Macros

ksmommy5

So I'm 5'5" and 245 lbs. Set to lose 1.5 lbs a week. My macros are 50/30/20. For a fat person I find it odd that I need 50% carbs? Is this right??

mellowadam

Those are just defaults. You'll need to play around until you figure out what your body likes and what makes sense for your goal.

Some people do great on moderate to high carbs. Others do better on higher fat and lower carb.

Really depends on you goals and what helps you adhere to a calorie deficit.

Provided you're getting enough protein to support lean muscle retention and enough essential fats you will do just fine.

Figure out what works for you and roll with it. Good luck.

malibu927

Unless you have a medical reason, macros are a personal preference. You can eat 100% carbs and lose weight as long as you're in a calorie deficit.

ISO905

First of all, you're not a "fat person" you're a human being who struggles with weight. There is no need to put unhealthy labels on yourself. No doubt you have friends and family that think you are pretty awesome so THAT is who you are.

As far as macros you want to be in a range for each macro that will provide you with the healthy nutrients that you need. Try to stick in a range of Protein 10-35%-- Fat 20-35%-- Carbohydrates 45%-65%. These ranges are healthy and versatile enough that it incorporates a wide variety of eating preferences.

ksmommy5

malibu927 wrote: »

Unless you have a medical reason, macros are a personal preference. You can eat 100% carbs and lose weight as long as you're in a calorie deficit.

So my macros don't matter? As long as I eat the 1500 cals mfp tells me to I'm good? I worry I'd get 3 weeks in calories counting and sabotaged myself by not eating these macros properly.

CafeRacer808

ksmommy5 wrote: »

malibu927 wrote: »

Unless you have a medical reason, macros are a personal preference. You can eat 100% carbs and lose weight as long as you're in a calorie deficit.

So my macros don't matter? As long as I eat the 1500 cals mfp tells me to I'm good? I worry I'd get 3 weeks in calories counting and sabotaged myself by not eating these macros properly.

Calories are what matter for weight loss.

ISO905

ksmommy5 wrote: »

malibu927 wrote: »

Unless you have a medical reason, macros are a personal preference. You can eat 100% carbs and lose weight as long as you're in a calorie deficit.

So my macros don't matter? As long as I eat the 1500 cals mfp tells me to I'm good? I worry I'd get 3 weeks in calories counting and sabotaged myself by not eating these macros properly.

Ya...your macros do matter. I suspect your true goal is just not weight loss. If we were to talk about your goals I would guess that your goal is really to have HEALTHY weight loss to a sustainable body weight and be metabolically healthy (good blood pressure, cholesterol, no vitamin or mineral deficiencies etc.) I have yet to meet anyone whose only goal was: "I want to loose weight...I want to get down to 120 pounds but I want to be unhealthy with poor cholesterol levels, poor vitamin profile and have no energy...the ONLY thing I'm interested in is weight loss" If THAT is your only goal then yes, only calories matter. otherwise...they kinda matter

rileysowner

ISO905 wrote: »

ksmommy5 wrote: »

malibu927 wrote: »

Unless you have a medical reason, macros are a personal preference. You can eat 100% carbs and lose weight as long as you're in a calorie deficit.

So my macros don't matter? As long as I eat the 1500 cals mfp tells me to I'm good? I worry I'd get 3 weeks in calories counting and sabotaged myself by not eating these macros properly.

Ya...your macros do matter. I suspect your true goal is just not weight loss. If we were to talk about your goals I would guess that your goal is really to have HEALTHY weight loss to a sustainable body weight and be metabolically healthy (good blood pressure, cholesterol, no vitamin or mineral deficiencies etc.) I have yet to meet anyone whose only goal was: "I want to loose weight...I want to get down to 120 pounds but I want to be unhealthy with poor cholesterol levels, poor vitamin profile and have no energy...the ONLY thing I'm interested in is weight loss" If THAT is your only goal then yes, only calories matter. otherwise...they kinda matter

