Struggling to the find the right balance!!

kmab1985

Hi Everyone

I hope you can help me.

I'm very new MFP calorie/makro counting, before I did weightwatchers where I didnt really take note of what macros I had as long as the food was within my daily points allowance but of course you can see the macros on MFP.

I'm on day 4 and I can;t seem to find the right balance of foods to keep me with my macros, i.e. I go weigh over my fat and sugar, haven't really met my protein target, carbs I'm not doing to bad on and calories I went over a couple of days but its a learning curve for me!

I note that the more exercise you do, the more macros you get, I workout everyday except weekends, I do weights on Monday and Friday evening, Bodypump, Spinning and Insanity on the other days.

MFP has given me targets (before exercise) of 1290 cal, 161 carbs, 43 fat, 65 protein, 25 fibre, 48 sugar...

Does anyone have any advice/foods that can help me:

1) Reduce my fat/sugar
2) Increase my protein

My food diary is public for anyone that wants to take a look to give me advice but bear in mind I'm only on day 4 of doing it so got a lot to learn!!

Thanks, Kel

LKArgh

First, I would stop tracking sugar, unless you are diabetic. Your sugar based on the entries I have checked comes from fruit mostly, so it is not something to concern yourself about, it is not like you are eating candy all day and nothing else. Second, I would suggest, if fats are a concern for health issues, to focus on saturated or trans fat only, and not worry about overall fat intake. When it comes to health, the source of fat matters, getting fat from sunflowe seeds is not the same as getting fat from deep fried mars bars.
In genera, when it comes to weight loss, calories matter, not macros. macros are a concern if you need to follow a specific diet plan, avoid food groups or make sure you get enough of something. Just logging on MFP to lose weight does not mean you need to change the way you have been eating, if this was balanced/healthy by your standards.

kmab1985

Thanks for your reply.

That helps a lot, I will stop tracking my sugar then and like you said start tracking saturated and trans fats although I must admit I've never heard of trans fats, what are they?

RoxieDawn

I will echo what @aggelikik says for weight loss and the macros. If you look at your diary for Monday you were in a "great" balance of all your macros..

For weight loss, the macros do not matter, it is all about eating the number of calories MFP gave you to loose weight. So changing your macros does not matter, however if you want to stay in balance choose different foods (use Monday for example).

Healthy fats are olive oil, coconut oil, butter, peanut butter, nuts and seeds and even avocados, etc.. Incorporating more protein like chicken, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, etc.. will help you balance more protein and fats as well.

Sugars are in everything per se.. unless you have a reason to track sugar there is no need, I personally choose to track fiber instead. I also track sodium because I hate over eating salt because it causes me t bloat and retain water.

The link I provided, are other links to almost everything possible you could want to know on discussions just like this and more. Feel free to look through the topics including logging and macros..

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/833026/important-posts-to-read/p1

doktorglass

I agree that macros don't matter for weight loss, but regularly going over fats and carbs, but not protein do give a hint of what kind of foods you are eating. And foods in that combination are usually the ones that gives little in return for the calories you give it.

Rethink, 2 tsp of sugar in your coffee everyday. Maybe 1tsp is enough? (Or none.) (Sugar)
Maybe you can just stop buying Quaker Oats - Oat So Simple Golden Syrup Creamy Porridge, and just flavour ordinary oatmeal with berries, as you do with yoghurt? (Sugar)
When you go to the salad bar, maybe find alternatives for coleslaw and french fries? (Fat)
Also, baked beans have a lot of sugar normally. Try find a better brand, or eat some kind of other beans? (Sugar)

Edit: I actually do think macros matter. Trying to minimize fats to unhealthy levels hinders weight loss.

LKArgh

kmab1985 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.

That helps a lot, I will stop tracking my sugar then and like you said start tracking saturated and trans fats although I must admit I've never heard of trans fats, what are they?

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyEating/Trans-Fats_UCM_301120_Article.jsp

Curtez

Personally, id track cals first. Get into the habit and rythem. THEN start to fine tune once u get the hang of everything. Just a thought.

RoxieDawn

doktorglass wrote: »

I agree that macros don't matter for weight loss, but regularly going over fats and carbs, but not protein do give a hint of what kind of foods you are eating. And foods in that combination are usually the ones that gives little in return for the calories you give it.

Rethink, 2 tsp of sugar in your coffee everyday. Maybe 1tsp is enough? (Or none.) (Sugar)
Maybe you can just stop buying Quaker Oats - Oat So Simple Golden Syrup Creamy Porridge, and just flavour ordinary oatmeal with berries, as you do with yoghurt? (Sugar)
When you go to the salad bar, maybe find alternatives for coleslaw and french fries? (Fat)
Also, baked beans have a lot of sugar normally. Try find a better brand, or eat some kind of other beans? (Sugar)

Edit: I actually do think macros matter. Trying to minimize fats to unhealthy levels hinders weight loss.

Her macros are setup fine... it is choosing the right foods to eat to stay within those macros... This is the "balance" to the equation she needs to adhere to. She purposely goes over fats because of what is placed on the menu..

giusa

If you're just starting out this is also important - http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1