What Calorie/Protein/Carb/Fat goals do you use in MFP?

SisterScaleback

I am 7 months post op RNY and I am wondering what everyone uses for their custom goals in MFP?

madmags

I set mine at 30% Fat, 30% Carb, 40% Protein. I am yet to hit this ratio, but is what I shoot for.

cabennett99

I'm almost 3 months out from RNY, so still adjusting to wider variety of foods. It's hard to make MFP nutritional goals work, my dietician wants me focused on volume and protien/produce, not nutritional stats. That said, I'm using 50% protien, 30% fat, 20% carb, with 800 calories....and I continue to tweek it. I feel good and I'm losing weight.

bruningk78

I am 9.5 years post op RNY and have been successfully getting rid of regain with my macros set at 25% carb, 40% protein, and 35% fat, with loss goal set for 1 lb a week. This works for me.

jillcwatson1

I am pre op but wanting to adjust my mindset to my post op eating routine. I am also new to MFP and the whole idea of calorie counting and macros as well. If the majority of my food will be concentrated on protein, then I would think that should be over 50% right? How many calories might I be consuming post op? cabennett99 mentioned 800. Is this typical?
801.

rpyle111

My goals are similar to Bruningk's. I am aiming for 100g protein per day eating 900 calories (I am 4 months post-op). I played with the Protein percentage to get 100 g and it came out to 45%. I set 25% Carbs and 30% Fat to round them out.

As I eat, though, I don't intentionally watch carbs. Rather I have a roster of good, protein dense foods and if I choose well, my macros fall into roughly those percentages. I generally look back at previous days and see what kinds of food choices I have been making, rather than counting carbs every day.

My pre-op plan was aimed at getting me into the habits and behaviors needed for post-op, but *not* eating at a post-op calorie level. I lost all of my pre-op weight on 1500 calories per day (but I am a big guy). I am pretty sure that the calorie level I am at now would never have been sustainable pre-op because I would not have had the hormonal changes that come with the surgery (decreased ghrelin, etc.).

Rob

JudiMoving2

I am pre-op and love this question. I played with my macros having 45% protein and lower set numer of 25% carbs. I have been eating a 1500 calorie diet for two weeks now. I had two days at 1200, and one day at 2000.

I do great on protein and always have under the carbs and sugars, however, i find myself eating twice the amount of Fat. And i am not loosing any weight so far.

I recently read more on high protein low carb diets and the amount of calories for optimal weight loss. Of course it varies with each individual, but men should be 1500 and women at 1200. That was for maintaining! To loose, especially when over 50, ( like me) that amount should be cut in half.

Being honest with all of you, this information made me cry. I dont know that i can do this, WLS or not. I'm not sure i can live on 1200 even after the surgery. I fear that I will fail.

I must persevere and keep doing what the dr ordered. I see many of you be successful, so it works! I just really want to be sure it works for me.

IslandSneezerooo

I am pre-op and a year out from a surgery date... I am slowly cutting back calories and slowly increasing activity, so for the time being I'm just going with the MFP macros it auto sets to for a 2000 calorie diet. I lost over 6 lbs my first week, and after a rough start of eating a few hundred cals over my goal, I've settled into a routine and have been under 2000 cals/day. My fat and protein are always over and my carbs are always under, so I'm okay with that... I'm going to do this for a couple weeks, then cut back to 1900 cals and increase my activity levels by 5 min/day... Then a few weeks later cut back again, increase activity again... my ultimate goal by my surgery date is to get to 1200 cals and 45 min exercise every day. I'd like to lose 50 lbs over the year, so hoping this gets me there...

rpyle111

JudiMoving2 wrote: »

I recently read more on high protein low carb diets and the amount of calories for optimal weight loss. Of course it varies with each individual, but men should be 1500 and women at 1200. That was for maintaining! To loose, especially when over 50, ( like me) that amount should be cut in half.

Being honest with all of you, this information made me cry. I dont know that i can do this, WLS or not. I'm not sure i can live on 1200 even after the surgery. I fear that I will fail.

I must persevere and keep doing what the dr ordered. I see many of you be successful, so it works! I just really want to be sure it works for me.

Judi,

In general, the BMR+ model used by MFP works! The surgery will have a huge impact on my eating and hormones for about a year, and then it will be up to me. I look forward to the maintenance time, when I will be looking to balance calories in with normal burn plus exercise, and you can, too!

