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macros for losing weight?


kathymtns
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I am new to the whole macros thing. I just got the premium membership on fitness pal so I could log my macros. I used some calculations and logged in:

 

1800 calories

128 g protein

60 g fat

187 g carbs

 

Today I have been just eating and logging to see where things are. Are there any other women that have any ideas on how to best plan out my food? This is a big adjustment for me. I have been logging food for me the past few days without doing the macros and just eating normally. I was shocked to see I was eating 2200-2300 calories a day. On leg day I ate 2500 calories. It is no wonder I wasn't losing any weight.

 

So I really want to make a go at this and lose this weight. I would love any tips you can give me about macros and losing weight.

Thanks, Kathy

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I would drop protein level to 80-100g and bump up the carbs. One of the best things I did for my diet was to cut out the protein supplementation. Seriously get what you need from whole foods. Your body and wallet will thank you.

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  • 2 weeks later...

You'll be even more shocked if you get a scale and start weighing everything. I've found that dry foods by volume can give you a 30-50% error as opposed to actually weighing your food.

 

I tend to disagree with "less protein" approach, but everyone is different. In my opinion, I think your fat ratio is too low and your carbs are too high. Protein is okay...but could come up a little.

 

The most important thing is sticking to your macro and calorie plan and tracking your results. Bodyweight may not move, but your bodyfat and measurements will highlight real progress. Whatever you choose, stick with a plan, be patient, and monitor results...you'll eventually be making your own decisions on macros.

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To each his own? Protein a bit higher? Criminy!! I get less than 128g per day now and I'm a solid 186! Now I'm known to pick a fight but I'm just a bit curious as to the reasoning behind a high protein diet. Maybe you could enlighten me.

 

I base my opinions on a few assumptions.

1. Humans are designed to be herbivorous.

2. Humans are designed to eat whole foods.

 

Now if we are meant to be eating a whole foods plant based diet why would you need to take protein powder to loose weight? Now of course you don't need to but to hit a certain percentage or target higher than 25% makes it a requirement unless you eat animals.

 

Ive got better things to do than to fuss about how many grams of this or that I'm eating. Eat whole foods. Train fuckin hard. Get enough sleep. Drink lots of water. = results

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Eiji,

I've been vegan for five years. I was stuck at 180lbs, 14% bodyfat for my first four years...quite similar to your stats. About a year ago, I added a protein supplement (30g/day)...immediate increase in workout performance and my weight increased slightly, but my bodyfat fell to 9%. About three months ago, I cranked in higher proportion of protein (30% of my total calories) and my weight has increased to 191 and my bodyfat has dropped to 6%.

 

Summation of my results: increasing my protein intake allowed me to drop 14 lbs of fat and add 25 lbs of muscle in one year...think I was missing something substantial??? (as a disclaimer, I've been this size before being vegan...so muscle memory is in my favor)

 

The reason I stagnated for four years was due to reading about minimal protein intake from guys like you. Maybe a low protein diet works for some, but definitely not for me. Only this past August, you were complaining about getting "weaker and fatter" after being vegan for only two months...so you've been vegan for five months and and lifting for three years? You're not quite experienced enough to advocate the potential results of an "imbalanced" diet.

 

Perhaps that sheds some light. Just like there are many non-vegans who don't understand proper nutrition, there are plenty of vegans that don't understand proper nutrition as well.

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I'm hardly advocating low protein. I don't think it necessary to supplement with protein powder. I also think it is unhealthy to have protein intake higher than needed for repair and growth, and utilizing it for energy. I'm not a bodybuilder and do not train for mass. I'm currently at 185 and gaining even while increasing endurance workouts. My early issues were most likely due to a caloric deficit, issues with bean and legume digestion, combined with intense training.

I'm feeling much better now thanks.

 

I'm pretty sure than protein intake higher than about 1.5g/kg lbm has not been associated with higher rates of hypertrophy.

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Indeed, you are advocating a low protein diet in a forum dedicated to "bodybuilding"...as well as a [counterproductively] low fat diet. The 60/20/20 c/p/f split you promote is about the worst idea I've heard for someone who is interested in prolonged building muscle and/or losing fat.

