Setting Your Calorie and Macro Targets
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Awesome post! Hoping I could get some advice... HAAALLPP
I'm 26 and a little over 5'2 and in April I was around 130-133 lbs. I'm trying to get down to 115 lbs and in high school and college (did team sports and gym, lots of walking around campus), I've always been around 115 lbs but the years since I've gained a few lbs here and there. Since the beginning of April through end of March, I was going to the gym 2x, occasionally 3x a week (cardio, lifting, tennis). Before this, I wasn't going to the gym at all and I wasn't watching what I was eating (I naturally eat somewhat healthy, as very little fried foods and fat, maybe too much fruit and carbs.. and I eat a lot for my size). Most definitely ate over 2000 calories a day.
Now from end of May - present day, I've been tracking my calorie intake and I've upped my gym time to 4x a week, pretty consistently except for when I go on vacation etc. Now my gym routine mostly consists of lifiting via simplyshredded.com with occasional running. I probably eat a net calorie intake of ~1500 .. but after all of this I still weight on avg, 128.5 lbs (127-130). There are some weekends where I don't really watch what I eat (vegas vacation, nyc vacation etc). People have said that I do look more fit although I'm still the same size (yes yes muscle weighs more than fat) but I'm still pretty plump around the tummy arms etc and considering that I weighed ~115 lbs a few years ago, I thought I would get better results than this. It's hard to not get discouraged considering that before I got into working out, I basically ate whatever and maintained a 130-133 lb weight.. Should I be increasing my calorie deficit? I tried 1200 calories for a bit but it was really difficult .. Or maybe I should be watching my macro targets?
Estimated TDEE = 1700 calories --> desk job, take 3 flights of stairs at least 4x during weekday
128 lbs
BF of 20%
1360 calorie target
Protein:
1 x 128 x .8 = 102.4g x 4 cal = 409 cal / 1360 target = ~30%
Fat:
0.35 x 128 = 44.8 g x 9 cal = 403.2 cal / 1360 target = ~30%
Edit: I misunderstood BF, which is probably more like 28% for me (guessing).
So.. TDEE = 1700 calories
20% calories deficit = 1360 calorie target
128 lbs
BF of 28%
Protein:
1 x 128 x .72 = 92.16g x 4 cal = 368.64 cal / 1360 target = ~27%
Fat:
0.35 x 128 = 44.8 g x 9 cal = 403.2 cal / 1360 target = ~30%0 -
Such a helpfull post. I had been quite confused about this subject and that confusion has lead to poor choices. Now that I have worked out my percentages I can at least make more informed choices.
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Thanks! This is very helpful.0
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Bumping for me to find again.0
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I have what I hope is a fairly straightforward question...I am using scoobys to calculate my TDEE. I currently have my calories set at 1650 and macros at 30/25/45 but want to double check. These are my stats:
27yo Female
67 inches tall
132lbs
bf % 25.4
I just started a weight lifting program (All Pros beginner + moderate cardio) and my goal is to lose bf and get closer to 20%bf. I have the workout as 3-5hrs moderate exercise and that gives me a TDEE of 2072. Is that too much, should i input 1-3 hrs? (I will be working out roughly 3.5 hours a week but have a desk job and low activity otherwise)
Also, if I am looking to reduce bf% should my goal be gain muscle and lose fat or TDEE -20%??
There are too many options!! haha I appreciate any help or being pointed to a different thread
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I have what I hope is a fairly straightforward question...I am using scoobys to calculate my TDEE. I currently have my calories set at 1650 and macros at 30/25/45 but want to double check. These are my stats:
27yo Female
67 inches tall
132lbs
bf % 25.4
I just started a weight lifting program (All Pros beginner + moderate cardio) and my goal is to lose bf and get closer to 20%bf. I have the workout as 3-5hrs moderate exercise and that gives me a TDEE of 2072. Is that too much, should i input 1-3 hrs? (I will be working out roughly 3.5 hours a week but have a desk job and low activity otherwise)
Also, if I am looking to reduce bf% should my goal be gain muscle and lose fat or TDEE -20%??
There are too many options!! haha I appreciate any help or being pointed to a different thread
Just to clarify since it seems in healthy range for weight and BF%?
Are you actually wanting to lose weight and fat? Or just fat.
Just a fact that you'll have better workouts and better improvements to reach your stated goal - the closer you are to eating in surplus.
Which obviously means less deficit the better.
So if you just want to lose BF and weight is healthy enough - eat at maintenance, get almost max improvements from your workouts, and really burn in to that fat.
Moderate sounds correct.0 -
I have what I hope is a fairly straightforward question...I am using scoobys to calculate my TDEE. I currently have my calories set at 1650 and macros at 30/25/45 but want to double check. These are my stats:
27yo Female
67 inches tall
132lbs
bf % 25.4
I just started a weight lifting program (All Pros beginner + moderate cardio) and my goal is to lose bf and get closer to 20%bf. I have the workout as 3-5hrs moderate exercise and that gives me a TDEE of 2072. Is that too much, should i input 1-3 hrs? (I will be working out roughly 3.5 hours a week but have a desk job and low activity otherwise)
Also, if I am looking to reduce bf% should my goal be gain muscle and lose fat or TDEE -20%??
