Please give this a try. Defining RELEASE as zero(0) or one(1) will directly impact the length of array filtered_data ... smaller if RELEASE==1 ... which assumes you do Not want the full array of data for production/release.

Compiles and runs in both modes ( RELEASE 1 or 0 ); tested in Visual Studio just now.

    #include <stdio.h>
    #define RELEASE  0

    #if RELEASE 
        #define MACRO_DATA 0
    #else
        #define THRESHOLD 5
        #define MACRO_DATA \
            X( 1 ) \
            X( 8 ) \
            X( 3 ) \
            X( 12 ) \
            X( 5 )
        #define X(value) ((value) >= THRESHOLD ? value : -1),
    #endif //RELASE

    // Generate filtered array
    int filtered_data[] = { MACRO_DATA };

    int main()
    {
        printf("%d\n", filtered_data[0]);

        return 0;
    }