Help me, I don't understand all these other goals!

candysleirer

So I'm finding that I often run over on the other goals ie. fat, protein, sodium and have plenty of calories left over. Is it better to meet the calorie goal and go over on some others, or be way under on calories and hit all the other goals? Am I just eating the wrong things?

obscuremusicreference

I consider fat and protein to be minimums and try to limit sodium for health reasons, but it does not matter for weight loss. I think it depends on your personal goals/what makes you feel sated.

seltzermint555

It takes awhile to get used to all of that stuff. Focus on calories first of all.

People choose different goals based on their own needs and preferences.

For example, when I started almost 2 years ago I was WAAAAY over on sugar every day at first. I started to relax when it was sugar from fruit or a "planned treat" like ice cream, but I took a good long look at why, for example, I had tons of sugar in a simple breakfast of yogurt and coffee. It was as simple as switching to a different Greek yogurt, adding my own flavorings or fruit to it, and instead of flavored creamer just getting accustomed to a splash of almond milk in my coffee. That helped a ton.

My husband really watches his sodium because he is prone to high blood pressure. For me that is less of a concern, as I've never had that problem. But I do notice when I eat a lot of fast food and/or restaurant food, I go way over on sodium, and when I cook my own meals at home I am WAY under on sodium. So it just reminds me of that. I also notice the scale moves more slowly, and I can feel a bit bloated if I go over on sodium especially more than once or twice per week. I like eating in restaurants and I don't think it's necessary to avoid all higher salt content foods...but this just helps me stay on track, and avoid certain things that are just crazy like Ramen with the flavor packet...practically a whole day's worth of sodium in that, I think! Not worth it to me.

Some people are very sensitive to carbs or look to a lower carb diet for weight loss (I don't know much about that and have lost over 130 lb w/o even looking at the carbs really). Some are looking to get more fiber. Many people especially those who are very active and/or work out a lot, are BIG on protein and strive to get plenty of it. I try not to be too far under my "goal" on protein, too, since I don't eat a lot of meat it helps me to work toward that goal by eating more beans, eggs, dairy, etc.

Being wayyyy under on fat might seem in theory like a good thing, but for many people (myself included) it is better to at least be somewhere in the middle on that. Good fats aid in digestion and help with satiety. Lots of healthy good foods - like avocados - tend to put me over on fats for the day, but are totally worthwhile nutritionally.

You will lose weight if you are consistently under or at your calorie goal with deficit calculated properly. Do not get too caught up in all of the other stuff at first, but slowly ease into it. At least that is what worked well for me. Good luck!

MakePeasNotWar

Protein and fibre are minimums, so no need to worry there.

If you are consistently going over on sodium, you might want to look through your diary to see the biggest contributors and decide if you can replace them with something lower in sodium. most of the sodium people eat is in restaurant or packaged foods, so cooking at home is a good way to lower your intake, if you have the time and ability.

The sugar goal is pretty controversial; a lot of people (including me) ignore it, especially if most of the sugars come from fruit and or milk sugars.

I personally don't worry about my fat macro much as long as my protein and carbs are sufficient and I'm under my calorie goal. I don't know how closely others adhere to it.

obscuremusicreference

@seltzermint is right that you should focus on calories first--it's most important that you make logging accurately a habit.

I consider fat to be a minimum because when you're on a diet, sometimes you have trouble going to the bathroom (TMI, I know). Fat helps with that.

You can change your macros so that you delete one category in favor of another. Many of us have swapped out sugar for fiber.

alexvasc

The fat/protein/carb/sodium/etc goals are general guidelines based off USDA nutritional recommendations. At the end of the day, it's entirely up to you to choose how to split your calories among the three macronutrient groups (fat/protein/carbs), but bear in mind that the USDA recommendations are there for a reason. Unless you're on a specific diet that emphasizes one macronutrient over the others (ie keto, paleo, etc) you should try to stick roughly to the goals set up by myfitnesspal. If you're consistently and significantly (say, >15%) off from the recommended goals, then that's probably a sign that your diet is unbalanced, and you might consider finding the source of the unbalance. Alternatively, if you're finding that you are consistently going over the goal in one particular macronutrient (say, for example, fats), but are still coming in under your caloric goal, then you might already inadvertently be implementing one of the aforementioned diets (for instance, in the keto diet you obtain 60% of your calories from fat and <5% from carbs -- you can imagine how wonky the macronutrient goals are for keto dieters). Since most such diets require additional supplements (keto, for instance, requires that you eat almost twice the USDA-recommended daily sodium allowance), you should work to identify which diet your inadvertently on and see which supplements you might be missing.

tl;dr: the goals are guidelines which can be broken, but break them with care. If you're consistently going over (or under) in one group, you might need some kind of additional supplements.

