Macros

jonny_2030

Can anyone point me in the right direction of calculator that can work out my macro intake to achieve to maximum weight loss? I have used 3 and all have come out different. Thanks

cmriverside

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/ask-the-dietitian-whats-the-best-carb-protein-and-fat-breakdown-for-weight-loss/

AnnPT77

Good news: Only calories matter for weight loss. Macros are about nutrition, satiation, energy level, body composition and health, so still important, but you can take a bit of time to dial them in if you need to, and close is good enough. Riverside gave you some good links for figuring out a decent starting point, then you can tweak them (within reason) based on experience and preferences.

There are three general strategies one could use to get a calorie estimate:

1. Let MFP figure it for you. If you follow its instructions, it will estimate your calorie needs excluding intentional exercise, but including your calorie deficit for weight loss (based on the weight loss rate you yourself request). You then log the exercise separately and eat it back. This is called the "NEAT" (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) approach.

2. Use a TDEE calculator to figure it for you. (TDEE = total daily energy expenditure). TDEE calculators estimate your intentional exercise into your base calorie goal. If the calculator asks about your weight loss goals, it may figure in your deficit before giving you an calorie goal, but pay attention to the instructions. Different TDEE calculators handle it differently. Put your deficit calorie goal from the calculator into MFP manually, and eat that number of calories. Because TDEE calculators average in your expected intentional exercise, you don't log exercise and eat it back (that would be double counting it).

3. Use a fitness tracker to estimate your calories, and synch it to MFP. That actually is used in conjunction with one of the methods above. I won't try to describe it in detail here, but it's a common option.

An important point is that any of the options above are just an estimate of the calories you need to eat to achieve a certain weight loss rate. They're not a perfect measurement. Therefore, it's a good plan to stick to that calorie goal for 4-6 weeks, and then look at average weekly loss rate. If the first couple of weeks have a much higher loss, ignore those and just use subsequent weeks (sometimes water weight fluctuations are weird at first).

If, after the 4-6 weeks, you're averaging a reasonable weight loss rate, stick with that calorie level (though you'll need to adjust it downward a little as you get lighter). If you're losing too fast, eat more. If you're losing too slowly (but have room to lose faster without risking your health), eat a little less.