macros and daily calorie intake

Evotchka

So I am 5'9'', CW 149 lbs, GW 140 lbs (26 years old) and I would like to learn about how to set my macros and my daily calories.
Previously I have had good results with just eating ~1250 cals a day and using the MFP settings for my macros. I did 30 DS and back then I went from 155 lbs to 143 lbs and was toned. However, I never really tried to start a maintenance phase nor did I ever really pay close attention to what I am eating (although I did still make smart choices overall)
Now that I have slipped off for a while, I just really want to find a way to lose some weight slowly and healthy. I started Ripped in 30 and am planning to work out 5-6 times a week, maybe getting 1 or 2 runs per week in as well. So I read about TDEE -20% and about 40c/30p/30f for my macros and started thinking that this might be a better, even though maybe slower way for me to stay healthy and lean.
So here are a couple of my questions:
1) 20 % under my TDEE would mean 1648 calories per day?? Whoa. That number kind of makes me afraid. Am I still going to lose any weight at all?
2) is that macro setting fine for someone like me?
3) how do I set my sugar, fiber, different kinds of fat -options ?
4) when setting my goals, telling MFP how much I plan to exercise per week, is that important for any calculation or is it just for me personally?
5) with 1648 calories per day, do I eat back all of my exercise cals? Or half? Or none?

I know these questions have been here before and I tried to use the search-option of this forum to find a good summary-post but I wasn't very successful. If someone could answer these questions for me or give me a link to post that has the info in it, I would be grateful for eternity :happy:

Thank y'all

Evotchka

anyone?

shadowlydarkness

Sorry, I wouldnt have a clue. But I'll give this a bump for ya

kingkoopaluv

there are huge forum post dedicated to this.

HannahJDiaz25

Hi, I am 5'8 and 3/4 :laugh:

I was eating about 1250 a day. THEN I realized that I was losing ZERO weight on this. I did some research and decided I had killed my poor metabolism.

I now eat 1600 calories every day and I eat back at least half of my exercise calories (but I estimate these a little low just in case)

It comes out to bout 1800-2000 calories a day on my work out days...and guess what?? I am losing body fat and weight!!! YAY!

It seemed backward to me at first. I have dieted sine I was a teenager though, and I guess my body was afraid to burn fat so it clung to it. Starvation mode was a real thing for me.

So now I eat more, I have energy to work out harder, I am losing fat again. (course I try to eat healthy foods. Sometimes I don't reach my 1600 goal, but i just go by how I feel...now that I can trust my body to tell me when its hungry. I used to never feel hungry!)

I hope this helps

Oh and I'm not really sure about the fiber setting question. I just try to eat a lot of natural food...so far its working great! If I stress too much about all the numbers I get bored and quit.

girlykate143

This guy created awesome information along with two other members of MFP.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/972000-calorie-deficit-slope-for-men-and-women-ipoarm

Also, doing a search on In Place of a Road Map (IPOARM) will get you tons of great info.
Also, lifting is good. Some people will advocate for less steady state cardio.

timkane46

I use this calculator http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

20 % under your TDEE is a steep cut, I would start at 10 % after 30 days if you aren't getting progress with all the exercise you will be doing I would be surprised. If not go to 15 % and see,.. 30 P / 30 F / 40 C is good to start with. My .02 Cents

Establishedn1986

If you are going to do tdee-20% you don't need to eat back exercise calories. Those are already figured into that number (1648) Too set your macro goals just go to settings and goals. Simple as that! 40/30/30 is what was recommended to me as well. Works great imo.

Siege_Tank

IPOARM. It wants you to eat only 20% below your TDEE, and calculates it using the "level of activity" multiplier, like, if you're very active, it wants you to multiply your BMR by 1.5. It then tells you to eat back your exercise calories. I think that it's double dipping, you should eat your excersise calories only if your goals are set to your BMR. Otherwise why use a daily activity multiplier?

But know this:

a -20% cut for someone who maintains at 1700 calories is a 340 calorie deficit per day, or almost 11 days to lose one pound (1 pound = 3500 calories) or twenty two days to lose 2 pounds. If your maintenance calories or TDEE is less, then a 20% cut will take even longer to lose 1 pound. With variations in hydration levels and water weight, you could go weeks without seeing a loss on the scale. 15 days to go from 149 to 148 on the scale..

And that's without ever ever EVER ever ever ever ever cheating or going over. If your cut isn't as drastic, if you don't quite keep to your goals each day, the loss will take longer. I don't know about you but when I get serious about my cut, a week and a half of not seeing the scale budge is pretty discouraging.

And then, what happens if the calculator is over-estimating your daily needs (as I suspect that it does)?? You could spin your wheels in perpetuity trying to figure out whats wrong.

I have to ask, what's wrong with MFP's built in calculator? Find your BMR, multiply it by the sedentary (1.2) multiplier, and you've got your total daily energy expenditure.

The problem with internet calculators is that they require you to know your BMR. All of the formulas are based off of that one number, and using an internet calculator for such a specialized, specific number means that they could be as much as 15% high or low, depending on who you are and what your lifestyle is like.

Think of the genetic differences between all of us, as humans, and think of how some people can eat like sumo wrestlers and be thin, while others eat moderately and gain tons of weight. You can't really identify those people based on any physical factors, BMR has to be measured.

Find a bod pod, and get your BMR measured in real life, and then you can run all the math you want

Otherwise, your math and numbers might be close, but when we're talking a cut in the range of 10 to 20% less, you could blow your whole cut for the day with one delicious cookie.

Evotchka

Thank you guys so much! This helps a ton. I know that there are huge forum posts about exactly this. I just couldn't seem to find them. This gives me exactly the information I need!!

TrracyGirl

Thanks for creating this post Evotchka I was getting confused as well.. so much info out there!