Accurate Macro Calculator

[AmberFL 860]

HI guys!

I am being more strict on my macros till I can work out again, lots of sites and all different outcomes, these are what I have gotten:

Macros for Weightloss while not working out:

1838 Calories

167g of Protein

61g Fat

155g Carbs

OR

2035 Calories

153g of Protein

79g Fat

178g Carbs

Macros for Body Recomposition

2725 Calories

170g Protein

222g Carbs

99g Fat

Macros for Weightloss while working out:

2473 Calories

170g Protein

224g Carbs

100g Fat

[SpartanMaker 852]

What struck me here is not really the macros and much as how different the calories are. The thing is, no calculator is going to tell you what the calorie count should be.

My suggestion would be to simply track your existing calories for 1-2 weeks to see where you're at now. I assume your looking to maintain based on the fact you are showing to be at goal. If that's not accurate, then we might need to make some adjustments to what I'm about to propose.

At this point, you can completely ignore anything a calculator spits out in terms of calories since by tracking your calories at your current weight, you know exactly where YOU need to be to maintain. Let's say for the sake of making the math easy, you determine that 2000 calories is working for you at maintenance. Skip the calculators and do this: Protein should be somewhere between 1 and 2 grams per kg. If you are inactive, 1 gram is probably minimally sufficient, but if you are very active or shooting for body recomposition, then you need to be closer to 2 grams per kg. 1.5 to 1.6 g/kg might be a good target if you are working out, but not super active, or are not really trying to add any muscle.

The next thing to determine is grams of fat. If you are just maintaining, anywhere between 1 and around 1.5 g per kg is probably fine. If you are actively trying to lose or recomp, it would be better to be closer to 0.7 g per kg. Carbs is next and really will just be the rest of your calories, vs. a specific number of grams.

Here's how that looks in practice:

• Again, just to beep the math simple, I'm going to stick with 2000 calories at your current weight of 170lbs, which translates to about 77kg.
• If your goal is body recomp, then 2g/kg should be your target protein, which equates to 154g per day.
• 154g at 4 calories per g equals 616 grams from protein per day.
• Fats when doing a "recomp" would be 77 x 0.7 = 54 grams of fat.
• 54 grams of fat at 9 calories per gram would be 486 calories from fat
• If we subtract 616 and 486 from 2000, we'd get 898 calories from carbs. This would be roughly 225 grams of carbs per day.

A few notes:

• This is all based on research, but I also am not "carbophobic". My personal experience is that sufficient carbs are needed to fuel workouts.
• Some people have success with fewer carbs and more fat. I have no problem with that approach if it work for you. If so, feel free to adjust fat up and carbs down.
• Either way, the protein is the key, since you'll need that to build muscle.
• If recomp is not your goal, feel free to run the numbers with lower protein and correspondingly higher fat and carb numbers.
• Don't go lower than 0.7 g of fat per kg. You need a minimum level of essential fatty acids to stay healthy.
• In terms of how to change this if you are working out more than you are today, it really comes down to both the types of workouts (endurance sports virtually demand more carbs), but also how vigorous your workouts are.
• If you are trying to lose weight, I would recommend eating back at least half your calories from your workouts. Any less and you're likely to feel too rundown to put the proper effort into the workouts. If you just skate through workouts, then you lose a lot of the benefit of them.
• If you are trying to maintain or recomp, then you really should eat back all the calories from your workouts.

[AmberFL 860]

@SpartanMaker I am not wanting to lose weight really, I am at maintenance however since I got PS surgery I am on the higher end of my maintenance and I would really like to get down to 160-165 as opposed to 165-170. I know not much of a difference especially with my height and build but in my head it makes me feel better. LOL

When I was working out (which I will get back into hopefully soon) I was eating anywhere from 2200-2400 calories and staying in that 160-165 number, now I am eating anywhere from 1700-2000 and I am on the 165-170 end. I have to assume that my lack of working out is keeping me where I am at. Which I do want to recomp, I want to get a 360 body lift but want to see how lean I could get before making that decision. I may just want to save the money and pain if I look decent enough LOL

For reference yesterday my day was 1961 calories, 185g carbs, 175g Protein, 72g fat, 34g Fiber. If I was working out and burning 700-800 calories like I was then this is great I would stay at the lower end of my maintenance. But what I am gathering I should be focusing more on the carbs, protein and fat as opposed to calories?

[SpartanMaker 852]

41 minutes ago, AmberFL said:

But what I am gathering I should be focusing more on the carbs, Protein and fat as opposed to calories?

I think the way I'd put it it's best to is nail down your calories first, then depending on your goals, you can tweak your macros to better accomplish your goals. Since you're looking to drop a few more pounds and limited in terms of workouts right now, I'd probably recommend something more like this:

• 1600-1700 total calories a day. You could go as low as 1400 or so, but you may feel lousy if you do, so don't go that low for more than 2-3 weeks at a time.
• Target ~1.5 grams per kg of protein, or more. Thus ~115 grams minimum. If you are not struggling to get up to say 150 grams or so, that certainly won't hurt and may help you feel better.
• Fats around 70 or so should be just fine and will mean you're likely to be less hungry. You can go lower if you're comfortable doing so, but it will likely mean you're hungrier. Don't go below about 50 grams.
• Whatever's left over, make up for in carbs.

[SpartanMaker 852]

I should have added, there really is no right or perfect way to structure your diet. it's all about what works for you. As such, try what I'm suggesting above if you feel like you need some guidance, but feel free to tweak it if you find yourself struggling.

[AmberFL 860]

@SpartanMaker okay I have all my food prepped and ready for this week so I am going to follow up with you next week, once I figure out my foods for the week! Thank you for all the advice and taking the time to go through this with me!