Is 79 gams of fats and 89 grams of sugar daily intake too much?

mmminent · January 30

Hi, I am a male 1.86m, 75kg, BMI 21.5 and I would like to lose a bit of weight to have 72kg (because this is when I feel the best). Actually my goal is to get rid of belly fat and get a visible abdominal muscles (but nothing extreme). I run in the spring and fall (usually 5 km every 3 days), ride a bike in the summer and walk in the winter, so I can say I am moderately active, I guess.

MFP calculated that my daily goal should be:
2370 kcal | 296 g carbs | 79 g fat | 119 g proteins | 2300 mg Sodium | 89 g Sugar

Interestingly, I rarely exceed the intake of calories or carbs in my daily nutrition ( I follow everything for two months already) but I do exceed either the intake of fats, or sugars, or sometimes even sodium (but not often) .

What bothers me is why it is suggested 79 grams of fat and 89 grams of sugar as my daily goal? Isn't that too much when my goal is to lose belly fat?

And another thing... what protein shakes do you make, how much protein do they contain per one serving (how big is that serving?) and where to buy them? I am from Europe so the proteins available in america will probably be hard to find here. I find it really hard to get enough proteins from food only because then my intake of carbs, fats, sodium and sugars goes up too!

Thanks for reading and hope to get some good advices!

sollyn23l2 · January 30

mmminent wrote: »

Hi, I am a male 1.86m, 75kg, BMI 21.5 and I would like to lose a bit of weight to have 72kg (because this is when I feel the best). Actually my goal is to get rid of belly fat and get a visible abdominal muscles (but nothing extreme). I run in the spring and fall (usually 5 km every 3 days), ride a bike in the summer and walk in the winter, so I can say I am moderately active, I guess.

MFP calculated that my daily goal should be:
2370 kcal | 296 g carbs | 79 g fat | 119 g proteins | 2300 mg Sodium | 89 g Sugar

Interestingly, I rarely exceed the intake of calories or carbs in my daily nutrition ( I follow everything for two months already) but I do exceed either the intake of fats, or sugars, or sometimes even sodium (but not often) .

What bothers me is why it is suggested 79 grams of fat and 89 grams of sugar as my daily goal? Isn't that too much when my goal is to lose belly fat?

And another thing... what protein shakes do you make, how much protein do they contain per one serving (how big is that serving?) and where to buy them? I am from Europe so the proteins available in america will probably be hard to find here. I find it really hard to get enough proteins from food only because then my intake of carbs, fats, sodium and sugars goes up too!

Thanks for reading and hope to get some good advices!

The fats and sugars are meant to be seen as maximums, not minimums. Though many people on here like to eat lots of fat, so they choose to use the fats as a minimum.

Lietchi · January 30

Fat intake and sugar intake have no relation to belly fat, losing bodyfat is about consuming fewer calories than your body needs.

AnnPT77 · January 30

What's your goal? If it's just weight loss (including belly fat), then only calories matter directly. Over on fats and sugars but within calories has approximately the same effect, no matter where the calories' source (within reason).

If you also want to be healthy, not just thin, that's where nutrition becomes essential. If you're persistently under on protein but within calories, I'd suggest it might be good to work on improving that. If you're trying to retain/build muscle as part of your "lose belly fat" strategy, adequate protein is essential for that goal (plus overall good nutrition in other respects).

I don't use protein shakes at all, because I'm able to hit a reasonably high protein goal for my size just by eating food, even as a vegetarian. There's nothing wrong with protein shakes IMO, I just don't find them tasty/satisfying, so I don't use them.

Best wishes!

mmminent · January 31

Thanks all for answers. Yes, I am trying to lose my belly fat and build some muscles (nothing excessive, just to be a little visible). I am nowhere near overweight person, infact, my weight is very appropriate for my age and height, I believe, except the bellyfat which is the only part I would like to correct.

I asked about sugar and fats intake also because I have:
6.2 mmol/L of Cholesterol (recommended value is less then 4.7) and
4.5 mmol/L of LDL Cholesterol (recommended value is less than 3.0).

