Need help with macros
epona_mus
Posts: 207 Member
I am new to keto, although given that I've been borderline diabetic (with periods of insulin dependence) my whole life I probably should have found this sooner...
Anyways, I have easily been able to give up sugars and starches - even fruit tastes too sweet now. I used the macro calculator at
http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/
And since I work out strenuously (burning 250-700 cal per day) only 2-3 days a week, I chose the middle of the road protein option, and a deficit to keep me around 1200 cal/day. The calculator spit out:
1202 kcal Daily Calorie Intake
20 g Carbohydrates (7%, 80 kcal)
95 g Protein (32%, 380 kcal)
82 g Fat (61%, 742 kcal)
Does that look right? I keep seeing people post they are doing 85% fat, etc.
I have been monitoring ketone output via ketostix (I know, not that accurate, but....) and coming up between small (15 units) and moderate (40 units), so I think I am in ketosis. Also weight loss has been going in the right direction.
I guess what I want to know is am I doing this right? This seems like a WOE where accuracy is super important!
Anyways, I have easily been able to give up sugars and starches - even fruit tastes too sweet now. I used the macro calculator at
http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/
And since I work out strenuously (burning 250-700 cal per day) only 2-3 days a week, I chose the middle of the road protein option, and a deficit to keep me around 1200 cal/day. The calculator spit out:
1202 kcal Daily Calorie Intake
20 g Carbohydrates (7%, 80 kcal)
95 g Protein (32%, 380 kcal)
82 g Fat (61%, 742 kcal)
Does that look right? I keep seeing people post they are doing 85% fat, etc.
I have been monitoring ketone output via ketostix (I know, not that accurate, but....) and coming up between small (15 units) and moderate (40 units), so I think I am in ketosis. Also weight loss has been going in the right direction.
I guess what I want to know is am I doing this right? This seems like a WOE where accuracy is super important!
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Replies
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What size deficit is that? It's probably too high.
Accuracy is not that important, except when it comes to keeping the carbs low. Just getting close to the protein and fat will be good enough. If you're +/- 10% any day, it's no big deal.
Edit: 5'9" and 190 lbs ... female... not sure of your age... you're probably around a 45% - 55% deficit at 1,200 calories. That is WAY, WAY too low. Why not 1,700 or so? It's still a big deficit, but you'll get so much more delicious fat.0 -
I'm at about 43% deficit at 1200cal. I do have a problem with getting fat in me because I really detest the taste and textures of most fats... other than peanut butter! :-) I have substituted heavy cream in my coffees and add avocado and olive oil to everything.
Is there a benefit of bumping my caloric intake up to 1700 cal/day - other than satiety?0 -
I'm at about 43% deficit at 1200cal. I do have a problem with getting fat in me because I really detest the taste and textures of most fats... other than peanut butter! :-) I have substituted heavy cream in my coffees and add avocado and olive oil to everything.
What is it that you detest about fats? Make creamy sauces, use cheese on things, add butter to veggies, etc. Try to consciously add fats. Experiment and remind yourself, mentally, that these are not bad for you. It is hard at first, there is a mental block to overcome. But, it is worth it.Is there a benefit of bumping my caloric intake up to 1700 cal/day - other than satiety?
Other than satiety? Don't be so quick to dismiss the benefits of satiety. This isn't (or at least shouldn't be) a crash diet, a quick fix, a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am sort of thing. Keto should be approached with the long term in mind. Feeling content, full, and happy with the amount you're eating each day is massively beneficial for your personal happiness and motivation to stick with things. You're not a sinner, in need of penance. You can lose the fat with no [well, minimal] suffering. Satiety is a huge thing to aim for. In fact, until you adapt full (about 3 weeks), I would encourage no calorie counting. The only thing I would ask you to watch is the protein (above 150g a day for the first few weeks... it helps preserve muscle while your body adapts to ketosis) and carbs (under 20 net grams a day). Other than that, eat until you want no more food. It helps massively while your body adapts to the changes you're asking of it, if you're not also asking it to manage those changes at a massive deficit.
Second, this is (or should be) a life long journey. Part of that journey is relearing what and how to eat. The closer your meals are to what they would be in maintenance, the longer your mind and body has to accept and respond to the changes. You can't just reach your goal weight and slam it back into 5th gear from first. You should ease it into it. Small changes are more effective (long term) than huge ones.0 -
It's a texture thing, not a low fat thing.... I hate the filminess. I'm not a huge fan of dairy (although I'm now managing to put whole cream in my coffee without gagging). I'll eat hard cheese in moderation, but not cream cheese or soft cheeses. I like nuts but they also have carbs. My main source of fats has been avocado (I eat it with olive oil and balsamic), cheese, peanut butter/almond butter and meats.
I am totally satiated. My larger issue has been getting all the food down every day... I think when I was eating carbs, the calories were fruit and sugar/candy/coffee drinks and I was still hungry during the day. Now that I'm avoiding those empty calories, I'm more than full....
So, if the carbs are a limit (20-30 g/day) and the protein and fats are a goal, is the best approach to make sure I am under my carb limit, hit my minimum protein goal and fill in the rest with as many fats as I can get down?
Thanks for your insight and guidance!!0 -
Is there a benefit of bumping my caloric intake up to 1700 cal/day - other than satiety?
The best part about keto for many folks is how easy it is to do. Its counter-intuitive because most people initially focus on all the carby things you can't eat, but there are so many great things you can eat without feeling guilty at all. Anyway, the reason that keto is easy for many people compared to other weight loss attempts is that there is never, ever any reason to feel like you're starving yourself. You can basically *always* eat until you're full, because the foods you are eating will make you full quicker than the guy eating 30% of his calories from carbs. Because your blood sugar will stabilize you're not dealing with sugar spikes and crashes either which raise hell on your appetite. This ends up being one of the biggest reasons many ketoers can stick with the diet long term to complete their weight loss.
