Macro help for a dummy

[LlBBY]

I have already read several threads about macros, but i am still having a hard time understanding how to calculate macros to accomplish my goals. Any advice or links would be great! thanks in advance.

[AlwaysTryin]

Here

Please don't fall for programs that are so terrible.

To start learning the basics about nutrition, please read the relevant stickies at the top of the nutrition forum as well as this:

COMPOSING A RATIONAL DIET

Advice on diet and nutrition is often based on myths and, even more so, on the marketing message of supplement companies and self-proclaimed diet gurus with agendas contrary to your interests. Please don't allow yourself, your health, your fitness goals or your wallet to be compromised by the prevalent misinformation. Learn the basics of nutrition and start engaging in healthy, rational dietary habits that can last a lifetime.

The first step is to discard biased advice on nutrition and diet, and, in its place, embrace simple logic:

Compose a diet that ensures micronutrient and macronutrient sufficiency, derived predominantly from whole and minimally processed foods if possible, with remaining caloric intake being largely discretionary within the bounds of common sense.

Caloric Intake

Energy balance is the primary dietary driver of body weight and it also impacts body composition. A chronic surplus of calories will result in increased body weight and a chronic deficit of calories will result in a loss of body weight.

In other words, in order to gain about one pound of tissue weight (as opposed to transient flux in water weight), you need to consume a total of about 3,500 calories more than you expend. And to lose about one pound of tissue weight, you have to do the opposite -- consume about 3,500 calories less than you expend.

Thus, the first step in constructing any rational diet is to get a sense of how many calories per day, on average, you should consume in order to progress towards your goals.

The average number of calories you expend per day -- called total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) -- is a function of your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and your average weekly activity level.

To estimate your BMR, it's important to have a sense of how much lean body mass (LBM) you carry. If you're not sure, post a photo or two and we can estimate your percentage body fat and, from this number and your total body weight, it's easy to estimate LBM by using the following formula:

LBM = body weight * (1 - percentage body fat)

To estimate BMR, use the the Katch-McArdle formula:

BMR = 370 + (9.8 * LBM in pounds)
or
BMR = 370 + (21.6 * LBM in kg)

The next step is to estimate average weekly activity using the following guidelines to calculate an activity factor (AF):

• 1.1 - 1.2 = Sedentary (desk job, and little formal exercise, this will be most of you students)

• 1.3 - 1.4 = Lightly Active (light daily activity and light exercise 1-3 days a week)

• 1.5 - 1.6 = Moderately Active (moderately daily Activity & moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)

• 1.7 - 1.8 = Very Active (physically demanding lifestyle & hard exercise 6-7 days a week)

• 1.9 - 2.2 = Extremely Active (athletes in endurance training or very hard physical job)

To estimate TDEE (the calories at which you will neither gain nor lose tissue weight), use the following formula:

TDEE = BMR * AF

Now that you've estimated your TDEE, it's important to refine that estimate empirically. To do so, consume an average amount of calories equal to estimated TDEE for two weeks, monitoring weight change. The results will confirm your actual TDEE.

Once you know your actually TDEE, set your caloric intake to match your goals as follows:

To maintain weight, consume an amount of calories equal to TDEE.
To lose weight, consume 10% to 20% less than TDEE.
To gain weight, consume 10% 20% more than TDEE.

Monitor weight change via the scale and also body composition via the mirror and how clothing fits, making adjustments as needed biweekly.


Macronutrient Intake

Ensure that your intake of macronutrients meets sufficiency (as defined below), with remaining macronutrient composition of the diet being largely a function of personal preference.

Ideally, ensure macronutrient sufficiency predominantly or, ideally, entirely from whole and minimally processed foods.

Protein: ~0.6 to ~0.8 grams per pound of bodyweight (or target/ideal weight in the obese) -- the highest amount justified by research.

Fat: ~0.45 grams per pound of bodyweight (or target/ideal weight in the obese) -- the lowest amount implied by clinical observation.

Remaining caloric budget: whatever mix of macronutrients you prefer -- as implied by research.

Micronutrient Intake

Take care and use good judgement in food selection and portioning to ensure that micronutrient sufficiency is reached without excessive intake from dietary sources and/or supplements.

As with macronutrient sufficiency, one should ensure micronutrient sufficiency predominantly or, ideally, entirely from whole and minimally processed foods.

To get a good sense of recommended intake of vitamins and minerals, please review this USDA guidelines webpage.

You'll find the following information particularly helpful:

Intakes: Recommended Intakes for Individuals

RDA and Adequate Intake for Vitamins and Elements

Upper Limit for Vitamins and Elements

Electrolytes and Water

Meal Timing, Composition & Frequency

The number of meals you consume, the timing of those meals and the macro/micronutrient composition of each meal is largely a function of personal preference.

While it might be "optimal" to consume more than one meal per day and less than 5 meals per day, the simple truth is that any difference that directly results from such fine tuning is likely too small to notice even after years of training.

Thus, base your meal timing, composition and frequency on your subjective preference such as to optimize your sense of energy, performance, satiety, palatability, convenience, social/business life and sustainability.

