'moderate' carb, 'moderate' fat

Emirena

I've been eating to suit my cravings and appetite for about a year now, as a transition off of a ultra-low carb, high fat diet. It only took about a month to lose the inappropriate carb cravings, and I'm much happier now. I would like to lean down a couple lbs, but nothing more than 1-2 lb per month.

My question relates to macros. When I eat the way my body guides me, I end up within a macro range no "macro calculator" or dietician would recommend.

5'2, ~28 years old, ~114 lb ~18-19% BF estimated. Guessing my maintenance is about 1550kcal. Most macro guides max out around 55g fat per day on maintenance calories and recommend between 150 and 200g carbs.

On rest days, I tend to find myself at about: 1250-1500 kcal, 75-100g carbs, 75-90g protein, 50-70g fat

On workout days, I permit higher end ranges for carbs and fat (~130g carbs, ~70g fat) and 1500-1700 calories. I did have a recent leg day that got me to 2000 net kcal, LOL. but that only happens about once a week at worst.

So far I've basically maintained for past 2 months at this plan, despite having ~3-4 days per week at what should be a ~200 calorie deficit and mostly remainder at maintenance. I lift 3-5 days per week (switched to high rep, lower weight scheme only doing legs twice a week) with one or two days where I tack on 30 minutes of 60-70% max HR on treadmill or bike.

I noticed that in the past, I only really lose weight if I dip closer to 1000 calories/day. I just can't really restrict that much any longer, especially on gym days!

Anyone else have similar macros? Anyone eat significantly higher fat grams than they see recommended and still make progress?

Does anyone actually eat 200 carb grams in a day? My "usual" carbs consist of dairy (milk, yogurt, 10-15g carbs), a sandwich (15-20g carbs), nut butter (~5-8g carbs) and about 3 chocolates (~30g carbs), some chips/potato products (~15g carbs) which nets me 75-120g on a normal day.

Unless I ate more pasta, oatmeal, pancakes, or an entire order of fries (yessss) I can't see myself hitting 200g like ever.

I justify my fats by replacing carbs gram for gram with fats. Math works, but dunno if metabolically it does!

lemurcat2

I'm a little uncomfortable with the talk of 1000 cal, especially if your BF% estimates are accurate. Could be you've been eating too low for too long and need a diet break.

Macros are largely just personal preference. If you have enough protein (which you do), I don't think it matters what percentage fat vs. carbs you eat except for how you feel, and performance if you are training.

At 100 g carbs, 90 g protein, 70 g fat, you would be at 1390 -- I'll note that's the high end of your ranges, so that's not 1550. In any case, the ranges you gave are around 25%-30% carbs, 25% protein, and 45-50% fat. I would consider that low carb, just not keto, and I eat somewhat similarly from a macro % perspective, although at a higher cal level (1500-1600) when losing. It is also based on just my preferences and how I tend to eat.

Carbs, I tend to eat about 50 from veg (don't generally count net carbs other than when I briefly keto'd, so this is total carbs), 15-25 from fruit, and then maybe 50 g from starchy sides, depending on the day. Maybe some from cottage cheese or greek yogurt (plain) too. I'll usually have vegetables with all meals, maybe dairy with my omelet (occasionally avocado or berries). Frequently I'll have fruit with lunch or dinner and a starchy carb with another (or smaller servings of starchy carbs with both), although if I had starchy carbs with both AND fruit, which I might, I would have more carbs than usual. In the summer I eat more fruit so my carbs go up some, and when I'm making an effort to eat less meat I'll usually have more beans, and so my carbs go up some.

At maintenance (roughly 2000-2100, although it depends on activity) I eat more like 150 g most days, but I could easily hit 200 g on maintenance if I had higher carb breakfasts (right now I'm into omelets, but I like a variety of smoothie or oat based breakfasts that can be higher carb and which I find equally filling), and more fruit and a starch course at lunch and dinner. But then I also see nothing negative about oats, pasta, rice (I don't love rice so it's usually not worth the calories for me, but many do), potatoes, sweet potatoes, bread (same as rice for me, however), so on, or even occasional or in moderation sweets.

kimny72

There really aren't universally recommended macro levels, they are personal preference. Finding a macro balance that keeps you satiated and energetic at the right calorie level is key IMHO.

