In the past whether I am bulking or cutting I use to base a diet directly from initially calculating one’s maintenance calories first , subutract or add ~500 calories to that in relation to cutting/bulking respectively. From the total calories, I would then take a ratio percentage from each macro and break my meals from there…
However, I’ve come across many interesting points of where I saw individuals advise that rather than basing calories first, calculate macros first!
For myself briefly, I’ll be honest here - I’m a recreational natural lifter aka your average Joe. Over a year ago, I was over 185lbs @ 30%+ BF, waist 33". Over the past year - I’ve dropped down to ~130lbs @ 10% BF, waist 29" (using my accusmeasure and gym handheld electronic device which was just an estimating guage) I’m a 27yr old male , 5’6.
Currently, I’m trying to rebuild my foundation. I started to lean bulk the past few months and now I’m at ~149lbs @ ~12-13% BF waist 29".
I’m looking to break some sticking points in rounding my diet, and perhaps a macro calculation setup would be better than approaching it by looking at total calories.
I’ve only used the Katch-Mcardle/Harris Benedicts equations to estimate maintenance from there and worked accordingly. Then I broke it usually down to i.e. cutting, 40-50% Protein / 30-40% carbs - ~20% fat… usually ranges sometimes…
My Diet : Usually 6-7 times a day, @every 2-2.5/3hours frequency…
Starchy carbs come from complex carbs (oats/brown rice/yams/sweet potatoes)
Protein from chicken breast/egg whites/cottage cheese(casein
Simple carbs - dextrose - post workout only (2:1 carb protein ratio)
Fats - mostly from EFA’s (cold compress flax w/ lignans, natty PB, full fat mayo, egg yolks)
Fibrous carbs - green leafy veggies…
I separate all my macros in protein-carb / pro-fat, usually structure my carb meals pre-workout/post workout and 1-2hrs after post workout, remaining meals are pro-fat… I weigh everything on a digital scale…
Non-Training days, I drop the PWO and slightly decrease carb amounts
Weight Train 3x week/ low intensity fasted AM cardio on off days
Supplements - R-ALA w/ biotin for carb meals except PWO, whey isolate, multivitamin, calcium, zinc, vitamin c.
during cutting phase - clean carb refeed every 10 days or so depending on BF decrease…
Now I found a few posts with different ranges per either body weight or lean body mass to calculate per gram… I wasn’t sure on whether or how, these are applicable for bulking and cutting -
Training Days
protein: 1.5 g per lb bodyweight
carbs: 1 g per lb
fats: .25-.5 g per lb
Off Days
protein: 2 g per lb bodyweight
carbs: .5 g per lb
fats: .25-.5 g
or
BULKING:
-protein= 1 g per lb
-carbs= 2-3 g per lb
-fats= .5-.75 g per lb
CUTTING:
-protein= 2 g per lb
-carbs= .5-1 g per lb
-fats= .25 g per lb
MUSCLE GAIN/BF MAINTAINANCE
-protein= 1.5 g per lb
-carbs= 1-2 g per lb
-fats= .25-.5 g per lb
When calculating use the above figures for example, the calories don’t seem much when using 1g carb/1g protein =4 cal, 1g fat =9 cal…
I hope my questions were written clear enough for y’all to follow… This is just a continued lifestyle change for me, I have no plans on competing… it’s just been a positive addiction for me and I’d like to learn a bit more… I’ve looked at many books but they never went by this approach…
Thanks in advance for those that took the time to read and give their feedback…
Now my questions :
-
What ranges for each macro should we shoot for when cutting and bulking?
-
Should the macros be calculated in respect to TOTAL body weight or LEAN BODY MASS?
-
When finalizing the grams for each macro, doesn’t it seem less in terms of “total calorie” of what you’ve consumed in the past? Obviously this would then bust the calorie isn’t really a calorie issue
-
Do these ranges work for all somatotypes?
-
Are certain macros kept consistent on off days? i.e. specifically protein and/or fat? I usually lower carb intake…
Ok thank you all again for reading this lengthy post -
- If there’s an e-book that explains these prinicples of macro counting rather than calorie counting which I can pick up, please let me know. Thanks!
