macro help please

MACnificence

Okay , my macros and calories arent adding up and its driving me nuts

my macros are
fat 35
carb 212
pro 109

35 x 9 = 315
212 x 4 = 848
109 x 4 = 436

315+848+436 = 1599

but my calories on my diary is 1551

so theres something not right somewhere

Can someone spot where the problem is , my dairy is open

please help , i was thinking it was the butternut squash because my macros are always off on days i have butternut squash but ive doubled checked and it seems alright

_John_

did you eat about 10-15g of fiber? that could be it.

MACnificence

i dont track fiber ? my diatary fiber is at 29g ?
does fiber add additional calories

_John_

i dont track fiber ? my diatary fiber is at 29g ?
does fiber add additional calories

fiber counts as carbohydrate while often not being listed as calories on food lables. at least in the US.

MACnificence

so then 29 x 4 = 116 which brings my calories to 1715?!

lporter229

Your numbers are never going to add up exactly due to the rounding of numbers and slight inaccuracies in some of the entries.. I'd say at a difference of 48 calories, that is pretty good.

For example, say a food has 9.4 g of fat, it is going to get entered as 9 g of fat, but the calorie count from fat will be 85 ( 9 x 9.4=84.6), not 81. All of these little differences add up. Furthermore, there are a lot of inaccurate entries in the database, so you need to pay close attention and do a little of your own research when selecting an entry.

Edited to correct error in confusing protein and fat...sorry.

MACnificence

But if I add fiber in at 4 cals per gram that takes my calories up to over 1700 ? And my calories the meant to be at 1640

This drives my OCD mad haha

No seriously though have I been eating more than I thought all along

lporter229

No, your macros are more likely to be off. Your calories are more likely to be correct. Also, as someone else mentioned, fiber usually will get accounted for as carbs.

MACnificence

Sorry I'm so confused so should I be paying more attention to macros or calories ?
I'm currently reverse dieting and using IIFYM
I normally enter everything new I eat into the database myself because I know there's alot of mistakes

TavistockToad

It'll be a mixture of inputting error and rounding up/down. Calorie counting isn't an exact science, and 40 calories difference is not going to affect weight loss/gain.

MACnificence

But still leads me back to should I track macros ignore calories coming up short or track calories and hit macros as close as possible?

I hit my macros yesterday but was short on calories do I just ignore that

KarenJanine

US FDA laws allow a margin of error on nutritional information of up to 20%. Nothing is ever going to be exact. Pick a system and stick to it. Adjust up/down depending on results.

MACnificence

Okay so I suppose I should stick to macros so and ignore what calories are coming in at

TavistockToad

Okay so I suppose I should stick to macros so and ignore what calories are coming in at

i think you're over thinking it a little.

MACnificence

How do you mean I'm over thinking it ? I'm on a calorie tracking site , I was tracking calories now I'm tracking my macros

Isn't that what we're all doing here ?

I don't understand what you mean ?

TavistockToad

How do you mean I'm over thinking it ? I'm on a calorie tracking site , I was tracking calories now I'm tracking my macros

Isn't that what we're all doing here ?

I don't understand what you mean ?

i just mean you're concerned about 40 calories difference between your calories and macros even though people have given a few reasons why they dont completely match.

MACnificence

No I was given a macro and calorie target which should add up but isn't and I was curious as to why it wasnt adding up because it should really

Then it was a case that I didn't realise I should be tracking fiber aswell

Now it's a case of which should I pay more attention to

If im periodically upping macros and calories I have to track one
And 40 cals does make a difference if you increase is only by 50 cals each time

lporter229

Don't drive yourself crazy over this. Ultimately, you want to stay within your calorie goal. The macros are just a way of tracking how those calories are distributed. They are not intended to be hit spot on. That is nearly impossible to do. Most people will set their macros to include a minimum protein and fat level and try to hit that, then fill in the rest of their calories however they chose. Some days you will have more than your target amount of protein, some days you may be over on carbs. As long as you are within your calorie goal and hitting your minimums for protein and fat, you should be fine.