I have seen guidance suggesting that for general good health, you should aim for at least 0.6g of protein per lb of your goal body weight, and at least 0.3g of fat. I don't think there's any reason to assume more of either is harmful, assuming it's not pushing out other stuff you do need.

I tend to eat @ 200g of carbs, I did that while I was losing, and still do now that I'm maintaining. I feel better and get full faster on a moderate-to-high carb level, assuming my fiber is at goal. I've seen people here lose, maintain, and gain at all different macro %s.

If you aren't using a food scale, or double checking that the entries you are choosing in the database have correct calorie and macro info, it might be helpful to tighten up your logging for at least a couple of weeks to make sure your logging is giving you accurate data. Also agree with lemurcat2 that you might benefit from the diet break thread as well:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

Good luck!

Emirena

Thanks to both of you!

I'm definitely not in need of a diet break, I have noticed I tend to naturally eat on a sort of on/off, deficit/maintenance-surplus daily pattern, as seen on last 30 days of tracking NET calories:
As you can see, more than half the time I'm at or above maintenance. I am probably just eating a little too much too many days of the week, plus my night-time workouts inevitably lead to having my largest meal of the day at 8-9pm

I do use a food scale about half the time for things like nuts, nut butter, fatty meat, chips, but I'm pretty damn good at eyeballing by now. I try to overestimate by about 10-20% when eyeballing to be safe. I should definitely make sure to weigh chips and nut butter again - easy to underestimate by 30-50%.

My only problem with carbs is I'm oft. too lazy to cook veggies unless I'm eating salads in summer, so most of mine come from chocolate, bread and chips Oh well. I take my vitamins and eat dairy, etc.

cmriverside

I eat a lot of raw vegetables. I don't even call it a salad, because that would mean making the pieces relatively small and adding stuff I don't care about like oils or dressing or croutons or cheese. Just a bowl of lettuce, chunks of carrots, peppers, celery, cucumber, zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, whatever vegetables I have on hand.

Alternately I'll eat a bag of steamers. Takes five minutes. I think vegetables are important and if you are missing out on needed nutrients - in my opinion it makes weight loss more difficult.

As far as macros, I eat about the same way you do. My defaults are set at 50C/30F/20P, but I'm often over on fats and under on carbs. I do eat a lot of vegetables and fruits.

psuLemon

Emirena wrote: »

Thanks to both of you!

I'm definitely not in need of a diet break, I have noticed I tend to naturally eat on a sort of on/off, deficit/maintenance-surplus daily pattern, as seen on last 30 days of tracking NET calories:
As you can see, more than half the time I'm at or above maintenance. I am probably just eating a little too much too many days of the week, plus my night-time workouts inevitably lead to having my largest meal of the day at 8-9pm

I do use a food scale about half the time for things like nuts, nut butter, fatty meat, chips, but I'm pretty damn good at eyeballing by now. I try to overestimate by about 10-20% when eyeballing to be safe. I should definitely make sure to weigh chips and nut butter again - easy to underestimate by 30-50%.

My only problem with carbs is I'm oft. too lazy to cook veggies unless I'm eating salads in summer, so most of mine come from chocolate, bread and chips Oh well. I take my vitamins and eat dairy, etc.

Your maintenance calories are probably higher than you think, especially since you only partially use a food scale.

If you are that lean, your body is probably going to be more resistant at this point.. almost think in terms of a "set point". It probably is a good time to incorporate refeeds in your plan. There is some evidence that these days of high carb low fat and moderate protein days can help regulate hormones like leptin and ghrelin and improve fat loss.

