MFP total calories vs macros

jbgolf52

I have recently noticed that the total calories at the end of the day don't add up to the same amount that the total of my macros do. For example, on Sunday I had 2,161 calories but my macros were 206g of protein, 291g carbs, 49g fat; which adds up to 2,429 cals. That's a discrepancy of 268 cals which is pretty significant! I've been using MFP for a year or so now and have always gone by total calories at the end of the day (while still ensuring I hit my protein and fat minimum), but now I'm not sure which way to do it.

For the past seven days my macros have, on average, added up to be 150 cals greater than what my total cals said. I get anywhere from 50-80g of fiber a day and have at least one quest bar a day, which I know already throws off the macros as Quest subtracts the fiber content from total carbs to get the calorie content that's stated on the package. I checked all the nutritional info of the foods I eat and they are logged right, but this difference is concerning. I'm assuming it's all the fiber, but then again it does contain around 2 cals per gram. How do you guys do it, track total cals or macros? I know macros make up cals but if I track macros I would be significantly higher than what the total cals state.

BigT555

ive also wondered this. seen threads about it in the past with no answer. best i can come up with is that this is caused by slight errors in the number of calories in a g of protein, fat and a carb (like 4.4 cals in a carb vs 4), or calories from alcohol

i just track calories and protein, carbs and fat i couldnt be bothered with, i assume if i hit my calorie and protein goal then im doing well

jbgolf52

ive also wondered this. seen threads about it in the past with no answer. best i can come up with is that this is caused by slight errors in the number of calories in a g of protein, fat and a carb (like 4.4 cals in a carb vs 4), or calories from alcohol

i just track calories and protein, carbs and fat i couldnt be bothered with, i assume if i hit my calorie and protein goal then im doing well

Yea I searched before asking this and couldn't find an answer for it. I do the same, except I make sure I hit my fat minimum as well. How big of a discrepancy is there for you? I find mine ranges from 50-280 cals depending on the day.

BigT555

my actual goals im my diary are spot on, but my daily food count has varied up to 200 when i actually work it out (which i dont do often)

Howdoyoufeeltoday

Sometimes people don't do a very good job of adding the macros in when they enter a food into the database. Also if you eat half of something the system can't give you half a macro for protein so it just marks it as 1. So let's say my apple has 31 grams of carbs but I only eat half it will mark it as 16 not 15.5. Get it? I'd say make sure the foods you enter in look right in terms of macro to cal ratio or just enter it in yourself.

Lleldiranne

Also remember that any diary entry marked with an asterisk (*) when you search is member-entered, and it's possible that it's incorrect. I see many cases where the macros are off. So it may help to double check those when entering food (the more confirmations an item has, the more chance that it's a good one)

BigT555

Also remember that any diary entry marked with an asterisk (*) when you search is member-entered, and it's possible that it's incorrect. I see many cases where the macros are off. So it may help to double check those when entering food (the more confirmations an item has, the more chance that it's a good one)

this happens with nutritional info right off the label, check it out next time your looking at one it more than likely wont add up exactly

osudeltazeta

Calories are much smaller than grams so the total calories on the package might be correct but if there is 4.6 grams of fat in the item it has to list it as 5 grams. If there is 4.4, it gets listed as 4 grams. That necessary rounding makes a discrepancy. Similarly, one serving of a food might have 1 gram of fiber while 2 servings has 3 grams. If one serving has 1.3 grams then two servings has 2.6 grams. One gets rounded down, the other up.

BigT555

Calories are much smaller than grams so the total calories on the package might be correct but if there is 4.6 grams of fat in the item it has to list it as 5 grams. If there is 4.4, it gets listed as 4 grams. That necessary rounding makes a discrepancy. Similarly, one serving of a food might have 1 gram of fiber while 2 servings has 3 grams. If one serving has 1.3 grams then two servings has 2.6 grams. One gets rounded down, the other up.

this is what i think it is too, but that would account for a maximum of 8.49 calories (just under half a gram each of carb, fat and protein) so i wonder if we can find a label that has more than 8.49 calories different between the macro count and the calorie count

osudeltazeta

That would be interesting to see. Post if you find one.

BigT555

That would be interesting to see. Post if you find one.

cheerios
100 cals
2 g fat = 18 cals
20 g carbs = 80 cals
3 g protein = 12 cals
110 total from macros. thats pretty close though, not far off 8.5
the second biggest discrepancy was 6 calories, which i got for a number of things, but thats covered by the error

jbgolf52

my actual goals im my diary are spot on, but my daily food count has varied up to 200 when i actually work it out (which i dont do often)

Wait so your macros add up to your total cals?

I just went through adding up the macros and comparing it to the cals for everything I ate the past few days. It seems that the huge discrepancy is due to quest bars and halo top ice cream. Quest bars were 50 cals more if going off macros, and the ice cream was 121.9 cals more for the whole pint. Once I eliminated those from the equation I got a difference of 3 instead of 47 cals for a weekday and a difference of 46 cals vs 273 cals for a weekend. So it's mostly because of the way some companies count fiber. I may spend tonight going over all my usual food and entering in adjusted total calorie values so I can be more accurate. How do others count, do you guys go by total calories or do you just track macros and disregard what the calorie value is?