My typical daily cal intake. Is it any good ?

weedspot
weedspot Posts: 29 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

I’m pretty new to the whole monitoring my macros thing. So some pointers could be really helpful.

First, I have questions when it comes to how I’m supposed to split my calories through the day. My daily cal goal is 1830.

Breakfast: 57g carbs, 22g fat, 44g protein
Lunch: 79g carbs, 7g fat, 41g protein
Dinner: 46g carbs, 5,5g fat, 35g protein
Snacks: 2x 24g protein (whey)

Should my macros be split evenly (33% of my daily carbs for breakfast, 33% for lunch, 33% for dinner, etc..) or can it be more uneven ?

My second question is: how do I know that my body isn’t storing fat because it thinks that I’m not eating enough ?

Replies

  • cppeace
    cppeace Posts: 764 Member
    When you eat isn't as important as what and how much you eat. Most people split it up pretty even some have only one or two meals. You should eat your meals how feels right to you. Some eat a big breakfast, snack lunch then medium sized supper. Some skip breakfast and eat a big lunch and medium sized supper. Some just eat a huge lunch and maybe a small snack at some point. Do what will work for you. Just try to match your calories and macros as much as possible to what MFP recommends. For the vast majority of people it's a simple process of eat less calories than you burn. As long as your metabolism is functioning well, the numbers for MFP should work for you. Be 100% accurate with your food diary.
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 906 Member
    1. I can only speak from my own experience --- I don't really pay attention to what my macros are. I only focus on calories --- the only macro I have ever focused on was protein when I was trying to recover from an injury.
    2. My suggestion to make sure you're eating enough is to use a Total Daily Energy Expenditure calculator (easily found online) and *I set my activity level as 'sedentary' --- because I have a sedentary job and when I'm not exercising, I'm sedentary -- this is what is easiest for me but you may find it's better to incorporate your activity level in your TDEE calculation. That's up to each person. You should also listen to your body and if you feel lethargic or hungry --- eat more.
    3. Once you have an ESTIMATE of your TDEE and BMR --- manually set your calorie goal on MFP to something in between the 2, you don't want to eat less than your BMR, but you want to eat less than your TDEE to lose weight. Alternatively you can eat your TDEE and log your exercise calories in order to be at a deficit -- still making sure that you are not below your BMR.
    4. After 2-4 weeks --- weigh yourself and see whether you gained, stayed the same, or lost weight. This is all assuming you are logging your food and exercise calories properly or to the best of your ability. All of these things will be estimates so it's a bit of trial and error.

    Make adjustments from there. I don't suggest weighing yourself too often either because a lot of things can make your weight fluctuate - if you go 2-4 weeks you can get a good trendline going to use as information to make any adjustments you need to. Good Luck!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Your macros are personal preference...you can split your calories between meals anyway you like, it makes no difference. You don't store fat in a calorie deficit...not eating enough can cause other issues, but you don't store fat by not eating enough.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    Some people do intermittent fasting, some do OMAD (one meal a day). Some recommend eating most of your calories at dinner, some recommend splitting evenly among meals. Some recommend a big breakfast, some recommend skipping breakfast. Some recommend only eating at meal time three times a day, some recommend breaking your eating up into seven or so evenly sized snacks. None of these has any research backing them up that indicates long term weight loss better than any other scheme. So, when folks say, "Do what works for you" that's exactly the right and most accurate advice.

    This may take trial and error. What you are aiming toward is an eating schedule that keeps you sated. For some folks (like me) the day starts with a substantial but late breakfast. For others, skipping breakfast works. For others, a liquid protein drink works for breakfast. How soon after whatever breakfast you choose are you hungry again? Do you want to chew the drapes a couple hours later? If yes, that breakfast doesn't work very well for you. You may not know until you try,
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    "Should my macros be split evenly (33% of my daily carbs for breakfast, 33% for lunch, 33% for dinner, etc..) or can it be more uneven ?"
    Do whatever suits you and helps you stick to your overall dietary goals.

    "My second question is: how do I know that my body isn’t storing fat because it thinks that I’m not eating enough ?"
    Your body fat is an energy store - you aren't adding to that storage when there's no surplus energy to store, if you are in a genuine calorie deficit you are reducing your body fat stores.
    Remember your science lessons at school?
    Energy can neither be created nor destroyed; rather, it can only be transformed or transferred from one form to another.

  • weedspot
    weedspot Posts: 29 Member
    Thank you all very much for the replies!

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