Macros and losing weight; new member

NicM18
NicM18 Posts: 5 Member
in Getting Started

So, if there’s anyone in here that can help me it would be greatly appreciated. I’m monkeying around with this app, being new and all and I put in that I wanted to lose a pound a week to see what it would give me. It has me at 241 carbs a day and only 96 of protein and like 1900 calories. This just doesn’t seem accurate? Wouldn’t I want to really limit my carbs? Asking for a friend

Replies

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    NicM18 wrote: »
    So, if there’s anyone in here that can help me it would be greatly appreciated. I’m monkeying around with this app, being new and all and I put in that I wanted to lose a pound a week to see what it would give me. It has me at 241 carbs a day and only 96 of protein and like 1900 calories. This just doesn’t seem accurate? Wouldn’t I want to really limit my carbs? Asking for a friend

    Macros don't directly affect weight loss, except how they affect satiety and adherence.

    Many here look at the MFP defaults for protein and fat as minimums and let carbs fall where they may (unless obviously they are specifically doing low carb). My carbs were around 200g while I was losing, and are usually a bit over now that I'm maintaining, but I find carbs filling so that's what works for me. Different people do better with different macro distributions, so you kind of have to play around with it and figure out what fills you up and what ends up being a waste of calories.

    Good luck!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    NicM18 wrote: »
    So, if there’s anyone in here that can help me it would be greatly appreciated. I’m monkeying around with this app, being new and all and I put in that I wanted to lose a pound a week to see what it would give me. It has me at 241 carbs a day and only 96 of protein and like 1900 calories. This just doesn’t seem accurate? Wouldn’t I want to really limit my carbs? Asking for a friend

    Sounds like a reasonable starting point to me. Try it for 6 weeks, then adjust based on your average weekly results.

    This whole "carb limiting" fantasy is just the most recent magical fad about weight loss. If low carb helps you avoid cravings (as it does for some people), it will help you achieve a calorie deficit (which is what you actually need in order to lose weight). Unless you're diabetic, pre-diabetic, or insulin resistant, there's no need to limit carbs for other reasons.

    People who limit carbs will often see a bigger scale drop in the first week, because digesting/metabolizing carbs requires a little more water retention than digesting/metabolizing other macronutrients. Since this initial drop is water, not fat, it's meaningless in terms of true weight loss, but it makes people think their diet is working right away, which can be motivating. But it's smoke and mirrors. After a few weeks, losses tend to equalize for low vs. higher carb diets in which protein is held constant between the two.

    I'm another vote for get enough protein, get enough fats, eat plenty of fruits and veggies, hit your calorie goal the overwhelming majority of days, and let carbs fall where they may. I lost weight fine that way.
  • vaskaxtumir
    vaskaxtumir Posts: 16 Member
    See how your own body reacts to that plan. If you find you're losing 2 lbs a week on that, it means it's for you. If not, lower your carbs to 125 g a day, say, and see how that goes. Most people will find that it accelerates their fat loss wonderfully. Some, like me, are so insulin resistant/carb sensitive that they have to restrict their carbs even further. I'm down to 35 g a day, and that's working fine for me for now. The nice thing about carb sensitivity is that as one loses the accumulated fat in one's body, one's metabolism changes and it becomes possible to start re-introducing more carbs into one's diet, bit by bit. I'm nowhere near that point yet but am looking forward to it 10-12 months from now :-)
  • indiacaitlin
    indiacaitlin Posts: 691 Member
    Overall calories are the most important thing, I've tried differing macro combinations and haven't noticed much of a difference in the rate of my losses! Eat your calories, protein is good for satiety so upping that may help you feel fuller for longer, but overall calories are the main thing you need to be really concerned about.

Categories