New Starter (Macro Help)

arsenalmorris

Hi

I am 6,1 and currently just over 14.5 stone but have hardly any muscle, Wanting to ideally lose stone over the next few months while also building some muscle and generally getting fitter.

Hoping to go to the gym 3/4 times a week and probably play football once a week but wondering if anyone could help with the Macro's I should be using for this to be most effective and the best ways of doing this.

Any help appriciated

cityruss

Worry about calories first and foremost.
Pick a goal, fat loss or mass building.
Increase your timeframe.

Dropping body fat requires a calorie deficit.
Building appreciable muscle mass requires a surplus.

<standard disclaimer> You may see some increased muscle mass, newbie gains, whatever, but if we're talking proper mass, you need a calorie surplus. As your timeframe is not several millennium, we won't even go in to a recomp.

As for macronutrients, there's no one size fits all answer. I personally do moderately high protein, lower end of the spectrum fat, and fill the rest with carbs.

The best starting point is to look at dietary minimums and ensure you are hitting them for protein and fats. As you're talking in stones I assume you're British, so the NHS website has all those on.

Then you'll probably want to increase your protein as this helps in retention of muscle during a calorie deficit and other magical things, there's loads of resources online about protein intake.

Fats are essential, and good for satiety. I don't do well digestively with them, so I keep them low, but that's just me.

Carbohydrates are the most divisive of the macronutrients, some people love them, some people hate them. I imagine life would be unbearable without them.

Meet calorie goal
Meet macronutrient goals
Meet micronutrient goals

I'd personally advise against demonizing and eliminating foods. Use a bit of common sense to develop a nutritious and wholesome overall diet, but don't be scared of being flexible and eating the things you like (I assume like me that is donuts, ice cream, burgers, pizza etc). Just ensure it's done in a sensible moderated way within the confines of your calorie and macrinutritional limits. One of the things that kept me sane during the bulk of my weight loss and now during maintenance and vanity weight loss was "full tub Friday" where I would fit a full tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream in on a Friday.

You're 6ft1" and intend to do some exercise, you should have plenty of calories to play with to lose weight at a sensible rate.

Weight loss in not linear, and the scale will not show the whole picture. Weigh regularly and use a trend app like Trendweight or Libra to show trends in weight loss. Do not go off isolated scale weights. There are numerous things at play that will mask fat loss and show wonky scale readings. Do not panic at jumps in scale weight, especially if you're starting out training. If you are eating in a calorie deficit you will be dropping bodyfat.

Take pictures and measurements.
Observe the fitting of your clothes.

Track intake accurately for a sustained period whilst tracking trends in loss, and adjust calories and macronutrients according to results.

Do not listen to people who talk about detoxes, cleanses, metabolism kick starts or the like. Do not blindly follow arbitrary rules.

It can take a few weeks and a bit of effort, but it's not that hard to develop your own way of eating that works for you.

arsenalmorris

Excellent, Thanks alot for the decent and well though out answer, appriciated