Which is worse to go over in?

brianpperkins

Kimegatron wrote: »

mwebster11 wrote: »

fat,bc you burn off carbs doing cardio

Thank you! That is all that I wanted, holy Hell.

Too bad that is only a half truth. There are plenty of people that go by high fat diets because the body can use dietary fat as fuel. Fat is necessary for processing some vitamins.

Barring a medical condition, calories are the ONLY thing one has to worry about exceeding.

Christine_72

If I had to choose one not to go over, it would be carbs, As the more I eat, the more I crave. That's just me though, Carbs don't affect everyone equally.

Kimegatron

Thank you, christinev297. It was literally just a general question, because I was generally curious. Maybe other people's experiences, but it was just a question, ha ha.

R1rainbows

Yes calories is the answer. But personally, I avoid sugar as much as possible because of my teeth, and it makes me tired and crash a bit when I consume something high in sugar, whether I'm in calories range or not. That's just my own thing though, idk if anyone else would feel the same... But calories in/calories out is the one true king here!

cwilso37

mwebster11 wrote: »

fat,bc you burn off carbs doing cardio

I think you mean cardio burns calories.... (meaning the person was wrong in the advice they just gave you)

The reason everyone said calories is because there is not one of the three which innately wrong to go over. Put differently there is not one catch all percentage a person should have for carbs, protein, and fats. So to ask which one shouldn't go over makes little sense. As long as you are under your calorie goal (and get enough protein and healthy fats required daily) it doesn't matter.

cwilso37

cwilso37 wrote: »

mwebster11 wrote: »

fat,bc you burn off carbs doing cardio

I think you mean cardio burns calories.... (meaning the person was wrong in the advice they just gave you)

The reason everyone said calories is because there is not one of the three which innately wrong to go over. Put differently there is not one catch all percentage a person should have for carbs, protein, and fats. So to ask which one shouldn't go over makes little sense. As long as you are under your calorie goal (and get enough protein and healthy fats required daily) it doesn't matter.

Edit: If pressed I would say fat *ONLY* because there are more calories in a gram of fat than carbs (9 vs 4), so it might be more likely to push you above your calorie limit. Again if you aren't near the limit it is not important.

Merkavar

Kimegatron wrote: »

Is it worse to go over in sugar, carbs, or fat?

My vote is for sugar then carbs then fat.

Sugar because it seems high in energy and will make it harder to stay under your calories.
Carbs because it's so easy to find carbs, they are basically everywhere it seems.
Fats are important and in my experience harder to get because for a lot of people the first thing they do when losing weight is cut fats, lite milk etc because fat is bad. But that's probably a mistake or overreaction.

contingencyplan

Generally speaking it doesn't matter. Realistically speaking, if you're MEETING your calorie goal (which is just as important as not exceeding it) you will be over in one and under in another because it's virtually impossible to micromanage everything to the point where you meet everything exactly. Unless you're some hardcore bodybuilder OR a diabetic, worry about calories and calories alone. Everything else, let it fall where it may and don't worry too much about it. Obsessing to that level will do you more harm than good in the long run.

Kimegatron

Thank you!

lemurcat12

Protein, carbs, and fat are largely personal preferences. There is simply no general rule that MFP's default percentages are the ideal ones (in fact, I think they are often too low in protein), and therefore no reason why anyone should consider it bad at all (let alone "worst") to go over in fat or carbs. I prefer eating slightly fewer carbs (40%) and slightly more fat (30%) than MFP's defaults -- so I changed my settings to reflect that -- but that doesn't mean I could tell anyone else that going over carbs is "worst" and in fact I don't care at all if I go over my carb limit on a particular day (and there might be good reason too, like extra exercise).

Sugar is a problematic measurement here, because it kind of depends on what you eat and how high your calories are. If you go over sugar because you are at a lower calorie level and eat lots of fruit, veggies, and dairy, I think that's likely reflective of a healthier overall diet than many that would be lower in sugar. If you are going over the limit because of mostly sweet treats, that's quite possibly reflective of a less healthy diet, but just going over on one day while within calories would be no big thing.

Similarly, I think there is a huge range of fat percentages that can be healthy (I wouldn't enjoy a really high fat diet, but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it), and the current dietary advice (finally!) reflects this by eliminating the limit on fat percentage that was long recommended. That doesn't mean that all kinds of fat are the same, though, and if you were getting a high percentage of fat that was saturated fat from animal sources, that likely would be something to consider lowering (although again I think the actual evidence is more murky than sometimes claimed).