If you look at that thread posted above, it provides a good foundation for it. What you might notice as well, is that you will be able to consume higher amounts of calories and still lose fat.


Outside of losing a few extra lbs, do you have any goals?

Emirena

psuLemon wrote: »

Emirena wrote: »

Thanks to both of you!

I'm definitely not in need of a diet break, I have noticed I tend to naturally eat on a sort of on/off, deficit/maintenance-surplus daily pattern, as seen on last 30 days of tracking NET calories:
As you can see, more than half the time I'm at or above maintenance. I am probably just eating a little too much too many days of the week, plus my night-time workouts inevitably lead to having my largest meal of the day at 8-9pm

I do use a food scale about half the time for things like nuts, nut butter, fatty meat, chips, but I'm pretty damn good at eyeballing by now. I try to overestimate by about 10-20% when eyeballing to be safe. I should definitely make sure to weigh chips and nut butter again - easy to underestimate by 30-50%.

My only problem with carbs is I'm oft. too lazy to cook veggies unless I'm eating salads in summer, so most of mine come from chocolate, bread and chips Oh well. I take my vitamins and eat dairy, etc.

Your maintenance calories are probably higher than you think, especially since you only partially use a food scale.

If you are that lean, your body is probably going to be more resistant at this point.. almost think in terms of a "set point". It probably is a good time to incorporate refeeds in your plan. There is some evidence that these days of high carb low fat and moderate protein days can help regulate hormones like leptin and ghrelin and improve fat loss.

If you look at that thread posted above, it provides a good foundation for it. What you might notice as well, is that you will be able to consume higher amounts of calories and still lose fat.

Outside of losing a few extra lbs, do you have any goals?

Thank you!!

Indeed, I probably am eating more than I think on gym days. For instance, today I did a high rep back/bicep routine and then cycled for 30 min. Whole foods was next door so I hit the hot bar for a lot of chicken, a little squash, and a little mac and cheese. Ended up eating about 1600kcal total. With exercise, this might be a 100 calorie deficit. I've always had an easy time losing weight if I don't exercise or just walk for cardio, but I like my muscle mass - lifting and/or moderate intensity cardio just makes me so hungry.

"Set point" is my feeling on this, too - I keep saying to myself and others that maintenance is easy at this weight, I basically eat whatever I crave and don't gain, I just feel rather fluffy right now - I think I have gained some muscle as well, which is good. Thing is, whenever I eat less on most days, I usually end up hungry right before bedtime and then eat enough to hit maintenance calories.

I'm getting my BF estimate from the fact that visually I'd guess I was about 20% and the gym's impedance monitor first read me at 18% initially and now says 16%. Apparently those things supposedly estimate HIGH, but there's no way I'm anywhere below 18-19%. My thighs are soft and my abs are barely covered in a firm layer. upper body fairly lean. Face hasn't gained fat. boobies haven't changed. Pants have fit the same all year (hallelujiah). I was once (about 8 years ago) skin and bones anorexic, so I know how I look at a wide range of different BF levels.

Re: Refeed: OH LYLE I'm a fangirl. I was under the perhaps wrong impression that refeeds were only necessary if one was actively dieting - restricting carbs and/or fats or eating well below maintenance intake. Ala his "rapid fatloss handbook". I also assumed my semi-regular 1700-2000kcal days would be enough to qualify as a refeed (although they're often high carb and high fat as a result of eating fried food at a restaurant - I don't plan them as I would a diet day's macros). Watching vidya tomorrow.

Only goal is to maintain muscle and strength and de-fluff from the extra few lbs of fat. Standard "look good naked" goal. I'm within 2-5 lbs of my ideal weight, but 2-5 lbs is about 1-4% of my total mass. Being small doesn't make it easy, and holidays have made my ideal weight unsustainable Hiking and running would be easier if I was a little less thicc, too.

I try not to overthink or overuse my food scale (only to fact-check my guesstimations) since I'm not gaining weight, and haven't had any disordered eating issues for a couple years.