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Where to start with macro goals?
Replies
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erinelizabeth882 wrote: »Thanks for all the comments guys, good to hear lots of points of view!
If I'm stuggling to hit my current protein goals (60 g), could that be causing me to lose muscle over fat?
Whenever you lose weight, you lose both fat and muscle. But, protein is great for muscle building and it is also more satiating so you feel full longer eating more protein. If you are doing a strength program (which you should because it's good for you), then eating more protein in combination with said strength program will help you preserve more muscle mass.
ETA: Just noticed you have some strength incorporated into your workouts. You would probably benefit from getting more protein into your diet. And, please know that heavy lifting will not make you bulky.0 -
LolBroScience wrote: »
I tried the calculator as well. It doesn't ask any of the questions I feel would be relevant. I also got a goal of 200-300g of protein. WAY more than I should be eating.0 -
erinelizabeth882 wrote: »Thanks for all the comments guys, good to hear lots of points of view!
If I'm stuggling to hit my current protein goals (60 g), could that be causing me to lose muscle over fat?
at 130 pounds with 28% BF - you would have a lean body mass of 93.6 lbs - if you can eat about 60g of protein a day you aren't far from the .8 g/lb lean body mass that the mother of dragons up there was referencing
best thing to do is just read as much as you can from credible sources OP - and stick with it, takes time to figure all this stuff out - sorry for hijacking your thread a bit
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That protein goal is likely a bit low for you based on what you described.
However, it's not clear you're losing muscle over fat. Are you using some sort of electrical impedance scale or handheld tester to determine BF%? If so, IMHO, ignore it.
What would you suggest for a protein goal? My BF% logging comes from the scale I have at home that lists total body weight, hydration percentage, BF percentage, and BMI. Not exactly sure if it's an "electrical impedance" type though...
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erinelizabeth882 wrote: »
What would you suggest for a protein goal? My BF% logging comes from the scale I have at home that lists total body weight, hydration percentage, BF percentage, and BMI. Not exactly sure if it's an "electrical impedance" type though...
Yeah, that scale won't be all that accurate for BF%.
As for your protein goal, you can manually change your macro goals where you set your calorie goal. Do some research about macros and how they line up with your goals and decide from there. If you're having trouble getting protein, google "good protein sources" or something like that.0 -
homerjspartan wrote: »Actually if you truly want to beast up, it should be total body weight. Just check my gainz....
Awesome.0 -
I'm confused about this too.
I weigh 107 lbs, at about 24% body fat. 1g per lb of LBM puts me at around 82g.
To set my macros the MFP way, that puts me at about 40/20/40. Is that nuts?
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erinelizabeth882 wrote: »
What would you suggest for a protein goal? My BF% logging comes from the scale I have at home that lists total body weight, hydration percentage, BF percentage, and BMI. Not exactly sure if it's an "electrical impedance" type though...
That is bioelectrical impedence. They are inaccurate.0 -
Oh wise ones please help!! This protein question has befuddled me since the dawn of time!!!
I have no idea what my LBM is. I'm age 43, 5"8 and 140lbs. possibly want to get down to 132lbs. I have my protein set at 145g per day, which to me sounds like a lot. Oh, and i'm sedentary, i get 10,000 steps in most days, but that's about it.
Can somebody please throw me a number i should stick too :flowerforyou:
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I'm very similar to you so I'll tell what I do. I run, do Bodypump, abs class (less mills CX), and bootcamp each week. I run about 100mi/month. I'm 5'6" and went from 138 with about 25% bf to now 119 at 17%bf. I kept the default MFP goals for a long time and just developed eating habits I could maintain. Then I looked at my macro trends and set goals based off the trends. My goals are now 60% carbs 15% protein, 25% fat. My trend is about 40-55gr protein/day. I set these goals based on the way I enjoy eating and what gives me the most energy and keeps me full all day. I have to mention though that my macros are based on mainly foods I process myself. I make my own bread out of whole wheat flour, make my own almond milk, get calcium through eggshells I dry and crush myself, make my own protein powder, jam, etc. I eat this way 90% of the time. This is what works for me. If your eating habits are different or if carbs consist of more refined flours, you may feel more full off of more protein. You don't need to eat tons of protein to build muscle and lose fat though. Just eat right and at a deficit.0
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erinelizabeth882 wrote: »
What would you suggest for a protein goal? My BF% logging comes from the scale I have at home that lists total body weight, hydration percentage, BF percentage, and BMI. Not exactly sure if it's an "electrical impedance" type though...
