Fluctuating protein target.

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mnfarmgal
mnfarmgal Posts: 35 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Why does my protein goal keep changing throughout the day?

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  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Are you logging exercise?
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    Do you have an activity tracker sync'd to MFP? Have you added in exercise? Both of those change your goals.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    Do you have an activity tracker synced with MFP? As the exercise calories adjust the macro targets will as well. I consider my protein and fat (original goal) as a minimum. As long as I hit that I'm happy.
  • mnfarmgal
    mnfarmgal Posts: 35 Member
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    Yes.. my Fitbit does sync with MyFitnessPal.. I didn't realize that would affect it.. i only notice the protein changing.. no other macros. I guess I thought they were all weight based.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    The macros are a set percentage of your total calories. (50% carbs, 20% protein, 30% fat, I think.)

    I think for protein it makes more sense to set a gram goal -- I like .8 g*/lb of a healthy goal weight -- that maximizes muscle retention on a deficit. Then, treat that as a minimum and don't worry about going over, but also don't worry about hitting some increased number when your calories go up.

    I'd say it makes sense to set a minimum for fat too, and treat it the same way, except that for me getting enough fat was never an issue.

    *I like this because there's room for error and because I am a woman in my 40s, so muscle retention is a priority and building muscle is tough. If it feels too hard to hit really the benefit is for a range of .65-.85 g/lb of healthy goal weight (again going over is fine), so you would be fine setting a lower number.
  • mnfarmgal
    mnfarmgal Posts: 35 Member
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    lemurcat12- your first sentence made me realize I knew that.. I really only watch my protein and fiber.. I rarely meet my protein goal so I think in my frustration of not meeting it I realized it was a moving target and couldn't figure out why!!
    Thank you everyone for helping me! One less frustration on my list to worry about.

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