Can someone explain macros in simple terms?

cruisintolose

I keep reading about macros. Is it the little pie chart on your summary or is it a mathematical equation you do on your own each day? Has this formula been a good aide in your weightloss journey?

Artemis_Acorn

It is simply the ratio (percentage) of how you balance your intake of carbohydrates, fats and protein.

And yes, the pie chart on the smartphone application is a representation of your macros.

fakeplastictree

helps you gain/lose what you want to lose/gain. If you are eating mostly protein AND doing strength then this helps preserve your muscle while on a calorie deficit diet or helps you gain muscle rather than mostly fat on a surplus diet. Helps to maintain energy levels.


Basically - Helps control what you gain and lose.

melissafischer

Yes, Macros are Carbs/Proteins/Fats. I never watch m y calories. I only focus on a balance of these three things.

AlbertPooHoles

A popular split is...

Carb: 40%
Protein: 30%
Fats: 30%

Obviously, you want to maintain a balance of those macros, and not go overboard with any of them. A recent study suggests that the split isn't as important as your adherence to your calorie deficit. More info here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/471522-study-calories-count-but-not-where-they-come-from

MaximalLife

I keep reading about macros. Is it the little pie chart on your summary or is it a mathematical equation you do on your own each day? Has this formula been a good aide in your weightloss journey?

macro's make up our foods: protein, fat and carbohydrates.
And depending on the food's macro content, foods will contain certain calories.

A gram of fat is worth 9 calories
A carb gram and protein gram are both worth 4 calories.

That's how we come up with calorie totals.
As for the right balance....that's where is gets complicated. Nobody agrees.
I do this.
30% fat and protein, 40% carb.
I eat higher protein to account for my own goals regarding muscle growth and retention.

Does this help?

RAFValentina

helps you gain/lose what you want to lose/gain. If you are eating mostly protein AND doing strength then this helps preserve your muscle while on a calorie deficit diet or helps you gain muscle rather than mostly fat on a surplus diet. Helps to maintain energy levels.


Basically - Helps control what you gain and lose.

Not quite true... just easier for body as energy in the right form already.

cruisintolose

Is this perhaps while I am stalling? For the past few weeks it has been more like
46/22/32 (that was last week) and a little better the few weeks before that. I always seem to go over on proteins and under on carbs and fat. So I am confused.

Ddouglas84

Where are these macros (pie chart) located.

AlbertPooHoles

Where are these macros (pie chart) located.

You can change your nutritional targets here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_custom

stormieweather

Is this perhaps while I am stalling? For the past few weeks it has been more like
46/22/32 (that was last week) and a little better the few weeks before that. I always seem to go over on proteins and under on carbs and fat. So I am confused.

I think the default MFP macro setting is really low on protein and high on carbs. I manually changed mine to a more workable ratio of 40c/30f/30f. I found that I stalled out and didn't lose until I raised my protein levels.

solpwr

According to www.dietaryguidelines.gov

Adults should target their caloric intake to be:

45-65% carbohydrates
10-35% protein
20-35% fat

An average caloric deficit of around 500 per day is a good goal for weight loss. Calorie deficit, not macro balance, is how one loses weight.
Macro balance is important for long term health and wellbeing.

WifeNMama

This has been really helpful. Glad I followed a friend in. :-)

Helloitsdan

I keep reading about macros. Is it the little pie chart on your summary or is it a mathematical equation you do on your own each day? Has this formula been a good aide in your weightloss journey?

macro's make up our foods: protein, fat and carbohydrates.
And depending on the food's macro content, foods will contain certain calories.

A gram of fat is worth 9 calories
A carb gram and protein gram are both worth 4 calories.

That's how we come up with calorie totals.
As for the right balance....that's where is gets complicated. Nobody agrees.
I do this.
30% fat and protein, 40% carb.
I eat higher protein to account for my own goals regarding muscle growth and retention.

Does this help?

^^^This is the Jedi way! Do this!

TheFitnessTutor

Macro=Short for Macronutrients. or Big nutrients. Carbs, fat, protein. I ignore ratios and look more for "diets" that target grams per bodyweight. You can eat a ratio and still come in too low or too high or just off.

I'm a fan of higher fat and protein and lower carbs, especially if you have insulin sensitivity issues which many bigger people do, and especially if you think you need to "burn 3500" calories through exercise a week. Fats aid in satiety and your hormones like them. One has to be careful to watch carb intake on a higher fat diet. I, and much published research, think the body is intended to utilize higher amounts of fat, both saturated and unsaturated, as opposed to carbs, which we usually use to describe a grain related product or some obscure bastardization of said product, that would be harder to harvest and utilize "back in the day"...whenever you think that was. More on that later...

