.1-0.4 inches

viren19890 · January 2016

missblondi2u wrote: »

Calories are king! At least for weight loss. If you're just starting, I wouldn't worry about macros until you get a handle on weighing and logging to your calorie goal. Or like @75in2013 said, just make sure you get enough protein. After you get that locked down, you can tweek your macros.

Calories are

75in2013 wrote: »

Calorie level is more important. If you stay on a deficit you will lose weight.

After calorie deficit I only aim for a good protein level. I also try to get vitamins, minerals etc. in my diet. I pretty much don't care about carbs or fat.

Plateaus happen. Sometimes for very long time. Don't get discouraged!

Best way to maintain muscle is to work out while you diet.

Measuring is a better indicator than weighing on a scale btw.

Calories are king?

My required mark is 2400, let's say I am able to get there everyday.
Based on that I don't even need to do cardio or anything at all since weight will keep dropping as I'm in deficit?

What I'm doing is I eat 2400 cals everyday and do 30-40 min cardio before going to bed and I end the day with another 300-350 deficit before going to bed.

So basically I don't eat back my "earned calories"

Is that wrong?

viren19890 · January 2016

Also what foods can I find some empty calories? Cuz my diet takes me to my Carbs and protein level before I reach my caloric goal of 2400 and if calories are king I need empty calories to reach 2400 without going over Carbs and protein level

ClosetBayesian · January 2016

If you've hit your protein and carb goals, you don't need "empty" calories to get to 2400, you need fat! Nuts, nut butters, avocado, etc. Is your diary set to public?

And yes, it is possible to lose weight without exercising, provided you're in a calorie deficit.

hopeandtheabsurd · January 2016

How did you determine 2400 as your calorie limit for weight loss? With your stats, that seems a bit high, and 300-350 for 30 minutes of cardio also seems overstated (MFP is notorious for being very generous with exercise calories). If you are not losing, I would take a hard look at those numbers. What do you get for your TDEE with the IIFYM calculator? http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

viren19890 · January 2016

ClosetBayesian wrote: »

If you've hit your protein and carb goals, you don't need "empty" calories to get to 2400, you need fat! Nuts, nut butters, avocado, etc. Is your diary set to public?

And yes, it is possible to lose weight without exercising, provided you're in a calorie deficit.

How do I set it to public ? you can have a look if you like

hopeandtheabsurd wrote: »

How did you determine 2400 as your calorie limit for weight loss? With your stats, that seems a bit high, and 300-350 for 30 minutes of cardio also seems overstated (MFP is notorious for being very generous with exercise calories). If you are not losing, I would take a hard look at those numbers. What do you get for your TDEE with the IIFYM calculator? http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

I did use this calculator bro lol
My TDEE is 3400 and I'm doing 2400
Also i don't use MFP for cardio calories -I use S-health. (Samsung proprietary software) It is very good especially if I'm taking healthy paces - calories burn speed up.

I'm 5'10 -230 lbs (at time of measurement) and work out 1.20 mins strength training 5x a week and boxing on saturday.

I'm also active.

viren19890 · January 2016

Should i stop doing cardio altogether then cuz based on what I'm reading -it isn't going to help and I end up finishing the day at like 2000 or so calories for the day?

viren19890 · January 2016

Ok changed to public- so today I'm ending day perfectly lol protein i'm over 41 grams but I'll fix that by walking for 20-30 mins

viren19890 · January 2016

Sorry -even today I'm ending the day less calories without even incorporating the cardio 219 .

I need empty calories -Should I start drinking beer? I don't drink alcohol and i'm vegetarian (no meat, fish or eggs) Just dairy. But beer has empty calories i've heard

lemurcat12 · January 2016

Why do you need empty calories?

Are you thinking it's bad to go over your macros? It's not, it doesn't matter, so long as you are within calories.

viren19890 · January 2016

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Why do you need empty calories?

Are you thinking it's bad to go over your macros? It's not, it doesn't matter, so long as you are within calories.

I need empty calories because others are saying Calories are King and I need to make sure I get my daily calories and don't need to worry about macros

viren19890 · January 2016

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Why do you need empty calories?

Are you thinking it's bad to go over your macros? It's not, it doesn't matter, so long as you are within calories.

I had conventional wisdom in my mind - as long as I meet my daily macro requirement it doesn't matter if I get 2400 calories.

lemurcat12 · January 2016

Typically, your macros would add up to your calorie goal, so there's no difference.

Or you can think of them as minimums and set them lower and fill the remaining calories with whatever you feel like (including beer, although adding beer into a diet to lose weight seems like a unique and highly marketable plan).

Or you can think of protein as a minimum and ignore fat/carbs totals so long as you are feeling good, satisfied, and energetic.

The main thing is keeping the protein at a level where you can maximize muscle maintenance.

DaddieCat · January 2016

If you meet your daily macro requirement you will meet your calorie requirements.

For ease of breakdown:
Protein 1grm = 4 calories
Carbs 1 grm= 4 calories
Fats 1 grm = 9 calories

If you take these numbers and multiply by your macro gram goals, it should equal your total calorie goal minus any rounding errors.

*edited to correct spelling.

AnnPT77 · January 2016

When people say "calories are king", they mean you will lose weight if you eat at a calorie deficit, regardless of what specific things you eat, or where your macros come out. People have lost weight eating just Twinkies, or just McDonald's (though I wouldn't suggest it). So, if your goal is purely weight loss, ignore your macros, and eat at the right calorie level.