I guess this cholesterol comes from cookies that I used to eat everyday with milk, maybe chocolate too (I used to eat 100 g of chocolate everyday), Panettone or Nutella. I rarely eat any other food in my meals which contains a lot of fats (or sugars). The meat I eat is always lean. And I don't consume sugary juices/drinks at all anymore.

I read somewhere that 22g of saturated fat is maximum so 79 grams of fats that MFP recommends to me confuses me. Even if it is a max value as someone said here, is it max of all fats or max of saturated fats that I should consume daily.

Same for sugar, I read that no more than 36 g daily (9 tsp) is recommended but MFP recommends 89 grams per day?

So, what I am trying to achieve is to eat healthier and lose belly fat and cholesterol.

What would you recommend me to lower/correct in my diet? Calories? Fats? Sugars? I have no problem with eating less cookies, chocolate, Nutella and similar things. Actually, I already lowered significantly the intake of those. Should I completely remove it from my diet? It's not a problem for me, at all.

Is canned mackerel (or sardines) a good source of healthy macronutrients? I started to eat it for my breakfast recently. Maybe 2 or 3 times a week. Also, oat meal with milk. And, I am not a fan of protein shakes too. Tried it just once in my life and they were not to my taste as they shrink my mouth and are way too expensive.

@AnnPT77 Yes, it seems that I am persistently under on protein but within calories, as you said. I just checked it and in the last two months I rarely exceeded 2370 kcal in my daily nutrition and I also rarely reached 119 grams of protein per day (usually I get around 60 to 90 grams of protein per day, and just a few times I managed to reach 119 or more through my normal diet (I consume no additional proteins at all through protein shakes, protein bars, protein chocolate milks or similar).

cmriverside · January 31

So...the macros (fat, protein, carbs) are set by general good nutrition Guidelines, probably originally from the WHO. The numbers represent 50% Carbs, 30% Fat, 20% Protein.

Here's the long explanation if you're interested:
https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-

Eat the way you like to eat, the way that keeps you full. If that means lower carb, fine. Fats are super important to good health, 79g is fine. More is fine, too. I eat on average about that and I lost 80 pounds and have been at BMI 21-22 for 15 years.

Weight management is about calories. Good nutrition is important but fat doesn't make you fat, within calories.

Here's my last month's fat numbers...I'm set at 1700 calories and 56g fat, but I usually eat around 2300 and you can see my fat numbers. Admittedly I was way over calories on a lot of those days! I didn't gain any weight...yet

As far as getting more protein, here is the protein source spreadsheet posted previously (scroll down on the page)
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also/p1

Lietchi · January 31

For cholesterol, general consensus (but there are diverging opinions) is:
- limit saturated fats
- increase unsaturated fats (nuts, avocados, olive oil, fatty fish...)
- increase (soluble) fiber intake (oats, vegetables, fruit...)
- increase exercise

mmminent · January 31

@cmriverside Thanks a lot for reply. I have to study the protein source spreadsheet link you attached here. It looks like it will be of massive help to me to improve my nutrition. What a great community is here at MFP. Amazing!

cmriverside · January 31

Yeah, we cross-posted.

Fats: Saturated fats are to be limited. Other fats (except trans) are okay. Saturated fats are going to be mostly from animal sources. You can Google different ones.

Sugars on myfitnesspal are going to include ALL sugars, both natural and added. Your goal of 36g ADDED sugars is a good one. Plants and dairy also have sugars, but as long as you're not using sweetened products like sweetened yogurt, you're fine. I shoot for under 100g TOTAL sugars. 100 calories of added sugar, tops. Do I always stay within? No. Just do your best and do your research.

Cholesterol problems can also be down to heredity. Genetics. Do your best. Limiting fatty meats, egg yolks, and butter is your best bet both for cholesterol and saturated fat. That would mean baked goods like cookies, which are pretty much just butter, eggs and sugar held together with some flour.

