Still confused by macros, BMR, IIFYM ... please help :(

adiostrasero
adiostrasero Posts: 127 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have been trying to read up on macronutrients and have calculated mine at IIFYM (ihttp://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/). I have a few questions though and would really love some insight from some of you more experienced nutritionists :)

My BMR according to IIFYM and MFP is was 1466. However, under "choose your goal", if I want to lose fat (which I do), IIFYM suggests eating the following levels:

"Standard" (15%): 1768
"Aggressive (20%)" 1664
"Reckless (25%)" 1560

MFP is having me eat 1440 now ... far below "reckless" according to IIFYM. But does IIFYM take into account overall weight loss? Should I be eating more than 1440? I am soooo confused.

Question 2 - I am trying to lose fat and build muscle. Should I be eating more protein that the "standard" that IIFYM suggests? The default is set to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, .4 grams of fat per pound, and the rest in carbs. Should I be cutting carbs more?

MFP has me eating 54 protein/48 fat/198 carbs. How do I know what percentage of total calories are coming from each?

Again ... totally confused.

Replies

  • knot_enough
    knot_enough Posts: 176 Member
    its difficult to truly determine how many calories you really burn in a day. So deciding the amount of calories to cut takes trial and error. Personally, I started at "aggressive." Do that for a week. If you like it, then stick to it. If the weight cut is too slow, cut some more calories out.
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
    What did you select as your activity level on MFP? When I did MFP and IIFYM, I would get the same numbers based on the same activity levels (at sedentary, they were within two or three calories). Maybe your IIFYM activity level is set higher than your MFP level, which accounts for the discrepancy in numbers.

    My current daily calorie goal is based on IIFYM. It matches up pretty well with what I was doing on MFP.

    I exercise 5 times a week. To test the numbers, I set MFP for sedentary, then recorded my steady state cardio exercise using my HRM. I took a weekly average of calories and got about 2,500 per day. IIFYM, with my data and activity set to moderate exercise 5 times a week gave me 2,526 calories per day.
  • knot_enough
    knot_enough Posts: 176 Member
    In regard to your second question, change your goals. literally lol.

    go to My Home > Goals > Change Goals

    Now you can play around with that ratio. i personally put it on 40/35/25 for carb/protein/fat.

    what i did is that whatever macro goals IIFYM.com gave me, i tried to match it as close as possible by playing with those percentages. Add me as a friend, check out my food diary.
  • JDMarlowe
    JDMarlowe Posts: 327 Member
    I have been trying to read up on macronutrients and have calculated mine at IIFYM (ihttp://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/). I have a few questions though and would really love some insight from some of you more experienced nutritionists :)

    My BMR according to IIFYM and MFP is was 1466. However, under "choose your goal", if I want to lose fat (which I do), IIFYM suggests eating the following levels:

    "Standard" (15%): 1768
    "Aggressive (20%)" 1664
    "Reckless (25%)" 1560

    MFP is having me eat 1440 now ... far below "reckless" according to IIFYM. But does IIFYM take into account overall weight loss? Should I be eating more than 1440? I am soooo confused.

    Question 2 - I am trying to lose fat and build muscle. Should I be eating more protein that the "standard" that IIFYM suggests? The default is set to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, .4 grams of fat per pound, and the rest in carbs. Should I be cutting carbs more?

    MFP has me eating 54 protein/48 fat/198 carbs. How do I know what percentage of total calories are coming from each?

    Again ... totally confused.

    Thanks for mentioning the IIFYM website!!!! Never heard of it before and from the looks of it, it will be useful in helping me begin this phase of physical change!!!!!
  • adiostrasero
    adiostrasero Posts: 127 Member
    What did you select as your activity level on MFP? When I did MFP and IIFYM, I would get the same numbers based on the same activity levels (at sedentary, they were within two or three calories). Maybe your IIFYM activity level is set higher than your MFP level, which accounts for the discrepancy in numbers.

    My current daily calorie goal is based on IIFYM. It matches up pretty well with what I was doing on MFP.

    I exercise 5 times a week. To test the numbers, I set MFP for sedentary, then recorded my steady state cardio exercise using my HRM. I took a weekly average of calories and got about 2,500 per day. IIFYM, with my data and activity set to moderate exercise 5 times a week gave me 2,526 calories per day.

    I set my activity level as "lightly active" on MFP and said I'd work out 3 times a week for 30 minutes. (I actually work out more like 5 x/week) I told IIFYM I work out 4x/week. Somehow they came up with almost identical BMRs. But IIFYM tells you to eat MORE than your BMR ... I guess that's what I'm confused about.
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
    I think I see the reason for the confusion - it's the exercise. Your BMR would be the same for both as that is generally based on the same calculation no matter what method you use.

    The IIFYM website is telling you your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expendeture) averaged across all days, so exercise calories are included in the numbers. You would eat the number they gave you every day.

    The MFP calculators do not take the exercise you entered into consideration, it just uses your goals. For MFP, you would eat back any calories you burn from exercise on days you exercised, and would only eat the low number on rest days.

    On average, it would end up being about the same as IIFYM.
  • adiostrasero
    adiostrasero Posts: 127 Member
    I think I see the reason for the confusion - it's the exercise. Your BMR would be the same for both as that is generally based on the same calculation no matter what method you use.

    The IIFYM website is telling you your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expendeture) averaged across all days, so exercise calories are included in the numbers. You would eat the number they gave you every day.

    The MFP calculators do not take the exercise you entered into consideration, it just uses your goals. For MFP, you would eat back any calories you burn from exercise on days you exercised, and would only eat the low number on rest days.

    On average, it would end up being about the same as IIFYM.

    Ah, that makes sense. Yeah, I don't know why I entered the exercise differently in the first place, haha. I just like to make my life as difficult as possible! :ohwell:

    Thanks for your help.

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