Macros ..

hjaye9285

Looking to lose weight and I'm not sure if I should just keep tracking my calories or switch to macro counting or even both? I know some of you are really educated in this area via experience so your advice would be helpful ..

JcMey3r

It all depends on how dedicated you want to be and how bad you want your results. For a lifestyle change and good weight loss then counting calories will do the trick but try and eat good foods that contribute to your health. If you really want to get strict and really kill it in losing weight then do macros as well.

Dano74

hjaye9285 wrote: »

Looking to lose weight and I'm not sure if I should just keep tracking my calories or switch to macro counting or even both? I know some of you are really educated in this area via experience so your advice would be helpful ..

Macros are based on fitness and aesthetic goals, typically. By counting macros, you are also counting calories, as macros should first and foremost align with a calorie goal aligned with your weight loss/gain goal.

If it's only fat loss you're after, calories have you covered.

rachelblesso

If you are going to count your calories, you may as well take in one step farther and count your macros. Or at least have a general idea of what your taking in each day. For losing weight, I'd recommend high protein, moderate fat, and very low-carb. Every 3-4 days treat yourself to a high carb meal. That should keep your metabolism firing away, while your body does it's thing.

Dano74

rachelblesso wrote: »

If you are going to count your calories, you may as well take in one step farther and count your macros. Or at least have a general idea of what your taking in each day. For losing weight, I'd recommend high protein, moderate fat, and very low-carb. Every 3-4 days treat yourself to a high carb meal. That should keep your metabolism firing away, while your body does it's thing.

At first I was like, ok. Then I was like, huh? And then I was like, what the what? And then I blacked out because I hit my head too hard against my phone screen.

Know you mean well, but that's an over generalized,ill-conceived brocommendation.

cthakkar1985

Counting calories is a must if you want to lose weight. You need to burn more calories than you are consuming in order to lose weight. If you count macros (which by definition means you are also counting calories), I think you will be much more satisfied with your results because you will (if you're doing it right) maximize fat loss and minimize the amount of muscle you lose. This should be your goal in my opinion - lose fat and not just weight. Once you get the hang of it, counting macros takes like 10 minutes/day, counting calories probably takes about half the time. In my opinion, the extra 5 minutes a day is absolutely worth it given you'll look/feel much better as you are moving towards your goal.

Christine_72

I prelog my day every morning. First i check if my calories are in line, then i have a look at my macros. If i don't have enough protein or fat or too much sodium, then i may tweak things a bit, but usually they're pretty good. They're never perfectly spot on, but if they're close enough i leave them be.

I've never quite understood those that just count their macros, as by doing this they're automatically counting calories anyway, so why not keep an eye on both.

MFP rolls both calories and macros in one right there in your diary anyways, which makes everything so simple.

kommodevaran

A sustained calorie deficit is necessary to lose weight. Counting calories is a method to make sure you are taking in the amount of calories you think you are, and it can help with awareness, giving you a pause to think whether this is a good time to eat and if this is a good thing or good amount to eat.

For most dieters, calorie counting will be enough. But some people struggle with hunger when they reduce calories, and setting and tracking macros correctly can help balance nutrition and thus improve satiety, and thus adherence.

When you track macros, you are counting calories, because macros (macronutrients - fat, carb, protein) are what make up calories.

Losing weight is simple, but not necessarily easy. You have to be patient and vigilant, accurate and flexible, realistic and optimistic, firm and kind, use your brain and pay attention to your emotions, find the "signal" and tune out "noise", do short term and think long term. To keep weight off afterwards, you need to change habits and attitudes. If you want success, focus on what's necessary for you to achieve the desired outcome, and ignore everything else.

trigden1991

Calories > Macros > Everything Else

psuLemon

To add onto what others are saying, general recommendations, and I do mean general, go:

Pro - 1g / lb of lean body mass
Fats - .35-.6 /lb of lbm
Carbs - rest

Fats and carbs are highly variable base don satiety, medical history, and personal preference. Protein helps with maintaining muscle mass during weight loss, along with resistance/weight training.

psuLemon

rachelblesso wrote: »

If you are going to count your calories, you may as well take in one step farther and count your macros. Or at least have a general idea of what your taking in each day. For losing weight, I'd recommend high protein, moderate fat, and very low-carb. Every 3-4 days treat yourself to a high carb meal. That should keep your metabolism firing away, while your body does it's thing.

Just like to point out that your metabolism is always firing away. It is literally all the chemical actions to maintain your living body. The only way your metabolism isn't working is if you are dead. Increasing meal frequency doesn't increase metabolism (outside the short period that it's digesting food) but if calories are equal, TEF will be the same regardless if you eat 2 or 10 meals.

And there is no reason to obey your recommendations for macro split unless it works for personal preference.

crzycatlady1

Weight loss is about calories.

Shanel0916

bump

fallingwave

I really believe it depends on the person. 1500 calories a day eating what I want just doesn't work. So I focus on staying within 1500 calories and hitting a certain # of grams of protein and staying under a certain # of grams for carbs.

GauchoMark

I count calories first, then protein.

I monitor all of them, but what I really care about is #1 - eating within my calorie goal and #2 eating enough protein. The other two usually fall in line pretty well on their own.

hjaye9285

Thanks so much for answering this question for me you guys are the best for advice on weight loss...I'm already counting calories and it's going well,but seeing a lot about macros recently had me wondering if I could be doing better at faster fat loss... I can't go too low carb because it's always triggered binges in the past so I try and stay within reason and only eat non air food versions ..thanks again!