Not sure how tall you are, but if you go into the Goals section and put in your goal weight and maintenance as your WL goal and have the system automatically set your goals, you will see what they have you at for maintenance calories. Add some exercise, and the future may not look so bleak. After looking at this, you can delete the target check in weight and delete any weight loss postings to your news feed to get back to normal.

This is all easier as a tall man, of course, because I will have higher maintenance calories than most, but there are plenty of successful people on MFP who use the model.

Have faith!

Rob

lorilbuckner1

Im 2 weeks pre op. and just dropped down from 1200 cal to the required pre op 800 cal per day, using 45% Protine, 25 % carbs, and 30% fat.

JudiMoving2 wrote: »

Being honest with all of you, this information made me cry. I dont know that i can do this, WLS or not. I'm not sure i can live on 1200 even after the surgery. I fear that I will fail.

I must persevere and keep doing what the dr ordered. I see many of you be successful, so it works! I just really want to be sure it works for me.

Judi, dont panic over the total calorie numbers. Focus on the quality and portion size of food you are eating. We are all a little different in what works for us. For me, once I began to eliminate the "junk calories" and focus on basic healthy food, the numbers started lining up as did the weight loss. Junk for me wasn't typical junk food like chips and candy, it was processed foods, liquid calories, mindlessly adding butter and dressing without thought, etc. Honest logging in MFP was a real eye opener. I found lots of hidden calories, fats and carbs I could eliminate and not really miss. Change doesn't come over night. Be kind to yourself. Never let yesterday's mistakes color todays choices! You can do this! You said you are preop, how far out are you?

threecrows

I'm two weeks post-op, just started puréed food. On liquids I was getting around 400 calories a day, now I feel like I'm eating all the time and am around 600. I know this will go up over time, but I'm enjoying losing weight and feeling full at the same time at this level for now.

I still can't figure out how to set MFP. It won't "close" my days because I don't have enough calories.

JudiMoving2

Thank you for the kind words. My spirit is better today. I had a rough day there, and I know I am my worst critic. I also know this is important to me and I just don't want to fail. I know my success is up to me and I know I can do this. I think the occasional frustration with the restrictions get me down when I have cravings. But I am noticing that once I get past them, I am eating even better once I get past them.

Lori
Similar to you, I have been focusing on healthy choices and getting rid of the extra little things. I now measure my dressing, cut out butter completely and am using truvia as my sugar substitute. Avoiding all carbs, until I breakdown and have a bowl of corn flakes or piece of pizza! (Seems to happen about every four days) Otherwise, carb intake is through vegetables or beans.

My surgery has not been scheduled, and I am only starting the program. Have met with Surgeon and Nutritionist once (Jan 23). I am only required to meet with Nurtri 2x. Her requirements were 1500 - 3-4 meal/day. The surgeon talked with me about the importance of getting my eating habits similar to the post-op requirements, and that I will be going through a two week liquid diet prior to the surgery.

I have been cutting calories and eating healthy since Dec. Officially tracking for the WLS 10 days ago. Myfitnesspal will be handed over to the nutritionist at our next meeting. So yes I have been putting down everything that goes into my mouth.

Rob
I did play with the macros again. I have been on/off fitness pal for a couple years and have went so far to set up the goals for each stage of weight loss to see what my caloric intake should be at each stage of weight. I went so far as to track in Excel the "If you eat like this everyday you will weigh..." weight, just to see if what they were saying was right. It was close not accurate! (... and no I am not OCD!)

Thanks again for the great support,

Judi

RENAEJAE

Good information here. I'm going to go tweak mine a bit. Just starting to try some protein drinks this week. Thought it might be good to experiment so I'll know what I like and dislike when the time comes.

jazzine1

I am close to 8 yrs post op I have mine set to 50% protein 30% fat, 20% carbs. I also don't usually eat the MFP established 1200 calories a day. I usually eat between 700-1000. the higher end on weekends when I'm home all day. I make sure I get my protein drinks in daily to be able to reach my protein goal for the day sometimes I can't achieve it because then I'll be over on fat or other micros. Once I lose weight I have gained over the years I will aim for my maintenance daily calories according to the calculator on http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/#results. and adjust my MFP accordingly.