Hard Time Hitting My Macro Targets

Nutrition
1

Hey guys, finally thought I’d jump into the fray with a question I have (I have many).

I’m having a hard time hitting my macronutrient targets. I’m currently trying to get lean (was significantly overweight when I started, now I’m just overweight), and my ratio is 25/35/40 (140g/196g/122g).

But I pretty consistently end up over on carbs and under on fat. In fact, looking at my log for the last couple weeks, I usually end up 33/33/33. I only occasionally eat starches and only after a workout; most of my carbs are coming from fruits and veggies.

What can I do to at least increase my fat intake (which should help me hit my calorie target too), short of drinking olive oil? And should I worry about bringing my carb total down?

2

“im having a hard time hitting my macs” erm pay more attension to what and when youre eating .
“what can i do to increase my fat intake” erm eat more fat .
“should i worry about bringing my carb total down” no stats , no details of training etc .

3

[quote]lia67 wrote:
“im having a hard time hitting my macs” erm pay more attension to what and when youre eating .
“what can i do to increase my fat intake” erm eat more fat .
“should i worry about bringing my carb total down” no stats , no details of training etc.[/quote]

  1. I follow Precision Nutrition and focus more on how often and quality. So all of my meals include a lean protein, a healthy fat, and some vegetables. I’ll also eat starches after a workout. I realize I could pay stricter attention to exactly what I’m eating and hit my targets. But ideally I would like my “default eating” approach to get me at least close.

  2. Again, I realize I could just “eat more fat”. But unless I can fit that into my current eating in a palatable manner, it probably won’t last. Same with the carbs, I realize I could be extra vigilant and cut my carbs down, but it would cost me fruits and veggies.

  3. Details:

Me: 6’ 2", 323 lbs, 31.4% BF
My diet: 2800 kcal, 25/35/40 (140g/196g/122g), 5 meals per day consisting of whole foods except for protein supp.
My training: Waterbury’s 25 Method 3x/week, Krav Maga 2x/week, Crossfit 1x/week

Did I miss anything else particularly relevant?

4

[quote]calypso15 wrote:
But ideally I would like my “default eating” approach to get me at least close.
[/quote]

Then don’t sweat it. 33/33/33 is not a bad place to be.

Bro, you’re still obese. Any non-retarded diet and training will work for you. And even though it’s popular to hate on Waterbury, you’re still training and eating at a (presumed) deficit, so just stick to it.

5

  1. I wouldnt bother with counting carbs from veggies…

  2. I would split my meals in P+C and P+F meals, way easier to get the right amount of what you want that way.

  3. Sources of fat without carbs : oils, meat, salmon, eggs. You can get 16g of fats from almonds and only get like… 5 or maybe 6g of carbs… and some of those are fibers…

  4. Why do you care so much about fruits? I mean, you dont need 10-12 like the canadian guide recommends… seriously…

  5. Write down your diet, I feel helpfull…

6

so your lbm is abour 230 so 2800 is about right to lose . what works for me is 1.25g pro lb/lbm . 30% of daily cals from fat the remainder of cals from carbs (for you this is about 200g) . i have half my carbs (hi gi)20/30 mins pre w/o and the other half (again hi gi) pwo .the rest of the day all other carbs from veggies and i dont count those carbs and my last meal is just pro n fat.
as for hittin your daily macs every night set aside all your pro n fats (weighed n bagged tuna/eggs or what ever) and around w/o carbs for the following day . youve lost alot of weight already and well done for that but youve got a long way to go . you might look at IF’ing for weight loss that can make it a bit easier to control your daily macs with only 3 or 4 meals .

7

majoring in the minors, bro. keep doing like you’re doing, and whatever you do for the love of god be consistent. At this point, your first hurdle is going to be finding a plan that you can consistently do–you’ll see results on pretty much any plan if you’re that large.

8

Thanks for the input guys. I know I still have a long way to go before I reach my goal. But I’ve been at it consistently for 1.5 years. I just changed my routine up a bit (previously was Krav x2/week and CF 2-3x/week, no strength component) and wanted to fine tune my diet.

Here’s a recent picture: https://picasaweb.google.com/chapman.douglas/110422163017301830#5587053834069832754

On a few specific points:

Not counting veggies: Seems reasonable. What about starchier veggies like corn and carrots?
Fruits: I’m not packing away a ton of fruit, but I do have 2-3 servings every day.

Pre-portioning my fats for each day would probably make it easier to make sure I’m getting enough in. Also, I realized that I miscalculated my grams/day for carbs and protein. I was aiming for 140g/196g/122g, when it should be 175g/245g/124g. Oops.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. I’ll try out your suggestions and see how it goes.

9

Write down what you eat during your day, meal by meal.

Do that, and it will be easy for me to tell you what to change…

Dont eat corn. Dont count carrots

10

[quote]calypso15 wrote:
Thanks for the input guys. I know I still have a long way to go before I reach my goal. But I’ve been at it consistently for 1.5 years. I just changed my routine up a bit (previously was Krav x2/week and CF 2-3x/week, no strength component) and wanted to fine tune my diet.

Here’s a recent picture: https://picasaweb.google.com/chapman.douglas/110422163017301830#5587053834069832754

On a few specific points:

Not counting veggies: Seems reasonable. What about starchier veggies like corn and carrots?
Fruits: I’m not packing away a ton of fruit, but I do have 2-3 servings every day.

Pre-portioning my fats for each day would probably make it easier to make sure I’m getting enough in. Also, I realized that I miscalculated my grams/day for carbs and protein. I was aiming for 140g/196g/122g, when it should be 175g/245g/124g. Oops.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. I’ll try out your suggestions and see how it goes.[/quote]

Corn isnt a vegetable, it’s animal feed.

