Does it matter where your macro's come from?

ghosthackexe

Hey, been wanting to post a question somewhat like this for awhile since there are many different opinions. Basically does it matter where your macro's come from? for example eating 2,000 calories in a day of food that is described as unhealthy (fast food, chips, ect) vs 2,000 calories of food that is described as healthy. Both foods fit into your calories and macros, but will one really produce better weight lose results than the other? would love to get everyones take on this.

sjaplo

Hey, been wanting to post a question somewhat like this for awhile since there are many different opinions. Basically does it matter where your macro's come from? for example eating 2,000 calories in a day of food that is described as unhealthy (fast food, chips, ect) vs 2,000 calories of food that is described as healthy. Both foods fit into your calories and macros, but will one really produce better weight lose results than the other? would love to get everyones take on this.

No, no you wouldn't want everyone's take on this, not really. I'm going over to this hole to cover my head until this blows over.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

5stringjeff

Does it matter strictly as far as losing weight is concerned? No.

Does it matter as far as your overall health and fitness is concerned. Probably.

JoJo__Fit

Aye, SMH here we goooooo!!!!!

Well why would you want to consume all your macros on fast food?

I personally like to eat foods that are nutritional dense & I like my ice cream fix.

As long as I hit my macros and can eat a lot of food and have my daily fix of a couple of cookies or ice cream, I'm good! I also perform better at the gym when I balance it out. If I were to consume nothing but junk I would feel crappy. Not worth it.

So if you like the feeling of being sluggish then by all means knock yourself out!

Unknown

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shadowofender

Your body is not watching Dr. Oz reruns.

I just laughed outloud this really awkward sound and my coworkers think I have issues now. Thanks.

NataBost

Oh good, I got here early.

If you hit your macros you're good. Period. That's what counts.

"Oh but if all you're eating is junk what about blah blah blah..."

I don't know anyone who can hit their protein, carb, and fat recommendations and their calorie goal eating just Big Macs. Do you? Of course not. It's not possible. So please just ignore everyone saying "if all you eat is garbage rant rant rant"

If It Fits Your Macros. That means it has to fit your macros. Ain't gonna do that just eating cookies.

Your body recognizes calories, protein, carbs, fat, etc. It doesn't say "Oh this cheeseburger was made at a restaurant, I don't like it as much as a cheeseburger made at home." It breaks it down and eliminates waste. Your body is not watching Dr. Oz reruns.

Hit your macros and you're good to go. Period.

YUP. I was too slow on the draw. What this smart guy says.

diannethegeek

Oh good, I got here early.

If you hit your macros you're good. Period. That's what counts.

"Oh but if all you're eating is junk what about blah blah blah..."

I don't know anyone who can hit their protein, carb, and fat recommendations and their calorie goal eating just Big Macs. Do you? Of course not. It's not possible. So please just ignore everyone saying "if all you eat is garbage rant rant rant"

If It Fits Your Macros. That means it has to fit your macros. Ain't gonna do that just eating cookies.

Your body recognizes calories, protein, carbs, fat, etc. It doesn't say "Oh this cheeseburger was made at a restaurant, I don't like it as much as a cheeseburger made at home." It breaks it down and eliminates waste. Your body is not watching Dr. Oz reruns.

Hit your macros and you're good to go. Period.

Can we /end thread here?

Jim_Barteck

The only thing I will say is this: It's going to be very difficult to meet your macros (protein, fat, carbs, etc.) on a 2,000 calorie diet if you're just eating "junk food."

However, if you can manage it, then more power to you.

ETA: I didn't see Brett's post, so basically: Yeah, what he said....

Lizzy622

Does it matter strictly as far as losing weight is concerned? No.

Does it matter as far as your overall health and fitness is concerned. Probably.

This - But I can't imagine being able to hit my macros without some "healthy" food in there somewhere. The fat would just be sky high.

vdchlubiski

Ironic timing. I have been researching this topic for the last week and cannot find any consensus or scientific data (Warning: I am an engineer and data junkie). I just changed my macronutrient allocation from Leigh Peele's recommendation (46/22/33 P/F/C by weight) to MyFitnessPal's suggested allocation (24/16/60). I couldn't consumer as much protein and as few carbs as Leigh recommended. It seemed overboard from what I have learned, but I have no data to support though. USDA recommends: 18/29/53.

So I have to agree with 5stringjeff. Ratio matters less than total and quality.

DanielCathers

Oh good, I got here early.

If you hit your macros you're good. Period. That's what counts.

"Oh but if all you're eating is junk what about blah blah blah..."

I don't know anyone who can hit their protein, carb, and fat recommendations and their calorie goal eating just Big Macs. Do you? Of course not. It's not possible. So please just ignore everyone saying "if all you eat is garbage rant rant rant"

If It Fits Your Macros. That means it has to fit your macros. Ain't gonna do that just eating cookies.

Your body recognizes calories, protein, carbs, fat, etc. It doesn't say "Oh this cheeseburger was made at a restaurant, I don't like it as much as a cheeseburger made at home." It breaks it down and eliminates waste. Your body is not watching Dr. Oz reruns.

Hit your macros and you're good to go. Period.

If you fit your macros, you are simply sticking to the diet you planned. The question then becomes, "What macro goals are you going to set?"

jkwolly

Your body is not watching Dr. Oz reruns.

I just laughed outloud this really awkward sound and my coworkers think I have issues now. Thanks.

mathmatt

Oh good, I got here early.

