Calories vs macros

bronagh679

Hi guys
I am confused at the moment

If a chocolate bar contains 150 calories and you eat 1 or two of these and these fit into your calorie deficit but your over your carb macros etc how can this be justified

How can something that has 150 calories and have 30g of carbs be healthy for you, so if you want to reach a 1500 calories and say you eat 15 bars

How can this be true when you are getting so much carbs etc how can you lose this weight

Mycophilia

No food/treat in isolation should be defined as healthy or unhealthy. You need to look at a diet as a whole. Also, a diet that will cause weight loss and a diet that is healthy is not the same thing. Weight loss is all about calorie balance. Health is about getting adequate calories, macro and micro nutrients.

quiksylver296

A calorie is a unit of energy. Your body uses so many of these units to run itself - for simplicity's sake, let's say 2000 units. You eat less than 2000 units of energy in a day, and your body has to go to the reserve energy (your stored fat). You eat more than 2000 units of energy in a day, and your body will store that energy for later (added/gained fat).

Macros are nutrients. Your body needs carbs for energy, protein for muscle building, and fats for brain activity and other things (very, very simple explanation. Each macro does much more than that).

Calories dictate weight loss, because they are the energy. Macros do not dictate weight loss.

crazyycatlady1

Carbs don't matter for weight loss-calories do. So yes, someone could eat 15 candy bars a day and still lose weight, as long as they're hitting the correct calorie deficit for their weight loss goals. However-seriously? Who in their right mind would eat that many candy bars in one day? You'd have to camp out in the bathroom because your bowels would be messed up

eta: a couple days ago I ate a Snickers candy bar (250 calories/33 carbs). I also ate 437 calories/87 carbs worth of veggies/fruit. I still came in under my calories/carbs that day.

4legsRbetterthan2

If a chocolate bar contains 150 calories and you eat 1 or two of these and these fit into your calorie deficit but your over your carb macros etc how can this be justified

It depends from person to person, some people focus more on their calorie goal and are not as worried about macros, some are highly focused on their macros. If you have a very low calorie goal this may not be wise eating, but for someone who has a calorie goal of 2000 calories they should be able to intake plenty of nutritious food and eat a little chocolate on top of it, quite possibly without going over their carb goal at all.

How can something that has 150 calories and have 30g of carbs be healthy for you, so if you want to reach a 1500 calories and say you eat 15 bars

This would not be recommended. It is ok to fit include treats as part of a balanced diet, but no one should eat all of one type of food regardless of how "healthy vs unhealthy" it is.

jasontilli

If your goal is to simply become a smaller version of yourself then you can use calories alone. The inclusion of the nutrients is to assist you in taking the proper levels of calories in a healthy balanced way. It is a good idea to attempt to get your numbers in the green daily instead of the red. Especially when it comes to the sodium. Overly inflated sodium intake will wreck havoc on weight loss, heart rate and blood pressure. MFP is a great tool but it might be best to consult a nutritionist in regard to health goals and food for health.

BoxerBrawler

Calorie deficit alone works for weight loss. I track both calories and macro's and I used IIFYM to find my targets. If you use that and set it up for weight loss either steady, aggressive, or reckless, it will give you an appropriate calorie target along with macro targets to hit daily based upon your current stats and level of activity. Every month I adjust the numbers based upon my new weight and stats. I might help you to set your goals through there and then translate them into MFP... it kind of takes the guess work out. Also - you can basically eat whatever you want as long as it fits into your calories & macro target each day. It takes a couple of weeks to hit your numbers... have to play around with eating certain things to hit the numbers (+/- 5g), but once you do it gets easier I know your question was a little different than this answer but it's just a suggestion as an alternative option if you're interested. And don't be afraid of carbs... they are wonderful especially if you're lifting heavy!

rileysowner

bronagh679 wrote: »

Hi guys
I am confused at the moment

If a chocolate bar contains 150 calories and you eat 1 or two of these and these fit into your calorie deficit but your over your carb macros etc how can this be justified

How can something that has 150 calories and have 30g of carbs be healthy for you, so if you want to reach a 1500 calories and say you eat 15 bars

How can this be true when you are getting so much carbs etc how can you lose this weight

If your goal is weight loss all that matters is calories. In other words you could eat 10 chocolate bars at 150 calories to get to 1500 calories and lose weight assuming you are in a calorie deficit.

However, that would not make eating that way healthy. Primarily it would be because of a lack in micro-nutrients (vitamins and minerals) not to mention lacking protein.

Having said that, fitting in a 150 calorie chocolate bar in a 1500 calorie diet will not make it unhealthy as health is not really determined only by macro break down. Healthy diets are found around this world with radically different macro breakdowns. Other than for certain goals other than weight loss (say building muscle or performing in endurance events) will dictate macro break down, as will what you personally find most satiating. For some people that is higher carb, for others it is higher protein or fat.

I do question why you put up a situation that no one here would ever suggest. Eating only chocolate bars is not something I have ever seen anyone promote here other than possibly as a purely hypothetical example.

zamphir66

bronagh679 wrote: »

If a chocolate bar contains 150 calories and you eat 1 or two of these and these fit into your calorie deficit but your over your carb macros etc how can this be justified

1. Not everyone pays excruciating attention to their macros (and not everyone needs to).
2. Even if you are paying attention, one day, one meal or one snack is just not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things.

bronagh679 wrote: »

How can something that has 150 calories and have 30g of carbs be healthy for you, so if you want to reach a 1500 calories and say you eat 15 bars

No one does this or even wants to do this, except for maybe children or people with profound mental disorders.

bronagh679 wrote: »

How can this be true when you are getting so much carbs etc how can you lose this weight

You gain weight from too many calories, not too many carbs. Unless your too many carbs happens to put you over your calorie maintenance. But then the same would apply to fat and protein, too. In other words, you can become obese with a perfectly "healthy" diet too.

bronagh679

Thanks for the help


Eating that many chocolate bars was definitely hypothetical lol ..

cwolfman13

bronagh679 wrote: »

Hi guys
I am confused at the moment

If a chocolate bar contains 150 calories and you eat 1 or two of these and these fit into your calorie deficit but your over your carb macros etc how can this be justified

How can something that has 150 calories and have 30g of carbs be healthy for you, so if you want to reach a 1500 calories and say you eat 15 bars

How can this be true when you are getting so much carbs etc how can you lose this weight

'cuz carbs don't matter for weight management...calories (energy) does. Excess calories lead to weight gain...nothing to do with carbs.

TR0berts

BTW - if you eat 15 bars, at 150 Cals each, that comes out to 2250 Cals, not 1500. As such, if one did do this, (s)he'd be way over (750, to be exact) his/her Calorie limit for the day.

bronagh679

TR0berts wrote: »

BTW - if you eat 15 bars, at 150 Cals each, that comes out to 2250 Cals, not 1500. As such, if one did do this, (s)he'd be way over (750, to be exact) his/her Calorie limit for the day.

Again hypothetical, making up numbers etc but thank you

kshama2001

I pay attention to calories for weight loss and macros for satiety, which aids in weight loss as I don't like to be hungry except right before a meal.