Macros for fat loss, in plain numbers
How I set protein, carbs and fat for a fat loss phase, what to do when the scale stalls, and why most macro calculators put you in a hole.
Most people who ask me about macros have already been given a number by a calculator somewhere, and the number was too low. Then they blame themselves when they cannot hold it. So here is how I set them, and you can check my work.
Protein first, always
Around one gram per pound of goal bodyweight. If you want to be 160, that is roughly 160 grams. Not because more is magic, but because protein is the one that keeps muscle on you while you lose fat, and it is the one that keeps you full.
If you are a long way from your goal weight, use goal weight and not current weight. Using current weight on a heavy frame gives you a protein target nobody eats.
Hitting protein and roughly hitting calories beats hitting all three perfectly for nine days and quitting on the tenth.
Fat next, and do not crush it
About 0.35 grams per pound of bodyweight, and I do not go under it. Under that and sleep gets worse, mood gets worse, and for women the cycle gets loud about it. A fat loss phase you feel awful in is a fat loss phase you quit.
Carbs get whatever is left
Carbs are not the enemy, they are the fuel for the training that keeps your muscle. Once protein and fat are set, the rest of the calorie target goes to carbs. On lifting days more, on rest days less. That is the whole rule.
If a diet style takes carbs off the table for you, keto, low carb, whatever it is, the numbers get rebuilt around that instead. It just has to be a way you can eat for months.
Reading the scale without losing your mind
Weigh yourself the same way every morning and read the seven day average, never a single day. Water moves three pounds on you for reasons that have nothing to do with fat.
If the average has not moved in fourteen days, take about 150 calories off carbs. Not protein, not fat. Wait another two weeks. That is the entire adjustment process, and it is boring on purpose.
The part people skip
Hitting protein and roughly hitting calories will out perform hitting all three perfectly for nine days and quitting on the tenth. Consistency is the variable that actually decides this.
If you want your numbers worked out for you and built into a week of training you can actually do, the free week does it. Takes about two minutes to answer, and you get the plates and the grocery list with it.
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