Adjusting goals and macros
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Mellyajc
Posts: 142 Member
I was here before but scared to trust the numbers. Well, here I am again! haha. Still scared. the last month or so I tried changing my percentages, basically limiting my diet to 50% carbs (meaning eating more protein and fat). I think this helped some of my digestive issues, but still not seeing the progress I'd like.
I've finally decided, I think, that I don't need to lose any more weight. I'm 5'2 and keeping pretty even at 120.5. I got down to 118 for a day...which taught me yea, the scale doesn't tell all. It estimates my BF% anywhere between 24 (on a good day) to 27% Gym instructor thinks 25-26 is about right based on her visual assessment. So now I'd like to reduce that %.
She ran my TDEE macros, and said that for 20% fat loss, she's got me on a 1920 calorie diet with a whopping 192 grams of protein..which is 40%, not the 25ish% mentioned in the formula provided in this group.
The thing is...my baseline intake is 1500 calories. I'm pretty scared to start eating 400 calories more. I don't want to gain weight back.
I'm also vegetarian. 75 grams of protein has been a good day for me in recent weeks.
She put me at 120 grams carbs, and I've been averaging around 160..so a minor cut there doesn't sound bad until factoring in general increase. I figure I'll have to have 6 protein shakes a day to get what she wants me to get. How do I increase protein beyond what I've already done, while reducing carbs, and being vegetarian?
I asked her about protein sources and she gave me the standard eggs, beans, whey. I've been eating more eggs, I don't want to get sick of them. Beans...is 20 grams carbs per 6 grams protein, so that's not a solution.
Thoughts on high protein vegetarian sources? Reassurances about increasing my calorie intake with this method? Thoughts on her calculations compared to the ones here? Help please!
Also..any way around MFP using net instead of gross carbs? Should I just stop logging my exercise here so I can get useful numbers?
I've finally decided, I think, that I don't need to lose any more weight. I'm 5'2 and keeping pretty even at 120.5. I got down to 118 for a day...which taught me yea, the scale doesn't tell all. It estimates my BF% anywhere between 24 (on a good day) to 27% Gym instructor thinks 25-26 is about right based on her visual assessment. So now I'd like to reduce that %.
She ran my TDEE macros, and said that for 20% fat loss, she's got me on a 1920 calorie diet with a whopping 192 grams of protein..which is 40%, not the 25ish% mentioned in the formula provided in this group.
The thing is...my baseline intake is 1500 calories. I'm pretty scared to start eating 400 calories more. I don't want to gain weight back.
I'm also vegetarian. 75 grams of protein has been a good day for me in recent weeks.
She put me at 120 grams carbs, and I've been averaging around 160..so a minor cut there doesn't sound bad until factoring in general increase. I figure I'll have to have 6 protein shakes a day to get what she wants me to get. How do I increase protein beyond what I've already done, while reducing carbs, and being vegetarian?
I asked her about protein sources and she gave me the standard eggs, beans, whey. I've been eating more eggs, I don't want to get sick of them. Beans...is 20 grams carbs per 6 grams protein, so that's not a solution.
Thoughts on high protein vegetarian sources? Reassurances about increasing my calorie intake with this method? Thoughts on her calculations compared to the ones here? Help please!
Also..any way around MFP using net instead of gross carbs? Should I just stop logging my exercise here so I can get useful numbers?
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There is little to no evidence that advocates eating more than 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight - which for you is about 110 grams. That's also way more doable!
Are you open to a whey protein powder or protein bar? Greek yogurt is also great, at 14g of protein in one serving
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So if you think 110, are you talking about reducing overall calorie intake? Or what protein/carb ratio?
I prefer a pea protein to whey, but just had whey since there's some in the pantry. Looks like this one has 10g carbs compared to 6 in the pea-based.
I'm actually trying to get off protein bars- I like the convenience and something to chew over shakes, but they are so processed. Plus, most have too much sugar, or sugar alcohols, which I think have contributed to my digestive problems (bloating started about 45 minutes after having one today). Some of them still seem to have at least as many carbs as protein.
