Introduction
“Should I change my macros?” The question that floods the email inbox of almost all coaches who work with clients. This NutriWiki will give a breakdown of if and when you need to change macros.
Summary
When progress stalls, there is rarely a need to change macros if what you’re doing is working.
If progress stalls for an extended period of time and you need to adjust your macros, an easy recommendation is to decrease by ~100 Calories from carbs & fats when dieting (e.g. 20C & 2F) or increase by the same amount when bulking. There may be a need to change things by more than 100 calories in certain situations.
Discussion
Weight loss is a very bumpy process and a weight loss graph has a lot of noise in the data. So changing macros frequently is often based on emotion and not data.
However, When progress stalls for ~4 weeks, you will need to make adjustments. However, if dieting for an extended period of time (greater than 8 weeks), first you should take a diet break and look for compliance issues that you may not even be aware of.
You can adjust your activity or you can adjust calories/change macros. Remember that women may have water retention due to their cycle masking weight loss.
A progress stall is not moving towards your goal of weight loss or gain for approximately 4 weeks. There are multiple ways to gauge progress, and if you are seeing progress in one of the ways listed below, progress most likely has not stalled.
- Weight: You should Weigh yourself everyday, first thing in the morning after going to the bathroom, before eating or drinking anything, & completely naked. Take a weekly average and compare that to the previous week.
- Body measurements (taken bi-weekly). This can also be judged by how clothing fits
- Pictures (taken monthly) to gage your progress
Decrease your calorie intake by 5-10% from carbohydrates & fats.
Increase your calorie intake by 5-10% (remember, slower gain is better) primarily in carbohydrates & fats.
Want to know what to do with your macros after you achieve your weight loss goal? Check out our blog on recalculating macros.