Are my MFP recommended macros appropriate?

W_Stewart
W_Stewart Posts: 237 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm learning a lot about food nos that I am logging everything I eat. And I'm paying more attention to the Carb/Fat/Protein graph I see everyday in the app (why not on the web?). MFP has me shooting for 50/30/20 for Carbs/Fat/protein. I'm asking if that is appropriate as my reading in some other macro threads has most ratios different.

I'm a 49 yo male, 5'11" and 198 pounds (down recently from 208). I'm mostly sedentary with a desk job, but have started to go on 2 to 3 power walks a day for exercise to manage my net calories. I'm learning to do food swaps to find a healthier alternative or one with more macros as needed to meet my daily goal. What should my macros be, and why?

Thanks!

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Work on making sure you're within your calorie deficit first, as that's what's needed to lose weight. Macros are for nutrition, and you can play around to see what ratio works for you.
  • alexmorning97
    alexmorning97 Posts: 1 Member
    It really depends on your goals/lifestyle.
  • EvanKeel
    EvanKeel Posts: 1,904 Member
    Part of it is just going to be preference in terms of your goals and activities. If you were lifting weights, I'd say that the protein is too low given the amounts your diary shows you eating.

    If you were having problems hunger, I'd suggest just lowering the carbs slightly and raising the protein.

    As it is, I don't know that there's anything particularly wrong with those percentages. You may want to consider doing some sort of strength training to preserve muscle mass as you lose fat, though.
  • krzysztof1986
    krzysztof1986 Posts: 123 Member
    I can't post any links here unfortunately, however I wrote an article on how to calculate macros, it all depends on what you do, what is your work type, what are your priorities and sometimes its just a matter of experiments. Usually a healthy individual should not consume more than 30% of calories from fat, for protein you should consume something around 0.6 to 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight, anything that remains should come from carbs, if you are not doing strength training 0.6g per pound of bodyweight should be just fine.

    Some people are carb sensitive, others can eat as much as they want, some people can't eat too much fat, then we are experimenting with 20% and so on.

    C/F/P with 50/30/20 should work well for a typical person and fat loss as long as you are on caloric deficit (but not bigger than 20%!, the bigger the deficit, the more protein you will need to not loose your valuable muscle mass).

    It gets more complicated when you are building some serious muscle mass and are into bodybuilding.
  • W_Stewart
    W_Stewart Posts: 237 Member
    Not into strength training. Just trying to lose some flab. I am doing some basic bodyweight exercises along the way to try and not lose muscle mass.
  • W_Stewart
    W_Stewart Posts: 237 Member
    0.6g of protein per my body weight of 197 = 118g.

    MFP is recommending 74 for me. Seems like a big difference. I'd have to seriously focus on protein at every meal to get anywhere close to that. The disparity of what MFP suggests confuses me.
  • upgradeddiddy
    upgradeddiddy Posts: 281 Member
    krzysztof1986 wrote: »
    I can't post any links here unfortunately, however I wrote an article on how to calculate macros, it all depends on what you do, what is your work type, what are your priorities and sometimes its just a matter of experiments. Usually a healthy individual should not consume more than 30% of calories from fat, for protein you should consume something around 0.6 to 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight, anything that remains should come from carbs, if you are not doing strength training 0.6g per pound of bodyweight should be just fine.

    Some people are carb sensitive, others can eat as much as they want, some people can't eat too much fat, then we are experimenting with 20% and so on.

    C/F/P with 50/30/20 should work well for a typical person and fat loss as long as you are on caloric deficit (but not bigger than 20%!, the bigger the deficit, the more protein you will need to not loose your valuable muscle mass).

    It gets more complicated when you are building some serious muscle mass and are into bodybuilding.

    Agree with above. If you are just maintaining your current lifestyle and are not looking to gain muscle or lose fat then the macros % settings are fine. You don't necessary need to be in a surplus/deficit if you also selected sedentary lifestyle as well. It's more about getting more bang for your food. So eat colorful veggies for micronutrients (along with being light on carbs) have some grains to keep you full (to assists with nearing carbs) and go for leaner meats for low fat and high protein (90/10 or 93/7 lean beef, skinless chicken, fish). If you find yourself still under on fats eat nuts/avocados/etc.

    Lastly if you need spice, go "low sodium" or "salt free". Mrs Dash is your friend!

    That's all I got, hope this helps.
  • bekahnsmith3
    bekahnsmith3 Posts: 1 Member
    wahoowad wrote: »
    0.6g of protein per my body weight of 197 = 118g.

    MFP is recommending 74 for me. Seems like a big difference. I'd have to seriously focus on protein at every meal to get anywhere close to that. The disparity of what MFP suggests confuses me.

    It's actually a lot easier to get protein in than you would think. Don't shy away from protein shakes after a workout! I find that they are essential for me to get to my protein intake. Also, proteins are more than just meat (I'm sure you know this) and can include cottage cheese, greek yogurt, egg whites, nearly any beans, edamame, and soy milk!

    I also agree with the poster above me! Since you are looking to lose a little "flab" as you say, adding some lean proteins will really help you do just that!

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