Manipulating Macronutrients (or whatever the "columns" are)

vivmom2014

Had trouble with lots of leftover calories and overages in fat, sugar & carbs. Someone suggested to up my protein which I am attempting to do. I'm also watching carbohydrates. As a vegetarian (plus seafood) I am eating protein rich things like eggs and nuts, tuna mixed with a little mayo and lime juice, etc. and so I'm getting better numbers in protein, lower numbers in the carbs column, but I'm over in the fat column without fail. This feels discouraging. Can I raise the number in my fat column so I don't see those glaring red negative numbers? Ignore it? Above all, I stay under calorie goal, but I can't seem to keep those columns in the green.

CalOs175

If youre hitting your calories i wouldn't be too concerned. Im pretty sure manipulating your macros is only to get REALLY lean anyway.

If its bothering you why not sit down and plan your meals? I'll sometimes log my food a day or two in advance and i can see how my macros look and make adjustments from there by subsituting foods and quantities.

dave4d

Except for Trans and saturated fats, think of your fats and proteins as a minimum goal. As long as you stay under your calories, and reach your minimums for proteins and fats, most other things don't matter. In fact, for many people, the only thing that matters is that they eat less calories than they consume.

Ignore the red in those areas.

vivmom2014

Thank you! It will be helpful to shift my thinking from "it's a failing grade!" to "it's a minimum I've met." Brilliant. And I've started pre-planning my days - good tip there, too.

HeySwoleSister

Macro manipulation and monitoring is really only necessary to address body composition goals, or to address certain diseases which may indicate limiting a certain macro...Diabetes, Gout, Gallbladder Disease, that sort of thing) Also, personal taste plays a big role. I set mine by first setting my protein at 30%, because that gave me roughly 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass, then I messed around with the carbs and fats numbers until I found a setting that lined up with my own eating patterns.