What percentages should I aim for

hartk001
hartk001 Posts: 51 Member
edited November 15 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm a male, late 60 weighing 14st 10lb between now and mid June I'm trying for 13 st. I'm in good health

At the moment I'm aiming at 1,450 calories with less than 50 g Carbs. I'm doing LCHF

My question is this what, percent wise, should I set my macros I.e. Carbs, fat, protein in Calories and Macro settings

Many thanks for you advice

Kevin

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    You set macros to whatever you feel comfortable with, whatever makes it easiest for you to adhere to your calorie goal. You should never eat below 1500 calories, and at your size, 1800-2000 will be better, because your body needs that many, and if you try to eat too little, you'll be hungry and not able to stick to your calorie goal, and sticking to a calorie deficit is what makes you lose weight.
  • hartk001
    hartk001 Posts: 51 Member
    Thanks for the reply, I take what you say about going to low on the calories.

    What I'm trying to figure out at the moment is that given 1450 calories the nutrient graph shows that my meals should be made up of 50% Carbs, 30% Fat and 20% Protein but surely on a low carb diet that's not right. I'm trying to figure out the proper percentages for this goal
  • lemonychild
    lemonychild Posts: 654 Member
    edited February 2017
    Clearly if you're doing high protein low carb those 2 numbers should be switched around
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    There is no 1 right answer. Just play with the percentages until you end up with numbers you like based on your goals/preferences.

    If you want low carb, set that carb percentage relatively low.
    If you want high fat, set the fat percentage relatively high.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    hartk001 wrote: »
    Thanks for the reply, I take what you say about going to low on the calories.

    What I'm trying to figure out at the moment is that given 1450 calories the nutrient graph shows that my meals should be made up of 50% Carbs, 30% Fat and 20% Protein but surely on a low carb diet that's not right. I'm trying to figure out the proper percentages for this goal

    that's because MFP doesnt know you're doing low carb, you have to set it yourself...
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    hartk001 wrote: »
    Thanks for the reply, I take what you say about going to low on the calories.

    What I'm trying to figure out at the moment is that given 1450 calories the nutrient graph shows that my meals should be made up of 50% Carbs, 30% Fat and 20% Protein but surely on a low carb diet that's not right. I'm trying to figure out the proper percentages for this goal

    Yes, but calories is most important, and you have to start with a proper calorie goal, and there is no way MFP has given you a calorie goal of 1450. (If it has, it's a glitch, and you should contact Technical support.)

    You try to stick to whatever MFP gave you for a while - for instance 6-8 weeks, and then assess - are you losing weight at the expected rate? Are you feeling energetic and not too hungry? If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

    MFP's default macro split is 50/30/20 but you can set that as you please. The point is that you should set the macros to your needs, not to fit a diet. If you want to eat low carb, you lower carbs and raise fat. When losing weight, most people will tend to cut most of their calories from carbs anyway, which automatically leads to a moderate low carb diet. Unless you have medical issues that makes low carb necessary, you don't have to eat low carb to lose weight.
  • CanadianRockies
    CanadianRockies Posts: 10 Member
    edited February 2017
    There's a good post on this subject that's worth reading (the bottom third deals specifically with setting macro targets). The key is to eat at least a certain amount of fats and proteins; carbs will be whatever is left after doing that.

    Let's assume you have a goal of eating 1,800 calories per day and you currently weigh 206 pounds.

    You want to consume at least .35 grams of fat for every pound of weight, so you'll want to eat a minimum of 72.1 grams of fat per day. ( 0.35 x 206 = 72.1 ) There are 9 calories per gram of fat, so you're shooting for at least 648.9 calories of fat per day. ( 72.1 x 9 = 648.9 ) That's 36.0% of your total calorie goal. ( ( 648.9 / 1,800 ) * 100 = 36.0 ) If you're a non-premium member, then you can only set your macronutrient targets in 5% increments, so you would set your fat goal at 35%.

    You want to consume at least 1 gram of protein per pound of Lean Body Mass (LBM, i.e., non-fat body weight). Assuming you have 20% body fat, then your LBM is 164.8 pounds. ( 206 * ( 1.0 - 0.20 ) = 164.8 ) Thus, you want to eat a minimum of 164.8 grams of protein per day. ( 164.8 * 1 = 164.8 ) There are 4 calories per gram of protein, so you'll want at least 659.2 protein calories daily. ( 164.8 * 4 = 659.2 ) That's 36.6% of your total calorie goal. ( ( 659.2 / 1,800 ) * 100 = 36.6 ) Again, you'd round that down to 35% when you set your macro target for proteins.

    So, if you wish, you could set your macro targets to 35% fats, 35% proteins, and 30% carbs. But the fat and protein targets are minimums. Assuming you don't have any medical issues, you can set them higher (within reason).

    For example, you might want to restrict your carbs to 50 grams daily. Each gram of carb has 4 calories, so your total daily carb calories would be 200. ( 50 * 4 = 200 ) That's 11.1 percent of your total calories. ( ( 200 / 1,800 ) * 100 = 11.1 ) Rounding that down to 10% leaves you with 90% for fats and proteins. You can divide that in many different ways (e.g., 45% fat and 45% protein, 40% fat and 50% protein, 55% fat and 35% protein). Just be sure you have at least 35% fat and at least 35% protein.
  • CasperNaegle
    CasperNaegle Posts: 936 Member
    Are you trying to go to Ketosis? If so you need much much fewer carbs.. I think something like less than 20grams a day. I'm not an expert. If you are not doing that, I can't fathom why you would do low carb at all, unless that is the only way you can stay on your calorie goal. I keep my percentages around 40p/40c/20f.
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