Help with intake and macros, please.
xenaroadwarrior
Posts: 41
Please help me with working out a calorie goal and suitable macros. I'm feeling quite overwhelmed by all the contradicting info I have been reading.
I'm female, age 49, current weight is 145.7kg (320.5lbs) as of this morning, and height is 164cm (5'5.5")
I used www.exrx.net to recalculate my BMR (2108) and my TDEE (2635). I used 12 hrs "Resting" and 12 hrs "Very Light" in the calculation.
MFP calculated my TDEE as 2580, using "Sedentary". So they seem comparable.
1) I have a lot of fat/weight to lose, so what do think would be the maximum deficit be I could get away with without causing any damage to my health / metabolism? I specified 1kg per week loss on MFP and it calculated a deficit of 1,110 calories per day which is about 40%. I know this is high but is it doable? And least till I get down to about 100kg (220lbs)?
2) If I manage to do some exercise over and above my TDEE (I use a Fitbit to track that) do I eat any of those exercise calories? If so, then what percentage can /should I eat?
3) Lastly, my macros. I read that you suggest protein at 1g/lb of LBM. How do I calculate that? Have tried various methods and calculators using a measuring tape (all I have available to me) and got BF% ranging from 46% to 74%. I'm thinking 74% might be the most accurate (approx 237lbs BF and 83lbs LBM). So I should eat a minimum of 83g protein each day?
And fat? 0.35g/lb of total body weight would give me 112g of fat, which you say I can reduce?
Most carbs (excluding veggies) are trigger foods for me, so I like the idea of keeping carbs to a minimum.
Playing with the numbers I get from MFP, I edited my macros as follows:
Protein 25% = 92g
Fat 60% = 98g
Carbs 15% = 55g
Would these numbers work?
I should also mention that I had weight loss surgery about 13 years ago which never worked (in regards to weight loss), but did leave me with a few issues. Vomiting frequently being the biggest one. I have managed to work around this by consuming a relatively large amount of good fats in my diet and keeping the carbs low (this is how I have managed to lose weight recently). It seems the high fat content allows the food to go down and stay down, for some reason. I took this into account when calculating my macros, but have no real idea of whether these numbers are really feasible.
I haven't been tracking calories or macros until a few days ago, but I'd like to give myself the best chance to lose this weight safely and healthily. My weight hasn't changed much at all in the last few weeks except for gaining / losing the same 3lbs repeatedly.
Your help / advice would be much appreciated. And followed.
Regards, Mandy
Edit: I just realised how incredibly long this post was :-(
My apologies.
I'm female, age 49, current weight is 145.7kg (320.5lbs) as of this morning, and height is 164cm (5'5.5")
I used www.exrx.net to recalculate my BMR (2108) and my TDEE (2635). I used 12 hrs "Resting" and 12 hrs "Very Light" in the calculation.
MFP calculated my TDEE as 2580, using "Sedentary". So they seem comparable.
1) I have a lot of fat/weight to lose, so what do think would be the maximum deficit be I could get away with without causing any damage to my health / metabolism? I specified 1kg per week loss on MFP and it calculated a deficit of 1,110 calories per day which is about 40%. I know this is high but is it doable? And least till I get down to about 100kg (220lbs)?
2) If I manage to do some exercise over and above my TDEE (I use a Fitbit to track that) do I eat any of those exercise calories? If so, then what percentage can /should I eat?
3) Lastly, my macros. I read that you suggest protein at 1g/lb of LBM. How do I calculate that? Have tried various methods and calculators using a measuring tape (all I have available to me) and got BF% ranging from 46% to 74%. I'm thinking 74% might be the most accurate (approx 237lbs BF and 83lbs LBM). So I should eat a minimum of 83g protein each day?
And fat? 0.35g/lb of total body weight would give me 112g of fat, which you say I can reduce?
Most carbs (excluding veggies) are trigger foods for me, so I like the idea of keeping carbs to a minimum.
Playing with the numbers I get from MFP, I edited my macros as follows:
Protein 25% = 92g
Fat 60% = 98g
Carbs 15% = 55g
Would these numbers work?
I should also mention that I had weight loss surgery about 13 years ago which never worked (in regards to weight loss), but did leave me with a few issues. Vomiting frequently being the biggest one. I have managed to work around this by consuming a relatively large amount of good fats in my diet and keeping the carbs low (this is how I have managed to lose weight recently). It seems the high fat content allows the food to go down and stay down, for some reason. I took this into account when calculating my macros, but have no real idea of whether these numbers are really feasible.
I haven't been tracking calories or macros until a few days ago, but I'd like to give myself the best chance to lose this weight safely and healthily. My weight hasn't changed much at all in the last few weeks except for gaining / losing the same 3lbs repeatedly.
Your help / advice would be much appreciated. And followed.
Regards, Mandy
Edit: I just realised how incredibly long this post was :-(
My apologies.
