Low Carber Daily Forum

Join

Setting macros on MFP

Options
farmers_daughter
farmers_daughter Posts: 1,632 Member
in Social Groups
:smiley: New here, but not new here.
I'm back because I'm a 35 yr old single mom who is going to meet 300lbs if I don't do something now.
To keep this story short...once upon a time...I used to do low carb, it didn't last, stress and kids and money(lackthereof) and pasta got in the way.
I don't know that I ever got down under 50 carbs a day - but I'm going to give it consideration.
How do you guys suggest I set my MFP #goals to be a good ratio of carbs, fat and protein?
And I know - 20 carbs is the ideal way to go, but I'm not setting myself up for failure just yet. :wink: I'll eventually get there.

Replies

  • Cadori
    Cadori Posts: 4,810 Member
    Options
    Welcome back! :)

    Personally, I have my calories set to 1500
    Carbs set to 5% (5% of 1500 is 75 calories 75/4 is ~19 grams of carb)
    Protein is set to 25 or 30 which brings me close to 100 grams per day
    Fat fills the rest.

    I would suggest finding the carb limit you want to aim for, finding the protein goal that suits your needs and base those percentages off your daily caloric goal.
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
    Options
    I just strive to keep carbs low daily and calories in check weekly. I'm set to 1500 daily maintenance calories. 10,500 per week. I don't watch the weekly necessarily but I also don't eat the same amount everyday. I'm pretty close though-seems to be what I "need" most days. I let protein and fat fall where they may. It balances out over the week.

    For me: 15% carbs=56 total grams, 30% protein=113 grams, 55% fat = 92 grams.
  • mmultanen
    mmultanen Posts: 1,029 Member
    Options
    I frankly, don't bother with macro percentages. I have a hard limit of carbohydrate grams I stay under daily and I focus on eating protein when I'm eating. The rest sort of falls in line and that's worked well for me over the years. I do keep an eye on calories but I don't have a limit or goal on them.

    I've stepped down before and it's an approach that works well for some people. Focus on staying under 75G carbohydrates for a few days or weeks till you feel like you've really got the hang of it, then drop to 50G, then 40G etc.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,954 Member
    Options
    farmers_daughter wrote: »
    :smiley: New here, but not new here.
    I'm back because I'm a 35 yr old single mom who is going to meet 300lbs if I don't do something now.
    To keep this story short...once upon a time...I used to do low carb, it didn't last, stress and kids and money(lackthereof) and pasta got in the way.
    I don't know that I ever got down under 50 carbs a day - but I'm going to give it consideration.
    How do you guys suggest I set my MFP #goals to be a good ratio of carbs, fat and protein?
    And I know - 20 carbs is the ideal way to go, but I'm not setting myself up for failure just yet. :wink: I'll eventually get there.

    It depends on your goals. If you are wanting to do keto, get into ketosis, you need to be at or under 50g total carbs a day. If you don't necessarily want to do keto, then you can aim for a little more. It's still low carb. And you'll still lose weight if you keep your calories in check. I myself fall between 60 and 100g most of the time.

    This is how you should approach it:
    • Carbs are a ceiling in grams.
    • Protein is a range based upon your height, weight, and activity level. You can use a calc like the "ankerl keto calc" to do that for you. Stay in that range in grams. The more active you are, the more often you should be hitting closer to the upper middle of the range consistently. But the minimum in grams, don't go under that much more than occasionally. Thy needeth thy protein. And like I said, the more active you are the more you need.
    • Fill the rest of your intake with fat.
    MFP basic works on pesky percentages. Just adjust your carb and protein percentages to get as close to your grams as you can. Personally, I set the carb percentage as close as I can to my goal, and my protein % as close to my middle-range # (which for me is 100g). If I can't get it as perfect as I like, pffffft. They are just reference numbers so that I know where I am in my day. :smirk:
    mmultanen wrote: »
    I frankly, don't bother with macro percentages. I have a hard limit of carbohydrate grams I stay under daily and I focus on eating protein when I'm eating. The rest sort of falls in line and that's worked well for me over the years. I do keep an eye on calories but I don't have a limit or goal on them.

    I've stepped down before and it's an approach that works well for some people. Focus on staying under 75G carbohydrates for a few days or weeks till you feel like you've really got the hang of it, then drop to 50G, then 40G etc.

    If you really want to get down to keto levels, but can't go cold-turkey, this is a good strategy.
  • __Roxy__
    __Roxy__ Posts: 825 Member
    edited January 2018
    Options
    I would suggest finding the carb limit you want to aim for, finding the protein goal that suits your needs and base those percentages off your daily caloric goal.

    I agree with this. Choose your calorie deficit. Then choose your carb max. Then choose your protein goal. Fat fills the rest (and does not need to be eaten to it's max daily).

    I also am 34f and started at 315lbs. I've lost 75lbs so far with keto. I do 1380 cal, 20 carb, 100 protein, 100 fat. If you're concerned about too low of carbs, you could try 50 carbs, 100 protein, and the rest fat? Or something close to this?

Categories