Protein Macros

franciswazny
franciswazny Posts: 1 Member
edited November 28 in Getting Started
Greetings,

My question for the community is regarding how much protein I should be consuming daily.
I have used a calculator to determine that my daily caloric intake should be around 3200 calories in order to promote muscle growth. For those who may wonder; I am 23, 5'9", and 188lbs.

I will present my findings to you to elucidate my situation and I will explain afterwards.
Here is what I found:

1) Bodybuilding.com told me...
Carbs: 366g
Protein: 244g
Fat: 90g

2) Using 40/40/20....
Carbs: 320g
Protein: 320g
Fat: 71g

3) Using 1g of protein lb/body fat....
Protein: 188g
Carbs: Fill in
Fat: Fill in

So, my confusion has to do with this rather broad range of discrepancy. Which approach is correct? Is it trial and error?
I would hate to eat more protein than necessary or beneficial, and filling in my carbs and fat as I see fit just spikes my anxiety that I may be in error or not maximizing results.

Also, MyFitnessPal app created even more confusion for me yesterday!
The application on my iPhone said that I had almost maxed out my carb and protein macros, went slightly over on fat, and it claimed that I still had 821 calories left to consume. According to what I have read on other forums, macros are directly related to calories so this makes little sense to me.

I do apologize for my ignorance, but I hope that you folks who may be a bit more seasoned than I can shed some light on this for me.

Thank you!

God Bless,
Francis

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    0.6 - 0.8g per lb of bodyweight is sufficient.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,421 Member
    edited August 2018
    You can set your GOALS according to your preferences for bulking. That's between you, your trainer and your medical team.

    As far as the below:
    The application on my iPhone said that I had almost maxed out my carb and protein macros, went slightly over on fat, and it claimed that I still had 821 calories left to consume. According to what I have read on other forums, macros are directly related to calories so this makes little sense to me.

    If you are adding exercise, your calories will adjust UP and so will your macros when you add the exercise. Similarly, if you are using a FitBit or other device, they will adjust up as you get in more activity.

    The other thing is that the food database is user-sourced. Many of the macros and calories will be wrong in the database. If you want accuracy, use the USDA food database to vet your choices.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    0.6 - 0.8g per lb of bodyweight is sufficient.

    And approximately 0.35 to 0.45 grams of fat. Fill in the rest with carbs.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Those are different, and a little wrong, questions. I hope this can reduce your anxiety:

    There is no "correct", as in ideal, precise, protein goal. If you're a competing bodybuilder, your priorites would steer you towards maxing out on protein, but then you would probably hang out in bodybuilder forums, not here on MFP.

    Protein goal is more of an optimal, range, type figure - getting in enough for sufficient muscle growth, but not struggling to get more than you can utilize, and avoiding getting so much that your diet becomes boring or difficult to stick to, or you risk getting too little of other important nutrients.

    To build muscles, you have to feed and rest and use them. All three elements are just as important.

    And then there is the issue of percentage vs grams. If you still have calories - and fat, protein and carbs - left, it's just that you're over in percentage at that moment. Your goal is to hit your targets - your calories as priority number one, and secondly, macros in grams - at the end of the day.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    Note: the formulas are typically based on either lean body mass or ideal weight...so don't use your full current weight if you are overweight.

    Formula 3 would be per lean body mass not body fat.

    0.85g x goal weight in lb would be a decent goal. Going over fat, etc is fine..it's only a problem if it is crowding out protein (and also there is a minimum recommended amount of fat that we need to get to be healthy).
  • ent3rsandman
    ent3rsandman Posts: 170 Member
    3 Always worked for me. A bunch of people are gonna hop in here and say that's way too much protein but I feel like I recovered slightly better on the bulk that raised it to about 1g per lb. Some find that they perform better when lowering it and making more room for other macros. Like kommodevaran said, it's a range dependent on you, your preferences, and your recovery.

    Start with something and adjust it based on how you feel and how your training is going. 40/40/20 is definitely overkill but if you end up trying it anyway then let us know how it goes! :)
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    A good guide to help you: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1
  • TheMagicOneMikeD
    TheMagicOneMikeD Posts: 94 Member
    I go with the 0.6 to 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass.

    On weight lifting days I eat more calories/protein.

    The day before I eat slightly more carbs and on the day after I hit the protein harder, but both of those days I stick within my calories.

    I have my macros set to 40% carbs, 25% fat, 35% protein, but like I mentioned that changes depending on whether it's a weightlifting day or not.
  • jojopangilinan
    jojopangilinan Posts: 1 Member
    Finding your maintenance calories: Bodyweight times 16 will bring you around the ballpark of your caloric intake.
    You should be in a 15-20% health caloric deficit if you want to lose weight. 15-20% surplus if you are trying to gain weight.

    Calculating Macros (protein, carbs & fat) intake:
    
Daily protein intake: 0.8-1 multiplied by your current weight. 

    Daily Fat intake: 20% of your total caloric intake divided by 9 = total fat intake.

    Daily Carb intake: rest is carbs

    These are all ballpark numbers, you'll need to track your weight every day and take the weekly average of your weigh-ins. If you are losing weight after the second week, you are on the right track; if you are maintaining or gaining, just pull the calories back a little bit.



    Calculating calories:
    protein - 1gram = 4 calories // 
fat - 1 gram =9 calories // 
carbs - 1gram = 4 calories


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