Question about carbs and everything else

rose313

I just calculated my macro goals according to the Eat, Train, Progress thread here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

I couldn't comment on that thread with my question since there was no place to reply so I wanted to post it here.

I did all the math and found out that I should be eating 10% carbs (30g), 45% fat (60g) and 45% protein (135g).

For the past six weeks here are my actual macro percentages:
Week 1- 48/36/16
Week 2- 52/31/17
Week 3- 50/31/19
Week 4- 46/31/22
Week 5- 51/30/18
Week 6- 52/29/19

How in the world am I only supposed to eat 10% carbs? That's only 30g and I have been eating between 150-200 carbs per day.

Here are my weekly calorie averages for the past six weeks:
Week 1- 1655
Week 2- 1632
Week 3- 1489
Week 4- 1320
Week 5- 1519
Week 6- 1601

Here's the other thing. My calorie goal is set to 1200 but as you can see I ALWAYS go over that. I aim for a 20% cut from TDEE which is about 1400-1500. I am losing but very sporadically:

Weight loss by week:
Week 1- 0 lbs
Week 2- 2.8 lbs
Week 3- 0.8 lbs
Week 4- 0.4 lbs
Week 5- 0.2 lbs
Week 6- 1.4 lbs

If I do the math based on what I'm currently eating, let's say 1500 calories, it shows me 36% protein, 35% fat, and 29% carbs, which would let me have 90g carbs, 105g protein, and 35g fat. That is so much more realistic.

What should I do? Set my macros for what I am currently eating (I am losing but slowly) or set them for my actual goal of 1200 calories? (I know that's not much, so if I'm legitimately hungry I'll eat 1300 or 1400)

douevenliftbro13

cut out the carbs and eat leaner meats. Turkey, fish, chicken and lean beef. Try to avoid eating bread, rice, noodles. Substitute them for their wheat counterparts. I only eat carbs early in the day and prior to my workouts after that its just meat and veggies.

SideSteel

You should be able to join our group and post your question as a new thread in the group.

My initial suggestion is that you should re-check your math as I'm not sure how you could arrive at that low of a carbohydrate intake unless you somehow have your calories set far lower than need be.

It appears you took MFP's recommendation of 1200 calories and then attempted to use our thread to determine your macros. That's not going to end well. The intent of the thread is for you to get an estimation on both calories and macronutrients. The method you appear to be using (correct me if I'm wrong) is to take your own calorie number and then attempt to use the macronutrient suggestion in the thread.

Look at the caloric estimation tools we've provided in the thread and if you have questions feel free to post a thread in the group.

rose313

You should be able to join our group and post your question as a new thread in the group.

My initial suggestion is that you should re-check your math as I'm not sure how you could arrive at that low of a carbohydrate intake unless you somehow have your calories set far lower than need be.

Yup rechecking my math now. I don't want to double post this question so I will join and post in the group tomorrow if I still need help.

Thanks!

Edit: Rechecking math:

Protein: 170 (My weight) x 0.8 (LBM) = 136g x 4 calories = 544 divided by 1200 (calorie target) = 45%
Fat: 0.35 x 170 = 59.5 x 9 calories = 535.5 divided by 1200= 45%

45% plus 45% equals 90 percent leaving only 10% left for carbs.

When I set my goals to 10% carbs it tells me only 30g again.

erickirb

@ 1500 cals, and 35% that would be 58 grams, not sure where you got the 35 from. I agree with SS re-check your math, even at 1200 cals 35% fat would be 47 grams.
FYI, 1 gram of protein has 4 calories, 1 grams of carbs has 4 calories, and 1 gram of fat has 9 calories.

JTick

You should be able to join our group and post your question as a new thread in the group.

My initial suggestion is that you should re-check your math as I'm not sure how you could arrive at that low of a carbohydrate intake unless you somehow have your calories set far lower than need be.

Yup rechecking my math now. I don't want to double post this question so I will join and post in the group tomorrow if I still need help.

Thanks!

If I were you, I'd head on over to the group and let SideSteel and Sara help you out. Like he said, you can't take the blanket 1200 calories that MFP gives you and then try to apply ETP's recommended macros to that...the numbers probably aren't going to work out. 1200 is probably too little for you, and your carb level would be much more comfortable if you were eating more appropriately for your activity level.

rose313

You should be able to join our group and post your question as a new thread in the group.

My initial suggestion is that you should re-check your math as I'm not sure how you could arrive at that low of a carbohydrate intake unless you somehow have your calories set far lower than need be.

Yup rechecking my math now. I don't want to double post this question so I will join and post in the group tomorrow if I still need help.

Thanks!

If I were you, I'd head on over to the group and let SideSteel and Sara help you out. Like he said, you can't take the blanket 1200 calories that MFP gives you and then try to apply ETP's recommended macros to that...the numbers probably aren't going to work out. 1200 is probably too little for you, and your carb level would be much more comfortable if you were eating more appropriately for your activity level.

Ok, I will do that now then! Thanks!

m_o_

First, let me say your math through me for a loop. When I was on low carb, I got down to about 20 g of carbs but I was eating a lot of protein, no breads, some dairy ( full fat cottage cheese), etcetera but I was often above my calorie goal of 1200. My best advice to you would be to pre-enter your meals for the day so you can see where the carbs are coming from. Bananas were my doom. I'm not currently practicing low-carb but I've found when entering my meals, I still tend to stay low until I do something crazy like cake.

Best of Luck,
m_o_