Macro calculator?

kristiannanw
kristiannanw Posts: 59 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
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I went and calculated my macros.. ivebeen counting calories for months and months.... is this really accurate? It freaks me out to think of consuming that many calories... however I do exercise alot harder.
should I trust this?

Replies

  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    Calorie recommendations from online calculators are a starting point.

    If you've been counting calories for months and months, then you should have gathered enough personal data to know your personal calorie requirements. If you eat X calories and burn Y calories, what does your weight do?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,409 Member
    Yeah, what seska says.

    Only way to know is to try it.

    TDEE/Macro calculators are figuring in your planned exercise. Myfitnesspal wants you to enter exercise into the Exercise tab and eat more on days you do purposeful exercise.

    1801 may be good. It may not. We know virtually nothing about you, so try it and see.

    I'm in my mid 60s, retired, tiny low-maintenance condo and I lose weight on 1800-2000 calories (5'8" 140)
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,160 Member
    Are you now at the point where you want to maintain your weight? If so, there's a thread in the maintenance stickies about various ways to determine your maintenance calorie level:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level

    Calorie needs are very individual, and can require experimentation.

    If the point is keep losing but focus more on your macros, then one option is to trust the MFP defaults (which aren't bad for most people), or to consider this:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    This source has a good discussion of science-based approaches to deciding on protein intake:

    https://examine.com/nutrition/how-much-protein-do-you-need/

    Personally, I like a minimum of 0.6-0.8g protein daily per pound of healthy goal weight (more is fine within reason); minimum of 0.35-0.45g fats daily per pound of healthy goal weight (more is fine within reason; and emphasizing mono/polyunsaturated sources as much as practical, like nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil, etc; and making it a point to get a reasonable amount of Omega 3s in there); and letting carbs fall where they may (unless there are energy level or appetite/craving or medical reasons not to do that). I also personally think it's important to get plenty of varied, colorful veggies and fruits for micros and extra fiber: A bare minimum of 5 servings daily, and more is better.

    But that last paragraph is just me and my preferences, not any kind of gospel. (And yes, I did mean "per pound" in that protein thing: I want more than the USDA/WHO default levels given my personal circumstances, based on what looks to me like sound research.)
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Take a recent month of counting calories and doing the workouts you plan to continue with amount you ate back for them.

    What's the avg daily figure given for total eaten (not NET)?

    Is it close?

    You can also view the stats on your macros - how close were you?
    With the given %, and avg daily eaten - you can figure out the grams you've been doing already.

    If really far apart in calories eaten - perhaps you weren't using MFP correctly, or perhaps you entered wrong info on that site.

  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    tealevell wrote: »
    I gain weight if I eat 1500 calories. I have to bring my calories down to 1000 to lose. I wish I had a Doctor who could explain this to me . My Mother had the problem and my Brother also but my oldest Brother always maintains healthy weight even when we were home eating the same Damm thing. Sorry for the whining

    How have you determined that you only eat 1000 calories a day? The vast majority who say this actually eat much more than they realise. This is done by eating food that they forget to log (a taste here and there when cooking, forgetting to add condiments and oils etc) or they measure their foods with measuring cups and spoons when for accuracy weighing food on a set of scales is the only way to go. They may choose inaccurate entries from the MFP databate (it is always best to double-check with food labels and websites like USDA), or they may choose entries like 1 piece or 1 packet or 1 slice. WEIGH EVERYTHING. This includes that piece of fruit, that slice of bread, that prepackaged protein bar.
    Most that make these changes are surprised by how much they were really eating.

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