PLEASE help me figure this out!!

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BLee724
BLee724 Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
For the love of god will someone please help me! I feel so lose and SOOO confused! I'm trying to lose weight but I'm having a REALLY, REALLY hard time figuring out how many calories I should be eating but more so, of those calories, WHERE I should be getting my calories from. How much protein should I be eating? Carbs? Fat? The Macros. I can't figure it out. I feel like it's like rocket science. Once you get it, it's easy but to figure it out is like rocket science. I'm so lost. HELP!

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  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
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    My calories are low so I do a 35/35/30f split so get adequate fat. What are you calories at? Did you set them yourself or are you on the "lose as fast as possible" 1200 plan?
  • BLee724
    BLee724 Posts: 6 Member
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    I don't want to drop to 1200 because I know once I lose weight at a certain point I will have to change my calorie intake or up my exercise to continue losing weight and if I drop to 1200, I really won't have anywhere else to go in regards to dropping my calories. So I want to start at like 1500-1700 I guess?
  • DeficitDuchess
    DeficitDuchess Posts: 3,099 Member
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    You're calories're based upon, the information you; began with! As for your macro nutrients I'd choose to, do at least a medium amount of fat as for the other 2 whatever; 1st sates you most gets the most!
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
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    Try the 35/35/30 split
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    edited April 2017
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    Maybe 40p/35C/25f would be enough fat. I don't like to go lower than .35gf/lb of ideal bw because hair is nice lol
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    What are your current stats? What does MFP give you for various loss goals? And the default macro split MFP gives you is fine. Most focus on protein and let the others fall where they may. And a lot of people also check their fiber micro as it helps with hunger.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
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    Don't overthink things.

    Start with MFP's default macros. You can try those for a while and adjust later to fit your preferred way of eating. Once you get enough protein and fat, the rest of the macro mix is really up to what works for you.

    Put your info into MFP to see how many calories it suggests for you before exercise. Eat back about 50-75% of your exercise calories. How much you try to lose each week really depends upon how much you have left to lose. If you have 75+ pounds to lose, you can try for 2 pounds per week if you want. Less than that and you want to go for a smaller loss per week so that your calorie intake doesn't go too low to be sustainable.

    As for what to eat, the actual foods are up to you. I aim for about 80% of my calories from nutrient-dense foods and 20% from treats. You can log everything you consume for a couple of weeks in order to collect some data and then go back through to see where you might eat smaller portions and/or make satisfying substitutions. The closer you stay to your normal way of eating, the easier it should be to stick with a calorie deficit.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    edited April 2017
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    VintageFeline wrote: »
    What are your current stats? What does MFP give you for various loss goals? And the default macro split MFP gives you is fine. Most focus on protein and let the others fall where they may. And a lot of people also check their fiber micro as it helps with hunger.

    ^^^this
    The macros aren't as important to focus on if your goal is weight loss, aside for getting enough protein. The calories are the most important thing.
    Also, when you put in your stats and a reasonable weight loss goal, MFP will calculate a calorie goal for you. What is the problem with using that goal?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Use mfp
  • BLee724
    BLee724 Posts: 6 Member
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    It started me with carbs as the highest, then protein and then fat. I don't want to have my carbs as my highest intake. It also told me to eat 1200 calories a day so I changed it for moderate weight loss so it put me at 1500 and some odd calories. I'd like to stay between 1500 and 1700 so I can drop my calories later. I need to lose like 100-110 pounds.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    BLee724 wrote: »
    It started me with carbs as the highest, then protein and then fat. I don't want to have my carbs as my highest intake. It also told me to eat 1200 calories a day so I changed it for moderate weight loss so it put me at 1500 and some odd calories. I'd like to stay between 1500 and 1700 so I can drop my calories later. I need to lose like 100-110 pounds.

    What wrong with 50% of your cals coming from carbs? If you're in a calorie deficit you'll lose weight.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited April 2017
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    BLee724 wrote: »
    It started me with carbs as the highest, then protein and then fat. I don't want to have my carbs as my highest intake. It also told me to eat 1200 calories a day so I changed it for moderate weight loss so it put me at 1500 and some odd calories. I'd like to stay between 1500 and 1700 so I can drop my calories later. I need to lose like 100-110 pounds.

    There's nothing wrong with carbs being the highest if that's the way you like to eat. Carbs don't hinder weight loss. I've lost 130 pounds with the default MFP macro ratio of 50%C - 20%P - 30%F. If you don't like that macro ratio, you can certainly change it to one of the above suggestions. If you want, you can even ignore macros because weight loss ultimately comes down to consuming fewer calories than your body uses.

    1500 calories is a fine place to start.
  • debhig10
    debhig10 Posts: 4 Member
    edited April 2017
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    I love this little calculator: https://authoritynutrition.com/how-many-calories-per-day/ - the science as we know it today, stands behind the MFP ratio.

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