macro help

MFP gives everyone 50%C-20%P-30%C. You have to change it if you want a different ratio.

Are you looking at the pie chart? That just shows the macro ratio for the calories you've eaten so far today. It's useful to see if you are running ahead or behind on macros so you can make adjustments the next time you eat to try to get closer to the ratio you want.

It gave you 1200 calories because you told it that you wanted to lose 2 pounds per week and you hit the 1200 calorie minimum. It was a good move to up it to 1380. That will mean that you won't lose as quickly but weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint.

*We would recommend, as a rule of thumb, the following:

1g of protein per lb of LBM as a minimum target

0.35g of fat per lb of total body weight as a minimum target

The balance can fall where you wish, taking into account performance, satiety and adherence.

Note: the above protein minimum assumes that you are on a deficit, are undertaking moderate exercise and do not have a significantly low or significantly high body fat percentage. It also assumes that you have no pre-existing medical condition that would require a lower intake.

At a very low body fat percentage or with highly intensive workouts a slightly higher amount of protein is recommended.

Conversely, at a very high body fat percentage or with no or little exercise, a slightly lower amount of protein is acceptable.

Also, at a high BF%, the fats recommendation can be decreased. If you have specific questions about this, please feel free to ask us for our input.

When you have determined the minimum grams of protein and fat, you can calculate the corresponding percentages based on your calorie target to input into MFP. Protein and carbs have 4 calories per gram and fat has 9 calories per gram. Note that MFP only allows 5% increments so you will need to pick the one nearest your desired target.


For example, say someone is 150 lbs with a BF% of 20% on a 2,000 calorie target. Note, a 20% body fat means that someone has a 80% lean body mass (LBM) as LBM is everything except fat (muscle, water, organs, tissue, etc). Their macros in grams would be:

Protein: 1 x 150 x 0.8 (LBM) = 120g x 4 calories = 480 calories divided by 2,000 (calorie target) = 24% - round up to 25%
Fat: 0.35 x 150 = 53.5g x 9 calories = 473 calories divided by 2,000 = 24% - round up to 25%
Carbs: balance of 50%
Remember, protein and fats are minimums and so do not worry about going over on these, carbs would be the variable in this case and you would be under on that macro in order to meet your calorie target.

To change the MFP settings go to My Home -> Goals-> Change Goals-> click Customize and update the macros.

*http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1