Grams of Protein, Carbs, & Fiber needed daily?

reesegrace1

Trying to figure out how many grams of Protein, Carbs, & Fiber needed daily? This is what i found reading online.
Protein - Divide your weight in lbs. by .36. That is the # of grams of protein needed daily. I weigh 230 lbs, so i would need 82g of Protein daily.
Carbs - Determine your calorie intake by 2. and divide that # by 4. That is your grams of carbs you need daily. I want to eat 1400 calories a day, so i should have 175 carbs a day, or less if i want to lose weight like around 50-150 carbs a day.
Fiber - Women 50 and over should have about 28g of Fiber or 14g of Fiber per 1000 calories eaten in a day. So if i want to eat 1400 calories a day, i should have around 21 or 22 g of Fiber per day.
Is this information accurate? What is your thoughts on this?

Nony_Mouse

The default macro goals MFP gives are a perfectly okay starting place.

For weight loss, calories are what matter. Macros (protein, carbs, fats) have more to do with personal preference and individual goals. Personally, I aim for a higher protein intake than the MFP default, and find fat more satiating than carbs, so am higher on that as well. Other people prefer higher carb. You do not need to reduce carbs to lose weight, unless your carb intake results in you eating too many calories (again, it's the calories that matter for weight loss - carbs don't make you fat, fat doesn't make you fat, too many calories is what causes weight gain).

I note you don't mention fat. This is an essential nutrient, necessary for good health and absorption of some vitamins. MFP presumably defaults to the minimum RDA, so don't drop that one.

lemurcat2

For weight loss it doesn't matter (for health and satiety it does, and with protein for maintaining muscle).

MFP will give you targets for all of these. At 1400, you should get 175 g carbs, 70 g protein, 47 g fat.

Personally, I think at low calories (1400 is low unless your goal weight and height put you on the small side), MFP's protein goal is fine, but probably not optimal for maintaining muscle at anything but a slight deficit, although that's less of a concern if you have a lot to lose. The formula you are using for protein tells you the minimum that one needs for health (0.8 g/kg) and mostly I see that pushed up to 1 g/kg under more recent studies (and if one is 100% plant-based I'd definitely eat at least 1 g/kg). However, it's also based on a healthy weight, so if you have weight to lose to get to the healthy zone you can use your healthy goal weight.

When at a deficit, and also when active, there are benefits to more than the minimum recommended protein, and it's also worth noting that protein is often satiating. So I'd say a better minimum for someone losing is 0.6 to 0.8 g per lb of a healthy goal weight. When I was losing, my goal was around 125, so that range was between 75 g and 100 g. I aimed for the top of that, but didn't fret if I didn't hit it. Thus, I likely would have switched MFP's default from 20% to 25% at 1400 (which gives a goal of about 88).

Regarding carbs, you absolutely do not need to eat below MFP's 175 g (50%) goal to lose. If you end up feeling better eating less, that's fine, but plenty of people lose on that or more, calories are what matter for losing.

For fiber, I think the 14 g per 1000 cal is right, but MFP's goal is 25 g, and personally I've always preferred to get a good bit more than that. But one thing to consider with fiber is that increasing gradually is a good idea, or you can get digestive issues.

kshama2001

Another vote for starting with the MFP default macros.

You can add Fiber to what you see in your food diary by swapping out something here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

For example, I swapped Sugar and Sodium for Fiber and Iron (I'm anemic).

lemurcat2

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

The default macro goals MFP gives are a perfectly okay starting place.

For weight loss, calories are what matter. Macros (protein, carbs, fats) have more to do with personal preference and individual goals. Personally, I aim for a higher protein intake than the MFP default, and find fat more satiating than carbs, so am higher on that as well. Other people prefer higher carb. You do not need to reduce carbs to lose weight, unless your carb intake results in you eating too many calories (again, it's the calories that matter for weight loss - carbs don't make you fat, fat doesn't make you fat, too many calories is what causes weight gain).

I note you don't mention fat. This is an essential nutrient, necessary for good health and absorption of some vitamins. MFP presumably defaults to the minimum RDA, so don't drop that one.

Actually, the RDA is 20-35%, and MFP is at 30%, so it's okay to eat less, although I think 30% is often a nice level for people to start with and I personally tend to be there or over.

Nony_Mouse

lemurcat2 wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

The default macro goals MFP gives are a perfectly okay starting place.

For weight loss, calories are what matter. Macros (protein, carbs, fats) have more to do with personal preference and individual goals. Personally, I aim for a higher protein intake than the MFP default, and find fat more satiating than carbs, so am higher on that as well. Other people prefer higher carb. You do not need to reduce carbs to lose weight, unless your carb intake results in you eating too many calories (again, it's the calories that matter for weight loss - carbs don't make you fat, fat doesn't make you fat, too many calories is what causes weight gain).

I note you don't mention fat. This is an essential nutrient, necessary for good health and absorption of some vitamins. MFP presumably defaults to the minimum RDA, so don't drop that one.

Actually, the RDA is 20-35%, and MFP is at 30%, so it's okay to eat less, although I think 30% is often a nice level for people to start with and I personally tend to be there or over.

That will teach me not to check things!

liftingbro

1g of protein for each pound of lean mass, or if you're lean 1g per pound of body weight. Fill in the carbs and fat however you like.