Help with macros please

cloou

Would anyone please suggest possible macros for me?

Female, age 31, 243.5lbs (started at 266) exercise - week 1 couch25k (willing to add more exercises) single mum of 8 year old so i have general house duties and do not drive therefore walk everywhere which can sometimes be a lot as my daughter does a lot of extra curricular clubs.

I have a lifetime of not looking after myself, bad habits and very poor food choices. I have recently made some good changes but I am not willing or perhaps able yet to survive on plain chicken and veg type meals for dinner <--- that came across rude, but I meant it in the literal sense.

I also consume too much sugar but am actively cutting down over time. There is also quite a lot of food I do not enjoy but am willing ob time to try role things (just bit many at once).

Any other advice or help would be greatly received.

psuLemon

How many calories are you eating? Total, not net because that drives the macro calculations. I tend to like 40% carbs, 30% protien and 30% fats, but if your calories are low, then I would add protien and drop carbs.

Also, don't stress sugar. Sugar is a carb and by itself won't effect weight loss.

beachlover317

I suggest 40 -30 -30 to start. I do a higher protein and fat and a little lower carb. This is not because I am eating low carb, but I am just not a bread, cereal, etc. kind of girl.

Another suggestion? Start with small changes. You don't have to survive on chicken and vegetables. Just weigh and measure all your food and meet your calorie goal. Then as you learn to meet your calorie goal, begin working on meeting your macros. It's all a process that does not have to be achieved in one week or one month.

Try to make changes to become healthy. If you do that, you will meet your goals. Good Luck!

cloou

Mfp suggested I eat 1320 to lose 2lb a week, yesterday I ate 1500, today I ate 1762 after burning 583 in exercise.

I have opened my diary, although I have only been logging on mfp 2 days I have been eating similar calories for 6months now as I was following ww. But each week my food choices are getting better, but old habits die hard I suppose.

Thank you

cloou

Thank you beachlover, I totally understand changing things slowly, I have been looking at my food and habit for 6 months now and I am ready for the next step now, I am grasping eating the lower calorie but am still snacking too much, so after reading threads tonight I guessed I needed more protein and fibre but wanted to be sure and make sure wasn't missing something. I'm so confused right now. Thank you again.

beachlover317

I think we (and I'm certainly including myself) try to make this harder than it is. It is a bit of a time thing until you get used to logging and measuring. It sounds like you are on the right track. Snacking was hard for me, but upping my protein ( and I LOVE chicken) helps a lot. I keep a big container of chicken in the fridge and sometimes that is my snack. I try and log my meals at the beginning of the day. That way I know how much I have to play around with.

Keep track of everything you are able to do now that you couldn't do last month, last week, etc. It's a great motivator because as I have found, my brain refuses to see the new me some days. I also recommend taking a picture at the first of every month. Sometimes that is the only way I can see a change.

Good luck!

BrainyBurro

Thank you beachlover, I totally understand changing things slowly, I have been looking at my food and habit for 6 months now and I am ready for the next step now, I am grasping eating the lower calorie but am still snacking too much, so after reading threads tonight I guessed I needed more protein and fibre but wanted to be sure and make sure wasn't missing something. I'm so confused right now. Thank you again.

i don't track carbs. i only track protein and fats. whatever is left from your calories is necessarily carbs.

forget the whole %C/%P/%F method. it's the wrong way to think about macros.

your protein and fats goals should be based on your bodyweight, not the number of calories you are eating.

also, the fats and proteins are MINIMUMS. strive to meet or exceed these amounts (on average) every day. then fill out the rest of your calorie goal with carbs. if you add exercise and eat back some of those calories, they can be ANY mix of carbs, fats, and proteins you want them to be. that's because once you've met your goals based on your bodyweight, doing exercise generally does NOT increase your body's need for fats or proteins. MFP sticks to the %C/%P/%F method for these extra exercise calories. just ignore that. the way i do it is to add my daily exercise at the end of the day after my food log is done. once the food log is complete and i can see if i met my minimums, how your daily goals are affected by MFP's software once you log exercise becomes irrelevant.

