Calories/Protiens/Carbs/Fat...OH MY!

TONYAGOOCH

Ok...so my BMR is 1465. MFP has me at 1340 calories a day. My goals are preset by MFP to 55/15/30. I am 5'6 and weigh 169 and have a pear shaped body (gain the majority of my weight in my lower abdomen, hips, butt and thighs). I would love to lose about 35 more lbs. I tend to do weight training 3 times a week with a little cardio added in when I get a chance (I'm a very busy working mom with twin 3 yr olds and a husband that works nights. So basically a single parent. lol). HELP!! This is all so confusing. Should I change my goals? My caloric intake? I'm losing some but not very fast. Mainly maintaining. I have read so many posts about eating MORE calories and changing my protein/Carb/Fat goals. I'm at a loss. It would be awesome if someone with an actual degree in nutrition and fitness could post some helpful advice.

erickirb

BMR is really irrelevant. Just follow the MFP guidelines for losing weight and make sure you eat all of your calories (including the ones you burn from exercise) More protein will help ensure that while you lose weight you maintain more of your muscle than you would by eating less protein. If you don't want to change the goals use the carb goal as a maximum and the protein goal as a minimum.

sarahdharrison

I know exactly what you mean!!!!!! Im exercising 5 times a week mainly circuit, boxercise, Legs bums and tums, a gym session with weight and a cardio blast. Im 5.2 and 140lbs and have been training really hard for weeks and havent lost a thing (no iches either) so decided to try this site. Im really confused with it all. Im allow 1200 calories but get extra for exercising and dont know if im supposed to eat the extra calories or not???? so confused. Also if i do have to eat them and im not hungry how does that work??? ANY HELP PLEASE xx

masterfitness4u

I was at a stand still for yrs until I changed my eating. If you are doing weight training 3 days a week then you need more cardio during the week to burn calories. Dont let all the % confuse you with carbs, protein, and fat. You need to find your body fast % and then you will know your lean muscle mass. Take your lean muslce mass x 1.25 or 1.5 and that should be your protein intake since you are doing weight training and the protein will feed your muslces. Carbs should come from sweet potates, whole wheat pasta which is high in protein as well. Get most of your carbs through out the day and lower to very litle for your evening meal unles you workout in the evening. I set my ratio at 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fat and keep my sodium lvl well below 1500mg a day. Hope this helps.

TONYAGOOCH

I was at a stand still for yrs until I changed my eating. If you are doing weight training 3 days a week then you need more cardio during the week to burn calories. Dont let all the % confuse you with carbs, protein, and fat. You need to find your body fast % and then you will know your lean muscle mass. Take your lean muslce mass x 1.25 or 1.5 and that should be your protein intake since you are doing weight training and the protein will feed your muslces. Carbs should come from sweet potates, whole wheat pasta which is high in protein as well. Get most of your carbs through out the day and lower to very litle for your evening meal unles you workout in the evening. I set my ratio at 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fat and keep my sodium lvl well below 1500mg a day. Hope this helps.

Is that supposed to be body fat or body fast %? I am assuming fat cuz I've never heard of body fast. lol But really need to clarify.

erickirb

I was at a stand still for yrs until I changed my eating. If you are doing weight training 3 days a week then you need more cardio during the week to burn calories. Dont let all the % confuse you with carbs, protein, and fat. You need to find your body fast % and then you will know your lean muscle mass. Take your lean muslce mass x 1.25 or 1.5 and that should be your protein intake since you are doing weight training and the protein will feed your muslces. Carbs should come from sweet potates, whole wheat pasta which is high in protein as well. Get most of your carbs through out the day and lower to very litle for your evening meal unles you workout in the evening. I set my ratio at 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fat and keep my sodium lvl well below 1500mg a day. Hope this helps.

The above worked for you, which is great but the statements you are making are not universal. It is suggested that you only really need 0.8 to 1.0 gram of protein per lb of lean mass. Others eat more but it is not necessary,0.8grams/lb of lean mass is plenty. I typically eat 0.70 to 0.8 lbs/lb of lean body weight. 20-30% of total calories is sufficient, a balanced diet consist of protein from 10-30%, near the higher end 20-30 for those that workout. If you are in a caloric deficit protein intake is even more important and should be near 30% of your total caloric intake, some go as high as 40%, but that is not necessary.