I did have yogurt the other day, kind of surprised how much sugars even though it was plain, but yeah. I'm thinking of that..although I'm still not sure how increasing my dairy intake will treat my immune system. I'm also a fan of cottage cheese, 12 g protein to only 2.6 sugars.
As it sits right now...I've got MFP set to "maintenance" which gives me 1690 calories. I've got 571 remaining for dinner, but according to her ratios that means 74 grams of protein to 8 grams of carbs. Yes, I don't normally eat crackers (I had literally a couple today at a gathering). Even with nothing but shakes for my remaining meals, it's not possible. This ratio just seems unmanageable... I can't eat nothing but shakes, cottage cheese, and yogurt. I like to *chew* things (I usually crave by texture). Plus I'm already catching flak from friends and family about watching my diet, so trying to follow this in public will never work
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I don't know too much about pea protein, but from what I've heard you are better off getting a vegan mix of proteins rather than an isolated type. I eat over 110 g of protein per day, and my diary is open is you want to look. I do eat meat and protein bars though. Would you consider eating fish? Tuna has 19g of protein in about 80 calories. No carbs.
Also, keep in mind that sugars might count for those inherently present in the food. Apples have sugar, and the lactose in dairy products is a form of sugar. Just because sugar is on the label doesn't mean it's from added sugars.
Honestly though, it doesn't sound like your gym instructor knows about nutrition. I know mine doesn't. I'm getting my masters in nutrition (halfway done!) and I still feel nervous giving advice. I think that's because I can see how much I still don't know.
Here's what I recommend (take this with a grain of salt, though, like I said I still have a lot to learn) It sounds like you've been eating 1500 calories. Try 1600, with 110g (or 440 calories) from protein. If that is working for you, try upping it to 1700 in a week or two, and continue this (with 110g protein) until you aren't losing or gaining (much) weight. You will likely put some water weight on as glycogen is fully restored in your muscles. Keep track of your measurements, you know where weight gets put on/taken off (for me it's my waist, if that changes up or down I know I'm gaining/losing fat)0 -
Yeah, that's part of the problem. She said she looked at her macros and realized she was LOW on carbs and when she upped that she finally got her period after two years(!) She's not skinny, but very low BF. I can't imagine her life if she eats nothing but shakes all day to keep the carbs that low. Yeesh. Quality of life matters to me!
She's got a good body and has supposedly been personal training for 8 years...but I think her body is also somewhat natural thin, not coming from my background (down 30 pounds from HS, always a chubby kid). And the whole 1920, if that's based on lifestyle..I'm not as active as a personal trainer. But she also took a week to calculate it, because she used multiple formulae and they weren't matching up. So I'm assuming she got input from someone more in the know? But yeah. Hard not to be skeptical. I want to trust someone but it's scary, cause I'm the one that deals with the consequences!
I know natural sugars...my nutritionist friend also told me you're basically subtracting fiber from carbs to get the actual sugars though, not just looking at what's on the label. But that sugars should be kept around 25 grams a day, if I remember correctly. (Which, dang, one serving of raisins will eat that up?) I should check with her. I'm guessing she'd give me a different answer, although..her goal would be health, and not fat burning, so that would change the answer too.
Right now I'm standing at about 1446 eaten for the day...and probably going to go for another protein shake. I'm 6% off on my protein/carb ratio (according to hers). 119 carbs, 129 protein. Definitely a different sort of dinner than I'm used to eating (though enjoyable, I can't see doing this every day).
I also fear shifting off of MFP mentality. I don't think it's likely I'll stop exercising any time soon, but it makes sense to factor that in to calories consumed (though perhaps not as directly s MFP does).
I appreciate your input! I definitely like the idea of building up in the calories rather than going in full blast. Yours sounds more livable.0 -
Sugar from fruit is different than sugar from candy or even fruit juice. I'm going to post some links below on this.
