Do Macros impact your weightloss.

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royalq
royalq Posts: 16 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Do you guys notice that even if you are in a caloric deficit and are hit your calorie goals but not your macro goals, do you still lose weight? For example if you hit your 1500 cal goal but not your protein goal, meaning that you ate more carbs and less protein or vice versa. Does this impact your weight loss. I find that im usually eating at a deficit naturally but my macros are not good. My diet is carb heavy, moderate protein and low fat. Would you still lose weight at a deficit or are macro goals very important too?

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  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    You'd lose. It might affect how easy it is to stick to the goal (although people vary in what macros work best for them), and going to low on protein is a bad idea, as getting adequate protein helps protect against muscle loss, especially as one has less fat to lose.

    I think the MFP default is often too low on protein already, at least if you choose a low calorie goal.
  • ulcaster555
    ulcaster555 Posts: 1,150 Member
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    of course it does, fat/protein/carbs
  • cross2bear
    cross2bear Posts: 1,106 Member
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    Not meeting the macro targets defined by MFP for me have not impacted my weight loss - no affect whatsoever. I only care about calorie deficit.
  • dlkfox
    dlkfox Posts: 463 Member
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    For weight loss, just the calorie deficit counts.

    The protein is important to reduce the amount of lean muscle mass you will lose because you are eating at a deficit.
  • cwang125
    cwang125 Posts: 76 Member
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    It's a complicated question. Overall no it won't affect weight loss. Simple fact is if you eat at a deficit you will lose, but depending on what type of diet you've constructed and what macros you are hitting it will affect how fast you lose and what it is you're losing.

    If you lose 15 lbs but most of it was water and muscle, and very little was fat, you may have lost 15 lbs but in the end it is more easily gained back and is unhealthy. The main goal is to lose fat and maintain lean muscle. This is very difficult to do while eating at a constant deficit. Adjusting macros to incorporate higher intake of protein will be more sparing on catabolism of your lean muscle mass. Protein is also highly satieting. But diets consisting of low carbs can make you feel run down and lethargic.

    So to answer the question, no it won't affect "weight" loss. But it can affect your overall fat loss. And it most definitely will affect body composition.

  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    Macros and calorie count are equally important to me. If I eat a high carb diet, I am more likely to overeat and gain weight. When I eat a low carb diet, I tend to eat less PLUS the thermogenic effects of high fat and more protein makes it easier to lose weight. I also think there is something to the insulin hypothesis of weight gain, so eating fewer carbs will lower insulin which may make fat loss easier, or at least weight gain harder.

    My macros are about 5% carbs, 20% protein and 75% fat. I lose 2-3 lbs per week eating 1500 kcals per day which is more than TDEE calculators expected for me ( a 5'8" inactive middle aged woman). That doesn't happen with a higher carb diet for me, plus I would be hungry and have a hard time sticking to 1500 kcal per day over the long term.

    YMMV
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
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    When I'm on track, I eat my planned meals and stay within total goals and let macros fall where they may. And where they fall is not where MFP recommends. I tend to eat about 40/40/20 carb/fat/protein. When I was doing that and staying under my calorie target - I lost weight.
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,222 Member
    edited June 2016
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    Simple answer: Only the calories matter for weight loss. BUT, you need to find what works for you macro wise. Some people are more hungry eating a lot of carbs. Others, like me, can eat 50-60% of their daily calories in carbs and be better off. I prefer that amount of carbs and the nearly 83 lbs I've lost since late last July (coming up on a year now) prove that this does work better for me. Try difference ratios until you find the numbers that leave you satisfied and less likely to eat over your caloric limit.

    ETA: I don't consciously look at or plan my macros in advance. I choose what I want to eat and if I then look back over them later, I've discovered that they are normally 50-60% carbs. It's not planned, it just happens that way.
  • ARGriffy
    ARGriffy Posts: 1,002 Member
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    I never paid any attention to my macros and I lost just fine
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,024 Member
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    I don't pay much attention to macros. I do try to hit my protien goal because I find that if I get enough protien and fiber I am not hungry. So macros can help you stick to your calorie goal, but staying at your goal is what you need to lose weight. Stay at your calorie goal and tweak the macros to find what works best to help you stay at your goal.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Yes. In addition to feeling more full/satisfied based on the macro combination that works best for you, the TEF (thermal effect of food) differs for each macro. Lyle McDonald writes:
    For example, consider the difference in TEF for carbs versus fat: 5-6% vs. 3%. That means that, for every 100 calories of each you ate, you’d burn 5-6 or 3 calories. So if you replaced 100 calories of fat with 100 calories of carbohydrates, you’d burn a whopping 2-3 extra calories via TEF...About the only time that TEF can become considerable is when you replace carbohydrates or fat with protein. For every 100 calories of carbs/fat replaced with protein, you’d expect to burn about 25 calories more (30 cal for protein vs. 3-6 for carbs/fat). So a doubling of protein from 60 to120 grams/day might increase TEF by 80 calories/day.
  • royalq
    royalq Posts: 16 Member
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    Interesting. I find when my carbs are high, even at a deficit i dont lose. When i bring my carbs down, eliminate rice and maintain my protein i slim down.
  • seekingdaintiness
    seekingdaintiness Posts: 137 Member
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    "Do Macros impact your weightloss"

    No.
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,222 Member
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    royalq wrote: »
    Interesting. I find when my carbs are high, even at a deficit i dont lose. When i bring my carbs down, eliminate rice and maintain my protein i slim down.

    Are you actually weighing your carbs or eyeballing them in a measuring cup?

    x9hoegw78km5.jpg
  • cwang125
    cwang125 Posts: 76 Member
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    Can't really tell from that picture but is that weighed dry? Or is that cooked? Also, does your scale have the feature to disregard the weight of the measuring cup?
    royalq wrote: »
    Interesting. I find when my carbs are high, even at a deficit i dont lose. When i bring my carbs down, eliminate rice and maintain my protein i slim down.

    If you eat at a deficit you should lose regardless of the macro ratio.
  • Nachise
    Nachise Posts: 395 Member
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    cwang125 wrote: »
    Can't really tell from that picture but is that weighed dry? Or is that cooked? Also, does your scale have the feature to disregard the weight of the measuring cup?
    royalq wrote: »
    Interesting. I find when my carbs are high, even at a deficit i dont lose. When i bring my carbs down, eliminate rice and maintain my protein i slim down.

    If you eat at a deficit you should lose regardless of the macro ratio.
    It looks like both are measured dry. I always weigh, and I weigh by grams.
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,222 Member
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    cwang125 wrote: »
    Can't really tell from that picture but is that weighed dry? Or is that cooked? Also, does your scale have the feature to disregard the weight of the measuring cup?
    royalq wrote: »
    Interesting. I find when my carbs are high, even at a deficit i dont lose. When i bring my carbs down, eliminate rice and maintain my protein i slim down.

    If you eat at a deficit you should lose regardless of the macro ratio.

    Yes, it's measured dry in the photo as dry is what the nutritional information on the package is listed for. And the button second from the right says zero. I would have metioned if I hadn't tared out the measuring cup's weight before adding the dry pasta since that would throw all the weights off. Granted, all I have to do with this scale is put the measuring cup on it before I turn it on to have it start at zero with the measuring cup. So yes, the pasta was dry and the weights (56g and 81g) were for only the dry pasta.
  • godlikepoetyes
    godlikepoetyes Posts: 442 Member
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    No. Macros do not impact your weight loss. But they do impact how you feel.

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