Calories vs macros

briislovely

I have about 35-40 lbs to loose. Can i loose most of it by just having a calories deficit or do I have to look at my macros to loose?

TavistockToad

Calorie deficit.

Macros help with muscle retention and keeping full though

cwolfman13

Calories are a unit of energy...weight management is about energy management...when you take in more energy than you require to maintain the status quot, that excess energy is stored as body fat (energy reserves). When you consume less energy than you require, you burn your energy reserves (body fat) to make up for that deficiency.

It's calories. Macros don't really have anything to do with weight loss...they have more to do with general nutrition and balancing out your diet and can impact fitness performance and will effect overall body composition.

SezxyStef

all about calories for weight loss.

VisofSer

Both matter, calories are more important. You can lose weight while ignoring macros, but not by ignoring calories. Macros do help however, and some of the ways of managing macros can make it easier to manage calories than pure counting depending on how you take to them. Generally, this:

vismal

If you are going to go through the trouble of counting all your calories, and you are using MFP to track, you might as well also track your macros. It's not much more work and while it isn't necessary for weight loss, it will help ensure the maximum percentage of weight that is lost is fat and not lean tissue.

erinc5

Yes, you can lose all of it with just calories alone. I have lost almost 30 lbs changing my macros around it seems like almost every week because I couldn't stick to anything except a deficit (I tried low carb, high carb, high protein, etc...) and without consistently working out. I am now in the normal BMI range with only 10 or 15 more lbs to lose. Now, I am following a plan (StrongCurves), and really paying attention to my macros because I know it is more important now for my aesthetics to pay more attention now.

You can certainly pay attention to fitness and macros earlier in your journey (it may benefit you more). But there is nothing wrong with just following a deficit.

DrifterBear

Macro tweaking can help you feel more full or satisfied after a meal. If your hitting calories but are hungry or just don't look forward to what your eating, maybe you're not getting enough fat or protein. It helps to be aware of but weight loss is all about calories.

briislovely

Thanks everyone!