Macros?

Bex953172

Hey everyone!

I've started looking into Macros, I use the free version of MFP so I can see my Fat, Carbs and Protein.

My partner knew a little bit so explained the basics and set some percentages for me (can't remember what they were now but I think protein was the highest, then fat then carbs as the lowest)

But I just have a few questions..

1. Do I still count calories if I'm doing Macros?

2. If I've ate all my Fat percentage for the day, but have calories left over. Does that mean I CAN have a snack but has to have no fat?

3. What happens when you exercise?
How can I know what I can eat if I don't know what I've burned off? For example it will give me extra calories but doesnt change the fat/carb/protein percentages


Hope someone can help explain this to me!

laurosaurusrex

Hey there!

So your first step will be to determine your calorie goal. From there you breakdown your macro goals. So tracking macros is just a more intricate way of tracking calories.

I’m not sure what your partner told you but carbs and proteins are 4 cals per gram and fats are 9. So based on your macro goals, the multiplication of those calories will match your calorie goal.

For example, my calorie goal is 1710 calories. My macro breakdown is 130C 70F 140P
130 x 4 = 520 calories
70 x 9 = 630 calories
140 x 4 = 560 calories
520 + 630 + 560 = 1710

MFP can be wonky and say you have X amount of calories left but the macro numbers don’t match up to it based on the math. Just stay focused on hitting macros and you will, by default, hit your calorie goal.

If you have a leftover of a macro at the end of the day, you can follow your method of thinking or calculate what the calories are and just use that as a guide. That’s why planning ahead is so key but it’s not always realistic. I would say to try and make it a point to always hit your protein goal.

As for your last question, I am from the camp of not eating back exercise calories. The calorie burn from machines and fitness bands are generally considered inaccurate (and overestimate).

Hope this helps!

Bex953172

Thanks for your advice!
Yes that makes a bit more sense.
Especially with the maths part and how it should add up.
Although I'm terrible at maths but I'll figure it out.

And yeah tbh I don't eat back my exercise calories in general, just if I fancy a snack and some are spare 😂

kshama2001

Macros are only indirectly important for weight loss as they affect satiety. If you are full, it is easier to maintain a calorie deficit. People can lose weight eating 5% carbs (ex: keto) or 60-80% carbs (ex: WFPB). As long as you stay under your maintenance calories, weight loss will not stop if you go over your fat, or any particular macro.

We see lots of people here struggling with unnecessarily high protein goals that they got from someone who was not a dietitian. If your protein is the highest that is likely due to your partner hearing some bro science. The "My 600 Pound Life" diet is probably highest in protein as well. This is not necessary for the vast majority of us.

Here's a reputable protein calculator:

https://examine.com/nutrition/protein-intake-calculator/

I shoot for 500 calories of exercise per day, and when I achieve that, using the MFP default of 20% protein aligns with the protein recommendation from examine. If I were completely sedentary, I'd need to bump it up to 30%.

Here is where macros are set on desktop: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/my-goals

AnnPT77

Bex953172 wrote: »

Thanks for your advice!
Yes that makes a bit more sense.
Especially with the maths part and how it should add up.
Although I'm terrible at maths but I'll figure it out.

And yeah tbh I don't eat back my exercise calories in general, just if I fancy a snack and some are spare 😂

The PP had some good advice, but I disagree with one piece of it.

If you only do a small amount of exercise (half an hour to an hour) 3 times a week or something like that, and you're shooting for a moderate loss rate to start with (like 0.5% of current weight per week, i.e. a pound a week at 200 pounds), then it's probably OK to let exercise increase your loss rate.

If you're doing a lot of exercise, and going for the most aggressive loss rate (like 2 pounds a week), then it's a bad plan to let the exercise speed up loss rate. Fast loss is hard to continue long enough to lose a meaningful total amount of weight, and losing too fast increases health risks.

In between those two extremes, it's a question of how much health risk you're willing to accept. Many of us are losing weight for health reasons, so compromising that with fast loss isn't helpful. Too-fast loss can also lead to things like hair thinning, brittle nails, and other appearance consequences, though those aren't as severe as what can happen on the health side. If part of your plan is fitness improvement, then underfueling is kind of shooting yourself in the foot.

Is something bad guaranteed to happen if you lose fast? Of course not. But the risk is higher.

I ate all of my carefully-estimated exercise calories while losing weight, and lost fine. Better yet, I learned the skill of estimating those calories, so it's been easy to accommodate variations in exercise load for the 7+ years since that I've been maintaining a healthy weight since that loss.

To answer your specific questions, though the PP did a good job:

1. Do I still count calories if I'm doing Macros?

PP explained this well. Counting macros gets you to the same place as counting calories while watching macros, as long as the database entries for your foods are accurate. (The database is crowd-sourced, so many entries are inaccurate. Verify them at first, until you have a good set in your recent/frequent foods on MFP.)

2. If I've ate all my Fat percentage for the day, but have calories left over. Does that mean I CAN have a snack but has to have no fat?

