Losing not Gaining

eduran1973
eduran1973 Posts: 3 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Ok guys first post here, so let’s see giant goes.
First of all my name is Efren, but everyone can just call me E.
I’m 46 years old, current weight is 233 lbs. I workout with weights & do cardio about 4-5 per week. Been lifting since I was 18yrs old.
I’m trying to drop down to around 228 lbs. Body fat is around 33%, it’s been bouncing around 31-33%, since November of 2018.
Finally, decided to drop the body fat, so here is my question to you all...
How should I structure my macro %’s?

This app claims I should increase my carbs, which makes no sense, if I’m trying to come down on body fat.

Any help would be appreciated.

Replies

  • eduran1973
    eduran1973 Posts: 3 Member
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    Losing weight is about calories, not macros. Eat in a calorie deficit. Hit your protein. Lift heavy things.
    App says my macros should be
    50% carb
    20% protein
    30% fat
    And calories down to 1900

    Seems off...No?

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Why would it matter if you raised your carb percentage but were in a calorie deficit?
    (For an extreme example the day I ate 650g of carbs but was still in a calorie deficit I would still have had a net loss of body fat.)

    The app is merely suggesting a macro percentage that is reasonable for most. You can change it to meet your particular needs or wants. No the suggested percentages don't seem "off" at all to me apart from protein would probably be lower than optimal - but that's also a function of you (probably) setting an aggressive rate of weight loss which has given you a small daily base calorie allowance.
    With only wanting to lose 5lbs it's probably not an issue how fast you lose it TBH.
    Two and a half hungry weeks at 2lb/week rate or 5 weeks at an easier to adhere to 1lb/week....

    Many people prefer to set macro goals in grams rather than percentages, e.g. a minimum goal in grams for protein and fat and the rest of your calorie allowance becomes flexible.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    The Macro percentages are just a recommendation. The 50/30/20 is their standard macro. It works for most, but you can customize it as you feel fit if you would like lower carbs and higher protein.

    The 1900 calories comes from estimating your maintenance level, and then deducting the calories necessary to lose the amount of weight weekly you have suggested. You are also supposed to eat back the calories burned from exercise.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    edited May 2019
    eduran1973 wrote: »
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    Losing weight is about calories, not macros. Eat in a calorie deficit. Hit your protein. Lift heavy things.
    App says my macros should be
    50% carb
    20% protein
    30% fat
    And calories down to 1900

    Seems off...No?
    No, they are just fine, but you can change the % yourself to fit what works for you.
    I set mine at 45% carbs, 30% fat, and 25% protein
  • eduran1973
    eduran1973 Posts: 3 Member
    Thanks everyone. I got so stuck on % on macros, and never really thought about calorie deficit being the main issue.
    I kept hearing so much...”carbs are bad for you,” that I naturally just made the mental choice to try and opt them out of my daily eating habits.
    It was a bad mistake, and my body decided to eat up a lot of my muscle, because I wasn’t giving it enough of the right nutrition.

    I’m 233 lbs trying to get to 228-225 lbs.
    I set the app to help me drop 1.5 lbs per week, I might go back and change it to 1 lbs per week.

    I’m guessing in order to maintain & start to increase my muscle mass, I just tweak the protein grams & drop the carbs.

    Any suggestions on the right amount of grams I should use?
    Again, I’m 46 yrs old, weight 233 lbs, height is 5’9.
  • moogie_fit
    moogie_fit Posts: 280 Member
    eduran1973 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone. I got so stuck on % on macros, and never really thought about calorie deficit being the main issue.
    I kept hearing so much...”carbs are bad for you,” that I naturally just made the mental choice to try and opt them out of my daily eating habits.
    It was a bad mistake, and my body decided to eat up a lot of my muscle, because I wasn’t giving it enough of the right nutrition.

    I’m 233 lbs trying to get to 228-225 lbs.
    I set the app to help me drop 1.5 lbs per week, I might go back and change it to 1 lbs per week.

    I’m guessing in order to maintain & start to increase my muscle mass, I just tweak the protein grams & drop the carbs.

    Any suggestions on the right amount of grams I should use?
    Again, I’m 46 yrs old, weight 233 lbs, height is 5’9.

    I would honestly just start by finding your maintenance and tracking your intake not caring about macros or calories. Usually when people just log what they eat they end up losing weight
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    eduran1973 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone. I got so stuck on % on macros, and never really thought about calorie deficit being the main issue.
    I kept hearing so much...”carbs are bad for you,” that I naturally just made the mental choice to try and opt them out of my daily eating habits.
    It was a bad mistake, and my body decided to eat up a lot of my muscle, because I wasn’t giving it enough of the right nutrition.

    I’m 233 lbs trying to get to 228-225 lbs.
    I set the app to help me drop 1.5 lbs per week, I might go back and change it to 1 lbs per week.

    I’m guessing in order to maintain & start to increase my muscle mass, I just tweak the protein grams & drop the carbs.

    Any suggestions on the right amount of grams I should use?
    Again, I’m 46 yrs old, weight 233 lbs, height is 5’9.

    With a fairly high body fat percentage you could use 1g of protein per pound of estimated lean mass as a minimum goal.
    At 233lbs and an estimated 31% body fat that would be 159g.
  • pontious11349
    pontious11349 Posts: 105 Member
    This response might spark some heat but as you are new to tracking and have a high body fat percentage, I feel its necessary to bring it back to basics before you start fixating on the numbers or over complicate things.

    Simply put, and in my coaches words, "just don't eat like an assh*le".

    This might seem a little patronizing (and its how I first heard the message too) but when I broke it down I realised its actually pretty easy to achieve.

    1) Stick to the periphery of the supermarket. This is where you will find your perishable items meat, fruit, veg, nuts seeds. Once you start finding yourself in the middle of the supermarket you will be amongst the long shelf life, heavily packaged, calorie dense processed foods. Make sure that when you get to the checkout most of your trolley is the good stuff. But still save room for the occasional treat. This is about control . Not a diet. So it has to be sustainable.

    2) Dont stress about the numbers. Ditch the bathroom scale and go with how your body feels. Energy levels. Strength. How you look.

    3) Once you feel you have enough control, then you can start to look to weigh your foods and adjust macro composition.

    Finally, you just have to trust the process and enjoy it. Its not a sprint for -5lbs. Its a lifestyle choice. Take control.






Categories