What should my macros be set at?

worry about your calories...get that under control and figured out...then worry about your macros. Where weight loss is concerned, calories are numero uno...macros have very little to do with actually losing weight. managing your macros can help you balance out your diet better and play a role in body composition and fitness performance but very little role in actual weight loss.

worry about what's important first and when you get some knowledge and experience under your belt you can start worrying about the lesser things.

as an aside, there is no optimal macro ratio...they're going to be different for everyone...a marathon runner is going to have a very different macro profile than a bodybuilder for example.

40/30/30 is what is known as the "zone" or "zone diet" It is a fairly decent way to balance things out when you're dieting...IMO it doesn't work very well for maintenance or a bulk because with the bump in calories the protein and fats go over the top.

For myself, I try to get 60-70 grams of dietary fat daily and anywhere from 120 - 150 grams of protein and round the rest out with carbs. I don't worry about or even know what the %s are.

The "Livestrong" web site offers some guidance as to protein/carb ratios, depending on your activity level. I too wanted to find some basic settings to start with.