Cardio is also not necessary to lose weight, as long as you have a caloric deficit you will lose the weight, although cardio should be included more for the other health reasons.

And the timing of carbs do not make much of a difference at all. As long as you hit your macros, and stay at or slightly below your caloric intake you will be fine. Don't make this harder than it has to be.

TONYAGOOCH

If I calculated it right my BF % is 42.93. Now....how do I calculate the lean muscle mass?

erickirb

If I calculated it right my BF % is 42.93. Now....how do I calculate the lean muscle mass?

It is not lean muscle that you calculate, as the responder posted, it is lean body mass (which includes muscle, but other things such as bones, ligaments etc). To get lean mass take your total weight and multiply by 1-your body fat %. So in your case it would be your weight times 0.5707.

So if you were 160 lbs your lean mass would be 91.3 lbs and you should aim for 73-91 grams of protein/day. so since you are on a 1340 cal diet that would be 22 to 27% of total calories, this will give you the 73-91, and when you workout you will get more grams.

TONYAGOOCH

This makes my head hurt. lol

So I only need about 25% protein?? What about carbs and fat? Should I change my goals to 25/50/25?? UGH!!!

TONYAGOOCH

This makes my head hurt. lol

So I only need about 25% protein?? What about carbs and fat? Should I change my goals to 25/50/25?? UGH!!!

Of course the 50% carbs being good carbs.

erickirb

This makes my head hurt. lol

So I only need about 25% protein?? What about carbs and fat? Should I change my goals to 25/50/25?? UGH!!!

Of course the 50% carbs being good carbs.

My calculation was just based on the info you provided and me pulling the 160lbs out of thin air (not sure if what I posted is close to you or not) If so 25% would be fine, you can also set your protein to 30% as the extra 5% will not hurt.

TONYAGOOCH

This makes my head hurt. lol

So I only need about 25% protein?? What about carbs and fat? Should I change my goals to 25/50/25?? UGH!!!

Of course the 50% carbs being good carbs.

My calculation was just based on the info you provided and me pulling the 160lbs out of thin air (not sure if what I posted is close to you or not) If so 25% would be fine, you can also set your protein to 30% as the extra 5% will not hurt.

Weight - 169
Height - 5'6"
BF% - 42.93
Calorie Goal - 1340

So you think my caloric goal is ok at 1340 but maybe change my protein to 30% Carbs to like 45% and Fat to 25%?

TONYAGOOCH

Feel free to look at my diary and give me any hints as to what I could be doing differently too. lol I'm sure there is a lot. lol

And thank you so much for your help by the way.

erickirb

This makes my head hurt. lol

So I only need about 25% protein?? What about carbs and fat? Should I change my goals to 25/50/25?? UGH!!!

Of course the 50% carbs being good carbs.

My calculation was just based on the info you provided and me pulling the 160lbs out of thin air (not sure if what I posted is close to you or not) If so 25% would be fine, you can also set your protein to 30% as the extra 5% will not hurt.

Weight - 169
Height - 5'6"
BF% - 42.93
Calorie Goal - 1340

So you think my caloric goal is ok at 1340 but maybe change my protein to 30% Carbs to like 45% and Fat to 25%?

I would start with that, and see how it works for you. If you find it hard to get that much protein you can lower to 25%, but give it a few weeks to see how you adjust.

erickirb

Feel free to look at my diary and give me any hints as to what I could be doing differently too. lol I'm sure there is a lot. lol

And thank you so much for your help by the way.

No problem. The only thing I would suggest about your diet is to try and get more protein with breakfast, and your snacks. You should be having a good source of protein with each meal/snack. This can be done with peanut butter, protein bars, protein shakes, milk, soy milk, Greek Yogurt, cottage cheese, low fat cheeses, nuts, seeds, among other things

TONYAGOOCH

Ok...thank you so much. I was doing a protein shake in the mornings but not eating. Maybe I'll add it back in along with my oatmeal. I don't usually have a problem getting in the protein. Or much of anything else seeing as I am overweight. lol It's the not going over that I will struggle with. lol