New; questions (of course)

xxadverbxx

I peaked at a few forums, and still wasn't sure what to put the questions in. So I figured I'd do it here, since this will be my first post on the boards anyways, and despite my start date I only really started using this program two weeks ago. Hi, just call me Adverb. I'm working out right now about 4 times a week, but kinda want to step that up a bit harder. That's not my questions though.

I'm about 185, 23% or so body fat. Right now at least I'd like to end up around 185, 190lbs, and around 12-14% body fat. Looking at various sites I see some places state before bulking up to just focus on dropping weight/fat, and others state you can do both at the same time. So I'm curious should I set a goal weight on MFP lower than my current body weight until I do drop more body fat? Or should I set it to "maintain" as I want to end up around or slightly heavier (albeit with muscle, not fat) than I am now?

Also for what I'd like to do, what would be a good carb/pro/fat ratio? I currently have it set for 40/40/20, but usually end up around 20%fat, 45-50% carb, 30-35%pro in what I've been eating and I want to know if I should step up the protein a bit more or not.

xxadverbxx

Any help?

PikaKnight

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

PikaKnight

In regards to what you should track - that's really up to you. If you are aiming for a body fat %...then go ahead and focus on that. Although it won't be on your ticker, there are other ways to track body fat % progress.

http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/2013/10/tracking-steps-blood-sugar-and-more-with-myfitnesspal/

^This will help walk you through how to set up additional/extra tracking. Just replace blood sugar with body fat %

heybales

You will get the most from your workout eating at maintenance and surplus.

That means the most body improvements.

But since you want to drop some fat, you can make it faster with a very minor deficit (1/2 lb weekly).
Be honest about your daily non-exercise activity level, really sedentary 45 hr desk job and commute sitting?
Log your strength training and eat all those calories back to keep the minor deficit. The last thing you want is too big a deficit risking muscle mass.
You'll have newbie gains of muscle mass once you have tapped out your existing muscle's strength, which could take awhile depending.
But in that case, you can drop fat and gain muscle, very slowly, at the same time.

You are basically doing the cut/bulk method, only starting out on the cut.

xxadverbxx

Thanks for the advice!

Little confused on one other thing. I currently set my activity as "lightly active" though I don't know if it really should be "active"? I bike each weekday (commute to/from school) about 3/4 a mile each way. Mostly though I deliver pizzas which has me on my feet washing dishes or prepping dough/food. Not to mention going to/from my car to houses and into work and back again. But at the same time there are good 5-15 minute periods (and back again) that I'm sitting in my vehicle just driving.

Its mainly due to the driving part that I wasn't sure to set it at "lightly active" or "active".

heybales

If school time has you walking alot between classes, I could see that moving up to Active.

But lightly Active really is mainly standing for a 40 hr work week, not a lot of walking, but standing moving slowly.
So you work less, ride less, I'd think.

You could set to Light Active, and then make sure you always go over goal, never under.