I suspect if you strived for somewhere around 100g you'd be doing really well. Even less than that (say 80g) and you're really not that likely to be "actively encouraging lean mass loss" or some other negative goal. Really just bump up your protein a bit and try to do little better at reaching the goal and you should be fine, IMHO.
I know it's hard to ignore the data that your scale provides, but honestly, these sorts of devices are not terribly good at reflecting your actual BF%, and not good at reflecting changes day-to-day at all.
Resistance training helps preserve muscle mass when in a deficit, so if you're comfortable making sure you do that regularly, it will help (I know you said you didn't want to lift heavy, already). And it sounds (though I'm not sure) like you have a reasonable / modest deficit -- that too helps preserve LBM when losing.
So, my personal recommendations would be: (1) bump up your protein and strive to hit that goal more regularly; (2) make sure you're incorporating some resistance training, even if you're not lifting heavy weights on a fixed program; and (3) keep a modest calorie deficit - don't try to lose it all in a few short weeks. (Oh, and (4) don't let your scale convince you that your BF% is static while losing and assume you're wasting away lots of muscle rather than fat.) Good luck!
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christinev297 wrote: »Oh wise ones please help!! This protein question has befuddled me since the dawn of time!!!
I have no idea what my LBM is. I'm age 43, 5"8 and 140lbs. possibly want to get down to 132lbs. I have my protein set at 145g per day, which to me sounds like a lot. Oh, and i'm sedentary, i get 10,000 steps in most days, but that's about it.
Can somebody please throw me a number i should stick too :flowerforyou:
Unless you really enjoy your diet hitting 145g of protein daily, I wouldn't see any issue with you dropping that down quite a bit. Just like OP, if you're around a hundred grams or so as a target you're probably doing what you can (in terms of protein intake) to preserve LBM as you lose weight. Some people are happier and more satiated with higher protein intakes - I don't see an issue if you want to keep it that high; just don't think you need to in the context you describe. All IMHO of course.
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christinev297 wrote: »Oh wise ones please help!! This protein question has befuddled me since the dawn of time!!!
I have no idea what my LBM is. I'm age 43, 5"8 and 140lbs. possibly want to get down to 132lbs. I have my protein set at 145g per day, which to me sounds like a lot. Oh, and i'm sedentary, i get 10,000 steps in most days, but that's about it.
Can somebody please throw me a number i should stick too :flowerforyou:
That's a lot of protein. I'm 136, 5"4 and I lift heavy and I don't hit that number. I shoot for 100+, but never get to 145.0 -
That's a lot of protein. I'm 136, 5"4 and I lift heavy and I don't hit that number. I shoot for 100+, but never get to 145.
Thankyou . I was thinking between 80-100g?? That's just guessing though...
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christinev297 wrote: »Oh wise ones please help!! This protein question has befuddled me since the dawn of time!!!
I have no idea what my LBM is. I'm age 43, 5"8 and 140lbs. possibly want to get down to 132lbs. I have my protein set at 145g per day, which to me sounds like a lot. Oh, and i'm sedentary, i get 10,000 steps in most days, but that's about it.
Can somebody please throw me a number i should stick too :flowerforyou:
I'm 5'8", but I'm a competitive bodybuilder. My lean mass is around 145 pounds.
Even if you were to eat .8g/lb body weight it would only be 112g per day. If you had 20% body fat and wanted to eat 1g/lb lbm you would be eating 112g per day. I'd say 100g per day is a solid goal.0 -
christinev297 wrote: »Oh wise ones please help!! This protein question has befuddled me since the dawn of time!!!
I have no idea what my LBM is. I'm age 43, 5"8 and 140lbs. possibly want to get down to 132lbs. I have my protein set at 145g per day, which to me sounds like a lot. Oh, and i'm sedentary, i get 10,000 steps in most days, but that's about it.
Can somebody please throw me a number i should stick too :flowerforyou:
Yeah, that's pretty high for your goals/context. Not high enough to damage you, but high enough to limit your eating choices. You could safely drop that down to about 100g, which would be 1g per LBM pound at 132 pounds and 20% BF.
