Increasing Calories Without Increasing Macros?
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Yikes to your coach recommendations as they show a generally uneducated recommendation and baseline. Keep her for her motivation, etc. Do not rely on her for your nutrition advice. That's what the program nutrition guides are for.
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Your coach is an imbecile. You calorie intake is formed of macronutrients. Unless you intend on consuming dark matter which is not recommended.6
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Why do you need a nutritionist?
You've lost 39lbs x3500 per lb = 136,500 calories eaten under your TDEE
How many calories have you been eating daily (you would know by weighing and logging your food accurately)
But let's stay you've been sticking to those macros 1340 calories, I'd add some...let's assume you've been eating 1500 a day)
How many days you been doing this?
1500x number of days plus 136500
Then divide that total by number of days to get your average TDEE
Take off 500 calories per day and lose 1lb a week
Ok, that helps a lot. Though I've only been logging for a month and skipped a whole week in there. Otherwise I was going off the Beachbody container system. I'll keep collecting information in the meantime. I'll be weighing myself on Friday and it will have been about 6 months at that point. I've been at a little more than a pound a week so far.0 -
ANYONE can be a beachbody coach. Don't even listen to them. Just track your calories.2
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25 weeks, 39 (maybe 40+, I fit into some shorts that didn't fit before this week) lbs. about 1.5 lb loss a week.1
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The thing about Beachbody is that I love the exercise component. I really like their workout videos. Their support groups are great and other than the nutritional information (I think my coach has always recommended calories way below where I think I should be for a reasonable deficit), my coach has been so positive, responsive and supportive, and I think this is important. The shakes are whatever.1
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The thing about Beachbody is that I love the exercise component. I really like their workout videos. Their support groups are great and other than the nutritional information (I think my coach has always recommended calories way below where I think I should be for a reasonable deficit), my coach has been so positive, responsive and supportive, and I think this is important. The shakes are whatever.
You're OK. Beach body has some great stuff and great, affirming coaches. You needn't give that up. I think most people are just pointing out being a BB coach doesn't come with any qualification as evidenced by her recommendations so take that advice with a grain of salt/second, researched opinions. No doubt your coach is well meaning... it's just in the case of her recommendations for nutrition, she is wrong and should not be offering that advice in the first place. Coaches, unless qualified (and finishing a program isn't necessarily that) should always refer clients to the nutrition guides, written and designed by professionals.
Your success has been awesome! You're really doing great thus far.4 -
courtneyfabulous wrote: »That's mathematically impossible- ask her to clarify
She did. She used an example. I think it can work on a tiny scale. I don't think you can eek 200 extra calories out of it easily. Besides that, I don't get the point of doing it that way. I'm eating food so my body can do its thing. I want the food I eat to be useful.
No, that doesn't work even on a small scale unless you use imprecise calorie counts. There's 4 kcal in 1 gram of carbs or protein and 9 kcal in 1 gram of fat, 7 in 1 gram of alcohol. If you increase your calories, they have to come from one of the macros, they will always come from the macros.3 -
Mathematically this does not make sense.
Macos - that is carbs, fat, protein - all have calories. Approximately 9 cals per gram of fat and 4 cals per gram of carb, protein. So 100 * 4 + 100 * 4 + 60 * 9 = 1340 cals to eat per day if you follow your coach's macro guideline. Which does not come out to the calorie goal you indicate. Your coach may have great qualities, but lacking in math or nutrition basics or both.
If your goal is to lose weight while still maintaining milk supply, and you've estimated your TDEE at 2200 + 200 for breastfeeding, then a 500 calorie deficit will have you around 1900 calories intake per day. A little lower would probably be fine, as long as you stay hydrated (dehyrdation is bad for milk supply) but I'd not go too much lower for fear of hurting the milk supply. Then adjust as needed based on results. I say this because TDEE calculations are estimations at best. There is no way to know precisely how much we burn on an average day. If milk supply is good and weight loss steady at about 1 pound per week over time, stick to 1900/day for a couple months then take away 30-50 to account for continued weight loss.So I've been really happy with my weight loss coach. She's been super encouraging and great. I have lost 39# and am in awesome shape at this point but I have plateaued around 183-4 lb for a month.