On the other hand, if your goal is optimum health in addition to weight loss, you want to eat at least your protein minimum, and your fat minimum (mostly in the form of healthy fats), and some experts suggest you should keep added sugar to a minimum (but most say that the sugar that's inherently in unsweetened fruit, vegetables, and dairy products is OK); and you want to eat 5-9 servings of fruit and veg daily (that's 1/2 cup servings, in most cases).

The carb macro and the sugar level can fall where they may (unless you're trying a low carb diet, another thing that most people don't find essential for weight loss) - you'll get some carbs/sugar from healthy foods, which is just fine. And you probably will get enough fiber from healthy food, which is also a good thing.

Then, if your goals also include improved fitness, by all means exercise, even though that's not required for weight loss as long as you're eating at a calorie deficit - but exercise is good for you in other ways, and lets you eat more.

If your exercise calories are accurate as you say, and you're already eating 1000 calories below your maintenance calories, then I'd suggest eating back a large fraction of your exercise calories, too (say 50%-75% to start, and see how that goes).

Bottom line: If you're not reaching your calorie target, eat more real, nutritious food, and let some of your macros go over. You don't need to eat empty calories.

viren19890 · January 2016

Only sugar I get is from McDonald's 2 cream 2 sugar cuz I read coffee aids in fat loss.

My food list is public. Maybe some of you can critique it? Please.

Basically you guys are saying that I need to meet caloric intake regardless of my carb/protein/fat ratio is met or not or even if it goes over. Ideally it should stay at par with calories but if it doesn't that's fine as long as I'm eating the targeted amount of calories.

Only reason I used to end my day in deficit was cuz I was making sure even if I calculated stuff wrong I'd leave a cushion for margin of error. Ergo I'd walk like for 30-40 mins and add that to the app before going to bed.

Everyday first thing I do is add all my foods to make sure where adjustment is needed and then go accordingly.

Is it possible that I didn't lose any weight so far this week cuz I was a lot under my daily goal this week and body went in starvation mode and isn't letting fat to be burned?

viren19890 · January 2016

AnnPT77 wrote: »

When people say "calories are king", they mean you will lose weight if you eat at a calorie deficit, regardless of what specific things you eat, or where your macros come out. People have lost weight eating just Twinkies, or just McDonald's (though I wouldn't suggest it). So, if your goal is purely weight loss, ignore your macros, and eat at the right calorie level.

On the other hand, if your goal is optimum health in addition to weight loss, you want to eat at least your protein minimum, and your fat minimum (mostly in the form of healthy fats), and some experts suggest you should keep added sugar to a minimum (but most say that the sugar that's inherently in unsweetened fruit, vegetables, and dairy products is OK); and you want to eat 5-9 servings of fruit and veg daily (that's 1/2 cup servings, in most cases).

The carb macro and the sugar level can fall where they may (unless you're trying a low carb diet, another thing that most people don't find essential for weight loss) - you'll get some carbs/sugar from healthy foods, which is just fine. And you probably will get enough fiber from healthy food, which is also a good thing.

Then, if your goals also include improved fitness, by all means exercise, even though that's not required for weight loss as long as you're eating at a calorie deficit - but exercise is good for you in other ways, and lets you eat more.

If your exercise calories are accurate as you say, and you're already eating 1000 calories below your maintenance calories, then I'd suggest eating back a large fraction of your exercise calories, too (say 50%-75% to start, and see how that goes).

Bottom line: If you're not reaching your calorie target, eat more real, nutritious food, and let some of your macros go over. You don't need to eat empty calories.

75in2013 · February 2016

viren19890 wrote: »

Should i stop doing cardio altogether then cuz based on what I'm reading -it isn't going to help and I end up finishing the day at like 2000 or so calories for the day?

You don't need any workout to lose weight. But it's always better to do cardio, weights or any sport that you like. It keeps you healthy (heart!), you will lose less muscle and you'll generally feel more energetic.

viren19890 wrote: »

I need empty calories because others are saying Calories are King and I need to make sure I get my daily calories and don't need to worry about macros

You don't need empty calories. It's just important that you stay close or under your calorie goal in order to lose weight.

If you have a few hundred calories left and you want to drink a beer or eat chocolate go for it. But you don't have to!

Don't fall into the extreme of "starving" yourself. Losing weight is a marathon not a sprint. It's ok to eat less than your calorie goal. But try to stay moderate. It'll help you in the long run.

viren19890 · February 2016

75in2013 wrote: »

viren19890 wrote: »

Should i stop doing cardio altogether then cuz based on what I'm reading -it isn't going to help and I end up finishing the day at like 2000 or so calories for the day?

You don't need any workout to lose weight. But it's always better to do cardio, weights or any sport that you like. It keeps you healthy (heart!), you will lose less muscle and you'll generally feel more energetic.

viren19890 wrote: »

I need empty calories because others are saying Calories are King and I need to make sure I get my daily calories and don't need to worry about macros

You don't need empty calories. It's just important that you stay close or under your calorie goal in order to lose weight.

If you have a few hundred calories left and you want to drink a beer or eat chocolate go for it. But you don't have to!

Don't fall into the extreme of "starving" yourself. Losing weight is a marathon not a sprint. It's ok to eat less than your calorie goal. But try to stay moderate. It'll help you in the long run.

Ok

Every night I'll end up with a calories deficit which would be lower than my caloric goal as well. Example my daily goal is 2400 cals I'll end up with 2200 cals cuz I ended up walking more than I thought -so I'll eat 10-15 grams of peanuts -which will push my fat over my daily goal but cals would just stay shy of 2350

What's more important Macro or calorie Level

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