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So, my personal recommendations would be: (1) bump up your protein and strive to hit that goal more regularly; (2) make sure you're incorporating some resistance training, even if you're not lifting heavy weights on a fixed program; and (3) keep a modest calorie deficit - don't try to lose it all in a few short weeks. (Oh, and (4) don't let your scale convince you that your BF% is static while losing and assume you're wasting away lots of muscle rather than fat.) Good luck!
Thanks for the specific suggestions Cortelli! I will start to focus on bumping up my protein intake and try to go less strictly by the numbers on the scale. As for resistance training, what I'm comfortable with now is doing group x or youtube video classes that primarily involve low weight, high reps, or all body weight resistance. Does that count towards your second recommendation? I understand that heavy lifting doesn't necessarily mean you'll bulk up, I just have no idea where to start, what to do, etc. and I enjoy the group exercise classes with lighter weights.
Thanks again!
Erin
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I need to get this Macro thing down some I can see some goals.0
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srslybritt wrote: »
See bolded: Also known as the "MD b-slap"
I read that line in a completely different way....LOL. Then again my husband says I have a perverted mind....
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erinelizabeth882 wrote: »
Thanks for the specific suggestions Cortelli! I will start to focus on bumping up my protein intake and try to go less strictly by the numbers on the scale. As for resistance training, what I'm comfortable with now is doing group x or youtube video classes that primarily involve low weight, high reps, or all body weight resistance. Does that count towards your second recommendation? I understand that heavy lifting doesn't necessarily mean you'll bulk up, I just have no idea where to start, what to do, etc. and I enjoy the group exercise classes with lighter weights.
Thanks again!
Erin
I'm not an expert by any stretch - I know just enough to be dangerous. I found lifting weights was fun and worked for me and haven't really attempted to fully understand how to evaluate what is an appropriate bodyweight resistance training program.
With the ignorance disclosed, I'd suggest whether a group class with weights or bodyweight exercises, what you're looking for is working the muscles with significant resistance to feel as if you're approaching failure at some point. If you're doing curls with a small weight and you're doing 40 reps or something in a few minutes before moving on to the next exercise (and could have kept going), I believe you'd be better off with adding a little weight and lowering the reps. Similarly, if you're doing bodyweight only squats in class and you could do them til the cows came home, maybe look at switching them up by doing one-legged squats or something.
On another thread I posted a link to an MFP user's blog who had great success with bodyweight exercises - she didn't like lifting weights. Here's her blog: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/fourfiftythree/view/calisthenics-roadmap-a-list-of-resources-to-get-started-with-bodyweight-strength-training-694338
Another great resource for bodyweight resistance work is Waldo's site: strengthunbound.com You might be able to find some similar (but more challenging) bodyweight movements that you can substitute for your class's standard movement if you feel that you need to push the resistance up a bit - so you can still do the class, but you're just doing slightly more challenging movements than some of the others in the class.
I'm sure others will correct or add to anything I've put here. Good luck!
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christinev297 wrote: »Oh wise ones please help!! This protein question has befuddled me since the dawn of time!!!
I have no idea what my LBM is. I'm age 43, 5"8 and 140lbs. possibly want to get down to 132lbs. I have my protein set at 145g per day, which to me sounds like a lot. Oh, and i'm sedentary, i get 10,000 steps in most days, but that's about it.
Can somebody please throw me a number i should stick too :flowerforyou:
I think a reasonable estimate is .80 g / lb of goal weight, since most women aren't really going for less than 20% LBM (at least measured one of the more rigorous ways like DEXA). If you are, you probably know your LBM already. So that would be 106 grams as a safe minimum for protein. If you want a larger margin of error and aren't that far from goal (like you), then do .80 of current weight or 112 grams.
I'm 125 with a goal of 120, so I figure above 96 is good enough, which I round up to 100. (In fact, based on a DEXA I know my LBM is about 95, so it works pretty well for me.) In reality I end up aiming for 125 grams just because that's how I prefer to eat, but I don't think I need that much protein in reality.0 -
Nevermind0
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erinelizabeth882 wrote: »Thanks for all the comments guys, good to hear lots of points of view!
If I'm stuggling to hit my current protein goals (60 g), could that be causing me to lose muscle over fat?
could be, most research says 80g/day is the minimum required to safely retain muscle mass while eating at a deficit. It's a pretty good mark to start from0
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