How important is it to stick to macro goals?

amylg05
amylg05 Posts: 89 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My goals are currently 40% carbs, 30% fat and 30% protein. I never seem to meet this goals...im always over on carbs and under on protein :< Im not overly bad at staying within my calorie goal of 1400, some days im over by about 100 and some days im under by up to 200 depending if I eat back exercise cals.

I am still losing now but verrrrrry slowly, I have also just started lifting 3 times a week - from what I have read on here and from other sources (currently reading New Rules for women...) it seems that macros are much more important than I thought?

So, are they actually very important? And are my ratios right? Also, any tips on how I can actually stick to them...meal prepping/pre-planning maybe?

Thanks :>

Replies

  • butlersoft
    butlersoft Posts: 219 Member
    If you're lifting (and lifting heavy in particular), you'll want to ensure you get protein since this helps with the muscle tear down and rebuild during recovery. It is for this reason that many lifters will often have a protein shake straight after a workout and whey protein is quick to absorb and be used by the body.

    In that respect then - yes - macros are important.

    Conversely, if you you eat mainly carbs and then do a load of cardio for workout, you'll lose both FAT *and* Lean Body Mass which isn't something you want to do.

    For me (and this is me personally) - I'm trying to hit my Protein macros first and foremost ... then my fats (good fats like avocado and oily fish / nuts) ... and the rest is carbs.

    Check this out to get your TDEE :

    http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

    .... it shows you how much of each macro you should be having for YOU !
  • amylg05
    amylg05 Posts: 89 Member
    I really want to make sure I hit my protein for that reason! And if possible, I want to not go over on carbs and try to eventually lower my carbs to 30% and up my protein 40%. I dont really do much cardio / HIIT other than walking now and again but thats really not that often. My goal is to drop (a LOT) of fat and build some reasonable amount of muscle.

    Thank you - I will check that out! Still getting my head around these macros : >
  • asciiqwerty
    asciiqwerty Posts: 565 Member
    I found that getting hte right macro balance made a big difference to my weight loss.

    I was brought up with the idea similar to that of the wellness plate - that 30% of my meals should be car/grain

    what i came to realise was that ususally my breakfast (cereal) was all carb (and a little fat from milk) and that therefore my other meals should have closer to 20% carb not 30%

    now I sometimes have egg for breakfast and otherwise try to reduce my carbs at other meals
    so I made fajita the other day, and when I had some of the leftovers forlunch I wrapped them in letticee rather than fajita
  • djslickrix
    djslickrix Posts: 35
    For me I usually focus on reaching my calorie goals and protein goals for the day, and the carbs and fats usually fall in to place.
  • bheathfit
    bheathfit Posts: 451 Member
    Here ya go. Hope these help.

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

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/926789-protein-sources

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/817188-iifym
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    For me I usually focus on reaching my calorie goals and protein goals for the day, and the carbs and fats usually fall in to place.

    This for me too.

    I lift 3x a week and do HIIT/Cardio x2...I prelog to get my protien in otherwise I am just blind.

    As for how much protien that standard is typically 1gram of protien for each pound of LBM or 0.6-0.8g for every pound you weigh.

    My macro break down is as follows: 45% carbs, 30% protien, 25% fat...I am leaving my protien as is but may take 5% from carbs to fat...

    Macros are typically personal to the person and random numbers...are well...random numbers.

    To figure mine out I got the calculation from Eat Train Progress group.

    LBM x 4/TDEE for Protien
    LBM x 9 x 0.35/TDEE for Fat
    The rest for carbs
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
    As others have mentioned....
    If you are weight lifting and the desire to build/develop muscle is there.
    Then hitting protein goals is important.

    If weight loss is the desired goal, then ultimately it will come down to eating fewer calories than you need.

    But protein and fats are essential macros.
    You should try to hit ~0.4 gr of fat / pound of body weight
    Protein you can prolly get by on 0.6 - 0.8 gr / pound of body weight (if doing no weight lifting)
    if you are doing weight lifting, then trying to hit 0.8 - 1.0 gr / pound of body weight should be your goal.

    carbs can be whatever you want to hit your caloric goals.
  • amylg05
    amylg05 Posts: 89 Member
    Thanks all - that actually makes a lot of sense, focus on protein and then fat and let carbs fit in around them - I think I had been doing things the other way around! Using the IIFYM calculator I should be about 45% carbs then 35% protein and 20% fat but that seems like too much carbs so I am going to stick to the 40/30/30 and see how that works out for now!

    Thanks again all! :D

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