Macros? Cannot hit them all!
myrnacpagan
Posts: 19 Member
I have set my macros to 15% Carb/50% Fat/35% Protein. I am usually good getting the to grams for Carb or close to but not for fat and much less for protein. In fact in looks more like 33% each macro. I seem to be loosing weight (about a pound a week)and shrinking but I wonder if I should be eating more. I also exercise quite a bit...adding between 500 to 1100 calories a day...which is why it is hard to get to the protein goals because they are high. My diary is open if you want to see and help me out. I do not usually eat all my exercise calories for several reasons: I am not hungry AND not sure how accurate is the calories burned given because they seem high to me. Thanks in advance for your support!
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Replies
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This is why I hate tracking macros by percentages: too damn hard. IMO, 33/33/33 can be absolutely fine, provided you hit your macros for protein and fat.
For protein, I advise taking your bodyweight in pounds and eating 0.8-1g of that - for me, at 121lbs, that's between 97-121g of protein a day. This can remain constant, ie, if you do exercise and burn calories, you don't need to eat more protein - you can if you like, but it won't really help much, and you'd benefit more from more carbs or fat (protein over a certain amount turns into glucose anyway; you'd just be paying for more expensive carbs, basically).
Protein is VERY important when losing weight, because it helps you retain your LBM. You don't want to lose muscle. Trust me.
As for fat, I'd typically recommend .5g per lb of bodyweight, but since you're clearly trying to cut cabs (judging your initial ratios and diary goal), you should be fine on that. Just set your protein goal and you should be good on the rest.
In regards to your exercise... I would advise eating 2/3rds of your exercise calories back. At least. Why? Well, I suspect even if you ate slightly *over* your calorie goal, you'd still be in a deficit to your TDEE by the end of the week. You're better off losing slightly slower than losing a higher amount of precious muscle than necessary.
Just my thoughts, anyhow. Take it as you will.0 -
I have mine set to 40% fat, 30% protein and 30% carbs. This seems to work the best for me and I FINALLY nailed it yesterday! haha I can't tell you how excited that made me:)
Not sure I really have any advice for you as I'm still trying to figure it all out myself, even after eating this way for almost a year. Just know you're not alone and try not to obsess too much over the numbers. Howl has some great advice though!0 -
This is why I hate tracking macros by percentages: too damn hard. IMO, 33/33/33 can be absolutely fine, provided you hit your macros for protein and fat.
For protein, I advise taking your bodyweight in pounds and eating 0.8-1g of that - for me, at 121lbs, that's between 97-121g of protein a day. This can remain constant, ie, if you do exercise and burn calories, you don't need to eat more protein - you can if you like, but it won't really help much, and you'd benefit more from more carbs or fat (protein over a certain amount turns into glucose anyway; you'd just be paying for more expensive carbs, basically).
Protein is VERY important when losing weight, because it helps you retain your LBM. You don't want to lose muscle. Trust me.
As for fat, I'd typically recommend .5g per lb of bodyweight, but since you're clearly trying to cut cabs (judging your initial ratios and diary goal), you should be fine on that. Just set your protein goal and you should be good on the rest.
In regards to your exercise... I would advise eating 2/3rds of your exercise calories back. At least. Why? Well, I suspect even if you ate slightly *over* your calorie goal, you'd still be in a deficit to your TDEE by the end of the week. You're better off losing slightly slower than losing a higher amount of precious muscle than necessary.
Just my thoughts, anyhow. Take it as you will.
I largely agree, but would suggest eating 1g or so of protein per pound of your target body weight. I'm 6'3 and close to 300lbs. About 100 is fat that will be going away, so I would not want to be eating 300g of protein per day. Getting over 150 is hard enough sometimes!0 -
I'll respond differently. Our hunter/gatherer forebears didn't have computers - or even concept of macro nutrients - and managed to eat healthily.
Use the macro goals as guidelines. Just that. Knowing that carbs should be in a certain range helps you to eat appropriately, but if you're a little high (or low) on any given day is moot. It all depends on how it averages out. Same goes for fat and protein - calories consumed should roughly be the same after you've subtracted carbs, but it can vary from day to day depending on what's on your place - it sure did for Grok.0 -
I largely agree, but would suggest eating 1g or so of protein per pound of your target body weight. I'm 6'3 and close to 300lbs. About 100 is fat that will be going away, so I would not want to be eating 300g of protein per day. Getting over 150 is hard enough sometimes!
Mmm... Mixed feelings on this one.
