What should I Set My Macros At?

Hi Jilly, I've had the same question lately too. So here's my take - sorry for the dissertation ;p

I started MFP about 2 months ago, and completely changed my diet. I have been trying to eat healthy but my macro percentages are way off what MFP recommends:
Instead of 15% protein, I'm usually 20%-25%. Instead of 30% fat I am usually 20%-25%, as well. So I am too low in fat and too high on protein, according to MFP - you would think that would be ok, right?

This is what I think I know:

I dug around the boards a little, and I think the answers you will get are these:
1) percentages are a bad way to go, ignore that feature and calc grams (I read that one a lot, but I think it should be good enough for some of us, better than nothing)
2) find out the amount of protein and fat you need, in grams, and fill the rest with carbs

FAT
I think I have read that fat should be between 20% - 30%. So MFPs recommendation of 30% seems to be on the high end. So my intake of 20% might be too low. I know that fat is critical to the absorption of some nutrients. I know that dietary fat does not make body fat, but I eat a low fat diet in the pursuit of a low calorie diet. Fat is high in calories- 9 calories per gram vs. 4 calories per gram for protein and carbs.

I have read that we should eliminate trans fats for health reasons (fried food, chips, cookies, donuts) and limit saturated fat (milk, meat, I think). As a rough rule, I read that we should try to get at least half our fat from unsaturated fat. But in MFP, I don't think the unsaturated fat numbers are right. Look at an entire week and saturated fat plus unsaturated fat don't add up to the total fat. I think that is because many labels don't list unsaturated fat so they are plugged in as zeroes.

So I guess just make sure that fat is 20%-30% of calories and that saturated fat g is less than half of total fat g. My saturated fat numbers are about 25% of total fat, so think that is pretty good. I supplement the unsaturated fat that we need to get omega 6 and omega 3. I take a fish oil pill and a flaxseed oil pill and try to eat fish once a week. I cook with canola and olive oil. A lot of recipes call for vegetable oil and Mazola Corn oil says no trans and not much sat fat, so I don't get why it's bad, but I do avoid it.

PROTEIN
Determine the number of grams of protein you need to calculate the percentage. Maybe set high and low daily limits. Multiply those numbers by 4 to get the number of daily calories. Divide that by your daily calorie target and there you have it, a percentage range to try and hit.

But how many grams do we need? That seems to be controversial and depends on activity level. Most experts believe we eat more protein than we need. But vigorous exercise requires more. One guideline says to eat 0.8g-1.8g per kg of body weight daily. Sedentary ~ 0.8g/kg, Athlete 1.8g/kg.

Example - I weigh 235# / 2.2 = 107kg and require 2,500 calories to maintain my weight. I want to lose 1# per week so my goal is 2,000 calories per day.

Lower limit - If I were sedentary I would require 0.8g/kg * 107kg * 4kcal/g = 342 cal / 2,000 cal = 17%. To me that is the absolute lower limit. I am not sedentary so I use 20% as my lower limit (.93g/kg).

Upper limit - I'm not an athlete, so I don't need 1.8g/kg, but I lift some weights, ride bicycle a lot, and tend to prefer a lot of protein, so I use 1.4g/kg * 107kg * 4kcal/g = 599 cal / 2,000 cal = 30%

CARBS
I just watch the fat and protein levels and let the rest be carbs. Preferably complex carbs. Simple sugars spike insulin levels I guess. Affects appetite and cravings they say. But ignore the sugar limit set by MFP. I avoid refined sugars and eat plenty of fruit and always go way over the MFP limit. I've read that is quite common with MFP.

So there you have it. Not that I necessarily know what I'm talking about, but for me, I watch calories foremost, eat tons of veggies, and look at macros for a week at a time and check to be sure that fat and protein both fall between 20-30%.

I set my MFP macro goals to 25% fat, 25% protein, 50% carbs, which I feel is a better fit for me than 30% fat, 15% protein, 55% carbs, as recommended by default in MFP.

Sorry for the long winded dissertation, but I would love to hear if anyone agrees with my conclusions.

Good luck to you Jilly! MFP seems to be working for me so far. I've lost 15 pounds in 6 weeks. Feel free to look at my food diary, it is public.

Bentlly

Jilly - Protein calc:

160# / 2.2 = 73kg.
Sedentary - 0.8g/kg * 73kg * 4cal/g = 234 cal / 1500 cal = 15.6% protein for lower limit.
Athlete/Body Builder - 1.8 * 73 * 4 = 525 cal / 1500 = 35%
In between - 1.3 * 73 = 95g of protein * 4 = 380 cal / 1500 = 25.3%

Hmmmm. 25% is what I got for myself too.

B

Fat and protein are important for your body to function. Carbs are important because they give you energy.

So I would say eat as few carbs as you can get away with, but at least 40-50g (unless you want to try a low-carb or ketogenic diet). Then put all the rest of your food in fat and protein, if you can. Maybe a little more to protein than to fat so you can eat more as fat is more calorie dense. But seriously fat is important.

This is what I found too. I am always way under MFP carbs, and I found 1 gram protein for ideal body weight is enough. Mfp says i need only 44 grams protien, and i do better at 60. Fat is nessecary for all metabolic processes, but I limit ADDED fats. I will cook a meal in 1 teaspoon olive oil: 4 grams fat, 40 cals. Otherwise, I get all fat from what comes in a food: cottage cheese that's 5% fat for example. I am often over the MFP for fat by 10-20 grams (naughty me) but I gain weight on CARBS AND SUGARS way more than fats.

Bump - I do 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat, but interested in what others have to say.

Great advice!! I can't digest Gluten and I don't eat process food so I am really low on the carb side of things. It's hard to get a balance! Bentlly's advice looks really good.

Thx, moepwr!

I cant imagine being gluten free, although i am learning to live with a lot less bread...not easy, I love it! It"s just so high in calories!

I'm amazed at how many people I know are gluten free lately. And what about all the poor folks that reacted to gluten in previous generations that probably pulled their hair out trying to figure out their problem!

For gluten free carbs how about rice, potatoes, rice noodles, veggies?