Calarie verses carb protein fat

YogiMandy81

wondering if someone can explain to me I’ve got amount of protein carbohydrate I never go over any of the three requirements but yet I’m then sitting with sometimes up to 700 cal and no meal I can put together over a day will either I’m gonna go completely under my calories or go completely over the amount that they’re telling me to eat fat carbohydrates does anyone know any advice?

yirara

First thing that comes to mind is that you're using database entries that contain incorrect information. You can quickly check a few entries by checking the amount of protein, fats and carbs per grams. Protein and carbs have 4cal per gram, while fats have 9cal per gram. If the calories for all three macros don't add up then the database entry is incorrect. Most of the database has been entered by users, and some added some seriously *kitten* entries in the past. The green checkmark does not tell you that the entries are correct but only that enough people liked that entry for whatever reason. One more thing: if you're logging full meals, like chili con carne without a brand name then you will likely get very incorrect calorie and nutritional information because someone entered something they cooked, and you have no idea what ingredients were used. If you cook your own food then weight and log every ingredient separately. You can also create your own recipes.

AnnPT77

Read yirara's comment again: That's the reason you're seeing what you're seeing, high odds.

What to do: Vet the entries you use more closely is one option, to make sure they're more accurate individually. They'll still be off a little, probably, due to rounding errors, but a 700 calorie discrepancy is not just rounding errors.

If you were out of calories, but still had nutrients remaining to eat, the answer could be alcohol which has calories but no carbs, fats or protein. However, you're reporting the opposite, at nutrient goals but still have calories. That's likely database errors.

But also:

If your main goal is weight loss, calories are the direct determinant. The macros - protein, carbs, fat - are about nutrition, which is very important, but its effect on weight loss is indirect at most, via energy level or appetite.

Calories may still be incorrect in any database entry, for the reasons yirara cited, but for various reasons I won't detail here, the calorie part of the database is somewhat more likely to be accurate than the nutrient part, IMO.

Nutritionally, it's fine to go over your fat or protein goal, within reason. "Within reason" means "as long as doing that doesn't prevent you from getting the other nutrition you need, within your calorie goal".

Protein and fats contain "essential nutrients", in the sense that our bodies can't manufacture them out of anything else, so we need to eat some. Carbohydrates are not "essential" in that sense, loosely because our bodies can manufacture their own carb-equivalents. That means carbs are more flexible. Personally, I think of carbs and fats as minimums to aim for, carbs as a thing I can use to balance calories.

Some people will find that carbs spike their appetite, so will want to eat relatively less of them. Other people will find that too-low carbs tank their energy level, so will want to eat relatively more of them. That kind of thing is individual, and you can figure it out by paying attention.

In light of all that, until you sort out the database issues - especially calorie accuracy if weight loss is your main goal - I think the answer would be that if you're at or over carbs, fat, and protein, but still have calories left, eat whatever you like that you find filling, energizing, tasty and nutritious.

Macronutrients aren't like a magic spell when it comes to weight loss, where you won't lose weight unless every detail is exact and perfect every single day. Like I said, calories are the foundation for weight loss. Even for good nutrition, pretty close on average is fine, for macronutrients; and for protein or fats, over goal is fine as long as not persistently low on the other one.

All of that's assuming reasonably accurate choices of database entries, so that's a thing to work on over time, no need to be in panic mode over it though. Figuring this stuff out is a process with a learning curve, and that's OK.

Best wishes!

ninerbuff

Simplistically, figure out how many calories you need to eat a day. Then what percentages of macrontrients you want. Most people do 40c/30p/30f.

So for instance if your total is 2000 calories and 40% of that needs to be carbs you just multiply

2000x.40= 800 calories for carbs. Each 4 grams is 1 calorie so then divide 800/4

800/4= 200 grams of carbs

Do the same for the other 2 macros and you'll get an idea of how many grams of carbs, protein and fats you consume a day to stay within a 2000 calorie diet.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer

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Been in fitness for 40+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

springlering62

hi, @yogimandy81 Welcome to MFP!

I’m going to assume you’re relatively new to calorie counting and watching macros

it can make your head spin. Don’t try to make everything perfect all at once. Give yourself grace. You’re showing up, you’re trying, you’ve got time for improvement later on - same as your yoga practice. You didn’t “fly” in your first class, right? Same with MFP

My experience, fwiw, was that starting out by simply being mindful and paying attention to what went in my mouth improved my nutrition. The more I logged and weighed, understood the “cost” of a candy bar versus fruit or something else, the better my macros fell into place, too.

I also found that maybe the typical macros split wasn’t for me. Protein satiates me, carbs make me peckish, I don’t even care about fats. Fats can fall where they may, in my world. You are your own individual person with your own individual needs

Pay attention to what you’re eating, focus on learning the ins and outs of weighing and logging accurately, and finding solid diary entries (there’s some real stinkers in the database).

Once you’ve got that under control, and got a regular exercise regimen in place (if that’s your jam) then move on to macros.

also. Don’t flip out if daily macros aren’t in track. Change your settings a to 7-day average once in a while. I find that my averages are pretty darn good, in spite of day to day fluctuations, and I am content with that.

Much success to you!