Do not hesitate to very all three factors from day to day as circumstance dictates. In other words, do not become a slave to routine, with inflexibility compromising your quality of life.


Pre & Post Workout Nutrition

What (if anything) you consume before and after your workout does not play a significant direct role in the outcome of your diet, beyond personal preference.

Why? Because what matters in terms of direct impact on outcomes is total daily intake of all nutrients.

Thus, you should optimize based on how you respond to training in a fed or fasted state, and based on your hungry after exercise. In other words, use common sense.


Supplements

Supplements are just that, products that are intended to supplement deficiencies in your diet. If your diet is properly composed then there's no need or unique benefit to using supplements.

If your diet isn't properly composed and, thus, you have deficiencies, try to fix your diet to cure such deficiencies though the consumption of whole and minimally processed foods. If you can't fix your diet, then use the lowest dose supplement(a) needed to cure any remaining deficiencies.

[respawn]

Or
For a shorter more up to date calculation of numbers backed by recent research and agreeance by the best in the industry. As for nutrient timing not being a factor and the misunderstanding of his anabolic window study here http://www.jissn.com/content/10/1/53. That is false as Alan Aragon has explained to people.

Macro's and calories.
Protein
- Protein in a surplus.
The findings also support previous recommendations that a protein consumption of at least (1.6 g/kg/day) - (~0.73/lbs/day) is necessary to maximize muscle protein accretion in individuals involved in resistance training programs. Based on FFM.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3879660/
- Protein on a deficit
Protein needs for energy-restricted resistance-trained athletes are likely (2.3-3.1g/kg) - (~1.04-1.4g/lbs/day) of Fat Free Mass (FFM) scaled upwards with severity of caloric restriction and leanness.
http://www.researchgate.net/publicat...Higher_Intakes
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24092765
Fats.
Consume minimum 0.33g fat per pound of body weight as recommended by Lyle McDonald in a caloric deficit. 20-25% of calories from fats minimum of 0.33g/lb/BW. In a bulk 0.5g/lbs/BW is beneficial. Saturated fats are good for you. Hydrogenated trans fats are bad. http://www.drbriffa.com/2013/02/06/n...-consequences/
Lyle McDonald ref;
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat...ts-part-2.html
Fiber;
30-60 grams of fiber per day balanced out through meals,
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nut...res-broom.html
Carbs are optional. If bulking they can help. Make up the rest of your calorie needs to suit your goal by whichever macro's you prefer. Mostly from whole fresh foods. Some ice cream or a cheeseburger a day won't hurt as long as you calculate the calories to suit your goal.

[Former300lber]

OR to keep it even simpler.

130-150g of Protein
70-80g of fat

Fill remainder with whatever you see fit, trying to gain weight? eat 300-500 calories over your estimated TDEE, trying to lose weight? eat 500-1,000 calories below your TDEE. Monitor weight gain / loss over a 2 week period of time, and adjust accordingly to meet your desired goals.

[kris90]

Protein: BW (lbs) x 0.75

Fill the rest with Fats and Carbs. Eat enough carbs to fuel workouts and help performance. Eat lot's of healthy fats. I like a 40C/40F/20P ratio.

[respawn]

Protein: BW (lbs) x 0.75

Fill the rest with Fats and Carbs. Eat enough carbs to fuel workouts and help performance. Eat lot's of healthy fats. I like a 40C/40F/20P ratio.

Basing those numbers off FFM or total mass? Caloric deficit or caloric surplus?

Correct context is posted above in my post.

[kris90]

Basing those numbers off FFM or total mass? Caloric deficit or caloric surplus?

Correct context is posted above in my post.

I go by total mass. It's just an approximate estimated amount of minimum protein.

[respawn]

I go by total mass. It's just an approximate estimated amount of minimum protein.

Even then. The numbers do not match the research properly.

[WonderPug]

I like a 40C/40F/20P ratio.

Ratios are to be avoided as they do not take into account physiological sufficiency let alone personal preference beyond sufficiency.

[respawn]

And ratio does not matter.

Alan Aragon macro ratio's
http://alanaragon.com/carbs-fat-friends-after-all.html
stole this from Alan Aragons article carbs and fats friends after all?

A relatively recent trial examined the effects of 3 diets consisting of roughly 1400 kcals each for 8 weeks, followed by 4 weeks of maintenance [3]. The diets had the following macronutrient proportions: a) very low fat (70% carb, 10% fat, 20% protein), b) high unsaturated fat (50% carb, 30% fat, 20% protein), and c) very low carb (4% carb, 61% fat, 35% protein). Since none of the groups were told to separate their fat and carb intake, the high unsaturated fat group should have lost the least amount of fat because of all that dreadful mixing, right? On the contrary, no significant differences were seen in total weight loss, or loss of bodyfat percent. And here’s the kicker: this lack of difference in bodyfat reduction was seen despite the distinctly different effects each diet had on fasting insulin levels.

[kris90]

Ratios are to be avoided as they do not take into account physiological sufficiency let alone personal preference beyond sufficiency.

That's just what my daily diet trends tend to follow. But I generally agree, ratios are irrelevant.