your fats goal should be 0.35g/lb of bodyweight (in lbs)

your protein goal should be 1.0g/lb of lean body mass. lean body mass is all of your body weight that is not fat, or (100% - BF%) * bodyweight (in lbs).

thus,

fat grams = 0.35 * bodyweight
protein grams = 1.0 * (100% - BF%) * bodyweight = (100% - BF%) * bodyweight

if you're not strength training and not running a high daily calorie deficit, you can probably reduce your protein goal down to 0.8g/lb of lean body mass.

psuLemon

Mfp suggested I eat 1320 to lose 2lb a week, yesterday I ate 1500, today I ate 1762 after burning 583 in exercise.

I have opened my diary, although I have only been logging on mfp 2 days I have been eating similar calories for 6months now as I was following ww. But each week my food choices are getting better, but old habits die hard I suppose.

Thank you

How many hours a week do you workout? Knowing the MFP is set up to eat back exercise calories and fact that it also estimates those calories, the TDEE -20 % might be a better method, especially if you want to follow the IIFYM plan. Also, have you considered adding some resistance training.

cloou

Thank you beachlover, I totally understand changing things slowly, I have been looking at my food and habit for 6 months now and I am ready for the next step now, I am grasping eating the lower calorie but am still snacking too much, so after reading threads tonight I guessed I needed more protein and fibre but wanted to be sure and make sure wasn't missing something. I'm so confused right now. Thank you again.

i don't track carbs. i only track protein and fats. whatever is left from your calories is necessarily carbs.

forget the whole %C/%P/%F method. it's the wrong way to think about macros.

your protein and fats goals should be based on your bodyweight, not the number of calories you are eating.

also, the fats and proteins are MINIMUMS. strive to meet or exceed these amounts (on average) every day. then fill out the rest of your calorie goal with carbs. if you add exercise and eat back some of those calories, they can be ANY mix of carbs, fats, and proteins you want them to be. that's because once you've met your goals based on your bodyweight, doing exercise generally does NOT increase your body's need for fats or proteins. MFP sticks to the %C/%P/%F method for these extra exercise calories. just ignore that. the way i do it is to add my daily exercise at the end of the day after my food log is done. once the food log is complete and i can see if i met my minimums, how your daily goals are affected by MFP's software once you log exercise becomes irrelevant.

your fats goal should be 0.35g/lb of bodyweight (in lbs)

your protein goal should be 1.0g/lb of lean body mass. lean body mass is all of your body weight that is not fat, or (100% - BF%) * bodyweight (in lbs).

thus,

fat grams = 0.35 * bodyweight
protein grams = 1.0 * (100% - BF%) * bodyweight = (100% - BF%) * bodyweight

if you're not strength training and not running a high daily calorie deficit, you can probably reduce your protein goal down to 0.8g/lb of lean body mass.

I think I followed all that and looking at my macros that round about fits I think. thank you

cloou

Mfp suggested I eat 1320 to lose 2lb a week, yesterday I ate 1500, today I ate 1762 after burning 583 in exercise.

I have opened my diary, although I have only been logging on mfp 2 days I have been eating similar calories for 6months now as I was following ww. But each week my food choices are getting better, but old habits die hard I suppose.

Thank you

How many hours a week do you workout? Knowing the MFP is set up to eat back exercise calories and fact that it also estimates those calories, the TDEE -20 % might be a better method, especially if you want to follow the IIFYM plan. Also, have you considered adding some resistance training.

at the minute I don't properly work out I have just started the couch to 5 k so am running a little bit 3 times a week and then daily living really. what is the iifym plan please? how would I get started in that training please?

cloou

I think we (and I'm certainly including myself) try to make this harder than it is. It is a bit of a time thing until you get used to logging and measuring. It sounds like you are on the right track. Snacking was hard for me, but upping my protein ( and I LOVE chicken) helps a lot. I keep a big container of chicken in the fridge and sometimes that is my snack. I try and log my meals at the beginning of the day. That way I know how much I have to play around with.