On the one hand, I totally agree that 1g per lb bodyweight would be difficult for you at your weight - it's actually meant to be per lb of LEAN body mass, but I use bodyweight as a general rule of thumb due to people perhaps miscalculating/underestimating their LBM. It happens.
Buuuuut on he other hand, I am 100% AGAINST basing protein goals on a "target" body weight. IMHO, one should not have a "target" bodyweight, but ideally a target body fat percentage or certain look in the mirror. Weight is just a number - an indicator of how heavy you are. What if your goal body weight means losing a lot of LBM? Not all that worth it.
TL;DR - .8-1g protein per lb of LBM. Calculated by having your body fat percentage checked then subtracting that from 100%. Ie, if you were 30% BF it would be:
300 - (300x0.3)
300 - (90)
= 210 x 0.8
= 168
So your protein goal would be between 168-210g, ideally - significantly easier to get down than. 300g
I'll respond differently. Our hunter/gatherer forebears didn't have computers - or even concept of macro nutrients - and managed to eat healthily.
Use the macro goals as guidelines. Just that. Knowing that carbs should be in a certain range helps you to eat appropriately, but if you're a little high (or low) on any given day is moot. It all depends on how it averages out. Same goes for fat and protein - calories consumed should roughly be the same after you've subtracted carbs, but it can vary from day to day depending on what's on your place - it sure did for Grok.
I'm a little confused on what you're saying here.
Are you suggesting one should calculate carb intake before fat and protein intake...? Sorry, could you please explain (little tired)?0 -
I'll respond differently. Our hunter/gatherer forebears didn't have computers - or even concept of macro nutrients - and managed to eat healthily.
Use the macro goals as guidelines. Just that. Knowing that carbs should be in a certain range helps you to eat appropriately, but if you're a little high (or low) on any given day is moot. It all depends on how it averages out. Same goes for fat and protein - calories consumed should roughly be the same after you've subtracted carbs, but it can vary from day to day depending on what's on your place - it sure did for Grok.
I'm a little confused on what you're saying here.
Are you suggesting one should calculate carb intake before fat and protein intake...? Sorry, could you please explain (little tired)?
What I'm saying is that a hunter/gatherer diet is not rocket science. It is naturally low-carb; and since you need fat for energy and protein for body maintenance in roughly equal amounts, the percentages work themselves out fairly quickly.
If you take Sisson's recommendation that 100g of carbs is the baseline between weight loss and maintenance, then you pick the percentage that sets the carb value at the nearest under-value to 100g (whatever that may be). The remainder is split up roughly 50-50, calorie wise - meaning the the fat/protein ratio precentage-wise is roughly 35/65, since fat is 9 cal per gram and protein is 4 cal per gram. That's all that's needed since if the fat percentage is too high you'll.....store fat. Adjust that, and whatever is left over goes to protein.
Simple.0 -
I took a look at your diary. I think you are doing really well. No, you're not hitting your macros exactly but I believe you're certainly hitting a good range.I have set my macros to 15% Carb/50% Fat/35% Protein. I am usually good getting the to grams for Carb or close to but not for fat and much less for protein. In fact in looks more like 33% each macro. I seem to be loosing weight (about a pound a week)and shrinking but I wonder if I should be eating more. I also exercise quite a bit...adding between 500 to 1100 calories a day...which is why it is hard to get to the protein goals because they are high. My diary is open if you want to see and help me out. I do not usually eat all my exercise calories for several reasons: I am not hungry AND not sure how accurate is the calories burned given because they seem high to me. Thanks in advance for your support!0 -
If you're losing weight and feeling good, why sweat about percentages? Clearly your body likes what you are doing so stick with it. YMMV (your mileage may vary) so don't worry about an arbitrary computer that's giving the same advice to everyone. Go with what works for you.0
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This is why I stopped tracking my food altogether. I figure I'll stick to eating healthy and just focus on that for now and see where it takes me.
Personally, when I did track, I usually aimed from 35p/15c/50f. On good days, I was usually very close to that. As someone said, they're guidelines. Do what works for you.0 -
This is why I stopped tracking my food altogether. I figure I'll stick to eating healthy and just focus on that for now and see where it takes me.
Personally, when I did track, I usually aimed from 35p/15c/50f. On good days, I was usually very close to that. As someone said, they're guidelines. Do what works for you.
I agree with above. Some people get really focused on those percentages and numbers trying to fit it all nicely in, but i say listen to your body first! If you need to carb load because you feel sluggish or whatever, you find yourself getting hungry often adjust your fats and proteins. Don't sweat the macros too much like mentioned they are guidelines. My two cents!0
