Macro ratios

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What Macro ratios are people using to cut fat?

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  • nobbyprosser
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    Don't think you will go far wrong with 40/40/20. 40 carbs 40 protein 20 fats. Stick to that and stay under your maintenance calories and thats as complicated as it needs to be IMO :-)
  • SultanAlush
    SultanAlush Posts: 39 Member
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    i lift weight and do cardio, and mine are 50:30:20 (carbs,protien,fat)
    but focus on the caloric deficit for weight loss, eat less than your TDEE
  • JulesAlloggio
    JulesAlloggio Posts: 480 Member
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    What Macro ratios are people using to cut fat?

    http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ Follow the instructions, type your numbers in and you will see what your macros are =)
  • m4ttcheek
    m4ttcheek Posts: 229 Member
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    I'm currently going with 40p, 35c, 25f.

    Things are moving in the right direction but very slowly compared to when i was using 40p,10c,50f.
  • JLHNU212
    JLHNU212 Posts: 169 Member
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    BUMP! that is an awesome link for figuring it out!! Thanks for the info share!!!
  • rabies
    rabies Posts: 62
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    I think focusing on three ratios is flawed to be honest. To lose weight you need to be at a caloric deficit, as long as you are you will lose weight. In order to lose the right kind of weight you'll need 2 grams of protein per kg bodyweight (1 gram per lbs) and 1 gram of fat per kg bodyweight. The rest of your calories can come from whatever, it doesn't make a difference.

    Where it does make a difference is when it comes to how you feel. You need to get enough from carbs so you have the energy to excercise, and to find that amount you have to experiment.

    Say you weigh 90kg and you're stable on 2400kcal/day. In order to drop 0.5kg/week you'll need to be on 1900kcal/day. In order to maintain your muscle mass and keep things going you'll need 180g of protein and 90g of fat each day. 720 kcal from protein and fat each makes 1440, meaning you can eat at most 115g of carbs. Most 90kg guys I know can get by on a lot less than 115 grams of carbs, and trade 45g or so for protein, but that's because they lift things. If you're doing high intensity excercise you'll probably need these 115 grams just to manage.

    So while for joggers, for example, 38E% from protein, 38E% from fat and 24E% from carbs could work fine (the exact example with 115g carbs), a lifter would probably be better off with 50E% protein and 15E% carbs.

    These "rules" of macro ratios will make a lot of people too tired to work out, or make the insulin levels fluctuate more than necessary, or basically just not make you feel as good as you deserve. Just do the calculations yourself and adjust the carb - protein balance as needed, down to 2g protein/kg of bodymass.
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
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    I think focusing on three ratios is flawed to be honest. To lose weight you need to be at a caloric deficit, as long as you are you will lose weight. In order to lose the right kind of weight you'll need 2 grams of protein per kg bodyweight (1 gram per lbs) and 1 gram of fat per kg bodyweight. The rest of your calories can come from whatever, it doesn't make a difference.

    Where it does make a difference is when it comes to how you feel. You need to get enough from carbs so you have the energy to excercise, and to find that amount you have to experiment.

    Say you weigh 90kg and you're stable on 2400kcal/day. In order to drop 0.5kg/week you'll need to be on 1900kcal/day. In order to maintain your muscle mass and keep things going you'll need 180g of protein and 90g of fat each day. 720 kcal from protein and fat each makes 1440, meaning you can eat at most 115g of carbs. Most 90kg guys I know can get by on a lot less than 115 grams of carbs, and trade 45g or so for protein, but that's because they lift things. If you're doing high intensity excercise you'll probably need these 115 grams just to manage.

    So while for joggers, for example, 38E% from protein, 38E% from fat and 24E% from carbs could work fine (the exact example with 115g carbs), a lifter would probably be better off with 50E% protein and 15E% carbs.

    These "rules" of macro ratios will make a lot of people too tired to work out, or make the insulin levels fluctuate more than necessary, or basically just not make you feel as good as you deserve. Just do the calculations yourself and adjust the carb - protein balance as needed, down to 2g protein/kg of bodymass.

    I believe your protein g are a little high, as it's meant to be based on your lean mass weight, not your total bodyweight, but I do agree with aiming for a specific number rather than a general ratio.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
  • m4ttcheek
    m4ttcheek Posts: 229 Member
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    I'm was just looking to get an idea of what others do. I lift heavy 4 times a week and try to get 5-6 cardio sessions(20-30mins) in.

    I agree that overall cals determines overall weight but if you're trying to get maintain/build muscle you probably have to look at them more carefully.
  • rabies
    rabies Posts: 62
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    I think focusing on three ratios is flawed to be honest. To lose weight you need to be at a caloric deficit, as long as you are you will lose weight. In order to lose the right kind of weight you'll need 2 grams of protein per kg bodyweight (1 gram per lbs) and 1 gram of fat per kg bodyweight. The rest of your calories can come from whatever, it doesn't make a difference.

    Where it does make a difference is when it comes to how you feel. You need to get enough from carbs so you have the energy to excercise, and to find that amount you have to experiment.

    Say you weigh 90kg and you're stable on 2400kcal/day. In order to drop 0.5kg/week you'll need to be on 1900kcal/day. In order to maintain your muscle mass and keep things going you'll need 180g of protein and 90g of fat each day. 720 kcal from protein and fat each makes 1440, meaning you can eat at most 115g of carbs. Most 90kg guys I know can get by on a lot less than 115 grams of carbs, and trade 45g or so for protein, but that's because they lift things. If you're doing high intensity excercise you'll probably need these 115 grams just to manage.

    So while for joggers, for example, 38E% from protein, 38E% from fat and 24E% from carbs could work fine (the exact example with 115g carbs), a lifter would probably be better off with 50E% protein and 15E% carbs.

    These "rules" of macro ratios will make a lot of people too tired to work out, or make the insulin levels fluctuate more than necessary, or basically just not make you feel as good as you deserve. Just do the calculations yourself and adjust the carb - protein balance as needed, down to 2g protein/kg of bodymass.

    I believe your protein g are a little high, as it's meant to be based on your lean mass weight, not your total bodyweight, but I do agree with aiming for a specific number rather than a general ratio.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    Basing numbers on lean mass isn't practical as almost everyone are WAY off when they're guesstimating it. 2g/kg body mass is perfectly fine, and as long as you're not WAY overweight it's not too much. Make it simple by basing your numbers on body mass.
  • alyssa92982
    alyssa92982 Posts: 1,093 Member
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    Bump
  • Brads2ndLife
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    According to my MFP target numbers they think my ratio should be

    C: 66%
    P: 18%
    F: 16%

    I'm currently over on protein and a little under for the other 2.

    Those to don't seem to be near what anyone here is talking about aiming for :\