Daily macro % confusion

SabMarsh
SabMarsh Posts: 5 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all, I have started keto and they recommend MFP. However, I have only had lunch and dinner today at the moment at 500cals (have 1400cal allowance) and it says I have gone over my daily % allowance for macros, yet my nutrients allowance says I am still under my carbs and protein allowance. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

Replies

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,839 Member
    The percentages you see are for the food you have consumed so far, those percentages will shift as you go through the day and eat other foods and the total will always be 100%.
    It's the absolute goal amounts you should be looking at, or the percentages for a full day.
  • Bridgie3
    Bridgie3 Posts: 139 Member
    edited March 2022
    your macros are wrong. If you're on keto your carbs should be your lowest macro and protein shouldn't be too far behind, as you cannot store protein and turn any excess into carbs thus increasing your carb intake. You can't go over on fat and still have carbs left. it's too hard...

    What macros have you set in your food system? And are you looking at the grammes section, or are you looking at the pie chart? Ignore the pie chart till the day is done. Just look at the actual grammes totals.

    And fix the macros. :)
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    edited March 2022
    Bridgie3 wrote: »
    your macros are wrong. If you're on keto your carbs should be your lowest macro and protein shouldn't be too far behind, as you cannot store protein and turn any excess into carbs thus increasing your carb intake. You can't go over on fat and still have carbs left. it's too hard...

    What macros have you set in your food system? And are you looking at the grammes section, or are you looking at the pie chart? Ignore the pie chart till the day is done. Just look at the actual grammes totals.

    And fix the macros. :)

    Disagree.

    What do you mean, "Your macros are wrong."

    You don't know what she has set as her goals - and it's not up to you anyway. Macros are really flexible other than getting *enough* fat and protein. Keto isn't a magical weight management thing. I lost 80ish pounds on 40C/40F/20P.

    It's entirely possible to go over on fat and still have carbs left - what do you mean "it's too hard?"

  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    *She did mention keto.

    OP: Did you custom set your percentages to match keto targets? Fat should be the highest, then protein, carbs lowest. If you open your diary we might have a better understanding of what is going on.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    edited March 2022
    Thanks, @DancingMoosie.
  • Bridgie3
    Bridgie3 Posts: 139 Member
    edited March 2022
    cmriverside wrote: »
    Bridgie3 wrote: »
    your macros are wrong. If you're on keto your carbs should be your lowest macro and protein shouldn't be too far behind, as you cannot store protein and turn any excess into carbs thus increasing your carb intake. You can't go over on fat and still have carbs left. it's too hard...

    What macros have you set in your food system? And are you looking at the grammes section, or are you looking at the pie chart? Ignore the pie chart till the day is done. Just look at the actual grammes totals.

    And fix the macros. :)

    Disagree.

    What do you mean, "Your macros are wrong."

    You don't know what she has set as her goals - and it's not up to you anyway. Macros are really flexible other than getting *enough* fat and protein. Keto isn't a magical weight management thing. I lost 80ish pounds on 40C/40F/20P.

    It's entirely possible to go over on fat and still have carbs left - what do you mean "it's too hard?"

    I'm saying she's put them in wrong. On keto to go over on fat without having gone over on carbs is not a thing.

    Keto is NOT 40c/40f/20p. It's more like 70f/10c/20p.



    Give it a go, you'll see what I mean.

    She needs to choose the macros that fit her diet style and plug them into the MFP machine.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    SabMarsh wrote: »
    Hi all, I have started keto and they recommend MFP. However, I have only had lunch and dinner today at the moment at 500cals (have 1400cal allowance) and it says I have gone over my daily % allowance for macros, yet my nutrients allowance says I am still under my carbs and protein allowance. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

    The default MFP macros are not keto macros. Go here:

    https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/my_goals/daily_nutrition_goals

    and change the percentages to your keto macros, for example, the one mentioned above: 10 c/70 f/20 p.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    Honestly, I don’t think the macro % are very helpful at all. What is helpful is tracking macros in grams. I think your keto program probably specifies your max carbohydrates to get into ketosis in grams?

    I don’t do keto but I do strive for protein, fat and fiber minimums in grams. As long as I hit those minimums, I don’t care what my total carbs are.

    FWIW, my net carbs (total less fiber) end up in the 100-120g range which I think would be considered low-ish carb but nowhere near keto.

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