Help figuring out macros?

(Melissa) #1

Newbie here and I’m not sure if this is the right place for this question but…

I’m new, just starting out and trying to meal plan and figure out macros. My issue is that every single calculator I use gives me different results even when I’m entering the same info. And the differences are enough to make me wonder which way I should go.

Help?!?! Here are examples from 4 different sites.


Here are your personal macros:
1255 kcal Daily Calorie Intake
20 g Carbs (6%, 80 kcal)
77 g Protein (25%, 308 kcal)
96 g Fat (69%, 867 kcal)


Your Keto Macros Are:
Calories
Calories (Kcal)1638.60
Net Carbs
Carb (g)20
Carb (Kcal)80
Carb (%)4.88
Protein
Protein (g)76.15
Protein (Kcal)304.60
Protein (%)18.59
Fat
Fat (g)139.33
Fat (Kcal)1253.97
Fat (%)76.53


Based on your inputs, we suggest you eat:
1255 calories. From those, 105g fats, 20g net carbs, and 57g protein


Calories to consume: 1368 kcal
Your fat intake should be: 118 grams
Net Carbs Protein Fat
20 grams 56 grams 118 grams
80 kcal 225 kcal 1063 kcal
6 % 16 % 78 %

Stats are:
Female
167lbs
5’2"
I choose sedentary lifestyle on all…may not be completely accurate as I am a mom with small kids but I do work a desk job and do not regularly exercise.
34y/o

(eat more) #2

super frustrating right? they all use different mathematical formulas. sigh
what i ended up doing (after many months of going back and forth with all different macros and readjusting and readjusting)
i used the sailrabbit TDEE calculator which gives the output of 6 different formulas and also an average
for my absolute upper limit of calories (most here say calories don’t matter but i think it is important to at least know what’s up when you are starting out)
http://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/

so then from there you can formulate for yourself:
20g of carbs (80 calories)
1-1.5g protein per kg of lean body mass ( 4 calories per gram of protein)
the rest is fat (at 9 calories per gram)

I would ignore the thought of being in deficit or restriction
i don’t restrict (i did in the beginning and it hindered me) and a lot of the calculators end up spewing out what i consider massive deficits …once you are fat adapted your body will naturally “request” how much fat you need…just stick with the carb/protein “fixed” numbers and as you lose you will adjust even further.

hopefully that isn’t even more confusing and helped a little :slight_smile:

(Melissa) #3

Thank you! So do you use your absolute upper limit to calculate the rest? According to that my BMR is 1411 and my TDEE is 1693. I’d use the 1693 to calculate?

(eat more) #4

yes the TDEE…bmr is just laying around breathing :slight_smile:

just to reiterate…don’t make it about the calories…that is just to get you started and your body will self-regulate

(Karen Fricke) #5

20 grams carbs, protein to lean body mass, fat to satiety and dont worry about calories. Protein generally works out to 50-60 grams for a female, 75-100 for a male. Fat to satiety means if you’re hungry eat, if you’re not hungry, don’t eat any more. The trick is to figure out the difference between hunger and you just feel like eating.

(KB Keto) #6

just to echo what others are saying here in my own words (I like to hear myself type).

carbs - 20g net = spot on
protein is about right as well. 70-80 is great. see how you respond, you may be able to go up or down slightly. I’m larger and male and I’m in the 100-120 range.
Fat - yes please. This is the magic keto bullet.

Early on - as others have said - eat to you are full. limit your protein to no more than 30g per meal and enjoy your food. for some people, cutting carbs is a traumatic experience… dont make it harder by trying to limit calories and always wanting more.

You will lose weight early and fast - a good portion will be water weight - make sure you are getting extra water and electrolytes

aHJ2tGs.jpg768×768 58 KB
in your diet as they dont ‘stick’ like they used to and when you run low on these, you feel terrible (keto flu).

After you are on the diet for some time, you should then start making slight changes and see how they effect you. some people do better with a little higher or lower protein. some people can have 30 carbs and be fine, while others it will destroy… but you wont know until you try. This is when you can start also toying with lower calorie days or as many others here do (I’m too scared to not eat bacon) - a little fasting from time to time (I’m not fat adapted or I’d try it - I skip a meal now and I want to eat a co-worker).

and keep coming back to the forums as they are full of helpful people. (Oh and here’s my favorite calculator to make things more confusing - https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/)

(Melissa) #7

I think I’m overwhelming myself by trying to plan out every ounce of everything I put in my mouth. Heck, I haven’t even officially “started” eating keto yet. I’m still trying to make sure I know what I’m doing.

In really paying attention to what I eat, I eat A LOT of carbs.

So, rather than trying to come up with a menu and meal plan…I’m going to start slow. First step, cut carbs. Replace the potatoes with veggies and cook them in butter. Once I get used to that, I’ll go from there. I had this idea in my mind that I could create this “perfect” keto diet and if I plan out everything I need to eat to hit perfect macros, I’d be golden. I’m seeing it’s not that easy (or complicated!).

Thanks for the advice!

(Ren) #8

My fiancee and I were used to using paleo meal plans to determine our groceries and our meals for the week (since we spend 3+ hours a day commuting for work) So our evening time is limited and we wanted to take the guess work out of a majority of our dinners. I found this meal plan for keto, but we havent’ used it just yet. We have been testing different recipes the last month or so.

(Liz) #9

Todays macros for me today turned out:
8g carbs
116g fat
31g protein
and my calories are 1,248

Is this looking good?

#11

Thank you for making this crystal clear to me… keep my protein in check at 50-60 range, and carbs i never get over say 13 and fat to satisfied. I guess im a product of my calorie counting environment!