I Need Help with my Diet!

[tyranate]

I am 21 y/o, I am roughly 5'6 (I've taken measurements before but for some reason they fluctuate a lot, the fat must be going to my toes or something), I weigh 193 right now, I go to the gym every other day and each session is about 45-60 mins. I plan on starting cardio as soon as I get my diet straight. If there is anything else you need to know please just let me know and I'll edit this post so that everything about me is in one place.

Story:
Recently I decided that on my last bulk I gained way too much fat and I am going to fix that now (even when I go on a cutting phase I can get down to about 12-14% but I am never fully satisfied with this). I'm trying to get into the habit of eating clean now but am having a really rough time. I'm attempting to use myfitnesspal.com right now but I can't seem to grasp it. I'm mostly having trouble balancing all of the macros... for example, I can get all of the proteins I need easily, but be missing tons of calories with foods such as cottage cheese, tuna, eggs. On the other hand, I could reach the calories, but go well beyond the macros.

I am writing this at 12:30 AM and I must get some sleep, I will check back here as soon as possible.

I'd appreciate any help I can get from you all. I will be very attentive to this thread, please help me, I will listen!

 

[R9]

What kind of macro balance are you trying to get?

If you get your protein in and still have some calories left is that a problem? You are trying to lose weight, right? That sounds like a good way to eat at a deficit.

But maybe I don't quite understand the post.

 

[tyranate]

What kind of macro balance are you trying to get?

If you get your protein in and still have some calories left is that a problem? You are trying to lose weight, right? That sounds like a good way to eat at a deficit.

But maybe I don't quite understand the post.

45c/35p/20f

That's just the thing, myfitnesspal.com states that I should aim to eat 2000 calories to lose 0.5 lbs/week. What I mean when I say that I can't seem to reach the calories I mean I'm about 1200 calories from that 2000 goal. Wouldn't this mean I'd lose more weight than I'm targetting? -EDIT- How can I go about filling in this calories without straying too far from my macros?

Any advice will be appreciated, thanks for replying!

 

[Mrrippedzilla]

Bro as long your getting at least 1.2g of protein per pound of weight (for you that's 232g or 928 calories total), don't worry about the macros. Your 45/35/20 sounds fine.
As for only eating 1200 cal, what are your results? Is your gym performance unaffected & your losing fat? Then keep going! But dont worry about muscle loss, if you lift heavy & get your protein you should be fine.

If you still feel like you need help with your diet, post it up & we'll see what we can do.

 

[Docd187]

45c/35p/20f

That's just the thing, myfitnesspal.com states that I should aim to eat 2000 calories to lose 0.5 lbs/week. What I mean when I say that I can't seem to reach the calories I mean I'm about 1200 calories from that 2000 goal. Wouldn't this mean I'd lose more weight than I'm targetting? -EDIT- How can I go about filling in this calories without straying too far from my macros?

Any advice will be appreciated, thanks for replying!

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT use the calorie calculator from myfitnesspal. It's horrible. Google the Katch-McArdle formula for calculating your BMR if you have an accurate bod fat % estimation. Take your BMR and multiply it by an activity factor for how active you are during the week including sports, extracurricular activities, work, gym etc: ~1.2-1.3 for fairly sedentary, 1.4-1.6 for moderately active, and 1.6+ for highly active. When you multiply activity factor and your BMR you will get your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). This is how many calories it requires to maintain your weight. Add or subtract 10-20% of that TDEE depending on whether you want to cut or bulk. That's how many cals you should take a day (its a good estimate but might need some tweaking). Your daily MINIMUM requirements are 1-1.2g of protein per lb bodyweight and 0.45-0.5g of fat per lb body weight. These are just minimums. The rest of your calories can come from more protein, more fat, carbs, or any combination of the 3. Try to stay away from ratios bc they can be misleading, here's an example:

If you take your 2000cal number from myfitnesspal and use a ratio 45/35/20 C/P/F, that means 20% of your cals come from fat. That means you're only alotted 400cals to come from fat, and at 9cals/g, that means you'd only get ~45 g of fat a day. You weigh 193lbs which means you need around 90g of fat a day minimum for proper hormonal and bodily functions. You'd be taking in half your minimum need. The same goes for protein, at 35% of total cals, that would mean you'd only get 175g of protein a day and at your bodyweight that's acceptable but could be much more beneficial if it were higher.

 

[tyranate]

Bro as long your getting at least 1.2g of protein per pound of weight (for you that's 232g or 928 calories total), don't worry about the macros. Your 45/35/20 sounds fine.
As for only eating 1200 cal, what are your results? Is your gym performance unaffected & your losing fat? Then keep going! But dont worry about muscle loss, if you lift heavy & get your protein you should be fine.

If you still feel like you need help with your diet, post it up & we'll see what we can do.

Thanks for replying!

I will record everything I eat today and post it here at the end of the day so that you guys can look it over. As for results, since this will be my first week doing this I still have to observe how I react performance-wise so I will definitely make sure to keep note of that!

 

[tyranate]

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT use the calorie calculator from myfitnesspal. It's horrible. Google the Katch-McArdle formula for calculating your BMR if you have an accurate bod fat % estimation. Take your BMR and multiply it by an activity factor for how active you are during the week including sports, extracurricular activities, work, gym etc: ~1.2-1.3 for fairly sedentary, 1.4-1.6 for moderately active, and 1.6+ for highly active. When you multiply activity factor and your BMR you will get your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). This is how many calories it requires to maintain your weight. Add or subtract 10-20% of that TDEE depending on whether you want to cut or bulk. That's how many cals you should take a day (its a good estimate but might need some tweaking). Your daily MINIMUM requirements are 1-1.2g of protein per lb bodyweight and 0.45-0.5g of fat per lb body weight. These are just minimums. The rest of your calories can come from more protein, more fat, carbs, or any combination of the 3. Try to stay away from ratios bc they can be misleading, here's an example:

If you take your 2000cal number from myfitnesspal and use a ratio 45/35/20 C/P/F, that means 20% of your cals come from fat. That means you're only alotted 400cals to come from fat, and at 9cals/g, that means you'd only get ~45 g of fat a day. You weigh 193lbs which means you need around 90g of fat a day minimum for proper hormonal and bodily functions. You'd be taking in half your minimum need. The same goes for protein, at 35% of total cals, that would mean you'd only get 175g of protein a day and at your bodyweight that's acceptable but could be much more beneficial if it were higher.

That was very helpful! Thank you for sharing that, I am going to look at that formula right now!

 

[Docd187]

That was very helpful! Thank you for sharing that, I am going to look at that formula right now!

No problem brother. Anything I can help with just let me know. I'll try and remember to check back in here if not feel free to pm me. Good luck in your pursuit of your goals!!!