I switched from the Beachbody container system (which worked well- Ioved all the fresh fruits and veggies), to tracking macros and calories. My TDEE is somewhere around 2200 and *on top of the TDEE* I'm nursing my toddler and doing daily workouts: vinyasa flow, hilly hiking, and mountain biking/bike commuting. So I think with the deficit I should be in the mid/high 2000 calorie range most days. Once I started tracking my calories I was coming up with 1500-1900 calories a day, rarely breaking 2000. Honestly, I'm not very strict with what I eat and I'll have a glass of wine every night, pizza once a week etc so my carbs can be high. But I wasn't feeling hungry on those days so I just didn't eat. My coach gave me macro goals of 100 carbs, 100 protein and 60 fat.
When I started looking back at my intake this past month I was shocked at how I only topped 2000 about once a week. I started to wonder if I need to work on eating more. It's hard to even want more most days... i mean, put a plate of nachos in front of me and I'll top 3000 calories in a day no problem! But it's harder with healthier foods. My coach recommended adding 1-200 calories a day BUT NOT INCREASING MY MACROS. I'm like.. I guess? You can do that?
She says certain foods have higher macros vs calories and to avoid those, and that way I'll have more calories and the same macro goals. I really don't get how to do this. I've given it a shot and it simply doesn't seem to work well. That, and I can't find anyone whose nutrition advice is evidence-based recommending this. Or anyone at all. I'm 100% not a dummy about what Beachbody is and what it takes to become a coach so I get that she might not be right, though she does have legit experience. I wanted to ask other people who might have an idea of what the research says. Thanks!
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StaciMarie1974 if a 500 calorie deficit is what I'm looking at, and I don't count exercise into my daily calorie requirements (that TDEE was for the first step up from sedentary), I have been at 1900 many days. Just some days I'm at 1500 and don't even notice. Most days I'm 1800-1900.
I usually weigh in on Fridays and decided to weigh in today since ion having conniptions about this. I did lose 2 lbs from Friday- 184 to 182. So maybe the plateau is over and I need to stick around 1800-1900 a day.0 -
You may be confusing terms - TDEE means you factor in exercise.
If what you're doing is working: your milk supply is good, you are losing weight, you feel energetic and satiated - then you are overthinking things perhaps.
It it ins't broken, there is nothing to fix. Keep going as you are. If at some point one of those factors becomes a problem (you feel lethargic, or a 4-6 weeks goes by without a weight loss) then look into the possibility of change.
Keep in mind that you will NOT see a weight loss every time you step on the scale. Water weight can come from many sources. In my opinion it is helpful to look at the trend over time. If you weigh less now than you weighed 30 days ago: you are on the right path. If ever 4-6 weeks go by without a loss, that is when you can look to changing your calorie intake goal and/or improve logging accuracy.StaciMarie1974 if a 500 calorie deficit is what I'm looking at, and I don't count exercise into my daily calorie requirements (that TDEE was for the first step up from sedentary), I have been at 1900 many days. Just some days I'm at 1500 and don't even notice. Most days I'm 1800-1900.
I usually weigh in on Fridays and decided to weigh in today since ion having conniptions about this. I did lose 2 lbs from Friday- 184 to 182. So maybe the plateau is over and I need to stick around 1800-1900 a day.
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I think you're right in that I was mixing up whatever MFP counts as my base calories and TDEE.
Yes, yes and yes. Coming off a 3 week plateau is making me feel better. I've been steadily losing about 1.5 lb a week for six months and feeling fabulous. My daughter has good language skills and there have been times she has informed me there's not enough milk, and that hasn't happened in quite a while. You are right.
Thanks so muchStaciMarie1974 wrote: »You may be confusing terms - TDEE means you factor in exercise.
If what you're doing is working: your milk supply is good, you are losing weight, you feel energetic and satiated - then you are overthinking things perhaps. It it ins't broken, there is nothing to fix. Keep going as you are. If at some point one of those factors becomes a problem (you feel lethargic, or a 4-6 weeks goes by without a weight loss) then look into the possibility of change.
Keep in mind that you will NOT see a weight loss every time you step on the scale. Water weight can come from many sources. In my opinion it is helpful to look at the trend over time. If you weigh less now than you weighed 30 days ago: you are on the right path. If ever 4-6 weeks go by without a loss, that is when you can look to changing your calorie intake goal and/or improve logging accuracy.StaciMarie1974 if a 500 calorie deficit is what I'm looking at, and I don't count exercise into my daily calorie requirements (that TDEE was for the first step up from sedentary), I have been at 1900 many days. Just some days I'm at 1500 and don't even notice. Most days I'm 1800-1900.
