New here and don't know where to start with tracking my macros

fairychild0
fairychild0 Posts: 3 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi, I am new to my fitness pal. I just want to reach my goal, I have lost 30kg, but 2023 and 2024 I fell off the wagon, and I am back at it and this year I want to try and focus more on my nutrition and macros. Any help will be highly appreciated.

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,717 Member
    The MFP default goals are a reasonable place to start for most people. The exception would be someone who cuts calories too aggressively far for their current size in pursuit of fast loss, because there's no way to get adequate nutrition on way too few calories. MFP's recommendations are based on mainstream nutritional guidelines from organizations like the USDA/NIH and the like in the US, and those don't differ dramatically from what similar sources recommend in other places.

    If you start logging your food, and start trying to land pretty close to the default values on average, that'll be OK. That will help you understand which foods you enjoy eating have what nutrients, so you can fine tune, and also give you some time to learn more about good nutrition.

    There are different opinions and choices about nutrition, and some amount of controversy in the larger world. As a generality, most would agree that protein and fats contain what are technically "essential nutrients" in the sense that our bodies can't manufacture them out of anything else, so we need to get a certain minimum from foods we eat. Carbs are more flexible, because our bodies can manufacture carb-equivalents out of other nutrients, loosely speaking.

    Most people will find it easier to stay full more of the time eating mostly whole foods like meat, fish, veggies, fruits, whole grains. Those also tend to have a higher ratio of nutrients for their calories. IMO, that doesn't mean a person can't have a treat food or processed food ever again, but may imply that it's worthwhile trying to get more of one's intake from those nutrient-dense sources.

    Improved nutrition isn't a thing that needs to be perfect instantly, IMO. We can gradually work at getting there in a practical way. Humans are adaptive omnivores, and do OK with a range of eating patterns. Of course some patterns are more nutritionally ideal than others, but it's not like our body weight and health tank instantly if we're less than perfect. After all, our ancestors lived long enough to give birth to and raise many generations of offspring, or we wouldn't be here at all, and way back when they didn't have any common idea of calories, macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, etc.

    Aim for improvement, learn as you go, and things will be fine, I predict. Best wishes!
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 12,242 Member
    Welcome!

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