Keep track of everything you are able to do now that you couldn't do last month, last week, etc. It's a great motivator because as I have found, my brain refuses to see the new me some days. I also recommend taking a picture at the first of every month. Sometimes that is the only way I can see a change.

Good luck!

I think you are absolutely right I am trying to do too much at once, I am just really struggling with where is best to start, I mainly want to feel full up and lose weight while not get baggy skin, they are my main priorities I think right now but being new to this Im struggling with where to start.

that is a very good idea to track the changes do you mean food habits or body changes?

thank you

psuLemon

Mfp suggested I eat 1320 to lose 2lb a week, yesterday I ate 1500, today I ate 1762 after burning 583 in exercise.

I have opened my diary, although I have only been logging on mfp 2 days I have been eating similar calories for 6months now as I was following ww. But each week my food choices are getting better, but old habits die hard I suppose.

Thank you

How many hours a week do you workout? Knowing the MFP is set up to eat back exercise calories and fact that it also estimates those calories, the TDEE -20 % might be a better method, especially if you want to follow the IIFYM plan. Also, have you considered adding some resistance training.

at the minute I don't properly work out I have just started the couch to 5 k so am running a little bit 3 times a week and then daily living really. what is the iifym plan please? how would I get started in that training please?

IIFYM = If it fits your macros. Essentially, you can eat whatever food you want as long as you hit your macronutrient profile. In terms of calories, you have a few options. You can continue what you are doing now, and eating back exercise calories or you can include exercise as part of your activity level. The question comes down to, do you prefer to eat back or eat the same calorie goal daily (i prefer the later). If you do prefer the later set your activity to lightly active and do not eat back exercise calories.

With that said, your original question, I would set macro's to 30% carbs, 40% protein and 30% fats. I would do this because your calories are low (due to the 2 lbs per week goal). This will allow for at least 130g of protein, which is probably .8g of protein per lb of lean body mass.

In terms of resistance training, this will depend on your equipment you have or access to a gym. What a lot of people do is start with body resistance (programs like, you are your own gym) or find youtube videos that use body weight as a workout (push ups, lunges, planks, squats, etc...). If you have access to equipment, i would good full body routines and do that 3 days a week. Personally, I would probably start with body resistance and then after a few months start doing free weights and then barebells.


If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

beachlover317

I think we (and I'm certainly including myself) try to make this harder than it is. It is a bit of a time thing until you get used to logging and measuring. It sounds like you are on the right track. Snacking was hard for me, but upping my protein ( and I LOVE chicken) helps a lot. I keep a big container of chicken in the fridge and sometimes that is my snack. I try and log my meals at the beginning of the day. That way I know how much I have to play around with.

Keep track of everything you are able to do now that you couldn't do last month, last week, etc. It's a great motivator because as I have found, my brain refuses to see the new me some days. I also recommend taking a picture at the first of every month. Sometimes that is the only way I can see a change.

Good luck!

I think you are absolutely right I am trying to do too much at once, I am just really struggling with where is best to start, I mainly want to feel full up and lose weight while not get baggy skin, they are my main priorities I think right now but being new to this Im struggling with where to start.

that is a very good idea to track the changes do you mean food habits or body changes?

thank you

I mean follow everything. You're doing the C25K - were you able to run the second time without getting so winded? Were you able to move through the run/walk pattern without dreading the run section? Can you carry your groceries up the stairs and into the house without getting winded? Do you have more energy? Are your shoes looser? Does your face look thinner? Just be aware of everything. As you get healthier, things do change and often times we overlook all these small, but significant changes.

Listen to psulemon & b burro for the numbers game. They will explain it much better than I.