Calories, Macros or both?

TS65

Hi everyone. After reading a lot here, 2 weeks ago I adjusted my macros to 25g sugar, 50g carbs, 65g protein, 94g fat (15%c, 20%p 65%f) with my calorie goal between 1300-150 calories.

Having been a MFP member for awhile now (years), I find myself worried about not eating enough calories. Pre-caveman (*snicker*), I needed 1500 calories to lose weight (and that was with me running AND eating my exercise calories). It was, however, also with me eating pretty much anything I wanted (bread, cookies, chips, etc) as long as I was within my calorie goals. I'm losing weight right now, but am afraid of the dreaded "starvation mode" mantra. I've opened my diary for you to review. Now that I'm doing 90% primal (the 10% is my morning coffee/creamer I refuse to give up), I'm finding it really hard to reach 1300, much less 1500! BUT, I'm reaching most of my macros (I tend to run short on fat despite eating nuts, avocados, etc.).

So, my question is should I relax because I'm eating my macros or worried because I'm barely making 1300 calories on most days?

The caveat to this is that I had gastric bypass back in 1994 - as such, my "max capacity" at any one meal is about 3-4 oz of protein and maybe a 1/2 cup of veggies.

**Please ignore today's diary. I had a dentist appointment today and half my face is still numb. About all I could do was get down some cottage cheese for fear I'd chew my cheek off if I tried to eat something that required chewing.)

Shadowknight137

Hmm. I would say (as I always say) macros are more important than calories - to which I would then say get 1g of protein and .5g of fat per lb of bodyweight then fill the remainder of your calories with whatever.

May I ask why you have chosen quite a low protein goal?

TS65

1g of protein and .5g of fat per lb of bodyweight then fill the remainder of your calories with whatever.

May I ask why you have chosen quite a low protein goal?

I came to my goals based on other discussions here. It seemed what I was seeing most supposedly based on Paleo guidelines is 20/20/60 (c/p/f) - or various similar ratios (15/30/65, etc.). At 1300 calories, that's where my protein landed. I realize you don't believe in ratios (as stated in another post). But, as for 1g of protein per lb, I weigh 184 right now. To get 184g of protein in one day, I'd need to eat 34.5 oz of chicken, 23 oz of steak, or 32.5 oz of Tilapia. Based on a 4-5 oz stomach capacity, I'd have to eat 8 or 9 meals a day of nothing but protein. NOT going to happen. :laugh: And, even then, that's only 730 calories.

Shadowknight137

Ah, I see your problem. My bad. :P

However, IMO you could probably be eating more than 1300kcal to lose weight. The general rule of thumb is to calculate your fat and protein requirements (1g/.5g per lb respectively) and THEN work out your calorie needs; not vice versa.
Again, IMO, you need more protein. A significant amount more. At the very least, could you shoot for 0.8 of your LBM? I'm not sure if you know your BF%, but if you could get it tested or guesstimate it it could help you out.

In regards to your initial question - macros are indeed more important when losing weight. When gaining weight (as I am attempting to do right now),you can afford protein to be lower, because you're in a surplus. However, when losing weight you *need* that extra protein to retain your LBM. And, of course, you need the fat to maintain sex drive, etc, etc.
ALSO, when losing weight, calories also become very important because if a deficit is too great, LBM will still be lost. So I'd recommend going for the daily oa of whatever MFP suggested, and if your loss stalls for a week and a bit, decrease it by 10% or 100kcal.

Is it possible you could get your hands on a protein powder? Maybe mix it into/have it alongside your coffee and some meals to boost your protein to, I dunno, at least 100g a day?

This is just my advice, for what it's worth.

Bumbeen

Ah, I see your problem. My bad. :P

However, IMO you could probably be eating more than 1300kcal to lose weight. The general rule of thumb is to calculate your fat and protein requirements (1g/.5g per lb respectively) and THEN work out your calorie needs; not vice versa.
Again, IMO, you need more protein. A significant amount more. At the very least, could you shoot for 0.8 of your LBM? I'm not sure if you know your BF%, but if you could get it tested or guesstimate it it could help you out.

In regards to your initial question - macros are indeed more important when losing weight. When gaining weight (as I am attempting to do right now),you can afford protein to be lower, because you're in a surplus. However, when losing weight you *need* that extra protein to retain your LBM. And, of course, you need the fat to maintain sex drive, etc, etc.
ALSO, when losing weight, calories also become very important because if a deficit is too great, LBM will still be lost. So I'd recommend going for the daily oa of whatever MFP suggested, and if your loss stalls for a week and a bit, decrease it by 10% or 100kcal.

