Calorie breakdow question

Pynkklady

I was telling a friend about MFP and how great it's working for me and while explaining the daily goals it set, she asked why it gives me limits on the caloric breakdown (sugar, fat, sodium, etc). She asked, "If you're staying within your daily caloric goal, why does it matter what the calories are made of?"

I didn't know how to answer this, as it did sort of make sense.

Can anyone help?

Thanks!!

bethdris

It matters because if your eating 1200 calories of fruits/veggies/lean meats you have good chances to lose weight. If your eating 1200 calroies of candy bars and potato chips, you prob wont lose weight. Thats the way I look at it.

Pandorian

because of what each of the macro's brings to the table...

at 9 calories per gram you don't get a lot of fat total for the day
with carbs and protein at 4 calories per gram, you obviously get more than twice as much of either of these just to hit your calorie number.

A healthy diet has a balance of everything, fruits and veggies to get your vitamins naturally, meat and legumes? for protein and fat, nuts and fish for healthy fats.
Eating ALL your calories in one food would leave a whack of nutrients lacking for having a healthy diet

SetecAstronomy

A simple answer would be: Your healthcare provider may want you to be watching other things as well. When I was seeing a nutritionist, I had specific goals to not go over for calories, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. 3500 calories is a pound of weight, and it's important to know that you're getting those calories from healthy choices. Sure you could eat 35 packets of the 100-calorie snack cookies and gain a pound, but the amount of sugar in those items can lead you on a journey toward becoming a diabetic.

AI1108

Technically for most people it really doesn't matter. But the closer you get to your calorie goal, the more you'll notice how the small things affect how you feel. So one day, you'll double your sodium and you'll start to feel more dehydrated while running or a little more bloated due to water retention, or one day you'll have more protein and it may make you feel more/less energized. Everybody's different and you figure out what works best for you and your body.

Especially for people that work out a lot... I myself like to know my macronutrient ratio for the day.. protein, carbs, fat. Some people double check their sugar... it's different for different people.

Pynkklady

Thanks everyone for your great responses. My friend had said, 'if you want to eat a cake and it's 1300 calories, as long as you know you won't be able to eat anything else for the day, why should it matter if it has 48g of sugar?' My response was 'I don't want all that sugar!'

My dr hasn't put me on any program, I'm doing it for myself, but I do know I feel SO much better cutting my sugar back. I'm breaking an emotional eating habit and sugar was my comfort! I'm sure the Little Debbie company will be calling any day now to tell me their sales have decreased greatly!

I love this program and the awesome support that comes with it! Cheers to success for us all!

Thanks again for your help!