Macros, TDEE = completely lost

micahsmom91011
micahsmom91011 Posts: 26 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Prior to using MFP I'd never heard of Macros or TDEE. I know BMR but that was it. I have read through a few forums, websites, etc. and I'm still confused. (Perhaps because I've been working on business taxes all day and this is my "break".)

So here's me:
5'4"
29 yrs old
Female
Current weight: 314 lbs.
Body Fat % (according to my scale) 56.8%
LBM (based on the above) 131.8 lbs.
BMR: 2137
TDEE (according to IIFYM): 2565
I have a desk job and while I intend to work out a minimum of 3 days a week I don't want that calculated into my food allotment in case I don't work out.

So take away 20% and my calorie goal should be 2052. This sounds rather high for a woman and I've been on MFP for a month, lost a little over 10 lbs, but ate at about 1600-1800. If I take 20% from my BMR then my calorie allotment is 1710 which sounds more normal to me.

If I calcaulate my macros based on the 1710 though it says I should be eating 524 calories of protein, 1125 cal of fat, and 61 cal carbs. That can't be right. If I go with 2052 calories, then my carbs bump up to 403 calories. Either way this still leaves me with an exceedingly high fat %.

Can someone explain this to me or are my calculations off somewhere? I'm happy with the 11lbs I've lost in a month, but being so heavy I would assume I would lose more and if I can safely then obviously I want to. Help would be greatly appreciated.

Replies

  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    Hi! and congratulations on committing to lifelong health!

    For someone very heavy, a TDEE-30% is not unheard of. But don't go lower than that. That's 1800 calories/day for you.
  • MrsAustin1480
    MrsAustin1480 Posts: 83 Member
    I'm a noob at the macros thing too but I've played with mine a bit and *from what I can tell* you should try to eat .08 to 1 gram of protein per pound of your lean body mass (whatever isn't fat). Then I halved my remaining calories between carbs and fat. I have found I stay much fuller eating more protein. My macros are currently set at 45% protein, 30% carbs and 25% fat. With MFP when you manually adjust your macro goals, you kinda have to ballpark the grams because the percentages have to add up to 100% (maaath).

    Also, recalculate when you lose weight and body fat percentage. I'm not sure how much weight...but I've lost 9 pounds this go-round and haven't recalculated mine yet because it hasn't even been a month yet so I'm pretty sure my LBM hasn't changed much. Good luck! Hopefully some more knowledgable posters will swoop in here and salvage - or better articulate - my response. :-)

    Protein has what? 4 calories per gram? So that would mean your 524 would be about right. You might try what I did, and halve your fats and carbs instead of going high fat/low carb (although that approach obviously works for some: just search LCHF here). So that would leave you with 638 for carbs and fat....just an option. You'll definitely have the opportunity to tweak it if it doesn't work. Everyone's body is different. Don't get discouraged!

    And good for you researching this stuff. It's overwhelming, I know!

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