Fine tuning macros - advice please!

imogen__may

Hey guys,

So just a quick bit of background. I'm at goal, have been maintaining for a good little while now, having lost over 150lbs over the last 4/5years.

I've used MFP for the last 3ish years and over that time I've been putting more and more energy into fine tuning what works for me in terms of diet. Like many people I loved calorie counting because I could eat 3 slices of cake if I wanted to, as long as I was under my calories. That's absolutely not how I feel now, having been on a huge journey from horrible health to relative wellness.

These days I eat pretty much veggies and protein. I hate to say I'm paleo because whilst that is pretty much how I eat, I found that due to health problems reducing grains, legumes, sugars etc really helped me manage.

Usually the paleo diet is average protein intake, lower carbs and higher fats. However, I need slightly more protein for medical reasons - about 70g and less fat (just had my gall bladder removed due to several years of awful stones are severe infections, but I'm still having serious issues managing fats).

I guess at this point I have a few questions.

Does it matter how many carbs I'm eating, if all I eat are vegetables? I don't have any bread, pasta, white potato etc, all my carbs come from other veg and I have a max of 2 portions of fruit a day.

Lots of veggies contain sugars, so I'm often 'over' my sugars even though I eat no refined sugars and limit my self to one or two portions of fruit a day, is this an issue?

I'm trying to work on including more fat into my diet, and actually I seem to be much more able to manage things like nuts, avocados etc than I am fats from meats, but what is a good compromise on fats vs carbs?

Finally, any other advice!? I have done a bit of reading around the subject but people seem to fall either into 'don't care' or 'must be on point' when it comes to macros and I feel like I'm chasing my own tale setting and re setting macros to try and fit with what I think I should be doing!

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!

imogen__may

Also meant to say, I eat 1300-1400 to maintain. I'm 5'2 and am a wheelchair user.

RodaRose

imogen__may wrote: »

Also meant to say, I eat 1300-1400 to maintain. I'm 5'2 and am a wheelchair user.

It is o.k. to go over on sugars -- My fitness pal has weird settings for sugars.
You do not have to worry about carbs. A carb is a carb. Choose ones that help you get through your day.
Some people do well with carbs. Some like to keep them low-ish or low.

Here are some guidelines that folks use for macros:
http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/ask-the-dietitian-whats-the-best-carb-protein-and-fat-breakdown-for-weight-loss/

Carbohydrates 45-65%
Protein 10-35%
Fat 20-35%