Confused About My Macros

MANDEEx88 · February 2018

Hello,

I am new to this and have no clue about macros. I used a couple macro calculators and I am confused at the results. They each gave me about the same results. According to the macros given to me, I should be eating 184 grams of protiens, 44 grams of fat, and 109 grams of carbs. 184 grams of protein is a lot. How the heck am I going to eat that much protein a day!?

Maybe I am misunderstanding this whole macro idea. If someone with more experience could help I’d appreciate it. Some information about me currently is that I weigh 194 pounds. I am 5 foot 3. I’m 29 years old. I live a very sedentary life right now, which I want to change. I am at that point in life I am ready for a change. I’m tired of being tired and being overweight. I am tired of feeling uncomfortable in my own body. I should also note being overweight was not an issue for me growing up. Up until 2011 I never hit above 125 pounds. In December of 2011 I weighed 181 pounds. I was also diagnosed with pcos that year. Not sure if my macros would be different because of my pcos. I know I’ve read for women with pcos I should eat high carb and low protein.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

kommodevaran · February 2018

I have heard that PCOS sufferers should eat low carb and high fat, but the most important thing is that you eat less. If the amount of protein you're aiming for seems excessive (and I think so too), why not try out MFP's default for a while? 50C, 30F, 20P is pretty balanced.

Aaron_K123 · February 2018

Hi I'll try to help out as best I can.

For weightloss all that really matters is calorie intake and expenditure, macro splits are rather irrelevant to that.

Macros just refer to the three basic types of biomolecules we intake for food, carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Some people may find that they have more satiation per calorie from one of these macros than another with most people finding proteins or fats to be the most satiating. Most people end up overeating calorically by eating lots of carbohydrates which tend to be less filling per calorie. Therefore decent generic diet advice is to try to eat more protein and less carbs.

That said that is a means to getting to the actual cause of weightloss which is a caloric deficit, so honestly all that matters is you attain a caloric deficit in anyway you find most comfortable. Upping your protein might be a good idea to do that, go ahead and experiment with that...but in no way to you NEED to eat 184 grams of protein nor do you NEED to have an exact macro split in terms of percentage week to week, you can vary it as much as you'd like.

MANDEEx88 · February 2018

My apologies. I need to make an edit to my post. I typed my macros suggested incorrectly. It says I should eat 184 protein, 39 fat, and 82 carbs.

TavistockToad · February 2018

MANDEEx88 wrote: »

My apologies. I need to make an edit to my post. I typed my macros suggested incorrectly. It says I should eat 184 protein, 39 fat, and 82 carbs.

What's wrong with MFP macros?

MANDEEx88 · February 2018

Okay, that is reassuring to know I don't need to eat that many protein grams a day. I think I will go with what Kommodervaran suggested and start with the MFP default and also watch my caloric intake and expenditures like Aaron mentions. Thanks a bunch guys!

MANDEEx88 · February 2018

TavistockToad wrote: »

MANDEEx88 wrote: »

My apologies. I need to make an edit to my post. I typed my macros suggested incorrectly. It says I should eat 184 protein, 39 fat, and 82 carbs.

What's wrong with MFP macros?

Well I have no idea lol. Like I said I do not know much about this macro stuff I was not even sure what MFP suggested before typing this post. I was ony going by what the calculators were giving me.

Aaron_K123 · February 2018

Another note. Macro splits are typically done on a percent by calorie basis. So to convert 184g protein is 736 calories, 39g fat is 351 calories and 82g carb is 328 calories. So looks to me like your website suggested macro split is a 50/25/25 P/C/F split on a ~1400 calorie diet. That is a pretty protein rich diet.

My advice to you is try eating more protein as it tends to be more satiating so you can feel full on less calories but don't focus so much on eating protein that it is to a level that makes you uncomfortable with your diet. Basically just see what you tend to eat naturally and if that is carb heavy and protein light then try substituting in some lean protein for your carb and see if that makes hitting your calorie goal easier for you.

If you want to try the macro approach (which you don't need to do by the way) perhaps something less aggressive would fit you better and you could go with a 30/40/30 or something like that that'd probably feel more natural.

Tracking Macros is just to make you that much more aware of exactly what it is you are eating, it isn't a necessary component to dieting....it is more for the spreadsheeting types.

MANDEEx88 · February 2018

Aaron_K123 wrote: »

Another note. Macro splits are typically done on a percent by calorie basis. So to convert 184g protein is 736 calories, 39g fat is 351 calories and 82g carb is 328 calories. So looks to me like your website suggested macro split is a 50/25/25 P/C/F split on a ~1400 calorie diet. That is a pretty protein rich diet.

My advice to you is try eating more protein as it tends to be more satiating so you can feel full on less calories but don't focus so much on eating protein that it is to a level that makes you uncomfortable with your diet. If you want to try the macro approach (which you don't need to do by the way) perhaps something less aggressive would fit you better and you could go with a 30/40/30 or something like that that'd probably feel more natural.

Thank you. That sounds reasonable. I will eat what proteins I can. I appreciate your help.

cathipa · February 2018

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Confused About My Macros

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