Cutting/fat loss? Finding macros

JocelynDeshane
JocelynDeshane Posts: 109 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello! So I'm starting to cut and I can't seem to figure out macros that would fit with me for " cutting " I'm 5'8 I weigh 157 and my goal weight is around 145 ish the last time my body percentage was checked it was around 29%. I'm active-to very active. I workout 5 days a week for 1 hour to 1 /2 hours. My workout schedule looks like this
Monday: Legs|Booty
Tuesday: Shoulder|Tricep|Core
Wednesday: Back|Bicep|Core
Thursday: Legs|Booty
Friday: Chest|Arm Touch-Up| Core

I normally add 10-15 minute HIIT cardio sessions at the end of each day of workout.

Here's an example of what my macros look like now.. but the calories look like there way to high for cutting for my body type if you guys could help me adjust it to something that looks dueable and could suggest me advice for cutting that would be awesome! Thanks! yv5fcuk2c512.png

Replies

  • watts6151
    watts6151 Posts: 964 Member
    edited October 2016
    Macro's are fine
    Mine are currently
    C 45
    P 35
    F 20

    Don't worry about how high the calories
    Are as long as your losing fat steadily.
    In fact the higher the calories you can cut on the better, you can always cut the cals once fat loss stalls
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    IIFYM.com
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    If I were you I'd go with roughly the following:

    1850-1900 calories (start at roughly 12cal/lb)

    Protein: 150
    Fat: 55g
    Carbs:190


    Which is remarkably close to what you've already got listed.


    From there, monitor what your body-weight does by weighing daily and averaging that data over the week. Compare week to week changes in average weight and then adjust intake according to what the data tells you. You are starting on the high end of what may be reasonable for fat loss and you can always reduce calories from here. If you make a reduction I would take primarily from carbohydrate until you reach a point where adherence or gym performance suffer at which point you could consider bringing fat a bit lower.


    I don't think your split is optimal but that's another topic.
  • sarahkw04
    sarahkw04 Posts: 87 Member
    You and I have some similar stats - save for height. you've got me by 6"! I'm working on this as well, and I think I need to up (AGAIN) my intake. Isn't it strange, how eating more can help you burn more?
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    sarahkw04 wrote: »
    You and I have some similar stats - save for height. you've got me by 6"! I'm working on this as well, and I think I need to up (AGAIN) my intake. Isn't it strange, how eating more can help you burn more?

    Typically it doesn't.

    What tends to happen is that eating more can cause significant improvements to diet adherence and consistency. It can also cause increases to non exercise activity and more productive gym sessions but typically it's not enough to cancel out the increase in calories.
  • sarahkw04
    sarahkw04 Posts: 87 Member
    SideSteel wrote: »
    sarahkw04 wrote: »
    You and I have some similar stats - save for height. you've got me by 6"! I'm working on this as well, and I think I need to up (AGAIN) my intake. Isn't it strange, how eating more can help you burn more?

    Typically it doesn't.

    What tends to happen is that eating more can cause significant improvements to diet adherence and consistency. It can also cause increases to non exercise activity and more productive gym sessions but typically it's not enough to cancel out the increase in calories.

    Not typically, no. But I didn't start losing weight again until I started eating more. A 1600 calorie a day total (not net) was doing so much more harm than good. I can definitely sling around a lot more weight with more fuel, and the fat is falling away. Pretty cool to see the recomp photos!
  • DebSozo
    DebSozo Posts: 2,578 Member
    edited October 2016
    Eating more gave me more energy to do more. Not only that I am no longer so tired by 2 pm in the afternoon. So finding my correct TDEE maintenance level (1700) and creating a deficit based on that has allowed me to go from 1200 calories to 1450 for active weight loss . 1200 was a struggle.

    This has made a world of difference in my happiness and enthusiasm to take on more activities. So eating a couple hundred more a day indirectly caused behaviors that raised my calories burned. (This is for me YMMV.)
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    Calories needed depend on actual results. Normally I would say 1930 calories is a bit much for someone 5'8 157 but you also appear to be very active. Your best bet is to just try what you have for a few weeks, track your weight, and after 2-4 weeks see if it's trending downward. If it is, change nothing. If it isn't, reduce calories.

    On another note, your workout routine looks extremely non-optimal. Research shows that focusing on hitting each muscle group 2-3 times a week is optimal for the vast majority of people. You are hitting many things only once a week. Also, HIIT 5x a week is a terrible idea if you are really doing true HIIT. HIIT affects your body similar to a lifting session and can be hard on your recovery. 5x a week lifting + 5x a week HIIT is going to be overkill for most people. This is doubly true if you are in a calorie deficit which you will be if weight loss is your goal. I'd choose a proven lifting routine (starting strength, stronglifts 5x5, ICF 5x5, etc) and reduce HIIT to 2x a week and do some LISS cardio if you feel like you have to.
  • JocelynDeshane
    JocelynDeshane Posts: 109 Member
    vismal wrote: »
    Calories needed depend on actual results. Normally I would say 1930 calories is a bit much for someone 5'8 157 but you also appear to be very active. Your best bet is to just try what you have for a few weeks, track your weight, and after 2-4 weeks see if it's trending downward. If it is, change nothing. If it isn't, reduce calories.

    On another note, your workout routine looks extremely non-optimal. Research shows that focusing on hitting each muscle group 2-3 times a week is optimal for the vast majority of people. You are hitting many things only once a week. Also, HIIT 5x a week is a terrible idea if you are really doing true HIIT. HIIT affects your body similar to a lifting session and can be hard on your recovery. 5x a week lifting + 5x a week HIIT is going to be overkill for most people. This is doubly true if you are in a calorie deficit which you will be if weight loss is your goal. I'd choose a proven lifting routine (starting strength, stronglifts 5x5, ICF 5x5, etc) and reduce HIIT to 2x a week and do some LISS cardio if you feel like you have to.



    So what would a good workout Split look like for someone who's cutting? Thanks for all the advice!
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    JocelynDeshane wrote: »
    vismal wrote: »
    Calories needed depend on actual results. Normally I would say 1930 calories is a bit much for someone 5'8 157 but you also appear to be very active. Your best bet is to just try what you have for a few weeks, track your weight, and after 2-4 weeks see if it's trending downward. If it is, change nothing. If it isn't, reduce calories.

    On another note, your workout routine looks extremely non-optimal. Research shows that focusing on hitting each muscle group 2-3 times a week is optimal for the vast majority of people. You are hitting many things only once a week. Also, HIIT 5x a week is a terrible idea if you are really doing true HIIT. HIIT affects your body similar to a lifting session and can be hard on your recovery. 5x a week lifting + 5x a week HIIT is going to be overkill for most people. This is doubly true if you are in a calorie deficit which you will be if weight loss is your goal. I'd choose a proven lifting routine (starting strength, stronglifts 5x5, ICF 5x5, etc) and reduce HIIT to 2x a week and do some LISS cardio if you feel like you have to.



    So what would a good workout Split look like for someone who's cutting? Thanks for all the advice!
    I am personally a big fan for total body 3x a week for cutting. If you don't like total body workouts, an upper/lower/upper/lower split is fine. Starting strength, Stronglifts 5x5 and ICF 5x5 are all decent total body workouts though you might consider reducing volume to 4x5 or 3x5 on a cut. An upper body split would look something like
    Upper: Bench press, horizontal row, incline press (or shoulder press) pulldown/chinup, bicep, tricep
    Lower: Squat, SLDL, leg press (or lunges or split squats) leg curl, calf raise.
    You could repeat those exactly for the second upper and lower of the week or substitute as you wish.

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