I usually weigh in on Fridays and decided to weigh in today since ion having conniptions about this. I did lose 2 lbs from Friday- 184 to 182. So maybe the plateau is over and I need to stick around 1800-1900 a day.
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You can NOT increase calories without increasing macros. Macros are macronutrients measured in grams, calories are macronutrients measured in calories. They are basically the same thing. 1 carbohydrate "macro" is a gram of carbohydrate, which is equal to 4 calories. 1 protein "macro" is a gram of protein, which is equal to 4 calories. 1 fat "macro" is a gram of fat, which is equal to 9 calories.
Your coach either meant to increase calories but don't change your macronutrient RATIOS or don't change one of your macros like protein but do increase the others like fat and/or carbohydrates to increase calories.
But there is no way to increase your calories without increasing the amount of grams of macronutrients that you consume.
If your coach insists it is possible you need to fire them and get a new one.0 -
You can't increase calories without changing your macros...your macros are what make up your calories...fat 9 calories per gram; carbs 4 calories per gram; protein 4 calories per gram...your macros are your calories.0
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So I've been really happy with my weight loss coach. She's been super encouraging and great. I have lost 39# and am in awesome shape at this point but I have plateaued around 183-4 lb for a month.
I switched from the Beachbody container system (which worked well- Ioved all the fresh fruits and veggies), to tracking macros and calories. My TDEE is somewhere around 2200 and *on top of the TDEE* I'm nursing my toddler and doing daily workouts: vinyasa flow, hilly hiking, and mountain biking/bike commuting. So I think with the deficit I should be in the mid/high 2000 calorie range most days. Once I started tracking my calories I was coming up with 1500-1900 calories a day, rarely breaking 2000. Honestly, I'm not very strict with what I eat and I'll have a glass of wine every night, pizza once a week etc so my carbs can be high. But I wasn't feeling hungry on those days so I just didn't eat. My coach gave me macro goals of 100 carbs, 100 protein and 60 fat.
When I started looking back at my intake this past month I was shocked at how I only topped 2000 about once a week. I started to wonder if I need to work on eating more. It's hard to even want more most days... i mean, put a plate of nachos in front of me and I'll top 3000 calories in a day no problem! But it's harder with healthier foods. My coach recommended adding 1-200 calories a day BUT NOT INCREASING MY MACROS. I'm like.. I guess? You can do that?
She says certain foods have higher macros vs calories and to avoid those, and that way I'll have more calories and the same macro goals. I really don't get how to do this. I've given it a shot and it simply doesn't seem to work well. That, and I can't find anyone whose nutrition advice is evidence-based recommending this. Or anyone at all. I'm 100% not a dummy about what Beachbody is and what it takes to become a coach so I get that she might not be right, though she does have legit experience. I wanted to ask other people who might have an idea of what the research says. Thanks!
Not following exactly what your coach is saying.....Macros operate in a percentage (always equaling 100% between fat/carb/protein). So you can increase and decrease calories while keeping your macro %'s the same. Or you can change up your macro %'s while keeping your calroies the same. So you can indeed add 1-200 calories without changing your marcos %'s. But if you are given a specific gram for each macro then you would have to increase those.
Now what your coach my be trying to convey....it to not eat certain foods due to their macro content. Ie - pizza and wine aren't helping you lose weight. Sorry, but that's the truth. As you get closer to goal weight you have to be even more careful about your food choices.0 -
Thanks everyone for your insight! I really appreciate everyone, especially StaciMarie and Sud0nim! I'm going to keep plugging away!2
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I've been reading and am wondering if she's talking about food BULK and mistaking that for calories? Like, 100g of cauliflower has few grams of macros. But it's also low calorie.0
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I just wrote and told her I don't think it's possible... eep! Hopefully it was all a misunderstanding.0
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I just wrote and told her I don't think it's possible... eep! Hopefully it was all a misunderstanding.
please let us know what she says.
You might want to mention..
"Can you please clarify? carbs have 4 calories per gram, protein has 4 calories per gram, and fat has 9 calories per gram. Macros are inseparable from calories."
I can only hope and pray this person is not out there giving such ill-informed nutrition advice.1 -
The macro goals she gave you would equal 1340. No way around increasing macros without increasing calories. Her macro ratio is 30% carbs, 30% protein and 40% fat if you want to follow the %s
That's my thought as well, that the "coach" was thinking about ratios rather than numbers or else they are a total ignoramus, which given what it is wouldn't be surprising.
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