Having Trouble Hitting my Macros...

Well, how far off are we talking here? I mean I rarely (read - only by mere coincidence) ever hit my macros exactly.

I use them as a guide, particularly when choosing side dishes/snacks.

If I've got 300 calories left for the day, and I'm pretty low on fat - I'll grab some cheese and/or ice cream. Low on protein? Maybe I'll grab some jerky or mix up a protein shake.

I figure if I'm +/- 5 to 10% I don't really sweat it. It will pretty much even out over time.

Now, if we're talking a goal of 100 g of protein and you're consistenly only getting 20...then yeah that's a problem.

carb: 136g at 35%
fat: 35g at 20%
protein: 175g at 45%

Have you thought about flipping the percentage of fats and carbs?

Also as the other posters mentioned, use it a gauge on what to eat to balance out your remaining calories. Your body is not super efficient at processing down to the specific gram so if you are not spot on no big deal....consistency is key and will get you further in the long run!
Cheers =]

.8 g of protein per lb is too high if you have a good bit of weight to lose. Generally the recommendation is based on lean body mass. The proxy based on body weight is that you typically get some benefit from up to .65 g-.85 g per lb of body weight, but again that assumes that you don't have a higher than ideal body fat percentage, so I think it makes sense to eat at about .8 g per lb of goal weight.

I'm 5'3 and my goal weight is 118 (round up to 120) and so I aim for about 96 g of protein as a minimum. (I usually eat more just because, but generally 100-120.)

Fat and carb percentages are largely personal preference and just how you feel best. I aim for about 150-200 grams of carbs and around 50 g of fat, but I don't worry too much if I'm off some, so long as I am hitting my calories. I'd mostly watch for a while and start adjusting a little -- that's how I initially upped my protein some.

Personally I'd keep my caloric goals the same every day despite whether or not I'm training. As long as you're in a deficit it'll just be a larger one on training days and smaller on off days. I'm speaking from my own experience FYI.

ar9179 wrote: »

I believe recommended protein is around 0.8-1 g/KG...not pounds (So 78-97g). I've seen 0.8-1 g/lb of Lean Mass.

The first is the RDA (minimum acceptable for nutrition), but that's distinct from the question of what amount will be beneficial in certain circumstances or for certain goals like increasing muscle mass (not applicable here) or maintaining muscle mass while exercising and eating at a deficit. For this latter goal higher amounts (like .8-1 g/lb of LBM) are helpful. I try to keep mine up around this level because not losing muscle mass more than necessary is important to me.

kommodevaran wrote: »

You are WAY off on your settings. 45% protein, that is totally unnecessary, potentially dangerous, and almost impossible to reach. 25-30% is plenty. Instead, up your fat. 30-35% is recommended by government/official health thingys, I personally end up around 40-45% fat. The rest will be carbs. As you see, this is all about preference. This means that you don't have to hit the numbers exactly every day, and certainly not for every meal. The macro split should reflect YOUR needs and preferences, so you may have to play with the numbers for a bit until you find your sweet spot, and you may have to or want to switch thing up again later.

Do you have any science to back up that this is dangerous?

seanmmcafee wrote: »

I thought it was 1gram per pound of lean body mass. A 5'5" female is only going to have between 110 and 130 lbs of lean body mass. So getting around 120 grams of protein a day would be fine.

That's a high LBM for a woman who's not a bodybuilder with very low body fat. It seems more likely for an overweight person.

ar9179 wrote: »

I believe recommended protein is around 0.8-1 g/KG...not pounds (So 78-97g).

The World Health Organization agrees with you and says 0.83g/KG is the safe requirement for the average adult.
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/43411/1/WHO_TRS_935_eng.pdf
They define the term safe intake as: "the level of intake that issufficient for 97.5% of the
population (0.83 g protein/kg per day). Supplying this level to an individual will ensure an
acceptably low level of risk (2.5%) that their needs will not be met, and conversely
a high degree of probability that they will receive more than their requirement."

And the Olympic Committee's recommendations for olympic athletes is 1.2-1.6g/KG
http://www.olympic.org/documents/reports/en/en_report_833.pdf

So taking the midpoint between what's good for 97.5% of mankind and what's good for elite athletes, then we should be set with 1g/KG. So for me at 125 lbs, that's 57g.

I think what happened is that Americans would rather not be bothered to convert Kgs to Lbs and then when you combine that with the 'more is more' mentality, you end up with the widespread recs in g/lb instead of g/Kg, which means it's twice as much as you actually need. And of course people need to make money from protein supplements, so they just tell folks their muscles will fall off if they don't buy them. Then folks believe them and end up on multiple mfp threads having trouble hitting their protein.

Traveler120 wrote: »

I think what happened is that Americans would rather not be bothered to convert Kgs to Lbs and then when you combine that with the 'more is more' mentality, you end up with the widespread recs in g/lb instead of g/Kg, which means it's twice as much as you actually need.