Same with carbs--there are more and less nutrient dense sources of carbs, some that contribute fiber (which I pay more attention to than fat percentage vs. carb percentage), some that do not, etc., and I think considering this (without focusing on specific numbers) is more important than worrying about going over some arbitrary limit.

I wouldn't really think of the fat, carbs, protein numbers as minimums, but general guidelines (and with protein and fat I think the more important numbers are the minimums in grams that you should be getting, which aren't shown on the MFP defaults).

So this is my longwinded explanation why I don't think you can say that it's "worst" to go over any of those three.

PaulaWallaDingDong

Kimegatron wrote: »

I know to not go over in calories... For the general healthy human being, I am just wondering if it is worse if they eat too much fat, too many carbs, or too much sugar, all while staying under in calories. Say for example, they have no medical issues.

You just keep asking...

dovedavis

My counter keeps saying I'm over on fats, even tho it is "Healthy" fats. And the app doesn't count proteins correctly.
Does anybody else have this difficulty?
I eat a lot of Beans, Legumes + Whole Grain or Brown Rice. Should complete my proteins, but the app doesn't. I eat refried beans on a high fiber, low carb wrap, with Salsa, Provolone and Romaine. It says "this is low in fat" and yet tells me to watch my fat content. Or will say "high in fiber", "good source of Calcium", bla bla bla. I'm always telling the app to "Shut Up" or "Bite Me." Kinda makes me feel a little better.

janejellyroll

dovedavis wrote: »

My counter keeps saying I'm over on fats, even tho it is "Healthy" fats. And the app doesn't count proteins correctly.
Does anybody else have this difficulty?
I eat a lot of Beans, Legumes + Whole Grain or Brown Rice. Should complete my proteins, but the app doesn't. I eat refried beans on a high fiber, low carb wrap, with Salsa, Provolone and Romaine. It says "this is low in fat" and yet tells me to watch my fat content. Or will say "high in fiber", "good source of Calcium", bla bla bla. I'm always telling the app to "Shut Up" or "Bite Me." Kinda makes me feel a little better.

If you want to eat more fats, you can reset your macro percentages in your goals.

What do you mean that the app doesn't count protein correctly?

lemurcat12

dovedavis wrote: »

My counter keeps saying I'm over on fats, even tho it is "Healthy" fats.

You have a default fat percentage. But you shouldn't think of it as going over as if that's a bad thing if within your calories. They are general targets. If you prefer to eat more fat, change the settings. (My fat percentage is at 30%, but many people have them set higher.)

And the app doesn't count proteins correctly.

I don't have this problem. What do you mean? Sometimes there are inaccurate entries--are you being careful not to choose those?

I eat a lot of Beans, Legumes + Whole Grain or Brown Rice. Should complete my proteins, but the app doesn't.

The app doesn't fuss about whether you are getting complete protein. It just counts total grams. Either you are choosing inaccurate entries or getting less than you thought.

It says "this is low in fat" and yet tells me to watch my fat content. Or will say "high in fiber", "good source of Calcium", bla bla bla. I'm always telling the app to "Shut Up" or "Bite Me." Kinda makes me feel a little better.

I ignore that stuff (actually I mainly log in the web version of the site). Most of it is ridiculous. "Bite me" works too. ;-)

MlleKelly

Carbs, fats, and sugars are all essential for your body to function, but I think that processed sugar is the WORST.

I eat mostly clean and whole, so most of the carbs, fats, and sugars I get are naturally found in the foods I eat. I tend to feel like I use up all of my carbs doing exercise and just, you know, living. Also, I don't eat a lot of fatty foods so when I go over my fat macro it's because I've eaten an avocado or had olive oil in two meals or something like that. Or cheese. But sugar...oh, sugar.

The only time I ever go over on my sugar macro is when I've had a splurge-y dessert, which also tends to include lots of carbs and fat...

Since you're asking for opinions, here's mine (because this is what works for me): Of the three, going over on sugar is the worst.

janejellyroll

MlleKelly wrote: »

Carbs, fats, and sugars are all essential for your body to function, but I think that processed sugar is the WORST.

I eat mostly clean and whole, so most of the carbs, fats, and sugars I get are naturally found in the foods I eat. I tend to feel like I use up all of my carbs doing exercise and just, you know, living. Also, I don't eat a lot of fatty foods so when I go over my fat macro it's because I've eaten an avocado or had olive oil in two meals or something like that. Or cheese. But sugar...oh, sugar.

The only time I ever go over on my sugar macro is when I've had a splurge-y dessert, which also tends to include lots of carbs and fat...

Since you're asking for opinions, here's mine (because this is what works for me): Of the three, going over on sugar is the worst.

Why is it the worst?