This is wrong. Healthy weight loss can happen at any sort of macro break down. Even maintaining muscle has more to do with maintaining a moderate calorie deficit and doing exercise that like strength training. A quick google of the twinkie diet will find that even eating that way will result in improvements in cholesterol, blood pressure and other health markers. For that matter, macro breakdown has little to do with vitamin and minerals other than if a person goes to some radical macro breakdown that doesn't provide sufficient fat to utilize fat soluble vitamins. Calories are what is important for weight loss, meaning fat loss, and other health markers will improve as well even with radically different macro breakdowns. That means a Vegan and a HFLC person can both be healthy, with good health markers even though their macros are radically different.

Jazzymamma1

I'm not expert by any means, but my PT has been coaching me in nutrition too and has had me tracking Macros for the last several months. My basic understanding is that while yes, you can lose weight eating whatever the heck you want- like nothing by candy bars, as long as you don't go over your daily caloric goal, HOWEVER, common sense will tell you that will eventually make you sick and probably rot your teeth out.
So tracking Macos help you to balance what and how much you eat.
With my current Macros, my Protein and Carb intake are almost equal.
It also depends on what your goal is- as was mentioned in a previous reply. Also on your activity level and intensity.
I strength train 4-5 days a week lifting heavy weights. I do little to no cardio.
So with that in mind my Trainer allotted me equal portions of Protein and Carbs.
Carbs are easily digested and what your body taps into first for energy during physical exertion. Excess carbs that aren't used are then broken down into sugar and then stored as fat.
Protein is what aids you body in recovery and helps repair/rebuild muscle the tiny fibers that are broken down during exercise.

But girl, just stick with the Macros that MFP calculated for you as a starting point for at least 6-8 weeks. Trust me, you will see results. Fitness and Nutrition is a Constantly Evolving beast. As you progress, your goals are likely to change. You can do this!!!

rileysowner

Jazzymamma1 wrote: »

I'm not expert by any means, but my PT has been coaching me in nutrition too and has had me tracking Macros for the last several months. My basic understanding is that while yes, you can lose weight eating whatever the heck you want- like nothing by candy bars, as long as you don't go over your daily caloric goal, HOWEVER, common sense will tell you that will eventually make you sick and probably rot your teeth out.
So tracking Macos help you to balance what and how much you eat.
With my current Macros, my Protein and Carb intake are almost equal.
It also depends on what your goal is- as was mentioned in a previous reply. Also on your activity level and intensity.
I strength train 4-5 days a week lifting heavy weights. I do little to no cardio.
So with that in mind my Trainer allotted me equal portions of Protein and Carbs.
Carbs are easily digested and what your body taps into first for energy during physical exertion. Excess carbs that aren't used are then broken down into sugar and then stored as fat.
Protein is what aids you body in recovery and helps repair/rebuild muscle the tiny fibers that are broken down during exercise.

But girl, just stick with the Macros that MFP calculated for you as a starting point for at least 6-8 weeks. Trust me, you will see results. Fitness and Nutrition is a Constantly Evolving beast. As you progress, your goals are likely to change. You can do this!!!

First, the only candy bar thing is just a straw man many put up. No one I know would eat only candy bars, or only potato chips, or whatever. If a person is inclined to eat that way, I highly doubt tracking macros would stop it as it would likely be because of some sort of mental health issue.

Second, tracking Macros for most people will only help them with weight loss in this way, it will help them see what sort of foods keeping them satiated longer. That is, does higher fat or higher protein, or higher carb or some combination of them help them stick to their calorie goal easier.

The thing is, they can discover that just as much from just looking at the foods they eat, without knowing their macro breakdowns, and think, hey that meal kept me full longer, so I should eat that more often. I know this is the case because when I started out I used pen and paper to record my calories for the day, and I did not include macros. I simply started to notice patterns and ended up shifting my meals to eating those foods that kept me full longer. I didn't need to follow macros at all.