There are too many options!! haha I appreciate any help or being pointed to a different thread
I would split the difference and assume a 2,000 TDEE to start. As you ave some BF you want to lose- but not a very large amount, you would probably be good with a 15% cut off that - so start at 1,700 and see how you go with that. The 1,650 is fine also - possibly you could use those as a range - try to get between 1,650 and 1,700 - that way you have more flexibility.
If you have just started lifting, you may have a bit of a pop in water weight, so you should take a few weeks before tweaking to assess your trend.
The above is assuming that you do not have a good amount of historical data re your intake levels - if you have that, you should go by that.0 -
I have what I hope is a fairly straightforward question...I am using scoobys to calculate my TDEE. I currently have my calories set at 1650 and macros at 30/25/45 but want to double check. These are my stats:
27yo Female
67 inches tall
132lbs
bf % 25.4
I just started a weight lifting program (All Pros beginner + moderate cardio) and my goal is to lose bf and get closer to 20%bf. I have the workout as 3-5hrs moderate exercise and that gives me a TDEE of 2072. Is that too much, should i input 1-3 hrs? (I will be working out roughly 3.5 hours a week but have a desk job and low activity otherwise)
Also, if I am looking to reduce bf% should my goal be gain muscle and lose fat or TDEE -20%??
There are too many options!! haha I appreciate any help or being pointed to a different thread
Just to clarify since it seems in healthy range for weight and BF%?
Are you actually wanting to lose weight and fat? Or just fat.
Just a fact that you'll have better workouts and better improvements to reach your stated goal - the closer you are to eating in surplus.
Which obviously means less deficit the better.
So if you just want to lose BF and weight is healthy enough - eat at maintenance, get almost max improvements from your workouts, and really burn in to that fat.
Moderate sounds correct.
I would suggest that a 5% drop in body fat is better achieved by a moderate deficit. I would not look to recomp with that desired BF% reduction. While it is a personal preference and individual factors vary, there is nothing wrong with a moderate deficit, especially when someone has just started lifting - you may as well take advantage of newbie gains.0 -
I am definitely hoping to get some nice newbie gains thanks for your advice, I spent way too long trying to calculate all this tonight haha.
@haybales....Thanks for the tip! I actually am not sure what i want.... wouldn't mind losing a couple lbs but then again, maybe what I really want to lose is a couple inches? It's all confusing haha.0 -
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Thanks for the post.0
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Hello all
I really struggle to get my head around this.
I wondered if someone could help work it out for me.
I am 28 year old female, I am 160cm tall and weigh 64kgs. I exercise 6+ times a week, with two intense gym workouts, circuits *1, kettles *1, Les Mills Body Pump *1-2, Les Mills Grit *2. I have lost 12kgs and struggling to loose the last 4-6kgs. I am completely off track at the moment and want to get my eating right.
Thank you in advance everyone xx0 -
Rachel_rara wrote: »Hello all
I really struggle to get my head around this.
I wondered if someone could help work it out for me.
I am 28 year old female, I am 160cm tall and weigh 64kgs. I exercise 6+ times a week, with two intense gym workouts, circuits *1, kettles *1, Les Mills Body Pump *1-2, Les Mills Grit *2. I have lost 12kgs and struggling to loose the last 4-6kgs. I am completely off track at the moment and want to get my eating right.
Thank you in advance everyone xx
How much time on those various workouts?
As you could imagine, someone doing it for 1.5 hrs x 6 days is very different than 30 min x 6 days weekly.
And it's just an estimate, but at least using the sites that talk about hours a week is better than days a week.
Also be aware those rough 5 level TDEE tables are based on exercise on top of otherwise sedentary work/lifestyle.
If your job is on your feet constantly or home with kids running around all day, that bumps you up a level.
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I woke up this morning beating myself up for gaining weight instead of losing it. Now, after reading this post, I am realizing that I have not been eating enough calories! It was always drilled into my head that diet = not eating/low calories. So, it now makes sense why I continue to binge eat. Thanks so much for posting this!0
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Can someone help me? I've been reading up on IIFYM etc for the past week, really wanting to try it, but every time I try and calculate what my calories or macro gram intake should be, I get different results!
I'm 5'2 female, weight is approx 133lbs, age 27.
I have a desk job, the only exercise I get is standing up at my desk for an average of 2 hours a day and walking to the printer! I do want to incorporate exercise, such as weights, but only once I'm confident with my food intake.
When I've used online calculators it's varied so much on calorie and carb/protein intake that I just don't know what to do anymore!
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hey MimiLaw - i am right there with you. i was doing great and then all of a sudden the scales read high again and I have been very discouraged
i have been lifting so that is probably part of it and then there seems to be this thing about sugar and how it impacts my cravings so i just need to stay away from it for now. be sure to have some other goals than the number of the scale that support your goals which ultimately is to be healthy. one thing for me is that i can see my body is much firmer and the weight i can lift has increased significantly and overall both increase me self-esteem!
cclark788 - i strongly suggest trying to get a heart rate monitor as i had the same problem with the online calculators as well as the cardio machines. maybe put it on your wish list. you can probably get them used online as well. made a huge difference for me as i was overestimating my calories burned and kept gaining weight! my HRM seems to be MUCH more accurate and I was finally able to be loosing and getting in better shape.0 -
Okay- So if my TDEE is 2190 and I would like to cut down to 30% of that then I would need to be eating 1533 calories a day and not go below that number?0
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