Its fairly common for folks to expect to be miserable on a diet, so coming into keto and picking a massive calorie deficit and being hungry all the time is a normal diet state, but it leads to a lot of failures. So when those who have been on keto for a long time see that, the first thing is to caution the new person
Some people do stay on very large deficits and do so successfully. IF you are honestly not hungry, AND you're meeting your protein macro, then you're fine on a large deficit. But you *really* don't need to find yourself hungry frequently, you really shouldn't be having lots of cravings outside of maybe having to fight off a coworker who brings doughnuts or whatever and puts some yummy carb heavy food in your face. Because you should not be hungry, and you should never feel like losing weight on keto is a process that involves suffering though. So if you're brand new, something closer to a 20% deficit is much safer and gives the average person a much higher chance to stick with it. Especially if you're new and used to some intense activity. You can always drop the calories and adjust your intake downward, and you shouldn't ever stuff yourself to meet a calorie goal. So if you set a goal for 1700 but got full at 1500 calories, that's great. But if you set your goal at 1200 and find yourself feeling like you have on every other diet, that's just not necessary
Good luck!0 -
So, if the carbs are a limit (20-30 g/day) and the protein and fats are a goal, is the best approach to make sure I am under my carb limit, hit my minimum protein goal and fill in the rest with as many fats as I can get down?
Stay at or under your carb limit. Attempt to meet your protein goal. Eat fats to feel full. There's no need to force yourself to eat a certain amount of fat.
For the fat, since you aren't fond of dairy and some other stuff b/c of texture, what about fattier meats? I haven't had a chicken breast in forever, chicken thighs with the skin are cheaper, taste better (to me at least) and have more fat. 85/15 beef instead of the lean stuff. Bacon, of course, lol.
The keto boards on reddit are way more active (reddit.com/r/keto, and there's a reddit.com/r/ketorecipies that I like too). Beware that those guys can feel a little cult-y at times, but there's a lot of good there too. If you search the main keto for "dairy free keto" you'll definitely find some discussions from people who have issues with tons of dairy on how they get their fats, so that might help too.0 -
Thank you both for your replies.
Yes, I'm trying to venture into fattier meat cuts... we raise our own meats or buy/trade them with other farmers, so we have access to wonderful, healthy meats and eggs year around.
I'm honestly not hungry, but my go-to snack (chicken or turkey) is very lean, so my ratios are off. We had ground beef (80/20, home raised and grass fed) taco salads tonight - and I was able to add some cheese and sour cream to it, so I got in some extra fat grams in there, plus olives and avocado.
I wish I liked fattier meats like bacon, steak, pork, etc. but it's just never been what I love to eat... I'll eat 2 bites of steak and push it away. And bacon? I used to sneak it under the table to feed to the dog! But what I hear you saying is that if I get my protein gr. in and stick to my carb limit, I can eat fats to satiety but don't need to hit a specific # to stay in ketosis?0 -
Hi there, I am not an expert at all, I don't really know all about the scientific side of this, but I will say this. I've been doing this since March, I have PCOS with insulin resistance (borderline) and initially was petrified to go over 1200 cals a day, because in the past thats all I could eat to lose weight. I'm now at 1500, with little exercise other than walking and light strength training 2-3 times a week and the weight is coming off, slowly yes, but its moving. I'm down 24 lbs, not a huge amount but the most success i've had in years. Don't be afraid to up your calories, especially the fat calories. Have you tried making fat bombs? there are some that are quite yummy. it might help get your fat in daily. Good luck!0
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A lot of people do not really know what there body fat percentage is, I know I was off trying to set my macros. This is a good site to check your body fat and then you can do the keto calculator and get a more accurate fit.
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/library/blbodyfatcalculator.htm0 -
You can't check body fat on a site. You need to measure BF% accurately. I am not talking about those home bf scales for measuring. I had best results when I hit the fat goal first, protein and i just try to fill up carbs.0
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I agree with Leonidas! (I'm smart that way lol) I did my bf % on a few different websites and got a variety of differnt results. It wasn't until I joined the gym and they measured me more accurately was I able to figure out my macros better. I'm sure its still not 100% but defintely more accurate than the online calculators0
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I recently had my BF% measured by my trainer so I used that % in my calculations.0
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Get a underwater hydrostatic weighing or bod pod for fat testing. The measurements in the gym only consider fat around your skin. It works great for lean and athletes but if you have ton of organ fat, the numbers will be skewed0
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Yeah, given the cost and distance I'd have to travel to a facility to have that done, that's not likely to happen in the near future, so I'll just have to use the % my trainer gave me as a guideline.
We don't live near a big city so options are limited. We don't even have a hospital or uni here.0 -
Epona, I'm in the same boat. Nova Scotia Canada is not top on the technology map. lol. Some day I hope it will be.0
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:-) You know you live in the country when you are able to more easily get medical care for your livestock than yourself... LOL!! Or when it's easier to get replacement tires for your tractor than your car.... When your closest thing to "local politics" is having a beer with your extension officer over a beer at the grange hall potluck...0
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I love calculators, so thought I would try these out since there were two mentioned in this thread....
The first site: http://keto-calculator.ankerl put me at 35.3% bodyfat, while
the second site: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/library/blbodyfatcalculator.htm put me at 52.9% bodyfat.
Fun, but unreliable.
edited to correct web address.0 -
It's worked out great for me.0
