Is it important to hit macros?

nanagetshealthier

I'm trying to lose weight and I was wondering if I stay within my set daily calories does it make a difference if I don't hit my macros? Is it important to always eat the right amount of macros to lose weight?

diannethegeek

Calories are king for weight loss. As long as you hit your calorie goals then you should lose weight (assuming no medical conditions, obviously).

Macro goals (carbs/fat/protein) can help with health, energy levels, mood, satiety, and other things. But it's important to keep in mind that MFP's default goals for this are just one possible suggestion. They're a guideline, not a rule. You can eat in a lot of different macro splits and still be healthy and happy. It's okay to eat in a different way if it works better for you.

SCoil123

For weight loss alone they don't matter.

nanagetshealthier

diannethegeek wrote: »

Calories are king for weight loss. As long as you hit your calorie goals then you should lose weight (assuming no medical conditions, obviously).

Macro goals (carbs/fat/protein) can help with health, energy levels, mood, satiety, and other things. But it's important to keep in mind that MFP's default goals for this are just one possible suggestion. They're a guideline, not a rule. You can eat in a lot of different macro splits and still be healthy and happy. It's okay to eat in a different way if it works better for you.

Thank you! I was worried that I stopped losing weight because I don't hit my macros.

BlueSkyShoal

For weight loss it doesn't matter. For general health, energy, and mood, it's a good idea to get in the ballpark of the macros. Except I think salt is more of an "upper limit" macro, compared to protein where it's more of a "try to hit it" macro.

AnvilHead

Speaking purely in terms of weight loss, calories are all that matter. You could lose weight on a diet consisting exclusively of carbs, fat or protein, or any combination of the three you could possibly think of, as long as you're in a caloric deficit.

When you factor in nutrition, overall health, satiety/adherence, energy levels, hormonal functions, workout performance, body composition, etc., macros most certainly do matter. It's not necessary to obsess over hitting each macro exactly to the gram every day, but it is a good idea for a lot of reasons to have an overall reasonably balanced diet. And as @diannethegeek said, there are a lot of different macro splits that people use - MFP's default settings are just one possibility.

An excellent primer on setting up your macros can be found here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

RodaRose

Eat your protein and fat most days. It is o.k to go over.
As far as carbs, they do not matter as much.