 

Don't bother citing results of protein studies....they are all short term and don't account for the long term affects of combining resistance training with potentially insufficient protein intake.

 

Our bodies' natural tendency is to survive, which means maintaining just enough muscle and storing excess fat. The concept of bodybuilding is pushing the boundaries of the human physique to become more muscular and lean than what your body NATURALLY wants to do. So if you want that, you simply have to adapt some unnatural aspects into your lifestyle....starting with challenging and progressive resistance training, which subsequently requires additional protein...or the progression will not continue, and you will eventually be limited to your natural physique, along with injuries and "deficit related" ailments such as joint, muscle, tendon pains, etc.

 

Nearly all vegans who defy that soft natural look most certainly use a protein supplement to bring their diet into the required balance for long term muscle growth and fat reduction, while maintaining overall health.

 

You haven't done you own diet long enough to know it works (4-5 months is DEFINITELY not long enough). I applaud and encourage your enthusiasm and logging...please continue, but place additional controls on your diet and progress so your theories and results have weight. However, please use caution when advocating a diet technique that you haven't proven out.

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jmf, what is your opinion of my macros? I am trying to lose weight. I have 15-20 lbs. that I want to lose. I have some good muscle, but would like some definition.

 

I am currently eating a little over 1800 calories a day.

 

All are according to fitness pal. I put in the grams I wanted to eat.

carbs- 51%

fat- 30%

protein- 20%

 

 

In grams:

carbs: 230

fat- 60

protein- 90

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Some of the best natural bodybuilders in history used a macro ratio of 60/20/20, including the likes of Steve Reeves, of course, back in his day bodybuilders didnt believe having ridiculously low levels of bodyfat.

 

The concept of NEED is something that reverberates thoughout biology, and when it comes to nutrition, NEED is something the CAN NOT be transcended. If someone for example NEEDS 60mg daily of vitamin C, and that someone decided to consume hundreds or even thousands and milligrams over that by way of supplementation, the body will not use a single milligram more than it NEEDS, it will simply excrete what it doesnt NEED. The same is true with protein, the only difference being, protein contains calories, and gorging on protein can make someone just as fat as any other macronutrient. I know quite a few individuals who consume high protein diets and have big bellies!

 

"Less is not better and more is not better, PERCISE is best"

Mike Mentzer

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Some of the best natural bodybuilders in history used a macro ratio of 60/20/20, including the likes of Steve Reeves, of course, back in his day bodybuilders didnt believe having ridiculously low levels of bodyfat.

 

Precisely why I said "everyone is different" in my first post on this thread. Let's get real, very few people in this world can acheive Reeve's physique with the best training and diet. So, indeed, most people could do far better than following a 60/20/20 macro split.

 

The concept of NEED is.......and gorging on protein can make someone just as fat as any other macronutrient.

 

No disrespect, but none of that is relevant to the context. This thread is not talking about overeating, but rather balancing the diet as best as possible in a calorie deficient plan.

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I weigh 165 lbs. I am not sure of my body fat. I did a handheld calcuator at the gym a while back and I was at 24%, but I weighed a little less than I do now. My TDEE is 2164 calories a day. I couldn't get the test to work on bodybuilding.com. The weight I need to lose is all in my stomach.

 

Thanks.

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Thanks, am well aware of the threads title, however within the thread a debate was going on with regards to protein requirements, so what i said was indeed relevant here...

 

I just love that saying "everyone is different", of course if that were true, the fields of physiology, biology and medical science could not exist, doctors would not be able to perform surgeries, make diagnosises or dispense medicine. What there is, is independent variables from one individual to the next, however the same universal principles still apply.

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I just love that saying "everyone is different", of course if that were true, the fields of physiology, biology and medical science could not exist, doctors would not be able to perform surgeries, make diagnosises or dispense medicine. What there is, is independent variables from one individual to the next, however the same universal principles still apply.

