Macro Advice

newbies
macros
#1

Hello,

I’ve been on Keto off and on since 2015. I’m a 5’1" female and originally I was 270 then made it to 190. However, I fell off the Keto wagon and gained a chunk of the weight back. I’ve been on Keto since 09/2018 this time around and started out at 240 and I’m now back down to 208.

I have been losing weight at a steady pace I feel, and I started going to a fitness center to get a little more exercise because you know it’s good for you I’m told LOL.

So the trainer there is really interested in getting me on a meal plan. I told them I’m doing keto and am relatively happy with it. I’m not hungry and I don’t feel like I’m depriving myself because I can’t eat a cupcake. I don’t like sweets anyway! He asked me what my macros were and I told him and he started freaking out saying that I was eating too little carbs that I needed to eat 40 and my fat is too high and my protein is too low.

So I’m reaching out for some advice on what I should do. Am I doing it wrong or do I just do something that works for me?

Current Macros:
Cals: 1600
Fat: 127g
Net Carbs: 20g
Protein: 84g

Thank you!

(Little Miss Scare-All) #2

I’m sure you’ll get some responses from people that know way more than me, but I just wanted to say hi and welcome :slight_smile:

#3

Hello! Thank you! :slight_smile:

(The amazing autoimmune 🦄) #4

The trainer doesn’t know what he/she is talking about. Heck many dieticians and doctors don’t know what they are talking about. If the trainer gets insistent ask him to show you the science because the 2 Dudes podcasts do have the science to back it up if you look in their show notes.

#5

Thank you, I just found this site and I’m adding it to my podcast list and starting to listen to it. I just really want to know if I’m doing it wrong or if I should take the trainers advice. I’m always willing to listen and learn new ways to improve my health. I feel like I’m doing okay, but I’d like to know more of the science around the lifestyle I’ve chosen.

(The amazing autoimmune 🦄) #6

The podcasts have great science as does the book the Obesity Code by Dr Fung. You can also type questions into the search bar and get lots of info on basic questions.

#7

Great! Thanks for the tip! :slight_smile:

(Kay) #8

Ignore the trainer, sounds like you’re doing great :grinning:

(Robert C) #9

It sounds like you want to exercise to be toned up when you arrive at goal - as well as keep flexible / mobile and have some stamina.

It sounds like your trainer wants to treat you like a high level / professional athlete that has to play around with carb cycling to remain competitive. Or, is trying to “up sell” you on training time - if the trainer creates eating plans and reviews your food logs, s/he gets paid for relatively little work (that can be done anytime - without having to meet). This doesn’t help you because they obviously already have a generic formula - that you are violating - as their meal plan.

A good trainer can be given and will accept the message - “I want tone, flexibility and some endurance - I do not need diet advice at this time”.

#10

Thank you Rob, that does make a lot of sense. I have a long weight loss journey ahead of me, and I’m don’t really want to mess with something thats working with the promise of something that “might” work better.

I know that it’s going to take some time and nothing is going to happen overnight.

As far as you can tell, there is nothing wrong with my current macros?

#11

I would up the protein a tiny bit but otherwise they look good, the trainer seems unexperienced and uninformed and not only about keto. You can just tell him that only thing u need is the physical training advice, its also easy to do it all just by urself as well, get a membership to a gym and watch videos about areas u want to work on.

#12

Honestly, most days I have a bit of trouble keeping my protein down into that maco level. I’m always trying to curb so good to know that a little more wouldn’t hurt. I have no problem keeping everything else at or lower than recommended. My fats are something I struggle a little with, I try to get a couple of fat bombs in here and there or choose good fatty foods. Just a tough one to keep up on. Thank you for your advice!

(Robert C) #13

Macros look good - protein is in the right place (more would be okay but less would not be so good) and carbs are low (low means good - does not mean too low and you should raise them).
Those you should maintain.
But, fat at 127 should really be fat to satiety.

That breakdown and 1600 calories per day will work until it does not anymore (i.e. a plateau or worse, a slowed metabolism).

To avoid that (or just speed up weight loss) you could have 2200+ calories 2 days (much more fat) and then a 1000 calorie day (much less fat). The point is to keep your body guessing and not let it try to adapt (by slowing metabolism) to a lower daily calorie count. (Your trainer will think in terms of daily calories and kill your metabolism - don’t let that happen!)

A day or two of fasting with a higher feasting-day intake would be even better.

#14

Great! Nothing has slowed yet thankfully. I will have to keep that in mind once it does. I was doing OMAD for awhile, but I was noticing I was having more success with eating 3 well-proportioned meals a day and staying in those macros.

I weigh in once a week, and keep track of all my food intake. I then re-evaluate the beginning of each month if I need to go down on my caloric intake. I do have a slow metabolism naturally, and I’m trying to combat that with building more muscle and doing more cardio throughout the week.

I will have to let him know that I’m 100% okay with my diet lifestyle. When I run into a problem, I will have to re-evaluate and maybe try this version a fasting you mentioned!

I don’t think the guy is bad at his job, he’s very muscular and looks great. He was showing me a lot of before and after photos of his clients. They all looked great, but honestly if they ate poorly before any diet plan probably was better than what they were eating before the plan.

(Robert C) #15

It looks like you are slowing your metabolism - by design - it seems to be built into your plan that re-evaluation will result in calorie cut if the downward trend is not to your liking. That is essentially a formula for a calorie restriction diet (while eating Keto foods) which will result in a bounce in the 6 to 12 month timeframe (after your body slows so much that any calorie intake results in fat gain).

Keto is about permanently changing your hormones to become a fat-adapted fat burning machine.

You might want to dig a bit deeper into what Keto is really trying to accomplish - the Keto WOE but including calorie restriction is still just calorie restriction (and therefore, likely to fail).

#16

So should the calories stay the same even as I lose weight? I have never really re-adjusted it to something that was outlandish like 800 calories a day (I don’t think I would ever be able to do that if I tried LOL). I always feel like I’m getting enough food to keep by body running without feeling fatigued or anything.

Do you think that doing fasting always is the way to go? Do you have some suggested sites or information that would allow me to dig deeper into keto? I’m really trying to learn anything I can but there is a lot of conflicting information out there.

(Robert C) #17

THE book to read is “The Obesity Code” by Dr. Jason Fung.
It gives you all of the hormonal background and you’ll be able to see why fasting and Keto work (through controlling insulin mainly). He focuses on fasting but you’ll see how it relates to Keto pretty easily.

A lot of the same information is available in Dr. Fung’s YouTube video series “The Aetiology of Obesity” - here is a link to the first one “The Aetiology of Obesity Part 1 of 6: A New Hope” https://youtu.be/YpllomiDMX0 (yes, he is a Star Wars fan).

Sitting through those 6 videos will open your eyes wide.

Also, Dr. Fung is (in my opinion) a very good speaker - it isn’t “work” to get through those videos.

#18

Fantastic! Thank you Rob I’ll check into those! :sunny:

(Justin ) #19

Dr. Fung and Dr. Berg are great and have so much information for many different body types as well. I am a month or so into Keto and what I have come to terms is to get healthy first then lose the weight. Adjusting my diet to about 20carbs a day and also slowly bringing in intermittant fasting has made me feel great. Scale is a tough one as I like to weigh myself but it should be more about how you feel and how your body feels and do what feels good and what you can handle. I use myfitness pal app and it is pretty good at keeping a eye on your macros. Good luck on your adventure and keep it up.

(Allie) #20

Personally I would worry more about calories being too low and more fat AND protein being needed if you want to start any physical activity.