Quick Question:
To any who counts there macros …
what %'s do you shoot for ?
how many grams per KG of carb do you try too shot for
i am trying to make en effort to get more carbs in … and want to aim for the Matt Fitzgerald endorsed 5-7g per kg but not sure how to split protein and fat.
I only really do the marco’s counting for fun … but i do notice the more carbs i consume the better i train so i am trying to be more conscientious …
be good to hear all your thoughts?
When I’m being strict with calorie counting I aim for 50% Carbs, 30% Fat, 20% Protein on non-training days.
When training or in the lead up to an event I don’t pay much attention to the ratio as my carb intake goes up more than anything else.
interesting … am shooting for similar but more like 30% protein 20% fat …
I would be pretty much the same as this. 50% Carbs, 30% Fat, 20% Protein.
Training days I vary by increasing carbs to fuel for my training and reduce back for recovery/easy days. Aiming more for fat loss and maintenance.
Loosing weight and keeping my FTP while doing some strengh work I calculated my absolute protein intake (like Fitzgerald suggest in his books e.g.). The rest is carbs. The healty fats come along with seasoning a salad or snacking some nuts. To get enough fat is not the problem IMHO.
so the thing i can’t make work is this:
say i weight 60kg
i do 5g of carbs per Kg of bodyweight = 300g of carbs
that’s 1200 calories
according to Fitzgerald my BMR when calculated (no exercise) is 1700cal
but that means a 70% carb diet …
which is why i was interested to see how most people go for only 50%
would be fascinated to hear @Nate_Pearson 's take on this as he seems to have a good grasp on this subject.
Where did you take the 5g per kg from?
70% Carbs wouldn’t be too much for a training day. On a non-training day the ratio would be different if your goal is to lose some weight (my goal at 87kg)
That’s exactly my point. I could not hit the numbers of protein and carbs are separately calculated. I can’t work out this much to just keep my weight.
yeah
TBH its not something i massively stress about … its just i couldn’t work it out logically.
also i’d always rather maintain a good whack of protein to aid recovery above all else.
but i do want to experiment with higher % of carbs to just see if i feel better … hitting workouts isn’t currently an issue … but i am interested in messing around with it so going to give it a crack …
I just avoid carbs altogether. Become Fat Adapted and have never Bonked since.
Not for everyone, but I highly suggest as non professional athletes, look into a low carb lifestyle.
It’s done wonders for me. Can keep up with the Cat 3 riders now!
+1
First up I’m coeliac so I have to be sure whats in the food I eat.
I gave up counting calories as it was too much hassle and I became obsessive.
Now I pretty much try to eat clean (pretty much no processed foods) avoid carbs at breakfast and lunch and just have them with my evening meal.
On day when I eat my main meal lunch time I eat the carbs midday. Doesn’t seem to matter when I have them as long as I don’t have too much.
I’ve leaned up within 10 weeks to 10% body fat and feel so much healthier. I’m 5’ 7" and weight 62.5kg
One thing I’m really careful about is the amount of sugar or carb that will turn to sugar in my food. Useless it is natural sugar from fruit.
Seems to be working well for me. Recovering from long term knee injury so not pushing true FTP in my programs at the moment but bit aim for the start of next year is to hit 4 watts per kg so targeting 250 Watts.
When I counted calories I believe I first set my macros at 60% carbohydrates, 25% fat and 15% protein. But in reality the numbers varied so much I found it pointless sticking to a static percentage. Training days were higher in carbs and protein, while resting days were higher in fat. I ended up just calculating grams of protein and carbohydrates based on training volume, and used fat as a filler. Like other have said, fat is so dense in calories there’s no problem getting enough of it.
There’s a lot of discussion about how much protein is beneficial, but most of the research papers I read at the time suggested a maximum intake of 1.5 g/kg (body weight, not lean mass weight, as far as I remember) for endurance athletes. Recommendations for strength athletes were a bit higher, up to 1.8 g/kg. The papers I read couldn’t document significant advantages to taking more than that. As far as I remember the recommended minimum was 0.8 g/kg. So on training days I calculated 1.2-1.5 g/kg, and on resting days I calculated 0.8-1.2 g/kg (depending on how sedate I had been).
For carbohydrates I’ve found the same as you, @sandilandscycles. The more I eat, the better I feel during training and the harder I can train. Within reasonable limits, of course. Replenishing carbs fast after training, and eating enough carbs on training days, has really made a noticeable impact on how I feel during consecutive days of training. My legs feel much better and the suffer threshold is a lot higher. When trying to determine how much to eat I found research that supported intake of 5-10 g/kg on training days, depending on volume and intensity. So on those one-hour medium intensity days I calculated 5 g/kg, and on those four-hour high intensity days I’d aim for 9-10 g/kg. My average intake was probably about 5-7 g/kg.
Lastly we have the fats. Because fat is so dense I found it almost impossible to stay within my quota. On a 2000-calorie diet 25% fat content is just 56 grams. So for fat I ended up just going for as little as possible, without restricting myself too much.
To maintain my weight I have to consume about 2000 calories on rest days. Intake on training days is a lot higher, obviously. However, on those really sedate days, e.g. a Saturday of computer gaming and couch potatoing, I rarely need more than 1500 calories. I think it’s important to be aware of how active you are for any given day and adjust intake accordingly.
Now that I don’t count calories any more I probably overcompensate on rest days and don’t compensate enough on training days. But I do feel like I’ve struck a balance. One that also include comfort foods
I try to work to around 40% Carbs, 40% Protein, 20% Fat. This balance has worked best for me so far when it comes to feeling full, having enough energy (most of the time).
I go for 45 - 50% Carbs
25% Fat, 25% - 30% Protein
If I stick to that I get lean and have good power.
55% carbs, 25% fat, 20% protein is the ratio I try to stick with daily. That changes when carb loading, of course, and I’m never right on the money either way.
Which calc did you use for that? pg reference #?