Metabolic Damage & Figuring Out Macro Split

caramorgano
caramorgano Posts: 2
edited March 6 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi My Fitness Pal friends,

I've been a fitness competitor for 5 years and from all the extreme diet and training I think I've got some serious metabolism issues.

I am new to IIFYM, I am still trying to figure out how to determine my macro spit and calorie goal. Done tons of research on the topic but have seen SO many different answers. Maybe there is someone out there that's been through this and has the magic answer for me!!

Thank you for the help!!!

Replies

  • cookmtn
    cookmtn Posts: 156 Member
    Try the Eat, Train, Progress group here. They can give specific advice if given specific info.
  • Chrisparadise579
    Chrisparadise579 Posts: 411 Member
    Depends on your goals for maintenance 40% carbs 40% protein 20% fat. For bulking 50% carbs 30% protein 20% fat. for cutting 30% carbs 50% protein 20% fat. Thatll do the trick but metabolic damage is mainly fixed with reverse dieting and calorie levels I can help you if youd like
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    Macro splits are entirely personal, but most do agree that using grams is better than using percentages of your total calories. You do not need to be eating half of your calories via protein while cutting.

    Generally, the following recommendations are made:

    Protein, either:
    a) 1g/lb - ideal if you are quite lean. Will be too much if you are overweight/obese
    b) 0.7-0.8g/lb - better than 1g if you are overweight. Go with .7 if obese, 0.8 if overweight. LIkely to still be higher than needed, but much more doable.
    c) 1g/lb of lean body mass - ideal for everyone. So you need to figure out your body fat %. e.g. if you are 150lbs and 24% bf then 115g of protein should be fine.
    Of course, adjust up/down if needed. I used to eat 160g or more. Now I eat 130g. I have not noticed any decrease in LBM, actually I've seen improvements now that I'm trying to prevent overtraining.

    Fat:
    0.3g/lb or more. This is the minimum healthy amount, although if you are obese then 0.3g/LBM might be better.

    Carbs:
    whatever else is left.

    So basically, you can adjust protein and fat to meet your required minimums, and then leave the rest to carbs. If you have a specific need to limit carbs (e.g. diabetic) then you can adjust for carbs first and then let the rest of your calories fall to fat.

    As for calorie goal, I recommend the links on my profile, primarily exrx.net and health-calc. If you do net, do not include exercise int he equation, subtract 20% or less, and then log and eat back exercise calories. If you want to do TDEE then average out your exercise across a week (e.g. 30mins 5x a week turns into 20 mins 7x a week) and do not eat exercise cals back (dont' log them)
  • caramorgano
    caramorgano Posts: 2
    Thank you all for your responses I truly appreciate it, I found your information extremely helpful!
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    Why don't you use the calculator on the IIFYM site then adjust your macro percentages accordingly?
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    Chrisparadise579 wrote: »
    Depends on your goals for maintenance 40% carbs 40% protein 20% fat. For bulking 50% carbs 30% protein 20% fat. for cutting 30% carbs 50% protein 20% fat. Thatll do the trick but metabolic damage is mainly fixed with reverse dieting and calorie levels I can help you if youd like


    IMO (if OP is female, anyway) 20% fat is not enough for good health.
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