Keeping control of the MFP numbers.

Project9

For some reason the 1,520 calories are pretty easy to adhere to. Some time while coming up way low in the calorie area, I'll go over in the other areas. Mostly Protein, fat or sugar. Keeping under sodium and carbs is pretty easily.

I figure if I have to go over, it's best to go over in fat and protein categories. I've always felt sugar makes you fatter than fat does. Also, I have a sweet tooth, not a fat tooth.

BevBasil

I always aim for the fat and protein if I know I'm going to go over. You can go in and customize your goals.....I put my protein and fats a little higher and backed down the carbs. I still have trouble with the sugar..... one yougert and a couple pieces of fruit can put that over.

Lulufifi1994

Regarding sugar - I'm always way over because I drink fruit juice and eat 1 or 2 pieces of fruit a day. I think it depends on the source of the sugar, obviously if your eating sugar out of the bag then it's not going to help you at all, but if you're having a fruit salad then the fibre and micronutrients that come with it are beneficial.

Project9

if you feel you need that much fruit, better to eat the fruit than drinking the juice. juice concentrates the suger too much and eliminates the fiber.

girlcalledryan

I go over on sugar EVERY SINGLE DAY I eat berries apples and bananas daily. I don't even look at it. I love sweets, and eating fruit all days helps keep me from eating cookies, candy and junk all day. I try to focus on getting enough protien and eating whole foods, stay at 1000 cal deficiet and just keep on keeping on.

trogalicious

look at it like this.

if you're hitting the calorie goal, you should already be at a deficit.
the protein, fat, and carb macro numbers are goals to hit. If you go over, no big deal.

NovemberJune

I'm always over the default protein, fat, and sugar goals too. I have my own minimum fat and protein goals though. And I looooooooove fruit so I go over the default sugar goal at about 9 am

crystalflame

A couple of things:

MFP sets protein pretty low at 15%. A lot of the successful people on here have theirs set much higher, trying to get 1g protein per lb lean body mass. Protein will fill you up and help preserve muscle mass while you're losing weight, so eat up.

Fats are necessary for hormone regulation, healthy skin, healthy hair, etc. Full-fat versions of food are often worth the calories because you get better nutrition and fewer added sugars. Fat doesn't make you fat; the low-fat fad misinformed people about that. However, fat is calorie-dense, so it's easy to go over on calories if you eat a lot of high fat foods.

What matters when it comes to weight loss is a calorie deficit. You can adjust your intake of your macros based on your other fitness goals and personal preference - you'll still lose weight as long as you stay at your calorie goal.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

For some reason I read this as more of a tyrannical crowd control type situation than a calories/macros situation. :laugh:


Anyway, my personal feeling is that calories are most important. After that it's hitting my protein goal (or going over), hitting my fat goal (or going over), and least importantly hitting carbs. I don't worry about sugar at all because my carbs are already somewhat limited. (I reset my protein/fat higher than MFP's default manually)