In fact, if I had done so, it simply would have been information that I would have started obsessing over (I know because I have in the past done the Zone diet and got super obsessed with 40-30-30). I eventually started figuring out the calories eaten in various diets I had tried that limited this or that type of food, and quickly realized that they all functioned on establishing a calorie deficit, and all of them, every single one, resulted in improvements in my health markers and physical energy levels. Now, I have not tried the more wacky ones like the cabbage soup diet, but in general it seems for people who are obese, the simple act of eating at an appropriate calorie level will result in great improvements in health. Depending on other goals, then macro tracking can help such as when a person wanted to put on lots of muscle, or if they want to be able to run a marathon or cycle a century race. So tracking macros have a place, but it is specific to specific goals. It is not necessary for healthy fat loss.

jdwils14

The point of tracking macros is to find out what works well for your body. I guarantee you every one of us in this thread have different macronutrient goals. For instance, my body doesn't process certain carbs very well, so I try to limit those and eat higher fats, because my body does process those better. Also, I often go over when eating higher carbs in my regimen. Protein should be a staple, so you can maintain and build muscle mass, and then you just play around with the fat/carbs ratio to what best fits your body.

I can have bad blood sugar crashes when I eat a lot of carbohydrates and get hungry some hours later. higher fat gives me more consistency with my hunger feelings, however the trade-off is that fat is 2.25 more calorie dense than carbohydrates (9 calories per gram vs 4 calories per gram).

Great job for getting on here. Tracking is the first step. Be wary of the message boards, they can get vicious sometimes, but so can any thread online. Do some research, and maybe take a class at your community college. It can help you get educated about what you are doing so you can feel empowered to make decisions that are best for you.

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt

malibu927 wrote: »

Unless you have a medical reason, macros are a personal preference. You can eat 100% carbs and lose weight as long as you're in a calorie deficit.

^^ This.

Eat the macro combination that is most satisfying for you. If you think you would be more satiated with more fat or more protein, bump those up some and bump carbs down.

It does not matter one iota for weight loss.

Emily3907

This is my advice. If you are just starting out, focus on your calories and start taking note of the meals that leave you satisfied and give you lasting energy. Note the macros of these meals. Are the meals usually around x% carbs/ y% fat / z% protein?

As you get further along, you can start adjusting your macro goals to the spread you find yourself being most satisfied with. This is different for everyone. But, finding what works for YOU is the best tool you can give yourself.

Sharon_C

Start out slow so you don't get overwhelmed with counting all these different things and end up quitting. Track calories, then when you have the hang of that and you're losing you can start tracking macros. I lost all my weight by just counting calories. It wasn't until I was 4 years into this that I even started looking at macros and I'm doing it because I love weight lifting and I want to get enough protein in.

Take baby steps and don't worry about doing everything at once. There is no right or wrong way (except for eating over your calories )

cwolfman13

ksmommy5 wrote: »

So I'm 5'5" and 245 lbs. Set to lose 1.5 lbs a week. My macros are 50/30/20. For a fat person I find it odd that I need 50% carbs? Is this right??

Those are default settings...but carbs have nothing to do with you being fat or not fat. Actually, carbs aren't readily converted to fat. "Carbs" is also a pretty big umbrella...unfortunately, the media has everyone convinced that carbs are just nutritionally void junk foods when in reality there are many nutritionally awesome sources of carbohydrates.

popbubblewrap

In terms of losing weight, only being in a caloric deficit matters, and it doesn't matter where the calories come from, whether it's protein/fat/carbs.

In terms of health, macros do matter because you want carbs for energy, fat for hormone balance, and protein to maintain muscle mass.

So you don't want to eat just 100% carbs, though, obviously, for health reasons. When I say lose weight, it can come from body fat OR lean body mass like muscles, so you need to consume your daily requirement of protein in order to maintain muscle mass.

My Fitness Pal macro default values aren't accurate. Here's how to calculate correct caloric intake and macro values: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=156380403

MFP macro tracking is only available to premium users, but LifeSum app lets you track macros for free.