All of the above was regarding macronutrients (carbs/fats/proteins). With micronutrients (cholesterol, sodium, vitamins, etc) you should really strive to (on average) be around the USDA (and myfitnesspal) established goals. This doesn't mean that every single day you have to be on-goal, but your diet should be balanced enough so that over the course of the week you get enough (and not too much) of all micronutrients. There are expections though, as in the example with the keto diet above. Sometimes diets require that you increase (or decrease) your uptake of specific micronutrients, so as long as you know what you're doing it's okay to break the micronutrient goals - but do so with care!

At the end of the day, if you're achieving your caloric goals you will lose weight, but a proper balance of macro- and micronutrients will help you do so in a healthier way.

I hope that helps! If you would like specific advice you're free to post more details about your diet.

ana3067

Whatever you want. Fat, protein, and carbs = calories. You can track calories via just the number or you can monitor the macros alone, or do both. I calculate total calories from macros by multiplying them out. Everything else is your own discretion because they are really not related to fat/weight loss.

Brittany91389

I focus on the calories first, and then I focus on the macros, trying to make sure that I'm within those. I tend to favor protein over carbs and fat, so my numbers are a little skewed on the guidelines suggested. I mostly ignore the micros. The only one I try to watch is my sodium intake. My sugar intake is usually right on point or a little over, but I ignore that as well because most of my sugar intake is from fruits or milk. My vitamins are all over the chart.

I think the best course of action is to get your calories under control, once you have that down, work on the macros and adjusting your diet to those, and then focusing on the micros that you think are important to you.

SueInAz

Keep in mind that you can manually adjust the macro goals. I found MFP's goal for protein to be way too low and the carb goal to be way too high for me so I adjusted them. I ignore sugar and sodium because I don't worry about them. Instead, I'm watching iron and calcium because I like to make sure I get enough of those every day.

As long as you aren't finding that you're hungry eating so many grams of carbs then it's really not a problem how you're getting your calories. Protein and fat will help keep you feeling full longer. Carbs, especially the simple ones, burn off faster and can leave you shaky and hungry if that's the majority of what you're eating.

StaciMarie1974

It might be impossible to have everything line up perfectly. BUT if fat & protein are constantly over - then you may be light on carbs? If you're happy with the way you're eating, happy with your energy levels, and/or have reasons to limit carbs: you may want to adjust your goals. The default might not be right for you. OR if you're avoiding carbs but have no reason to, try incorporating them a little more. Increase carbs and decrease portions of proteins/fats.

As for sodium - whether or not to be concerned depends on your medical history as far as I know. If you eat a lot of processed food (I do) then you're going to be high on sodium. My heart, etc. are all great - so I turned off sodium tracking. And make an effort to drink a reasonable amount of water which can help to offset the sodium impact.

candysleirer wrote: »

So I'm finding that I often run over on the other goals ie. fat, protein, sodium and have plenty of calories left over. Is it better to meet the calorie goal and go over on some others, or be way under on calories and hit all the other goals? Am I just eating the wrong things?

jgnatca

If you shoot for too many targets you risk not hitting any of them. If your goal is weight loss then the most important number is the calorie count. Because of my medical condition, my dietitian is concerned I get enough protein in a day. But I look at the proportion not the amount. The pie graph can be instructional for this. If I am short in protein, I shoot to have more protein choices in every meal and snack I consume.

mymodernbabylon

I just look at protein and fat - both as minimums.

candysleirer

Hey I really appreciate all of your responses. This really helps, cause I was starting to get pretty confused by it all. I did go ahead and change the one slot from sugars to fiber. It's still gonna be kinda hard for me to see red digits haha...it's like cracking the knuckles on one hand and not on the other, it just irks me. But for now I am just gonna focus on my calories! It's really cool that so many people take their time to write and answer other people's questions and give first hand advice. Thank Y'all