Protein and macros/nutrients

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francisolorunfunmi
francisolorunfunmi Posts: 99 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So we all know that protein is helpful to losing fat and gaining muscle. However how reliable is the macro divide between carbs and protein. Should I leave it as the default for 50% carbs and 30% Protein or should I adjust accordingly

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  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    Reliable for what? I don't use % for my macro breakdown - I work out protein and fat based on weight, and then carbs fills in the rest of my calories
  • TribeHokie
    TribeHokie Posts: 711 Member
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    Depends on what you are trying to do and what works best for you. Nothing wrong with trial and error.
  • francisolorunfunmi
    francisolorunfunmi Posts: 99 Member
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    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    Reliable for what? I don't use % for my macro breakdown - I work out protein and fat based on weight, and then carbs fills in the rest of my calories

    How do you work this out
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    francisolorunfunmi wrote: »
    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    Reliable for what? I don't use % for my macro breakdown - I work out protein and fat based on weight, and then carbs fills in the rest of my calories

    How do you work this out

    Protein - 0.8g per lb of body weight, x4 to calculate calories
    Fat - 0.35-0.45g per lb of body weight, x9 to calculate calories

    Calorie goal - protein cals - fat cals = what's left. /4 for carb grams.

    Many people just use the fat and protein as minimums and fill the rest of their cals however..
  • francisolorunfunmi
    francisolorunfunmi Posts: 99 Member
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    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    francisolorunfunmi wrote: »
    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    Reliable for what? I don't use % for my macro breakdown - I work out protein and fat based on weight, and then carbs fills in the rest of my calories

    How do you work this out

    Protein - 0.8g per lb of body weight, x4 to calculate calories
    Fat - 0.35-0.45g per lb of body weight, x9 to calculate calories

    Calorie goal - protein cals - fat cals = what's left. /4 for carb grams.

    Many people just use the fat and protein as minimums and fill the rest of their cals however..

    Okay apparently I should be on 155 grams of protein but I can't do that on here so set it 169 so that's good I guess. Wondering where I've beendm going wrong.bbeen eating about 70 -100g since I can remember
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,583 Member
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    If you're still overweight, calculate protein & fat goals based on a healthy goal weight, not your current weight (or calculate based on lean body mass if you know that, but with a higher gram multiplier like 1g per pound LBM).

    You don't need extra protein to maintain excess fat mass, only to maintain lean mass. Setting macro goals unnecessarily high by basing them on current weight just makes it harder to manage a limited calorie goal.
  • francisolorunfunmi
    francisolorunfunmi Posts: 99 Member
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    If you're still overweight, calculate protein & fat goals based on a healthy goal weight, not your current weight (or calculate based on lean body mass if you know that, but with a higher gram multiplier like 1g per pound LBM).

    You don't need extra protein to maintain excess fat mass, only to maintain lean mass. Setting macro goals unnecessarily high by basing them on current weight just makes it harder to manage a limited calorie goal.

    Huh ?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    francisolorunfunmi wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    If you're still overweight, calculate protein & fat goals based on a healthy goal weight, not your current weight (or calculate based on lean body mass if you know that, but with a higher gram multiplier like 1g per pound LBM).

    You don't need extra protein to maintain excess fat mass, only to maintain lean mass. Setting macro goals unnecessarily high by basing them on current weight just makes it harder to manage a limited calorie goal.

    Huh ?

    Your body fat doesn't need protein so if you are very overweight calculating your protein setting from your current body weight would give you an unnecessarily high protein goal.

    If you guess your current bodyfat percentage (accuracy not required) then set your protein goal as 1g per pound of lean body mass (LBM).

    Example.....
    If you currently weigh 200lbs and you estimate your body fat to be 25% then that gives you 150lbs of lean mass and your protein goal would be 150g.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    We don't know that. A balanced and appealing diet is important in order to stay in a calorie deficit for long enough to really lose weight, and especially not to regain later, and protein is important in order to build/retain muscle. MFP's default is 50C, 20P, 30F, but you can change it as you like.
  • francisolorunfunmi
    francisolorunfunmi Posts: 99 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    francisolorunfunmi wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    If you're still overweight, calculate protein & fat goals based on a healthy goal weight, not your current weight (or calculate based on lean body mass if you know that, but with a higher gram multiplier like 1g per pound LBM).

    You don't need extra protein to maintain excess fat mass, only to maintain lean mass. Setting macro goals unnecessarily high by basing them on current weight just makes it harder to manage a limited calorie goal.

    Huh ?

    Your body fat doesn't need protein so if you are very overweight calculating your protein setting from your current body weight would give you an unnecessarily high protein goal.

    If you guess your current bodyfat percentage (accuracy not required) then set your protein goal as 1g per pound of lean body mass (LBM).

    Example.....
    If you currently weigh 200lbs and you estimate your body fat to be 25% then that gives you 150lbs of lean mass and your protein goal would be 150g.

    Ah okay cool cos I was eating half of that. I calculated it on the bmr thing and arrived at 155g too. I'm still confused but thanks for the insight

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