You'd be better off estimating your macro needs in grams, based on your bodyweight (goal bodyweight, mostly). Once you have the number of grams of protein and fats you need, and large amounts of varied, colorful veggies/fruits for fiber and micronutrients, you can use your remaining calories for whatever you want.

3. What happens when you exercise?
How can I know what I can eat if I don't know what I've burned off? For example it will give me extra calories but doesnt change the fat/carb/protein percentages

Just choose a consistent method of estimating the exercise calories, and a consistent approach to eating them back, i.e., consistent percentage (see cautions above). follow those estimates for 4-6 weeks, then look at your average weight loss per week over that time period. (Assuming you still have menstrual cycles, compare your bodyweight at the same relative point in at least two different monthly cycles.) If you've lost faster than sensible, raise your calorie goal going forward. If you could still healthfully lose faster, lower your calorie goal. (Use the assumption that 500 calories per day is roughly a pound a week, and do the math.)

If you calculate your minimum best-outcome macro needs in grams, and know those numbers, you can mentally reallocate calories after that point no matter what your diary says (Or pay for premium MFP, which will let you set those values explicitly.) For example, in maintenance I shoot for 100g protein, 50g fats as my minimums, at 5'5" and low 130s pounds. (I also eat 800g+ veggies fruits most days.) After my nutritional minimums are dialed in, I feel free to spend calories - exercise calories or any other calories - on anything I want.

For many people, a good route to go is a good brand/model of fitness tracker - worn 24x7 except when charging - and synching that to MFP. For the average person, that'll work great. Some people are not as average (we're all individuals, right?). For them, that 4-6 week trial period will shake that out, and they'll know how to adjust. If you can get a type of fitness tracker that knows what exercise type you're doing - weight lifting vs. running vs. yoga, etc., - because you tell it, that can be helpful . . . but those models are a little more expensive.

Other than that good option for estimating exercise calories, there are reasonable ways of estimating exercise calories that are close enough to be workable. If you say what kind(s) of exercise you do, folks here will have suggestions.

As an exercise calorie estimate, zero is always guaranteed to be wrong.

Keep monitoring and adjusting going forward. That'll work fine.

Bex953172

Thanks so much!

As for the health issues I have non. I'm fairly young at 31. Just a bit on the overweight side, I guess my weight loss is for my own self-esteem. The only health issue I have is hypothyroidism.

As for exercise I walk 4 miles every day Mon-Friday
And on most days (well for the past week since I started up again) I've been doing dance cardio videos from YouTube. One of which is quite intense and so far can only do half of the video. But working my way up to the full thing.

Thanks for all your advice though! Dont think i have any more questions and I'll use the links to calculate what I need.

westrich20940

If you work out and burn calories that MFP gives back to you...it *will change your macros based on the percentages you have set. So it will give you some more of each based on your own personal breakdown.

As far as if you can still have a snack if you're 'out of fat' for example...sure, and probably try to choose something that's lower in fat. As long as you are within your calories...being slightly off or over your fat goal for the day isn't going to make a huge different unless you're an athlete or something.

For me personally...I focus more on my overall calories bc it's just easier. Your macro split/breakdown is really important for figuring out what keeps you satiated the best -- in turn, making it easier for you to stay within your calorie goal/deficit.

As far as 'do you have to count calories if you're counting macros'....nope. You are likely to be within your calorie goal if you are within your macro goal - assuming the macro breakdown was made using the calorie goal initially. Again, being off a bit isn't going to ruin anything.

AnnPT77

Bex953172 wrote: »

Thanks so much!

As for the health issues I have non. I'm fairly young at 31. Just a bit on the overweight side, I guess my weight loss is for my own self-esteem. The only health issue I have is hypothyroidism.

As for exercise I walk 4 miles every day Mon-Friday
And on most days (well for the past week since I started up again) I've been doing dance cardio videos from YouTube. One of which is quite intense and so far can only do half of the video. But working my way up to the full thing.

Thanks for all your advice though! Dont think i have any more questions and I'll use the links to calculate what I need.

If you don't have a fitness tracker sync-ed to MFP, a reasonable way to estimate walking calories (beyond your reasonable assumptions of steps built into your MFP activity level) is this calculator:

https://exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs

Be sure to set the energy box to "net". You can use one of MFP's exercise descriptions and over-type its calorie estimate with one from that calculator, or you can create a custom exercise in MFP for yourself. (I do the latter.)

Since your dance cardio workouts are fairly short, it's probably reasonable to use "Dancing, aerobic, ballet or modern, twist" in the MFP exercise database. That may be off a little, but not hugely. (There's an issue with some of the database calorie values IMU, but it's generally not arithmetically all that important for normal exercise sessions of half an hour to an hour. It can be more important for things that are longer but don't burn huge numbers of calories per minute, like walking, which is why I suggested the calculator above.)

FWIW, I'm severely hypothyroid myself (and properly medicated for it). I don't believe it had any impact on my weight loss or maintenance. It can have a small impact if medication isn't completely dialed in yet, but it should not be weight loss doom.

Best wishes!