TheFitnessTutor

According to www.dietaryguidelines.gov

Adults should target their caloric intake to be:

45-65% carbohydrates
10-35% protein
20-35% fat

An average caloric deficit of around 500 per day is a good goal for weight loss. Calorie deficit, not macro balance, is how one loses weight.
Macro balance is important for long term health and wellbeing.

You quoted a government site for nutrition? hahaha! You know the general joke is that it's the same ratio used to fatten pigs for slaughter. I never found those ratios a farmer uses to corroborate but I wouldn't be surprised. That many carbs maybe if you're training for a marathon or similar. : )

cruisintolose

Op here. Thanks you guys for the info! So i decided to try and up my protein to the higher portion the past few days and I finally broke the stall I had on the scale!!! Granted it was only a 2 week stall but it was starting to get me discouraged. I also ran my first mile and a half ever yesterday. That might have helped as well

christophermendoza9883

There are many opinions on the proper balance. I am seeing success by following 1g of protein per lb of body weight and .5g of protein per lb of body weight. The balance is carbs. When using a formula such as this and you maintain a caloric deficit = weight loss. If you go for a caloric excess with weight training you can build muscle fast. I am currently on a 5lb/week pace and I plan to start building back muscle and weight in 6 weeks. Keep researching and good luck.

fShaw86

http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

MyOatmeal

Old thread but let me bump and say that the correct formula for calculating your macros is not based on a ratio like 40/40/20 or 40/30/30.
The most accurate way is to back out the calories from the macros and base the macros on your bodies needs pertaining to your goals.

Formula
Protein = 1 gram per lb of mass (as little as .8 as much as 1.5 grams)
Fat = .35 .45 grams per lb of mass (as little as .35 as much as . 5)
Carbs = remaining calories

Example

I weigh 200 lbs
My TDEE (total calories used in a day via all activity) = 3000 calories
I drop 20% from 3400 to get 2400, which is the calories I need to eat while dieting

So the first thing I need to calculate is my Protein
At 200 lbs, this would set my protein at 200 grams
There are 4 calories per gram of protein so this means I am eating 800 calories worth of protein.
So I subtract 800 calories from my 2400 allotment giving me 1600 calories left for fat and carbs

Next I calculate my fat
At 200 lbs I go with .35 grams of fat (my body responds better to a lower fat diet) so that gives me 70 grams of fat.
Each gram of fat has 9 calories so in my 70 grams per day I am getting 630 calories
I then subtract those 630 calories from my remaining daily allotment of 1600 to yield a balance of 970 calories

Next is my carbs
I have 970 calories left for the day
Each gram of carbs has 4 calories so I simply divide 970 by 4 to get 242.5, which is the exact number of carbs I get to eat in a day

The only other thing that I need to calculate is my fiber.
To do this I multiply my body weight by .15 to get 30, which is the minimum amount of fiber I should take in (counted within my carbs). The most I should take in is .20 x body weight which is 40 grams.
So my fiber range is 30 - 40 grams per day

This, means that my macros are:
200 protein
242.5 carbs (30 - 40 of which is fiber)
70 fat

For a grand total of 2400 calories

This is the long way
The short way is by using the Macro calculator at the iifym site as posted above.
It does all the math for you

ANT

lizprotsman

OK 'my oatmeal' I love the way you explained that
Now...my question is this...if I don't know how many calories I burn in a day how can I figure out my calorie plan? I'm a female..weigh 180lbs..and would like to loose 40 ish lbs in the next 4 months..what should my percentages be?

Aaron_K123

I keep reading about macros. Is it the little pie chart on your summary or is it a mathematical equation you do on your own each day? Has this formula been a good aide in your weightloss journey?

Macros, or macronutrients, are essentially anything that supplies calories to the chemical engine that is your body. This includes primarily Protein, Carbohydrates and Fats and secondarily Alcohol.

Each macro supplies a certain number of calories per gram. Protein and Carbohydrates supply 4 cal per gram, Fat gives 9 cal per gram and Alcohol gives 7 cal per gram.

When people describe their macros like this "My macros are 40/30/30 Carb/Protein/Fat" what they are saying is that 40% of their caloric intake comes from carbs, 30% comes from protein and 30% from fat.

If you ate 2000 calories that would mean that they would be aiming for (2000*0.4)/4 = 200g of carbs (2000*.3)/4 = 150g of protein and (2000*3)/9= 67g of fat.

The general wisdom is that you should eat 0.8g of protein per lean body mass, 0.4g of fat per pound of weight and the rest as carbs or more protein and fat. Hope that clears that up for you.

Aaron_K123

...and just realized this thread is ancient.

juanr2626

AHHHHHHHH

jpathan

new to site, but this guy http://www.iscreamfitness.com/ has been helping people not only with understanding the macro diet, but helping with meal plans that allow them to eat what they want and keep losing. Just thought I would share.

ThePhoenixIsRising

Zombie threads are a sign of the apocalypse to come!!