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Replies
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1) 1100 calorie deficit is definitely doable at your weight.
2) I believe this is micromanaging and I wouldn't worry about it a lot. Maybe you could set your deficit a bit lower to offset such days.
3) Don't read too much into the 1g/lb numbers and what would and what would not work at this stage. A simple calorie deficit will lead to drastic reduction in your weight. 100g would still be a good target.
My advice would be to start light exercise and restrict calorie intake through careful tracking.
There should be other forums that can provide you additional advice, but I highly doubt they would disagree with anything I said.0 -
1) 1100 calorie deficit is definitely doable at your weight.
2) I believe this is micromanaging and I wouldn't worry about it a lot. Maybe you could set your deficit a bit lower to offset such days.
3) Don't read too much into the 1g/lb numbers and what would and what would not work at this stage. A simple calorie deficit will lead to drastic reduction in your weight. 100g would still be a good target.
My advice would be to start light exercise and restrict calorie intake through careful tracking.
There should be other forums that can provide you additional advice, but I highly doubt they would disagree with anything I said.
Hi!
While we encourage people to participate, we ask that people not comment on intake threads. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/861596-please-read
Thank you.
OP: we will respond to your post shortly.0 -
Sorry I didn't read the sticky before replying. I did feel like OP's post was not in the correct forum, but was just trying to be helpful.0
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Sorry I didn't read the sticky before replying. I did feel like OP's post was not in the correct forum, but was just trying to be helpful.
Why would the post not be in the correct forum? The OP posted in a group that she is a member of. We give intake advice in this group as well as a bunch of other advice/information.0 -
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There are two main ways you can look to your intake.
You can estimate your activity for the week and eat to a static number - i.e. the same amount each day, or;
You can use a 'base' number and then 'eat back' a portion of your exercise calories.
It explains is a bit more here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
Which method do you think you would prefer?0 -
I'd rather use a base number and add back exercise calories. That way I could plan meals according to my base number and my macros, and then add extra according to my exercise. I like the idea of "working" for my treats. Do you think that mindset would hinder my progress?0
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Bump
Sorry for the delay. We should be able to get back to you tomorrow with some input.0 -
Hi!
We would suggest that you set your intake at 1,500 for rest days and eat back about 50% of your exercise calories. Before I make suggestions re macros, do you think that you would be able to adhere to this?. You should be able to lose weight on more than this, but for someone with a decent amount of weight to lose it can be beneficial (assuming adherence and energy is not a problem) to be a little aggressive at first. If you think that this would be too low to enable easy adherence, please let us know as we can set you at a higher level where you should still be able to lose weight at a reasonable rate.0 -
1500 sounds very doable, but I'd have to increase my intake as I frequently consume less than this.
I've been tracking my food intake (using a digital scale), for 12 days now, and have only gone over 1500 calories once (1622 cals). The other days have been between 1000-1500. In this time though I have lost less than a quarter of a lb.
Could I actually be eating too little?
I have made my food diary public for now so you can take a look if you like. MFP has my intake currently set to 1490 (based on losing 1kg per week).
I do query my TDEE though. I've set my activity level to "sedentary", but I still think it's over estimating. I have a fitbit (also set to "sedentary") but even though I try to walk on the treadmill for at least 5 mins every hour, my daily calorie burn still barely reaches my TDEE. And the chances of getting exercise calories to eat is pretty unlikely!
I find cardio extremely hard because of my weight. Is lifting doable at my size?
Sorry for all the questions.0 -
Bump0
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1500 sounds very doable, but I'd have to increase my intake as I frequently consume less than this.
I've been tracking my food intake (using a digital scale), for 12 days now, and have only gone over 1500 calories once (1622 cals). The other days have been between 1000-1500. In this time though I have lost less than a quarter of a lb.
Could I actually be eating too little?
I have made my food diary public for now so you can take a look if you like. MFP has my intake currently set to 1490 (based on losing 1kg per week).
I do query my TDEE though. I've set my activity level to "sedentary", but I still think it's over estimating. I have a fitbit (also set to "sedentary") but even though I try to walk on the treadmill for at least 5 mins every hour, my daily calorie burn still barely reaches my TDEE. And the chances of getting exercise calories to eat is pretty unlikely!
I find cardio extremely hard because of my weight. Is lifting doable at my size?
Sorry for all the questions.
Eating too little, while not a good idea does not cause someone to stall (water weight fluctuations aside). You have only been tracking for a couple of weeks, so I could you eat to the 1,500 calories for 2 weeks so we can get a good base line. Weight all food where you can and log absolutely everything. Also, your fiber is very low - I would look to get more volume in your diary (as well as a better mix of whole foods) by including more fruits and vegetables in your day.
Lifting weights is doable at any size. I would recommend something that is not too extreme to ease your way into it. Also, doing a more circuit or endurance style routine will probably be better at first so that you get some additional calorie burn.0