11

Maybe try trading fruit for eggs a couple of days per week?? Eggs are “pre-potioned” as are fruit which will make the trade off easier to manage. Things like almonds are also great because you can dole them out (pun intended).

Nice work so far. Very intelligent by adding the strength component. As said above, 33/33/33 aint bad.

12

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
Corn isnt a vegetable, it’s animal feed. [/quote]

Heh, fair enough. I’m not a big corn eater, but I threw it out as an example.

As requested, here are food logs for the last few days:

March 22:
Breakfast - Hummus and falafel, carrots
Snack - Protein shake (1 banana, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1 scoop protein, yogurt, greens)
Lunch (Post-Workout) - Thin-cut italian sandwich from Potbelly
Snack - Protein shake (2 scoops protein, 1/2 cup egg whites, greens)
Dinner - Roast beef, grape tomatoes

March 23:
Breakfast - Protein shake (1 banana, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1 scoop protein, yogurt, greens)
Snack - Turkey ham steak, carrots, grape tomatoes
Lunch - Protein shake (1 scoop protein, 1/2 cup egg whites, greens)
Snack (Post-Workout) - Mexican gumbo, no rice, extra chicken from Qdoba
Dinner - Fried eggs and kale
Snack - Almonds

March 24:
Breakfast - Turkey ham steak, kale, carrots
Snack - Protein shake (1 banana, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1 scoop protein, yogurt, greens)
Lunch (Post-Workout) - Thin-cut italian sandwich from Potbelly and veggie soup
Snack - Protein powder, 1 scoop
Dinner - Sirloin meatballs and tomato soup
Snack - Cottage cheese and almond butter

March 25:
Breakfast - Sirloin meatballs and tomato soup
Snack - Salmon and tabouli
Lunch (Post-Workout) - Protein shake (1 banana, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1 scoop protein, yogurt, greens)
Snack - Turkey ham steak, cauliflower, tomatoes
Dinner - Cottage cheese and peanut butter
Snack - Fried eggs, cashews, celery

13

[quote]calypso15 wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
Corn isnt a vegetable, it’s animal feed. [/quote]

Heh, fair enough. I’m not a big corn eater, but I threw it out as an example.

As requested, here are food logs for the last few days:

March 22:
Breakfast - Hummus and falafel, carrots
Snack - Protein shake (1 banana, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1 scoop protein, yogurt, greens)
Lunch (Post-Workout) - Thin-cut italian sandwich from Potbelly
Snack - Protein shake (2 scoops protein, 1/2 cup egg whites, greens)
Dinner - Roast beef, grape tomatoes

March 23:
Breakfast - Protein shake (1 banana, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1 scoop protein, yogurt, greens)
Snack - Turkey ham steak, carrots, grape tomatoes
Lunch - Protein shake (1 scoop protein, 1/2 cup egg whites, greens)
Snack (Post-Workout) - Mexican gumbo, no rice, extra chicken from Qdoba
Dinner - Fried eggs and kale
Snack - Almonds

March 24:
Breakfast - Turkey ham steak, kale, carrots
Snack - Protein shake (1 banana, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1 scoop protein, yogurt, greens)
Lunch (Post-Workout) - Thin-cut italian sandwich from Potbelly and veggie soup
Snack - Protein powder, 1 scoop
Dinner - Sirloin meatballs and tomato soup
Snack - Cottage cheese and almond butter

March 25:
Breakfast - Sirloin meatballs and tomato soup
Snack - Salmon and tabouli
Lunch (Post-Workout) - Protein shake (1 banana, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1 scoop protein, yogurt, greens)
Snack - Turkey ham steak, cauliflower, tomatoes
Dinner - Cottage cheese and peanut butter
Snack - Fried eggs, cashews, celery[/quote]

man you eat well do you prepare/cook all this yourself ? . i cant be bothered with cooking that much ill maybe cook something special at weekends but when im dietin ill eat the same foods everyday 5/6 days a week and i dont get bored where as others may but it does make stickin to your macs n cals a doddle .

14

[quote]lia67 wrote:
man you eat well do you prepare/cook all this yourself ? . i cant be bothered with cooking that much ill maybe cook something special at weekends but when im dietin ill eat the same foods everyday 5/6 days a week and i dont get bored where as others may but it does make stickin to your macs n cals a doddle .[/quote]

Except for the meals out, I prepare it myself. I like cooking, so it makes it easier to get in the kitchen and prepare reasonable meals.

15

Carb-cycling might be worth considering.

16

i just count protein grams and total calories now…

i eat the same things almost everyday tho…

17

Christ, I would be f***ing starving. Might want to up the vegetables.

18

[quote]BulletproofTiger wrote:
Carb-cycling might be worth considering.[/quote]

I disagree. He’s over 30% body. Simply intelligently eliminating “problem” foods without overthinking things will be sufficient for now.

19

[quote]D Public wrote:
i just count protein grams and total calories now…

i eat the same things almost everyday tho…[/quote]

That’s a good plan imo.

Ensure you are getting adequate protein (2-3 g/kg of bodyweight), get your 6-10 grams of fish oil to cover your EFAs and then just make sure you are still in a deficit.

Especially when you have that much fat to lose, you don’t need to complicate things. As you get leaner, you may want to cycle your calories/carbs a little, but don’t over complicate things.

20

Fair points. Should I even bother trying to hit macronutrient targets, or should I just make sure I’m hitting my calorie target and getting adequate protein?

I’ve heard time and again that you want a higher fat diet when you’re trying to lose weight, but I don’t know how true or important that really is.