Macros for weight loss

hubbardjames84
hubbardjames84 Posts: 1 Member
edited November 2024 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi guys, I'm just starting to really get into this lifestyle change and am wanting to change my life with losing weight and building muscle. I'm not massive, but definitely fat, lol! I wanted to know what some suggestions for weight loss would be for my macros. I go to the gym several times a week and definitely put in cardio and am learning how to lift weights properly as well.

All suggestions and advice appreciated.

Replies

  • briscogun
    briscogun Posts: 1,138 Member
    I think the defaults in MFP are 50% C, 30% F, 20% P if I remember right, but you can change them if you feel you need to. But to lose weight it doesn't mater where your macros come from, it's CICO. If you want to eat more protein to support a strength training regimen, go for it. Just make sure you eat at or below your calorie goal and you'll lose weight. It's not like one macro at a higher % will make you lose weight faster than another, or conversely one lower will help lose more either.

    Good luck!
  • DragonHasTheSapphire
    DragonHasTheSapphire Posts: 184 Member
    hubbardjames84 wrote: »
    Hi guys, I'm just starting to really get into this lifestyle change and am wanting to change my life with losing weight and building muscle. I'm not massive, but definitely fat, lol! I wanted to know what some suggestions for weight loss would be for my macros. I go to the gym several times a week and definitely put in cardio and am learning how to lift weights properly as well.

    All suggestions and advice appreciated.

    I agree with the suggestions above. Whatever keeps you satisfied longer, add more to that and eat a bit less of the macros that don't keep you as full. Fiber, protein, and fat keep me fuller longer. I used to load up on carbs and skimp on protein, and stayed ravenous most of the time. Big mistake!

    That's not to say I cut carbs, just ate a little less and replaced it with more protein and fiber, ect. :) They have tons of carb-rich foods with plenty of fiber.

    This is a little irrelevent, but my macros are: 250-270g of carbs, 85-90g fat, 100-120+ protein, 50-60g fiber. It used to be: 300g carbs, 70g fat, 70g protein, 35-40g of fiber. After making those switches it helped a lot!
  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
    Good morning!

    Been gone for about six months....but here again.

    Generally speaking, calories are first and foremost the thing to determine. Since you are looking to loose weight | body fat (technically, there is a difference) you likely need to know your maintenance caloric intake. You can not really know if you are in a caloric surplus or caloric deficit without knowing your maintenance intake (well....a bit of latitude with that comment).

    Once you know your maintenance calories, you will need to drop your caloric intake a bit.

    Here is what I would suggest.....with a couple of "assumptions" to make this more concrete (just replace my incorrect numbers with numbers that are correct for you).


    Assumptions:
    1. Let's say that you are 30 years of age, stand 5'10" and weigh 225lbs.
    2. Let's say that you consume - on average - 3,400 calories a day.
    3. Furthermore, let's assume that you do not track calories or macros so you have no clue to what those could look like.
    4. Additionally, let's say that you have NEVER dieted, lost weight, struggled, gained all the weight back, rinse and repeated.
    5. Now, let's say that you have always been somewhat consistent with "caloric intake" and you have no disorders (hey, dudes can get that, too....the ladies do not have the corner on that market).
    6. Finally, since you are indeed in the gym doing resistance training let's say that you are able to recover from your training sessions (you are getting 8 solid hours of sleep, you are doing some foam rolling, et al).


    So, let's say that you look at an on-line calculator and you have determined that your maintenance caloric intake is
    3,100 Calories based on your gender, age, height, weight and activity level. Since you know that these on-line calculators are a "good start" you stated playing with this, started weighing/measuring food and have been consuming 3,100 calories for the last five weeks and you have neither gained nor lost any weight....so, it is somewhat safe to go with 3,100 calories being your maintenance caloric intake.

    Now, you are going to do this following the "slow and steady" way. Let's say that you decide that you are going reduce your calories by 400 calories a day. So, you will be at 2,700 Calories per day.

    You have two options here.....making sure that you consume those 2,700 Calories without much attention on macro-breakdown (not what I would suggest....you have already learned how to count calories | weigh food) or you can start with a pretty widely-accepted macro breakdown and adjust accordingly (since we are all different).

    I would suggest starting with the 'macro-breakdown and adjust' approach.

    So, we would start with Protein intake. You weight 225 lbs (let's not worry about 'lean body mass' in this conversation) so I would suggest you start with 225g of Protein every day.

    One down! :-)

    Let's now look at Fat. The somewhat generally accepted guidance there is between 0.35g/lb and 0.5g/lb. Let's - and this is somewhat random - start at 0.4g/lb. So, that would translate to 90g of Fat every day.

    The rest....Carbohydrates. And, let's not forget about Fiber (get about 35g - 50g everyday).

    Remember, this is a starting point. How does your body respond? How do you feel? Are the 90g of Fat too much (meaning, do you like the foods that you are consuming to get those 90g of Fat.....).

    There are several other things to consider here....but let's not do "analysis to paralysis" here. Let's take the basics and see how you respond and adjust - if necessary - accordingly.

    Make sense?
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