Macros advice

Hello everyone,

I’m hoping to get some advice from the experts on diets.

We go on holiday in May 25 and I’m hoping now to slowly improve my physique. If I post my vitals below and then give a bit of general info I am hoping someone can give me an idea of the type of macros I should be aiming to consume to get some results!

6ft 2in Male
89-90kg weight
Slim/sporty build
43yo with slight belly
Generally active (hit 10k steps most days and occasionally 20k if I’m working in our garden landscaping)

My diet is ok but I have a v sweet tooth.

I am going to start in the gym with an aim of going min 2 times a week, aiming for 3 though.

Aim is to build a bit more chest/shoulders/arms and little on legs and lose a bit of belly fat (there used to be a few abs so I want to see if they are still there!)

Happy to add any more useful info if asked!
Thank you

Good news is you have time.
Can you post s pic so we can see what we are working with?
Do you log what you are eating daily? If not I would start.

Hey
Speedy reply, cheers.
I’ll sort a pic in the morning.

I don’t track now but I could do. Any recommended apps for this?
Cheers

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welcome to T-Nation

smart to give yourself plenty of time.

calorie counter by lose it!, cronometer, nutritionix, fatsecret, myfitnesspal

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Do you eat the same or similar foods every day? Have you ever tracked your calories?

As much information as you can give us to what you’re doing now, as a baseline, will be helpful. We can all throw some numbers at you, but that might not be super helpful or practical depending where you’re at.

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Thanks for app suggestions above.

Couple of photos of me now.

I am fairly similar each day for lunch and breakfast (Fruit and Fibre cereal and ham and cheese sandwich with some lentil crisps). Dinner varies a bit but not super unhealthy. It’s the choc that gets me! Healthier snacks: like a protein bar, banana, grapes, almonds, flapjack.

Thank you both!

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And a second! Only let me post one at a time! Thought I’d hit reply before but that stopped it sending I think.

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You are eating a breakfast completely void of protein, followed by a lunch of minimal protein, while taking in a significant amount of carbs in all instances (the bread on the sandwich, fruit and cereal for breakfast, fruit and flapjacks for snacks).

This is how I would expect an endurance athlete to eat: they want to keep up their carbohydrate fuel source for long duration activities and minimize protein intake to keep muscle low and not have to spend the energy digesting it.

However, I feel like your goal is to BUILD muscle, yeah?

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I think if you drop the sweats, get 3 solid days/week of resistance training in and keep you diet clean that would be a great start.
Why not start in the gym and spend a couple weeks tracking macros so we can get a baseline and help you adjust your diet.
Start a log in the “training logs” section and tag myself and @T3hPwnisher

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Cheers both. Are you referring to my PJ bottoms as Sweats :joy::joy:

I will get my gym membership sorted and look to get some protein in breakfast and a bit more in lunch to start.

Any recommended resistance gym exercises?

Will sort a log thread later, cheers gents appreciate it!

Do you have any prior experience with resistance training.

Fn spell check!!!:joy:
Sweets

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Ive been to the gym previously so I’ve prob done some form of it just not sure what’s called what. I can look on YouTube?

Sorry, yes it is my goal to build muscle! And hopefully to cut a bit of belly fat

To build aesthetical physique the most basic stuff is add in more protein,some people say that it damages your kidney which is not true unless you have kidney issue in the first place.Eating high quality protein daily is not easy since your aim is to build good physique as you need to hit it daily and might seem like a chore someday.

Thank you - how much protein / carb / fat are we looking for each day? Starting tracking my food today.

Mine is 40%carb,35%protein and 25% fat give and take.I stick to the same few diet daily especially whole food,but I got work and family commitment so I do use supplement to assist in my protein intake.Anyway as you increase and gain or lose weight,do take note that the amount of your food weight changes and you need to update your macro

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Protein: 1g/lb bodyweight
Fat: 0.3g/lb bodyweight
Carbs: to fill the rest to your TDEE (+250cals for bulk, -500cals for cut)

Program: Phraks Greyskull LP

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Thank you! Just thinking about foods now :slight_smile:

Any tips on how to hit the protein levels? Today for snacks I had a protein shake, and later some almonds. This is where I am at the moment today! I’m going to just work towards targets and not be too strict to start.


Lots of lean meat.

A pound (raw) of most lean meats is about 100g protein. I typically do 2lbs of lean beef daily. Sometimes chicken or turkey or fish.
I have been >200g protein daily for a couple years and haven’t used a single protein shake to get there. I recommend this approach for everyone, but a protein shake can be helpful if in a pinch.

Almonds are fine, but they should be viewed as a source of dietary fat, not protein.

Right now, you’re at ~1300 calories and not even at 100g protein. This is something id be correcting, were i in your shoes.

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