MACROS OR COUNTING CALORIES???
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Well I count both my calories AND macros. I haven't lost as much weight as others but that is mainly because of a slow metabolism due to yo yo dieting.Question to all MFP friends do you guys track your food based on calories or macros? Also have any of you purchased the upgraded version or thinking of upgrading?
-How do you figure out how many grams of each to eat? Any help is helpful, thank you!
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Thank you all for this information, I was following the 1200 calories on MFP and I have hit a plateau and I am always hungry. I work out Mon-Fri 30-40 Min cardio (either Interval running or Stairmaster) I do strength training as well 4 times a week with Wed being my cardio only day. I need to lose at least 30 more lbs and I am having a hard time tweaking my food intake (calories vs. macros). I have gone online and I get different numbers for my macros which confuses me even more.
185lbs 5'3 online BMR is 1614.85 I have an office job so am in front of a computer all day, I walk on my breaks. I did pay the premium for MFP this month but am confused as to what macros values to enter since I get different numbers online. Can anyone help me? Thank you!
Macros are personal preference, so it's more about experimenting to see what works best for you.
I personally find that protein at every meal is more filling for me, and also I have been convinced that eating at least .8 g of protein per lb at goal weight (as a rough proxy for someone who does not know LBM) is a good idea if you are exercising and want to preserve muscle mass while losing, so I aim for at least 96 grams of protein (5'3, goal weight around 120, I usually round the 96 g up to 100). That's about 400 calories from protein.
If I were you I'd probably decide on a protein number and just aim to hit that and see how my calories fell when trying to eat a diet that was healthy and felt enjoyable to me and then evaluate what my fat and carbs were and whether I was feeling hungry or satisfied or if it varied day to day.
From experimenting I find that 100 g protein, 50 g fat, and the rest carbs, depending on my calorie limit, how much exercise I'm doing, etc., tends to work well for me, although I don't worry if I have a weird day here or there.
Are you eating back your exercise? At 1200 you should be.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Thank you all for this information, I was following the 1200 calories on MFP and I have hit a plateau and I am always hungry. I work out Mon-Fri 30-40 Min cardio (either Interval running or Stairmaster) I do strength training as well 4 times a week with Wed being my cardio only day. I need to lose at least 30 more lbs and I am having a hard time tweaking my food intake (calories vs. macros). I have gone online and I get different numbers for my macros which confuses me even more.
185lbs 5'3 online BMR is 1614.85 I have an office job so am in front of a computer all day, I walk on my breaks. I did pay the premium for MFP this month but am confused as to what macros values to enter since I get different numbers online. Can anyone help me? Thank you!
Macros are personal preference, so it's more about experimenting to see what works best for you.
I personally find that protein at every meal is more filling for me, and also I have been convinced that eating at least .8 g of protein per lb at goal weight (as a rough proxy for someone who does not know LBM) is a good idea if you are exercising and want to preserve muscle mass while losing, so I aim for at least 96 grams of protein (5'3, goal weight around 120, I usually round the 96 g up to 100). That's about 400 calories from protein.
If I were you I'd probably decide on a protein number and just aim to hit that and see how my calories fell when trying to eat a diet that was healthy and felt enjoyable to me and then evaluate what my fat and carbs were and whether I was feeling hungry or satisfied or if it varied day to day.
From experimenting I find that 100 g protein, 50 g fat, and the rest carbs, depending on my calorie limit, how much exercise I'm doing, etc., tends to work well for me, although I don't worry if I have a weird day here or there.
Are you eating back your exercise? At 1200 you should be.
No, I usually don't. I wear a Polar HR monitor so I have dont know the exact amount of calories I burn while doing cardio only. Should I be eating all calories burned while working out, including the streght training?
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Technically, you could do it either way because the calories would work out.
I track calories. I don't want to eat to certain numbers of protein.
