Macro calculation questions

cilou267
cilou267 Posts: 1 Member
edited November 29 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone.
Instead of looking at calories intake, I wanted to concentrate on the macros. How do you guys manage it, do you kind of plan in advance your meals in advance and see what the app says? And adjust depending if you have too much protéin or fat? Not sure how to calculate and make my meal plan in advance based on the pourcentage given in each categories. Many thanks in advance.

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    I start with a protein in every meal and snack. I have vegetables in every meal. A couple pieces of bread per day. A serving of fat in each meal (half tablespoon oil, half portion of cheese, some whole milk, nuts, avocado.)

    Just good old common sense. Lots of vegetables.

    It just takes time to dial it in through understanding. :)
  • amy19355
    amy19355 Posts: 805 Member
    cilou267 wrote: »
    Hello everyone.
    Instead of looking at calories intake, I wanted to concentrate on the macros. How do you guys manage it, do you kind of plan in advance your meals in advance and see what the app says? And adjust depending if you have too much protéin or fat? Not sure how to calculate and make my meal plan in advance based on the pourcentage given in each categories. Many thanks in advance.

    I log my intended meal into MFP before I actually make or plate it. As I add items, the app displays the macro % right there. I flip to the nutrition charts and look at the pie chart for macros because the visual is more useful to my understanding.

    If it’s unbalanced, I add something of the appropriate macro. Sometimes its a tsp of olive oil, or , maybe it is a cup of rice, or an ounce or two of lean meat.

    Over time, doing this for every single meal, I am getting better at portioning pretty close to my targets.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    My intake goals are a calorie maximum and macro minimums. I would overeat if I used the macro minimums alone.

    Macro minimums rule of thumb:
    Protein = 1g per lb LBM to spare muscle when deficit eating. If you don’t know your LBM, 0.8g per lb goal weight is a decent approximation. When eating at maintenance or a surplus, half that much is needed (not losing weight=not losing muscle).
    Fat = 0.35 per pound body weight
    Carbs have no minimum the body needs. Well, your brain uses 50g daily but the body can synthesize ketones instead if your carbs are below 50g. Carbs can make up the rest of your calories after hitting the protein and fat minimums. I find it more helpful to track fiber than carbs.
    Fiber minimum = 20-25g for women, 25-30g for men
  • RideLiftRun
    RideLiftRun Posts: 23 Member
    I tend to plan and pre log all meals for the day, adjusting when necessary, but I mainly do it to ensure I'll stay within my allocated calories. Protein is the only macro I really care for & make sure I'm close to target. I don't sweat the small stuff, I'm quite often over in fat and almost always over in sugar - I don't care, as long as I'm not over in calories. Most of my sugar comes from fruit and veggies anyway, and even if it didn't... CICO rules.
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