Exercise and weight loss will help too. :flowerforyou:

mmminent · January 31

Lietchi wrote: »

For cholesterol, general consensus (but there are diverging opinions) is:
- limit saturated fats
- increase unsaturated fats (nuts, avocados, olive oil, fatty fish...)
- increase (soluble) fiber intake (oats, vegetables, fruit...)
- increase exercise

Thanks a lot for being specific! I appreciate it very much.

mmminent · January 31

@cmriverside: Thanks for valuable insights and your whole reply. I think it's cookies not heredity

Ha~ I don't recall anyone in my family had problems with cholesterol, at least not big problems. But I will still listen to your advices and try to eliminate the unhealthy food.

Wow, this whole MFP thing is actually eye opening. Beacuse, when I see the summary of my daily nutrients I can see what's right and what's wrong in my daily nutrition. And I find that very valuable. It gives me an insight into what I can improve and what food I can eliminate or at least lower the consumption. Hopefully, I will see results in 6 months or 1 year. And warm weather is coming soon so I will exercise more.

PAV8888 · January 31

Just make sure to double check the entries that you use. Especially with types of fat that information is often not known or entered

frhaberl · January 31

I have had high cholesterol since I was 11 (maybe before, I think it was first checked when I was 11). The only time it tested in normal range without medication was when I was pregnant. I have reason to believe that there is a genetic component to mine, but my lifestyle and weight definitely wasn't helping. I'm finally living a lifestyle that I consider healthy and sustainable, so I'm going to talk with my doctor about going off my cholesterol meds to see where my numbers land without them. They looked great about 3 months into this lifestyle change (and about 30 lbs heavier) so I'm hopeful that I might be able to go off meds and be in a healthy range. If not, I'll just chalk it up to genes and I'm fine with taking meds that will lower my long term risk.

Lietchi provided a great summary of the recommendations. I would highlight the last two as the ones I found easiest to implement and feel are often overlooked. I do try to limit sources of saturated fats (quick note that studies have shown it's the saturated fats, not the dietary cholesterol, that raise blood cholesterol levels for most people) and steer towards healthier fats, but I don't set a specific goal around those. I DO have a goal of meeting/exceeding my fiber goal every day. Not only does that help other areas of my nutrition (more whole grains and vegetables carry lots of micronutrients with them), but it has also been show to reduce blood cholesterol and make statins more effective.

Exercise is the other thing I feel isn't recognized for it's impact on health. We tend to focus on the extra calories it burns or the muscle it builds. Regular moderate exercise (think 30 minutes of walking at a moderate pace 5x/week) has been shown to reduce visceral fat (probably the type of fat you're wanting to reduce when you talk about "belly fat") and help stabilize blood sugar levels. It also boosts HDL and lowers LDL. I've seen so much benefit from regular exercise that I find ways to fit in a walk even on the coldest, rainiest days. Just wanted to mention that in case it inspires you to find a sustainable exercise routine sooner rather than later.

mmminent · January 31

@frhaberl Thanks for tips. I didn't know that walking has such am impact on visceral fat. I don't walk 5 times a week but I do walk 1 or 2 times per week, each time for around 1h30m for a total of 8 km at 5.5 km/h, so I guess there is some benefit from those walks to reducing my belly fat. I will keep that in my mind.

francescarinaldi7583 · January 31

I think you should only focus on added sugars, not those naturally occurring. After problems with kidney stones and another medical condition, I aim to stay at 25g or less each day. For a male, I think the limit is 35 for good health. Hope that helps

frhaberl · January 31

mmminent wrote: »

I don't walk 5 times a week but I do walk 1 or 2 times per week, each time for around 1h30m for a total of 8 km at 5.5 km/h,

That's great! The studies I've read suggest walking at a moderate pace for a total of 150 minutes per week, so you seem to already be in that range.

FYI, I found it helpful to take measurements as well as monitor weight. While I am proud of the pounds I have lost, I actually got more overall satisfaction from the days when my waist to hip ratio went from apple to pear shape category and when it finally dropped to less than 0.8. Those are ways to monitor the reduction in visceral fat. I don't know the stats for men of the top of my head, but if you google "waist to hip ratio" you'll find them.

Is 79 gams of fats and 89 grams of sugar daily intake too much?

Answers

Categories