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penguinchick8478
penguinchick8478 Posts: 9
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey. So I'm a bit new on the whole macros thing, and I've been reading up on it a lot. That said, I'm slightly confused about something. Are the macros for the default setting on MFP minimum, maximum, or a fix? I've seen all three said before and it's a little frustrating. I would like to know so I know what changes need to be made to my diet.

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  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
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    Log for a week or two and see what your numbers look like. Some people do more carbs, some do more protein. I don't think there's a set in stone rule to say you must do 40/30/30 or 20/20/60 or whatever. If you find you are going over on your protein you might switch your ratios till you get something you can live with.
  • penguinchick8478
    penguinchick8478 Posts: 9
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    I usually tend to be pretty close to my fat and protein requirements but go way over sugar. It tends to be about 20-30 grams high. If this is a minimum number they give, then I don't have so much to worry about. If it's maximum....that's a much different story.
  • SibylDiane
    SibylDiane Posts: 177 Member
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    Sugars are really only necessary to track if you are diabetic, insulin-resistant, pre-diabetic, etc. I completely deleted them from my macros with my doctor's approval since I have no issues with blood sugar.
  • TaraLe33
    TaraLe33 Posts: 3 Member
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    you have to be careful with the calories that they say you can have though...If you work out like I do it will give you a lot of calories cause you earn them for working out. I work out a lot and it had me up to over 3000 calories. That is too much for me. Especially trying to lose. Make sure you check your numbers. Good Luck! Tara
  • michellechawner
    michellechawner Posts: 892
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    a lot of us don't track sugar for this reason. My doctors told me there was no need to track it, but I have to track fiber for medical reasons, so I switched my sugar to fiber. You can customize it if you'd like under settings.
  • penguinchick8478
    penguinchick8478 Posts: 9
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    That is such a relief to hear. :D I was confused because I cut out so much junk, and it's like "Really? What, am I going to have to cut out milk too?" So not having to worry so much about it is wonderful. I'll still avoid junk of course though. Thanks for telling me. I really appreciate it.
  • ashleyisgreat
    ashleyisgreat Posts: 586 Member
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    It sounds like you're asking whether or not the numbers should be considered the minimum you should have in one day, the maximum, or the goal. If this is true, I view my macro goals as true goals, so I try to hit them as close to dead-on as a I can. They certainly aren't maximums, as I've heard people say. You shouldn't be excited if you are under on all your macros. Try to hit them and if you need to, go over them slightly.

    Example: if your protein goal is 100, try to actually get 100. You can go over some, but definitely try to hit it and not be consistently under 100. Does that make sense?
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    Protein and fat are minimums. Follow the above link for more information.
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
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    Sugar is another carb. You're already tracking it once so unless you have a medical condition it's not really important.

    you have to be careful with the calories that they say you can have though...If you work out like I do it will give you a lot of calories cause you earn them for working out. I work out a lot and it had me up to over 3000 calories. That is too much for me. Especially trying to lose. Make sure you check your numbers. Good Luck! Tara

    MFP adds those calories on because it doesn't use exercise when it figures your weight loss deficit. If you're set to lose 2 lbs a week you've already been cut by 1,000 calories. Exercising and burning 500 more makes the deficit unsustainable for a person who doesn't have huge amounts to lose. That's why you're supposed to eat back at least a portion of those calories.
  • penguinchick8478
    penguinchick8478 Posts: 9
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    @Ashleyisgreat-

    I usually do the same. Today, for instance, I noticed I was low on calories and fat so I enjoyed some nice peanut butter to get it up. It was just driving me nuts because I started looking them up a bit more and reading threads about them, and it seemed like everyone was saying something different. Which I guess can be applied to all food 'facts'.

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