Daily calorie goal vs nutrient goals

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Kristine0513
Kristine0513 Posts: 5 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Wondering if those that have been successful with weight loss are strictly adhering to watching BOTH daily calories AND the nutrient goals.

I find that more often I am paying more attention to my calorie intake than to the nutrients.
I chose a 1200 calorie goal with 40% carbs and 30% protein and fat.

Appreciate your suggestions!

Good luck on your journey

Replies

  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    Weight loss comes from calories. The macros (fat, protein, and carbs) are going to be very individual and for most people sticking to strict numbers is not necessary and sometimes counterproductive. I know that personally when I am low on protein it tends to be a bit harder to stick to my calorie goal the following days. You may find that raising or lowering just one can help or hurt your ability to stick to your calorie goal.
  • Kristine0513
    Kristine0513 Posts: 5 Member
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    Great .... thank you usmcmp !
    I want to keep this simple and not over think it.
    I'm not so sure my percentage breakdown will remain as is .... thinking I need to increase the protein to ward of brain fog .... and to decrease the evening urge to snack.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    Try adjusting them and seeing what works. Some people do great with lower carbs and higher fat, some people do better with higher protein.
  • Kristine0513
    Kristine0513 Posts: 5 Member
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    What are your healthy "fat" choices.
    I feel very limited with just nuts; cheese; avocado; and milk.
    There has to be other choices I'm not familiar with.

    Do you eat your fats alone ....
    Or do you incorporate them into your meal recipe?
    I'm so basic whereas I simply will have a small individual size serving of Wholly Guacomole with some cut up veggies. I don't feel as if I ate a meal but I do tend to treat it as a lunch.

    Maybe this is where I stumble ... not very creative with meal planning.

  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    Ideas for fat: chicken thighs, pork chops, small steaks, butter, hummus, tofu, chia seeds, flax seeds, full fat salad dressing,
  • Kristine0513
    Kristine0513 Posts: 5 Member
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    Thanks RodaRose ...... appreciate the suggestions !
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Kristine0513 wrote: »
    What are your healthy "fat" choices.
    I feel very limited with just nuts; cheese; avocado; and milk.
    There has to be other choices I'm not familiar with.

    My idea of healthy fats I actively try to include in my diet (some you mentioned): fatty fish, avocado (and I also use avocado oil), nuts (and nutbutters, I really like almond butter and have some walnut butter right now), and seeds (and things made with seeds, like tahini and foods that include tahini), olives and olive oil. Other sources of fat that I get: eggs (pretty much daily), that that comes with meat, coconut oil and milk, dairy fat (especially from yogurt, but also cheese and cottage cheese). Those are the main ones.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    On calories vs. macros, I focus more on calories, but will look at macros percentages within my calories and make changes to adjust them if I think it would be helpful. In particular, I started by trying to get protein to around .8 g/lb of my goal weight, and that's now a habit (I always seem to be over). Right now I'm experimenting with lower carb, but I lost most of my weight at 40-30-30. If I were trying to lose (I'm in maintenance, mostly, although I wouldn't mind losing a few more lbs), I'd be most focused on calories, but now I'm also trying to figure out what's most sustainable for maintenance.

    For nutrition, I don't focus on specific numbers, but more on generally eating a healthy diet, a good amount and variety of vegetables, the protein numbers and healthy fats mentioned before.

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