Which nutrient goals should I meet daily?

sarahlyzzibeth

Okay so here are my daily nutrient goals:
1370 calories
188g carbs
46g fat
51g protein
16g fiber
2500mg sodium

Every day, I try to make sure I get as close as possible to calories, protein, and fiber, and I try to stay below on carbs, fat, and as little as possible sodium. Is that right? Or should I be trying to "meet" those goals as well? So I guess what I'm asking is are they "goals" or "limits"?

aippolito1

First off, I'd say lower your carbs and increase your protein. It's recommended for a woman on a calorie deficit diet to get 25-30% of her diet from protein. Helps with muscle growth and keeping you fuller longer. :happy: Definitely try to meet or exceed protein and fiber. Keep sodium no lower than 1300g and no higher than 23-2500mg (I'm set at 2400mg but it's your personal preference), try to meet fat with HEALTHY fats (nuts, avocado, natural oils such as olive oil), I'd say you don't have to MEET carbs but make sure you're eating enough to get you through your workouts.

njean888

I have to agree, your carbs seem pretty high especially since you have less than 10 pounds to lose. I would increase the protein.

sarahlyzzibeth

Okay, thanks
These values are just what MFP gave me, I haven't personalized them at all (aside from picking which nutrients I want to focus on). How do I know how much to reduce my carbs and increase my protein?
I mean... I'm not good at math, so someone check to make sure this makes sense.
1370 x 0.3 = 411
So, 30% of my calories is 411, meaning 411 of my calories should come from protein. In 1g of protein, there's 4 calories. So, 411 / 4= 102.75. So... if my math is right (which... it's probably not, haha) that means i should be eating 103g protein a day, about double what I have right now.
So then carbs... it's still 4 calories per gram. Right now I'm eating 188 x 4 = 752 calories of carbs and currently I'm eating 51 x 4 = 204 calories worth of carbs. 411 - 204 = 207, so I need to reduce my carb intake by 207 calories, which would be 752 - 207 = 545 and 545 / 4 = 136.25 g carbs.
So.... is that right?
Should I be eating 103g protein a day and 136g carbs? (for 30% of my calories to come from protein)

Also, I don't see a place to personalize my nutrient goals.... how do I do that?

Edit: Found it. and now I feel a little dumb because I worked all the math out and MFP just makes you put in the percentages you want... I didn't have to do any of that (but on the bright side, all my math was right!) Haha.
Okay, so just to double check. After fixing the protein/carb thing, I have 40% from carbs, 30% from protein, and 30% from fat. Sound right?

pjgjnfl

Do some research on the protein... the range the USDA recommends for adults over 19 - is from 10 percent to 35 percent!! (http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/DietaryGuidelines/2010/PolicyDoc/Chapter2.pdf). That's a SERIOUSLY wide range.

In his book The China Study, Dr. Campbell references a huge amount of work that he has personally performed over the past several decades... and shows a direct correlation between excess protein and obesity, disease (esp. all cancers, diabetes, and more), and other things you don't want.

Just another perspective... I wanted to share.

sarahlyzzibeth

Thank you for sharing that, I will look into it. The more i think about it, the more I have no clue how I'm supposed to get 100grams of protein daily........ on a meal plan. Not only that, the ratios that I was previously consuming was working fine for me. I was meeting my weight loss goals and I was eating what I liked...which is a lot of fruit and whole grains, which is mostly carbs, but I was still getting my 51 grams of protein and I was feeling full and energized. Having a meal based mostly on meat isn't what I enjoy, even if it will help me build muscles faster. I'm not saying I want to deprive my body of what it needs to be healthy, but I feel like increasing my protein that much is cutting out what I like best and it's not worth it to me. I'm going to continue with the original values and if I reach a plateau or I'm becoming easily fatigued (things that I haven't struggled with) then I will consider changing it up a bit.