Macros or Calories?

ashlee_tx

I have about 100 pounds to lose and I am wanting to lose it in about a year. I've done every diet that I can think of and I fail. I know this is the life style change and I really do try. I just need to work on being more consistent. Due to financial problems, the eating out as stopped all together. So I am eating more at home. Which is cheaper. I see that going by what I can afford I am well under my calories (usually around 1800-1850 MFP wants 2053) and when I look at my macros I never hit my protein. I have the CELLUCOR protein shakes (which are amazing by the day) How important is it to hit every single macro every day? Or if I just count calories will I lose weight?
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

-Confused plus size girl.

Ironandwine69

Calories first.
Calories second.
Macros third.

kimny72

Ironandwine69 wrote: »

Calories first.
Calories second.
Macros third.

+1

Calories will determine how much weight you lose. Macros help with satiety (which is very individual) and for health and fitness goals/issues. Most people view their protein and fat goals as minimums and let carbs fall where they may.

MaddMaestro

Calories. Lost near 80 pounds in a year from CICO and a bit of exercise. Always CICO for the initial weight loss.

MikeEsko

Think of your calories like a filing cabinet and your macros like the drawers. You have a drawer for protein, a drawer for fat, and a drawer for carbs. Your job is to fill those ups, but each drawer can only hold so much and the whole cabinet can only fit so much. Some times you may put some carbs in the protien drawer or the fat drawer, but you never want to go over your total cabinet (allowence). I always go off percentagea inatead of grams unless bulking.

Yes it is true, calories first. But macros is a giideline to make sure you are eating the right calories which will help uou maintain fat loss.

Without macros, you could eat 8 donuts a day and be at 1600 calories. If this creates a deficit, you will lose weight but it isnt going to allow you to maintain when you start eating regular again. Plus it would be really unhealthy and will cause a lot of health problems.

kristen8000

Calories.

I feel macros come in when you figure out how food affects you. If your lack of protein makes you hungry or tired it's time to re-assess. If you stick to or a bit under your calorie limit EVERY DAY (consistency is key), you will lose weight. We can't tell you how much or how fast, but you will lose weight.

I see the need for the deadline and when we start we have an idea of when we want to be 'something', but I do want to remind you that maintaining that weight loss is hard too. Don't be in too much of a hurry that you quit. Or get tired of it. Most people "quit" because they aren't doing something sustainable.

OliveGirl128

Ironandwine69 wrote: »

Calories first.
Calories second.
Macros third.

This.

Op-I lost my extra 50lbs without ever tracking/paying attention to macros. Calories is where it's at

BoxerBrawler

I lost all of my weight before I came here and when I did I started tracking calories to lose more. It worked, but I was always hungry and I didn't really think nor did I care about what I ate... only the calorie count. So I set my calorie target and starting working to hit my macro's instead. I prefer it because as long as it fits in my macro's I can eat it and at the end of the day I am sure to have a proper nutritional balance so I don't have to be hungry or think about cheating or binging or anything like that. I mean... If I eat 1200 calories worth of protein I'm going to end up sick in the long run... know what I mean?