No, it has nothing to do with a confusion between kg and lb. It's about the difference between RDA and what may be beneficial when eating at a deficit or trying to gain muscle/not lose muscle. That's why typically the advice given on MFP is NOT 1 g/lb of bodyweight, as it would be if it were just confusion.

Here's a good example of the recommendations (http://examine.com/faq/how-much-protein-do-i-need-every-day/):

If you are an athlete or highly active person currently attempting to lose body fat while preserving lean muscle mass, a daily intake of 1.5-2.2g/kg bodyweight (0.68-1g/lb bodyweight) would be a good target.

If you are an athlete or highly active person, or you are attempting to lose body fat while preserving lean mass, then a daily intake of 1.0-1.5g/kg bodyweight (0.45-0.68g/lb bodyweight) would be a good target.

If you are sedentary and not looking to change body composition much, a daily target of 0.8g/kg bodyweight (0.36g/lb bodyweight) and upwards would be a good target.

Also, as I noted above:

If you are obese, using a protein intake relative to body weight is a bad idea. Either calculate your lean mass (overall weight after subtracting fat mass, which can be calculated by body fat percentage) or use your goal/target weight for calculations.

There's more support at the site I linked, but I found this interesting:

According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition, protein intakes of 1.4-2.0 g/kg of bodyweight (0.6-0.9g/lb of bodyweight) for physically active individuals is not only safe, but may improve the training adaptations to exercise training. The American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine also support high protein intake for active individuals in the range of 1.2-1.7 g/kg of bodyweight (0.5-0.8 g/lb of bodyweight).

Also this:

High protein diets have been found to preserve lean body mass when dieting in both obese people and athletes and has also been shown to improve overall body composition. A doubling of protein intake from 0.9g/kg (near the daily recommended intake for the general population) to 1.8g/kg is able to preserve lean muscle mass during short-term and relatively drastic drops in calories.

It is certainly not bad for one's health to eat at the RDA number (1 g/kg), but people ought to be aware of the reasons they might want to eat more.

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Traveler120 wrote: »

I think what happened is that Americans would rather not be bothered to convert Kgs to Lbs and then when you combine that with the 'more is more' mentality, you end up with the widespread recs in g/lb instead of g/Kg, which means it's twice as much as you actually need.

There's more support at the site I linked, but I found this interesting:

According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition, protein intakes of 1.4-2.0 g/kg of bodyweight (0.6-0.9g/lb of bodyweight) for physically active individuals is not only safe, but may improve the training adaptations to exercise training. The American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine also support high protein intake for active individuals in the range of 1.2-1.7 g/kg of bodyweight (0.5-0.8 g/lb of bodyweight).

The bolded is close to that of the Olympic Committee recommendations I listed above of 1.2-1.6g/kg. My point is that if this is what is recommended for ELITE/PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES, then all the other recs that we're accustomed to seeing and are regurgitated everywhere, including the rest of your post from examine etc, are mostly overly exaggerated for the vast majority of us who are not professional athletes.

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Traveler120 wrote: »

The bolded is close to that of the Olympic Committee recommendations I listed above of 1.2-1.6g/kg. My point is that if this is what is recommended for ELITE/PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES, then all the other recs that's we're accustomed to seeing and are regurgitated, including the rest of your post from examine etc, are mostly overly exaggerated for the vast majority of us who are not professional athletes.

No--nothing in it is limited to elite athletic performance, and non professional athletes may still care about eating in a way that best helps with athletic performance/fitness (I do) and, even more significantly for most here, there are benefits when someone is eating at a deficit for preserving muscle.

So, you're saying based on your earlier post:
quote - "Here's a good example of the recommendations (http://examine.com/faq/how-much-protein-do-i-need-every-day/):
If you are an athlete or highly active person currently attempting to lose body fat while preserving lean muscle mass, a daily intake of 1.5-2.2g/kg bodyweight (0.68-1g/lb bodyweight) would be a good target." - quote

You're saying, if you don't consume MORE than a professional olympic athlete's recs of (1.2-1.6 g/kg) then you don't care about performance and you'll not benefit from muscle preservation? That don't make no sense.

It is logical to assume that the more active a person is the more their protein needs. It's also logical to assume that olympic athletes are probably 5-10 times more active than the average active individual with a regular job. So how is it that my needs should somehow equate to those of an olympian and by your post, exceed them? I consider myself an active person and get 10-15 hours of deliberate exercise per week. Compare that to olympians who spend 6+ hrs/day. All I'm saying is that logically, if 1.2g/kg is good enough for them (according to the Olympic Committee), then 1g/kg is good enough for me for performance, muscle preservation, health etc. And it's not just theoretical either. My performance keeps improving, I haven't lost muscle mass and my labs are perfect. 1g/kg.

I am 5' 4" and I eat macros consisting of 150G Protein, 120G Carbs and 27G of Fat a day. Around 1325 Calories total. I am usually under a bit, due to trying to cut some more weight, but a higher protein, around 1.2G per pound of body weight, is necessary to at least maintain your current muscle while cutting.