Help :(

Keengetslean

Hi guys,

I'm trying to lose 1 stone. I am currently 8st 7lbs and I am 5ft tall, so teeny tiny!

I am getting close to overweight according to my BMI and 7st 7 is a healthy weight for my height.

I am quite confused by the macronutrients however, I'm not sure what I should set my carb, fat and protein % intake to if trying to lose weight?

Can someone help me please thanks, Laura X

ncboiler89

The default set points are fine and aren't going to make a difference on your weight loss rate. Just eat a well balanced diet and your macros should be fine.

LivingtheLeanDream

The preset MFP macro settings are fine, its all about the calories and being in deficit to lose.

All the best.

bronsd

In order to lose weight, you need to eat less calories than you consume. I suspect you already know your TDEE? This is the amount of kcal you need in order to maintain your weight. If not, you can calculate it here.

Next you should ask yourself how much weight you would want to lose each month. I wouldn't lose more than 1lbs (0.5kg) each week, or you would lose too much muscle. Yes, keeping muscle is actually quite important as you would just look skinny but not "defined". So let's say you would eat at a weekly deficit of 20 - 25% of your TDEE. If you have a TDEE of let's say 2000 (could be more, could be less, I don't know), you would eat 1500kcal a day in order to lose weight. If you're lot losing weight at your desired tempo (of 1lbs a week), lower your TDEE by 100kcal a week until you lose 1lbs a week.

For you macronutrients the most important one is protein. At a caloric deficit, your body will start to cannibalise your body's protein (aka your muscle). You want to eat enough protein to supply your body with enough protein in your bloodstram so it doesn't need to take muscle, only fat.

A general rule of thumb is you need to eat between 1 - 1.5g of protein for each lbs of bodyweight you have.

Fats: these are important as they manage your hormones. However, fats also take up quite a bit of kcal. Generally, you can keep them at a minimum.
Carbs: gives you energy. Important for workouts and how you're feeling.

What I like to do is a low-fat 40/40/20 split. That's 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fats. This gives me plenty of energy for my workouts.
I'd leave the 40% protein, especially during a cut, but you can exchange kcal between carbs and fats.
So another split which might work is low carbs high-fat:
40/20/40.
Or simply 40/30/30.

It's up to you. Experiment with it.

I hope this helps.
Best of luck!

EDIT: If you just want to lose weight and don't care about anything else just make sure to eat at a caloric deficit. Focus on macronutrients if you work out and would like to change your body composition (less fat, more muscle).

Yi5hedr3

Keep carbs under 100 grams/day. Amazing!

ZeroDelta