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/carbs/the-relationship-between-sugar-and-carbohydrates.html#b
http://www.mynetdiary.com/carbs-in-weight-loss.html0 -
As it sits right now...I've got MFP set to "maintenance" which gives me 1690 calories. I've got 571 remaining for dinner, but according to her ratios that means 74 grams of protein to 8 grams of carbs. Yes, I don't normally eat crackers (I had literally a couple today at a gathering). Even with nothing but shakes for my remaining meals, it's not possible. This ratio just seems unmanageable... I can't eat nothing but shakes, cottage cheese, and yogurt. I like to *chew* things (I usually crave by texture). Plus I'm already catching flak from friends and family about watching my diet, so trying to follow this in public will never work
Just remember that maintenance figure is on days you do NO exercise, and if you selected MFP's activity level correctly.
Once you workout - it goes up, as you'd expect. Of course on MFP, you have to log the exercise to make that occur.
Agree that much protein from complete sources is a might monotonous. Just be glad you aren't trying to hit that high level with correctly getting complete proteins from bad sources.0 -
...I know it's not the same, but she didn't mention sugar, carbs overall that I'm supposed to limit.
But if you can help me understand why protein bars say "net 3 carbs" when the nutrition facts read 32, why the sugar alcohols are supposedly deductible, I'd love to hear that.0 -
@heybales I figured out if I log my exercise at the end of the day after I've eaten everything, the numbers will stay flat so I can trust them. I log all my exercise in Nexercise as well, so just get to transer it over at the end of the day I guess.0
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@heybales I figured out if I log my exercise at the end of the day after I've eaten everything, the numbers will stay flat so I can trust them. I log all my exercise in Nexercise as well, so just get to transer it over at the end of the day I guess.
Ah, so you aren't trying to eat at maintenance then, misunderstanding.
You are letting exercise create the deficit to lose weight.
Valid method, as long as exercise isn't too extreme.0 -
I was a vegetarian for about 9 years. During that time, I ate eggs, greek yogurt (Get plain - less sugar then add your own toppings), peanut butter, nuts, tofu, some fake meat products, cottage cheese, and high protein cheese like Parmesan. I know there was other stuff too, but I can't think of it. Maybe try adding some protein powder to greek yogurt or cottage cheese to flavor it. Also, depending on the protein powder, there are some really low carb options. I was a serious athlete during this time and didn't have much trouble hitting protein macros. If you are having trouble keeping your carbs low, opt for more green veggies like spinach. Also, buy full fat items. Sugar is added to low fat or non fat items to make them taste better without the fat.0
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@heybales I wasn't trying to lose weight, just burn fat...somehow she convinced me this was different than losing weight. She never did convince me that increasing my calorie intake would help though. Sure enough...I've gained 4 pounds since posting here
My body also has done some weird things with a temperature spike on Saturdays and sheer exhaustion. Is that what literal burnout feels like?
So...I think I tried pretty hard for two weeks. Even attempted some interesting recipes to try to get high protein crackers, since nothing but yogurt/cheese/tofu needed a changeup in texture.
I think I actually hit 165 grams of protein one day...but also did two shakes that day. And even then, I could NOT get the protein above 30%.
I'm really frustrated by this. I'm trying to see the positive that..weight loss..as much as I hate having to be so studious, I've done it before, I can do it again. It was kind of nice feeling like I had permission to feel full, now I'm trying to watch the intake more carefully again.
Work has doubled, though, so trying to figure out the new balance. It's hard to get exercise on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and missed it today too. Ugh. Tough Mudder is only a few months away and even the mere 5 miles on the weekend felt a little tough.0 -
Have you read these threads?
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/926789-protein-sources
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1158604
Also my reading says to get @1 gram of protein to lean body mass (LMB) to avoid losing muscle. I even eat meat and fish and rarely hit my target. I can not imagine hitting the number your trainer gave you. Are you wanting to compete in body building? Why the high number?
And an often over looked source of protein with added fat is PB2, powdered peanut butter, great in smoothies and shakes. Way less calories than full on peanut butter.0
