Built muscle-Carbs, Fat, Protein calculation

Argentina40
Argentina40 Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all! I’m new to the app and I have questions about the percentages on macros. I was in a deficit and now i’m trying to build lean muscle. I set up the account but it doesn’t make sense that my protein intake says 20%, fat 30% and carbs 50%. I thought protein has to be higher to build muscle?! should i be moving this percentages around? can someone help please? ;) Thanks!

Replies

  • Sumiblue
    Sumiblue Posts: 1,597 Member
    You can change your macro percentages in settings. Everybody has different goals.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    Those are default macros. They can be changed. Your protein number is more of a set gram number based on your weight, not a percentage. So the lower your goal, the higher the percentage needs to be. There is no universal disagreement on how much protein you should take, but it usually falls somewhere between 0.6 to 0.8 grams per pound of your target weight. Or around 1 gram per pound of lean mass (your weight excluding body fat).
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
    Look into the research by Dr. Jose Antonio... very high protein diets.
  • jeffjeff85
    jeffjeff85 Posts: 118 Member
    Many recommend 1 gram protein per kg of body weight, other words half a gram per pound, or divide your weight by 2 to get GRAMS of protein.
    Bodybuilders aiming at a much higher level of muscle gain (and doing far more intense workouts than most) might consume twice that.
    At 200 lbs, I consider 100g protein a minimum, which is around 400 calories. Usually I eat closer to 150-180g per day, which is about 35-40% of my calorie intake.
  • jeffjeff85
    jeffjeff85 Posts: 118 Member
    Shoot, reading other responses, indeed nobody actually told you ...

    You can change this percentage by clicking "goals" and then sliding the numbers.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,966 Member
    If you'd like to learn more about protein needs generally, over a number of different lifestyle cases, this is a good evidence-based overview:

    https://examine.com/nutrition/how-much-protein-do-you-need/

    This is a good discussion here about macros:

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

    As Jeff said, you can change your percentages in the profile.

    Using those and other sources, I estimated my protein & fat needs based on circumstances and goal size, then set my MFP percentage to a value that would give that gram total at my base calories before exercise. Then I just eat to meet or exceed that number (not percent) for protein and fat daily. If the totals in my diary turn a mix of red & green, I just pretend it's Christmas. ;) (I use carbs as the balancer, since they're not an "essential nutrient" in the technical sense of that term.)

    Before anyone worries that this is ignoring micros or fiber: I also target 5 minimum, ideally 10+ 80g servings of varied, colorful veggies/fruits daily.

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