Not sure how many grams of carbs, fat etc I need.

rpw733
rpw733 Posts: 15 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,
I am in my upper 60's and on June 16 this year, I weighed 276 LBS. I went through the signup process, and as I wanted to lose 2 lbs a week, the program said I should limit my intake to 1450 calories a day.

Ok, so I am averaging under that (around 1100 to 1300 a day). I have a couple of drinks a night that contribute to those numbers and I work out at the gym 4 or 5 times a week.

So, on June 16th, I weighed 276 and today (Sept. 5th), I weigh 247.0 (almost 246 ha ha).

My question is this:
I am not sure what the target grams should be for Fat, Carbs, Sodium etc. And how do I change the program to reflect those amounts?

Would appreciate any advise given my situation.

Thanks in advance,

Bob

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I think it's more important that you stick to your alloted calories at this stage. Males should never go below 1500 calories. And be sure you are tracking correctly.
  • cinnag4225
    cinnag4225 Posts: 126 Member
    Your best bet would be to work with a dietician and experiment with amounts. I've noticed a major improvement in my overall energy and mood since I increased my carb and fat intake (good fats mind you, nuts, avocado, etc). Sodium is a big thing to monitor, particularly given your age. Assuming things like blood pressure are ok, try to stay under the preset limit in MFP's nutrition tracker.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,421 Member
    edited September 2016
    The default setting work fine for most people if you don't have an unusual goal or food intolerances.

    I found I had to give up the alcohol unless I was willing to do quite a lot of exercise...it's just too calorie-dense with no nutrition and tended to make me over eat after drinking. Just my experience. Is it really "a couple drinks?"

    Also, 1100-1300 calories for a man is too low. The lowest recommendation is for 1500 for a man. There is no possible way you're getting sufficient nutrition - especially if you are including alcohol calories. Bump up your calories to 1600-1800.
  • BobbyBooSh4y
    BobbyBooSh4y Posts: 15 Member
    edited September 2016
    You can speak to your dietician if you have one but here is something you can try and see how you feel.

    I'm sure you could eat more calories and still drop weight consistently. That's pretty low for someone who is around 247lbs. What bf are you at?

    This is just a base you can give a try.
    Try setting your fats at 20-30% of total calories
    Protein could be around .8grams-1gram per LBM (lean body mass)
    Fill the rest with carbs

    If you wanna try your 1300 calorie diet though... numbers would look like this
    43g of fat
    Protein you need your LBM but lets try 118g protein
    110g carbs

    If you want more carbs you can drop your protein a little and add more carbs.

  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    edited September 2016
    If you don't have any medical condition and you're not experiencing any ill effects in your exercise routine I would leave the macros set as the default for now, and increase your calories to at least the 1500 minimum. As an older women I'm at 1200 calories in order to lose weight, and it's very difficult to get my macros in with so few calories to work with. Every bite has to count. And Math.

    Edit: "woman" Just me
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited September 2016
    You rate of loss to me is pretty aggressive. If I did the numbers right that is around 4 pounds a week. Being male this is very very low calorie intake and can be quite unhealthy. I am afraid that you are not only losing fat and water but your lean mass (muscle) as well. Losing lean mass is something a person should want to avoid at all costs. Think about when you get to goal how hard its gonna be?

    You should concentrate on slowing this down to a less aggressive approach and bump up the calories the MFP male recommendations for safe weight loss to 1500. If you are inclined to want to handle muscle loss you can increase the protein intake to a min of .8 to 1 gram per lean mass.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    Also, 1100-1300 calories for a man is too low. The lowest recommendation is for 1500 for a man. There is no possible way you're getting sufficient nutrition - especially if you are including alcohol calories. Bump up your calories to 1600-1800.

    This. Are you having trouble eating more? If so, why--you might want to talk to a dietitian.

    For macros, if you are on the lower side for calories (which you would be, even at 1600, for a guy over 200), you probably want to have a little more protein than MFP calculates in its defaults. As we get older, we naturally lose muscle, so it is especially important to add in adequate protein when at a deficit. I'm a woman in my 40s, and that's something that concerns me. A decent estimate is .8 g/lb of healthy weight (if you still have a lot to lose, use your goal weight). Once you calculate that, figure out what percentage of total calories it is closest to, set that there, and really do what you want with carbs and fat. A good start would probably be to split them evenly, focus on getting in your healthy fats (nuts, seeds, avocado, olives, fatty fish) and high-nutrient carbs, and then adjust or not based on how you feel. Some are happier/feel better with more carbs, some with more fat.

    If you exercise, eat back some of the calories.

    Sounds like you've been doing amazingly so far, but you'll want to focus more on maintaining muscle and putting together a sustainable long-term diet as you get some of the excess weight off.

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