need help setting my micros

soulynyc

so i am going to try a 1500 calorie intake for 2 weeks. i want to set my micros. can you tell me what i should set my carbs, fat and protein intake to. i don't want to give up carbs but i don't want them to be high either. any help would be greatly appreciated. i read some where that my protein intake should be my close to my weight? ???

thriftycupl

Want to come back and read the answers later. Good luck.

XXXMinnieXXX

I changed to 1500 cals, 30% protein, 30% fat, 40% carbs. (150g carbs, 50g fat, 113 protein) and I feel full, energetic, less cravings and the weights coming off affter a 6 month plateau. Everyones different but I can't recommend these macros enough. Pretty easy to live by. I have a protein shake some days if protein is low! Good luck! X

soulynyc

so i am going to try a 1500 calorie intake for 2 weeks. i want to set my micros. can you tell me what i should set my carbs, fat and protein intake to. i don't want to give up carbs but i don't want them to be high either. any help would be greatly appreciated. i read some where that my protein intake should be my close to my weight? ???

Protein intake should be about 1g per pound of LBM(Lean body mass). To find out your lean bodymass you need to know your body fat %. If you're going by total weight, I'd shoot for about 60-70% in protein. Multiply your weight by .60 or .70 that should give you the amount of protein... Fat intake should be bodyweight * .43, that will give you the grams. Fill the rest of the calories with carbs.

Micro nutrients are vitamins and minerals. Macro nutrients' are carbs, protein's, and fats.

thanks!!! seems pretty good will do my numbers. i'm at 269 right now. trying to get down to 200 in the next few months.

soulynyc

I changed to 1500 cals, 30% protein, 30% fat, 40% carbs. (150g carbs, 50g fat, 113 protein) and I feel full, energetic, less cravings and the weights coming off affter a 6 month plateau. Everyones different but I can't recommend these macros enough. Pretty easy to live by. I have a protein shake some days if protein is low! Good luck! X

thanks for your response. did you do this base on your weight or just your calories???

XXXMinnieXXX

I changed to 1500 cals, 30% protein, 30% fat, 40% carbs. (150g carbs, 50g fat, 113 protein) and I feel full, energetic, less cravings and the weights coming off affter a 6 month plateau. Everyones different but I can't recommend these macros enough. Pretty easy to live by. I have a protein shake some days if protein is low! Good luck! X

thanks for your response. did you do this base on your weight or just your calories???

Based on calories... And a good friend lost loads and got to goal doing these too. I find its got lots of protein and a sensible but well balanced amount of carbs, without going too heavy on them! For me personally I tried even lower carbs, higher protein and I just started gaining weight, went back to this again and started losing again x

TrainingWithTonya

There is no set number of calories or specific percentages for macros. It is all dependent on the persons goals, disease status, and workouts.

First of all, are you sure that 1500 calories is correct for you? Before you decide on a specific number of calories, check my blog ( http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/TrainingWithTonya ) to find out how to determine your Total Daily Energy Expenditure and go by that. If you want to lose body fat, eat no less then 80% of your TDEE. If you want to stay the same weight, eat at TDEE. If you want to gain lean mass, add about 85 calories per day from protein to gain about a pound of lean tissue per week. Unlike fat which is 3500 calories per pound, muscle is only 600 calories per pound so you don't have to increase your a whole lot to increase lean weight. Just remember that the initial gains will be glycogen and water stored in the muscle and then eventually the actual muscle gains will happen.

Second, do you have any kind of issues with your kidneys, high blood pressure, diabetes, IBS, etc.? Those will effect your ranges of macronutrients based on the way the body processes the different macros.

Assuming you don't have any conditions that would effect your needs, then you can look at your workouts. If you are doing standard gym workouts or no exercise, then 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight is all that is needed. If you are a strength athlete (IE: someone who is training for body building or power lifting), then you need 1 to 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight. If you are an endurance athlete (IE: someone training for a marathon or who does a lot of long workouts), then you need 1.5 to 2 grams per kilogram of body weight. Yes, I know this seems backwards, but endurance athletes actually need more protein then body builders because they are more likely to break down muscle and need the protein to rebuild and repair the muscle damage. Plus, body builders actually benefit from added carbohydrates because it leads to more glycogen storage in the muscles which will lead to the eventual gain of muscle fibers.

Now, that you know how much protein you need, you can determine your other needs. First multiply your grams of protein by your kilograms of body weight. Then multiply by 4 to get calories from protein. Divide calories from protein from the total calories you want to eat to get the percentage from protein.

For Carbohydrate, again, look at your workout status. If you are a strength or endurance athlete, then you need to get 6-8 grams per kilogram of body weight to fuel your workouts. The day before a marathon or other high endurance activity, then you can go up to 10 grams per kilogram of body weight. If you aren't an athlete and have no medical reason to limit carbs, then you need 3-5 grams per kilogram of body weight. Again, multiply your gram number by your body weight in kilograms to get grams per day. Multiply your grams per day by 4 to get calories from carbs. Divide calories from carbs by total calories per day to get the percentage. Also, remember that the minimum grams of carbs recommended to maintain brain and red blood cell function is 120 grams per day.

Now, you can take the 100% of your total daily intake and subtract the % from protein and the % from carbs to get the % from fat. Take that % and multiply it by your total daily intake to get calories from fat. Divide calories from fat by 9 to get the grams per day of fat.

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16 years Certified Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor
9 years Certified Sports Nutritionist
Bachelors in Exercise Physiology with a Minor in Nutritional Science
ACSM Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist
NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist