Macro ratios... any suggestions?

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bregrig
bregrig Posts: 154 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all!

I have been trying to figure out what would be a good macro ratio for myself with wanting to lose 40-50 pounds (5'8'', 193 pounds, I do moderate exercise 40-60 minutes 5x/week including running, spin, weight training). I was a vegetarian last year and did paleo for a bit so I am having a hard time figuring out my protein and carb ratios and trying to figure out what is best for me.

Any feedback would be helpful!

Replies

  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Hello all!

    I have been trying to figure out what would be a good macro ratio for myself with wanting to lose 40-50 pounds (5'8'', 193 pounds, I do moderate exercise 40-60 minutes 5x/week including running, spin, weight training). I was a vegetarian last year and did paleo for a bit so I am having a hard time figuring out my protein and carb ratios and trying to figure out what is best for me.

    Any feedback would be helpful!

    I think the general recommendation is 0.8 to 1 g protein per pound lean mass, 0.4g fat per pound bodyweight and past that you just eat the macro ratio that makes you most comfortable with your calorie goal. It is personal taste but in my own experience I do the following:

    If I feel hungry with my calorie goal then I up the amount of protein and fiber I am eating
    If I feel overly full with my calorie goal then I lower the protein and fiber
    If I feel low energy and cannot complete workouts then I up the amount of carbs I'm eating.

    I'm typically aiming at 40/40/20 protein/carb/fat but I'm not religious about it.
  • DrJenO
    DrJenO Posts: 404 Member
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    In an ideal world, I would do 40/40/20, but usually it ends up being 30/40/30.

    By my estimates, I have about 120 pounds of lean body mass, and so try to get at least 120grams of protein a day, 100-110 as a bare minimum. I then find that the rest of the macros tend to fall into place. For me, protein is the one that will get low if I'm not paying attention.
  • mrbyte
    mrbyte Posts: 270 Member
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    i do 40/40/20 with 20% as carbs. I might up it to 25% since my activity has been a little higher than normal. I have 176 lean body mass at 200 pounds. Just had a bf comp test done yesterday.
  • bregrig
    bregrig Posts: 154 Member
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    i do 40/40/20 with 20% as carbs. I might up it to 25% since my activity has been a little higher than normal. I have 176 lean body mass at 200 pounds. Just had a bf comp test done yesterday.

    Did you notice any dip in energy levels with carbs being at 20%? Right now my carb intake is around 40% which isn't ideal, but am afraid I won't have the energy I do now for my workouts etc.
  • mrbyte
    mrbyte Posts: 270 Member
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    Surprisingly I feel very good right now. I'm not skipping workouts. I look forward to workouts. I've been much stronger in the past about 12 months ago when I was 15 pounds heavier. I wasn't watching carbs then. I then took 6 months off, lost 10 pounds and started back up working out at 205. So I lost muscle and wasn't very sharp at that time. For some reason, I decided to start watching my carbs and just start cutting without going into at least a few months of bulk training to get the 10 pounds back. This was about 3 months ago when I started the carb restriction.

    So now I am at 200 and I estimated I've dropped perhaps 3% bf. My strength is not at am all time but it's very good. I was able to do 8 sets of 4 reps with 210 pounds yesterday on bench. Good enough to get me motivated and looking forward to next workout. If your energy is good right now and you are making progress I would not go to 20% because I'd rather suggest that as a plan in case you hit a weight loss plateau. I'm thinking of uping my carbs up 25 to 50g a day and add brown rice to my diet. If I still lose bf at this budget then I will keep that because the extra carbs will only help with strength. Plus, I'm am in a very active excercise phase.

    You are doing push aways at tables with carbs you can't eat so discipline is in order for anyone that wants to do this type of diet. That's was probably the hardest thing to do but now it's 2nd nature.

    I will say that my 20% is probably a lot more grams than you would get. I get around 150g a carb a day on my 3200 to 3400 calories intake a day. This maintains my weight at around 200.

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