Advice on goal weight and how to set macros

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katmumn
katmumn Posts: 78 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello-

I've been back tracking for a week. I'm 5'3", 136 lbs and 44. I'm thinking my goal weight should be around 123 lbs but I'm looking for feedback on how to set my goal weight.

I re-calculated my TDEE and it came out to about 1755, so I'm trying to keep my total calories to 1450 before any exercise calories. I try to only eat about 1/2 of my exercise calories. But I'm still confused on how do I set my macros?

Thank you.

Replies

  • katmumn
    katmumn Posts: 78 Member
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    bump
  • AntonioP23
    AntonioP23 Posts: 80 Member
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    The way I do it

    Set your calories first

    Then get .5 to .75g protein per lb a day

    Then you can split the rest however your want
  • terbusha
    terbusha Posts: 1,483 Member
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    What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to make good progress towards your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, eat so you drop 1 lb/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1600 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for a week. If you lose 1 lb, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few weeks, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

    As for macros, here is what I do.
    Protein: 0.6-1 g/lb of body weight. If you're doing more weight lifting, you'd be at the top of this range
    Fat: 20-30%
    Carbs: the rest of your calories

    As for your goal weight, I prefer people set a body fat % goal. This frees you from the scale while you focus on body composition. If you can be 5 lbs heavier at the same body fat %, you're more fit because you have more muscle.
  • lanzi82
    lanzi82 Posts: 21 Member
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    Could somebody please work out my macros, I'm 5"11 and 255lbs with an aim of losing 100lbs but I'm not very active at the moment so mfp says I need 1465 cals a day, so do I aim to eat 465 cals of protein per day?
  • emc2fit
    emc2fit Posts: 16 Member
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    Hey! I've been using the IIFYM calculator to help me calculate what my macros should really be. You can find it here - http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

    Until then I'd just kind of guessed at a 25:30:45 ratio of carbs, fat and protein. Generally speaking I follow a fairly low carb diet. At first it was on purpose and now I do it without thinking... but I digress!

    The macro calculator can be a little bit complicated, but once you review the suggested intake it gives you, you can have a play and adapt it to yourself. Half the battle is just getting into a routine and finding meals that actually fit the macros. My macros are accidental, if you told me to change it in favour of carbs I'd have no clue what to eat!

    Hope that helps, macros are definitely IMO the best aspect to focus on when restricting calories. 1400 a day of fudge bars won't do you any favours after all ;)
  • katmumn
    katmumn Posts: 78 Member
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    Thank you all for the helpful replies. I'm currently eating about .8 g/lb of protein and I'm feeling like that is working well for me. I'm limiting fat to 30% and carbs the rest.

    I did try the IIFYM calculator, but my carb number seemed high based on the suggested plan so I think I'm going to stick with what I've been doing at least for another month or so. As I get close to my goal weight, I know I'm likely going to need to adjust again.

    I would be thrilled to lose a lb a week but as I normally can't lose that fast at the weight I'm at now. I'm aiming for .5 lb per week and if I exceed that I'll be thrilled but I'm trying to be realistic.

    What would be a realistic bodyfat goal for a woman my age? 20%?
  • kethry70
    kethry70 Posts: 404 Member
    edited February 2015
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    katmumn wrote: »
    Hello-

    I've been back tracking for a week. I'm 5'3", 136 lbs and 44. I'm thinking my goal weight should be around 123 lbs but I'm looking for feedback on how to set my goal weight.

    I re-calculated my TDEE and it came out to about 1755, so I'm trying to keep my total calories to 1450 before any exercise calories. I try to only eat about 1/2 of my exercise calories. But I'm still confused on how do I set my macros?

    Thank you.

    FWIW, the whole point of the TDEE method is that your activity levels/regular exercise is already factored into your TDEE. So, you don't track or eat back your exercise calories. You just eat to a percentage of your average daily caloric burn

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