New to macros and need HELP

beautyh2t
beautyh2t Posts: 18 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone, first off I totally apologise as I am a COMPLETE newb to all this and to the forums but I am in desperate need of some help as I am completely lost! after losing 3 stone myself in the last 4 years with little knowledge and just cutting out drink and altering what i was eating ( student lifestyle!) I stopped losing, so to shift the last stone I spent a year on slimming world (UK) which I really didn't agree with nutritionally and it has been a slow year of low fat. I am only now looking into learning about macros etc as this last stone keeps creeping back ( no doubt thanks to the unlimited eating of some foods slimming world allows!) but I am still very confused. I weigh around 68 kgs and am 5'7 and have a moderately active lifestyle ( walk 7kms a day 5 days a week, gym a couple of times- need to learn how to lift but dont currently just do 30 mins of moderate bike) I am trying to use myfitness pal and it is saying 1200 cals a day with 150gs of carbs, 40 fat and 60 protein. Is this right? reading up on this has made things a big mess to me just so much information. so sorry to sound so new- but any help/guidance thoughts on what I should be aiming for would be amazing. I am aiming to lose a little weight around 7-10 lbs and generally improve nutrition. THANK YOU!

Replies

  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Have you read this thread yet?
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    I suspect you chose 2lbs a week as a weight loss goal on MFP - if you with less than 10lbs you should be at around .5lb a week.
    MFP also expects you to log those calories and eat them back. I haven't looked at your diary yet either but I strongly suggest giving the above post a read.
  • beautyh2t
    beautyh2t Posts: 18 Member
    Have you read this thread yet?
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    I suspect you chose 2lbs a week as a weight loss goal on MFP - if you with less than 10lbs you should be at around .5lb a week.
    MFP also expects you to log those calories and eat them back. I haven't looked at your diary yet either but I strongly suggest giving the above post a read.

    thanks so much for commenting 3dogs- off to catch that post now- hadnt read it! I have just checked and MFP definitely had my down for losing 2lbs a week so changing that. Do you ear back your exercise cals?
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Have you read this thread yet?
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    I suspect you chose 2lbs a week as a weight loss goal on MFP - if you with less than 10lbs you should be at around .5lb a week.
    MFP also expects you to log those calories and eat them back. I haven't looked at your diary yet either but I strongly suggest giving the above post a read.

    thanks so much for commenting 3dogs- off to catch that post now- hadnt read it! I have just checked and MFP definitely had my down for losing 2lbs a week so changing that. Do you ear back your exercise cals?

    I've done both MFP method with eating back exercise calories and TDEE and I ended up with the same average intake over the week. With MFP you eat more on some days, less on others, TDEE is the same everyday. I like the MFP way because if I have a week where I don't do my usual activity (I worked shiftwork, now I am dealing with pregnancy and all the issues that come up with that that interfere with regular exercise), I don't have to worry.
  • beautyh2t
    beautyh2t Posts: 18 Member
    Congrats on the pregnancy 3 dogs! ok so I have changed my MFP now to 1lb a week instead of two which has raised my daily cals to 1470 which is just below the lowest side of the TDEE range I was advised to consider in the other thread. So am I right in saying the option is to set the TDEE higher say 1650 and always aim for that regardless of exercise or as you say might work better seeing as I only walk that distance mon-fri,- follow MFP as in 1470 calls on no walk days but add more on the walk days such as today which now makes my limit 1745.

    I hope I have explained my question alright there! just want to make sure I am not screwing up totals to still lose slowly and safely- it has been a big plateau recently!

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