Is it possible you could get your hands on a protein powder? Maybe mix it into/have it alongside your coffee and some meals to boost your protein to, I dunno, at least 100g a day?

This is just my advice, for what it's worth.

This man knows wtf he's talking about here.

epcooper

From what I've seen in other groups (specifically Eat More to Weigh Less), the ideal amount of protein is 1g per lb of lean body mass (not total weight). For me, that's just over 100g of protein a day, which I can easily hit by eating eggs and bacon in the morning, a salad with protein at lunch, and a good-sized slab of beef or chicken with dinner. There are a number of various online calculators to figure out your lean body mass.

degan2011

From what I've seen in other groups (specifically Eat More to Weigh Less), the ideal amount of protein is 1g per lb of lean body mass (not total weight). For me, that's just over 100g of protein a day, which I can easily hit by eating eggs and bacon in the morning, a salad with protein at lunch, and a good-sized slab of beef or chicken with dinner. There are a number of various online calculators to figure out your lean body mass.

Do they have a lbm caluclator that doesn't erquire bf%? If I knew my bf% I can calculate my own lbm.
http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/calculator.cgi never mind... found one. Although I am pretty sure there are ones out there if you know or can take your measurements (arm, leg, waist, neck, etc) they will give you a MUCH better estimate. :glasses:

Cerebrus189

I'm losing weight right now, but am afraid of the dreaded "starvation mode" mantra. I've opened my diary for you to review. Now that I'm doing 90% primal (the 10% is my morning coffee/creamer I refuse to give up), I'm finding it really hard to reach 1300, much less 1500! BUT, I'm reaching most of my macros (I tend to run short on fat despite eating nuts, avocados, etc.).

So, my question is should I relax because I'm eating my macros or worried because I'm barely making 1300 calories on most days?

The caveat to this is that I had gastric bypass back in 1994 - as such, my "max capacity" at any one meal is about 3-4 oz of protein and maybe a 1/2 cup of veggies.

I generally like the 1.0g protein to .5g fat ratio. However, I think .5 grams of fat per weight is minimum. For me that would only be 76.5 grams of fat or 688 calories from fat. I usually hit twice that at 150+ grams with 1350 calories from fat. I eat a minimum of 60% of my daily calories in fat, maxing out usually around 80% daily at most. This is when I do the best losing.

Think about this...you're replacing your body's natural fuel from carbs with a higher octane fuel (with no by-products) in the form of fat. You need to give it enough fuel to keep the engine going. If you're worried about calories, eat something with fat in it. My suggestions...coconut milk, coconut oil, olives, olive oil, avocado, ghee, cheese, heavy cream, butter (if you're doing dairy). I promise once you start with fat, you'll never look back and regret it. I fuel my body everyday with these fats.

When I fall behind is when my weight loss slows. I understand that not everyone can eat that much fat and lose, but I have found my sweet spot with 150 grams of fat daily (I'm a female, age 34, 5'10" at 153 lbs, moderately active).

ksellen1

I promise once you start with fat, you'll never look back and regret it.

I trusted.....and it's true. I don't get to 150 very often but I try to get at LEAST 100. I guess we'll see if it works in the long run, but it sure is working now.

Amitysk

You need to remember that your body deals with food differently now. Meaning, 1400 calories may not be realistic for us. I would suggest seeing a nutrionist that specializes in bariatric patients. Normal dieting is not the way now... But I agree that Paleo/Primal is they type of food we should be eating! How many years out are you?

TS65

You need to remember that your body deals with food differently now. Meaning, 1400 calories may not be realistic for us. I would suggest seeing a nutrionist that specializes in bariatric patients. Normal dieting is not the way now... But I agree that Paleo/Primal is they type of food we should be eating! How many years out are you?

I'm 19 years out. I had it in 1994 - when they didn't teach you what you needed to know. Through a lot of research, I've learned high protein, real food is what I am supposed to be doing. My goal had initially been 100g protein (which I've moved it back to), omit simple carbs as much as possible, limit all carbs to 50, sugar 25. It's just hard to get all that protein in when you can only eat 4-5 oz at a time. I'm just going to have to plan even better than I have been (I'm pretty lazy for breakfast right now, so I may need to go ahead and cook up a bunch of bacon and eggs so I can just nuke it in the morning - I tend to be AT work at 6:45am, so it's not like I have time in the morning to cook up something yummy.

mandabrett

Do not just look at the scales! Those #'s lie. Bfp is more accurate. I personally can not handle as much fat as other people on here. I feel like crap if have too much. Other people have been giving you some great advice. Make sure you remember to pay attention to how your body feels with different macros.