If you hit your macros you're good. Period. That's what counts.

"Oh but if all you're eating is junk what about blah blah blah..."

I don't know anyone who can hit their protein, carb, and fat recommendations and their calorie goal eating just Big Macs. Do you? Of course not. It's not possible. So please just ignore everyone saying "if all you eat is garbage rant rant rant"

If It Fits Your Macros. That means it has to fit your macros. Ain't gonna do that just eating cookies.

Your body recognizes calories, protein, carbs, fat, etc. It doesn't say "Oh this cheeseburger was made at a restaurant, I don't like it as much as a cheeseburger made at home." It breaks it down and eliminates waste. Your body is not watching Dr. Oz reruns.

Hit your macros and you're good to go. Period.

Ok, I'll be the first to slightly disagree. If all you're concerned with is weight loss yes, I completely agree with if it fits your macros. For overall health, I could not disagree more. The biggest example I'm going to throw out there is Trans-fatty acids/hydrogenated oils. The CDC even says that Trans fat consumption leads to increased LDL levels in the blood contributing to coronary heart disease. http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/fat/transfat.html

ghosthackexe

would like to go ahead and thank everyone who replied its nice to have multiple opinions on this matter

J72FIT

If you filled your diet with the former I think you would run into some trouble actually hitting your macros. IMO, variety is your best friend... have a little bit of both.

BarbieAS

Hit your macros and you're good to go. Period.

Agreed, like 99%.

Don't forget your food is made up of more than just straight protein/fat/carbs, though. You actually probably could hit your macros on nothing but fast food chicken sandwiches (I feel like I probably could). But you'd almost certainly be missing a whole slew of things that are really good for you - various types of fats (no, saturated fat isn't nearly as bad as the rep it's been given, but that doesn't mean that the fats found in stuff like olive oil and almonds and such aren't just as good for you as they've always been touted to be), fiber, a good chunk of vitamins and minerals and such...so, yeah, for weight loss, hit your macros, done. I can agree with that. But if you want to improve/maintain your overall health and keep your body running in tip-top shape, you probably should put a little more effort into things than that. Like, a vegetable every once in awhile or something.

kgeyser

Brett pretty much nailed it. Play around with your food diary for a bit and see how your day ends up and what realistically fits. It's likely not going to be fast food, chips, sodas and sweets all in the same day, unless you have an incredibly high calorie goal.

theEffingPanda

Does it matter strictly as far as losing weight is concerned? No.

Does it matter as far as your overall health and fitness is concerned. Probably.

YES.

losingforgood120

For weight loss? Doesn't seem to. There are other health concerns where it would matter more. I started a group about diet and acne recently. There's some evidence that getting your carbs from low glycemic level foods, and eating more omega 3 fats and eating less dairy protein can lessen acne severity. There's many other health examples where it matters where your macros are coming from... Not weight loss.

Sabine_Stroehm

Depends how you set your macros. :laugh:

but seriously:


You can eat a healthy balanced diet, a sorta balanced diet, or an unhealthy unbalanced diet. You ultimately decide. If you "fit your macros" and have a 40/30/30 split sure, you're likely to eat something healthy. Are you automatically eating healthfully by hitting those targets, no. Not at all. You could easily hit your macros without eating any leafy green vegetables, for example.

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

Hey, been wanting to post a question somewhat like this for awhile since there are many different opinions. Basically does it matter where your macro's come from? for example eating 2,000 calories in a day of food that is described as unhealthy (fast food, chips, ect) vs 2,000 calories of food that is described as healthy. Both foods fit into your calories and macros, but will one really produce better weight lose results than the other? would love to get everyones take on this.

No, no you wouldn't want everyone's take on this, not really. I'm going over to this hole to cover my head until this blows over.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Yup here we go. In for the show

lemurcat12

Hey, been wanting to post a question somewhat like this for awhile since there are many different opinions. Basically does it matter where your macro's come from? for example eating 2,000 calories in a day of food that is described as unhealthy (fast food, chips, ect) vs 2,000 calories of food that is described as healthy. Both foods fit into your calories and macros, but will one really produce better weight lose results than the other? would love to get everyones take on this.

Like others have said, it would be a challenge to fit your macros, probably. Although for reasons I cannot explain I tried it and could come close with the McDonald's salad with grilled chicken, grilled chicken sandwich, and the bacon quarter pounder, plus a protein shake with skim milk. (If I added the calories right this assumes no exercise calories and would leave some carbs/calories to spare.)

Of course, I also have micro goals, and I'd be well short of them. More significantly, I probably wouldn't feel that great--or at least not as energetic as normal--so in the long run that would probably affect my workouts, which would have an effect on my weight loss, and for me this diet would almost certainly leave me unsatisfied, which would affect my ability to comply with it.

So I think it would make a difference to my weight loss in those ways, but that's different from the argument that you would gain eating those calories because of where they are from alone (which I wouldn't, that's a deficit if I sustained it) or the converse, which is that so long as you eat "healthy" or "natural" (or whatever) foods you can't get fat.

Sam_I_Am77

Food selection can impact your body in more than just weight loss. Your choice in food can affect your cognitive ability, blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. While you can lose weight eating below maintenance, you should strive to eat better food selections (i.e. lean meat, veggies, low-glycemic carbs vs. ice cream, chips, pizza) MOST of the time. Doing it 100% of the time is not reasonable to suggest and everybody needs a break, but you should have better food selection roughly 90% of the time.