 

This statement is a contradiction in itself...lol

 

kathymtns,

Since you're still establishing baselines, you need an indication of your predominant body type(s). (i.e. endomorph, mesomorph, ectomorph) to help tailor your training and diet. If you can't get to the little test on bodybuilding.com, there are plenty of articles out there. Anyhow, here's my suggestions:

 

1730 kcal/day (20% under TDEE, if you can hit this, don't do any cardio)

fat: 74g (based on .45/lb bodyweight), 38%

carb: 30% (based on max for fat reduction), 130g

protein: 32% (remainder), 138g

 

Measure all dry foods with a scale (very important, otherwise, you might as well not even bother). Also, build in a refeed day once/week (add 100-200g carbs ONLY) so your metabolism doesn't throttle back and keeping the fat burning, and target 1/3 of your fat intake as saturated fat.

 

Anyways, you don't have to like it...but that's where I would start. Expect to feel like hell for the first 3-5 days, but you have to give it a chance...run it for two months, then re-evaluate. Don't worry about the scale, but take bodyfat (with skinfold calipers) and body measurements (chest, shoulders, biceps, waist, hips, quads, calves). After the first month, expect some profound measurement changes.

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Oh, I understand what you're trying to say, but you're just stepping on your own toes. You're too caught up in trying to spread your own message that you've lost track of subject matter in this thread. Don't be one of those vegans. What works for you CERTAINLY doesn't work for me, and quite likely not for the OP either.

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Thanks so much for your help jmf, I greatly appreciate it. I am going to give it a try. I will go out and buy a scale today as well. That is a lot of protein. I don't want to do a lot of tofu and tempeh, so will beans and lentils help? I also do protein powder as well.

Thanks again. Kathy

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I took the quiz on on site and it said I was a mesomorph, but looking on bodybuilding.com endomorph sounds more like me. I have a lot of muscle and have good muscle on my legs and natural muscle around my calves as well. My arms are muscluar as well. I just don't have good definition and my weight is really around my stomach area.

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I took the quiz on on site and it said I was a mesomorph, but looking on bodybuilding.com endomorph sounds more like me. I have a lot of muscle and have good muscle on my legs and natural muscle around my calves as well. My arms are muscluar as well. I just don't have good definition and my weight is really around my stomach area.

 

You're likely a mix between the two...like most people. My wife and I are different body types...and we have different fitness goals...so our macros are different. We both used this article to initially set our macro ratios (then adjusted based on individual results)...it may be helpful to you as well:

 

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/macro-math-3-keys-to-dialing-in-your-macro-ratios.html

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Thanks so much for your help jmf, I greatly appreciate it. I am going to give it a try. I will go out and buy a scale today as well. That is a lot of protein. I don't want to do a lot of tofu and tempeh, so will beans and lentils help? I also do protein powder as well.

Thanks again. Kathy

 

No problem...but it's just relatively balanced starting point. Please take my suggestion along with others...and don't stop learning and researching from a variety of sources.

 

I'm not a protein powder advocate...as I believe setting macros based on controlling carbs and fat, then letting protein "fill in" the rest. As a vegan who does NOT want to look like a berry picker, I've found that protein supplementation is required to make my macro split work.

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I am kind of confused on the cardio comment on my calories. Should I do cardio?

 

Assuming you don't need cardio for other health/performance reasons, no...you do not need to do cardio. Cardio for the purpose of fat burning serves the purpose of only creating a calorie deficit, which you're already doing in your diet PRESUMING you calculated your TDEE with no cardio, as I suggested.

 

Having said that, if you're hitting your calories and macros, you're hitting your deficit and nutrition goals and there is no need to create an additional deficit with cardio.

 

Ensure to re-set your calorie goals if your TDEE changes. (for instance, I just shifted from four weight training days per week to 6-7, so I bumped up my TDEE by 100kcal/day, which gives me an additional 700kcal/week for training and recovery)

 

As you may have noticed, it's really a rolling average that you're targeting with calories and macros...but breaking it down into daily goals (and meal goals) makes it easier.

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