I began tracking elsewhere because I wanted micros before MFP had them. I'm not switching back because I already paid someone else and because the MFP database and entries are much more complicated. What I'm using now is much easier.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Thank you all for this information, I was following the 1200 calories on MFP and I have hit a plateau and I am always hungry. I work out Mon-Fri 30-40 Min cardio (either Interval running or Stairmaster) I do strength training as well 4 times a week with Wed being my cardio only day. I need to lose at least 30 more lbs and I am having a hard time tweaking my food intake (calories vs. macros). I have gone online and I get different numbers for my macros which confuses me even more.
185lbs 5'3 online BMR is 1614.85 I have an office job so am in front of a computer all day, I walk on my breaks. I did pay the premium for MFP this month but am confused as to what macros values to enter since I get different numbers online. Can anyone help me? Thank you!
Macros are personal preference, so it's more about experimenting to see what works best for you.
I personally find that protein at every meal is more filling for me, and also I have been convinced that eating at least .8 g of protein per lb at goal weight (as a rough proxy for someone who does not know LBM) is a good idea if you are exercising and want to preserve muscle mass while losing, so I aim for at least 96 grams of protein (5'3, goal weight around 120, I usually round the 96 g up to 100). That's about 400 calories from protein.
If I were you I'd probably decide on a protein number and just aim to hit that and see how my calories fell when trying to eat a diet that was healthy and felt enjoyable to me and then evaluate what my fat and carbs were and whether I was feeling hungry or satisfied or if it varied day to day.
From experimenting I find that 100 g protein, 50 g fat, and the rest carbs, depending on my calorie limit, how much exercise I'm doing, etc., tends to work well for me, although I don't worry if I have a weird day here or there.
Are you eating back your exercise? At 1200 you should be.
No, I usually don't. I wear a Polar HR monitor so I have dont know the exact amount of calories I burn while doing cardio only. Should I be eating all calories burned while working out, including the streght training?
I would eat back some, at least. Maybe 75% to start -- I don't think MFP gives a huge calorie amount for strength training anyway.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »Thank you all for this information, I was following the 1200 calories on MFP and I have hit a plateau and I am always hungry. I work out Mon-Fri 30-40 Min cardio (either Interval running or Stairmaster) I do strength training as well 4 times a week with Wed being my cardio only day. I need to lose at least 30 more lbs and I am having a hard time tweaking my food intake (calories vs. macros). I have gone online and I get different numbers for my macros which confuses me even more.
185lbs 5'3 online BMR is 1614.85 I have an office job so am in front of a computer all day, I walk on my breaks. I did pay the premium for MFP this month but am confused as to what macros values to enter since I get different numbers online. Can anyone help me? Thank you!
Macros are personal preference, so it's more about experimenting to see what works best for you.
I personally find that protein at every meal is more filling for me, and also I have been convinced that eating at least .8 g of protein per lb at goal weight (as a rough proxy for someone who does not know LBM) is a good idea if you are exercising and want to preserve muscle mass while losing, so I aim for at least 96 grams of protein (5'3, goal weight around 120, I usually round the 96 g up to 100). That's about 400 calories from protein.
If I were you I'd probably decide on a protein number and just aim to hit that and see how my calories fell when trying to eat a diet that was healthy and felt enjoyable to me and then evaluate what my fat and carbs were and whether I was feeling hungry or satisfied or if it varied day to day.
From experimenting I find that 100 g protein, 50 g fat, and the rest carbs, depending on my calorie limit, how much exercise I'm doing, etc., tends to work well for me, although I don't worry if I have a weird day here or there.
Are you eating back your exercise? At 1200 you should be.
No, I usually don't. I wear a Polar HR monitor so I have dont know the exact amount of calories I burn while doing cardio only. Should I be eating all calories burned while working out, including the streght training?
I would eat back some, at least. Maybe 75% to start -- I don't think MFP gives a huge calorie amount for strength training anyway.
From what I have seen it doesn't give you any calories back at all for streght training. I will start eating back some, is it normal to feel guilty that you are eating them back when you are suppose to be burning them for a reason?? lol0 -
It gives back aprox 250 calories for strength training-0
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