How much is okay for being over or under?

LeCitron

I'm new to MyFitnessPal and having a bit of difficulty getting my calorie/protein/fat/carbohydrate intake. It seems that whenever I finish my daily food journal I'm always under on the calories and the fat but over on the carbohydrates and too much protein. I was formerly in the camp of "eat less exercise more" where I was basically forcing my body into starvation mode all the time. Learning to eat 1200 calories (plus the 700 that I burn in exercise) is difficult but I'm getting there.

Anyway, what I'm asking is this: how much deviation is okay? Is it alright to be below your caloric and fat intake while being over on your carbohydrate and protein intake? How much can you go under or over without sabotaging yourself and your plan? I mean, the most I'm generally under in calories is between 200 and 300 and with fat I still seem to need between 25 and 50 every day. In the protein and carbohydrates department I always seem to go over by just under 50.

Thoughts? Any help/suggestions would be really appreciated. Thank you!

deadmittens

Holy crap! What are you doing to burn 700 calories??

Also, I think most people would agree to advise not to eat all of your exercise calories. 1200 cals isn't as hard to do as it seems

MrsZMartin

The default percentages for fat, carbs, and protein on this site are slightly off. The protein is especially LOW. You can change this yourself by changing goals and choosing to customize. Sounds like you're doing exactly what you should be doing

kateopotato

Here's my suggestion. As someone who has been on this site and at it for almost a year now I say start small. Just focus on the calories for a month or so. Once you have that under control, look at protein and fiber. When you have that pretty well under control, looh at carbs and sodium... (or whatever nutrients you decide to focus on) the best way I have found is to not overwhelm yourself with too much. Make it attainable first then expand... Good luck

sc1572

You sound JUST like me! Idk what the answer is, so I'm going to look at the other responses as well. Glad to know I'm not the only one!

Rompa_87

Holy crap! What are you doing to burn 700 calories??

Also, I think most people would agree to advise not to eat all of your exercise calories. 1200 cals isn't as hard to do as it seems

Actually I would disagree with you. The main key is NET calories. That is what you are aiming for. This is the rough ideal in order to preserve muscle while still losing fat. You could not eat back all your exercise calories but you will sacrifice muscle, slow your metabolism and burn less fat...usually the opposite of a toned body that people want.

As for the main topic of discussion. I try to keep within 200 cal either side of the goals in general. As long as each week roughly balances out it isn't a problem on a dialy level.

I also had problems meeting certain macronutrients while going overboard with others. I had to mess around with what I was eating until I got the ratio pretty close. I find a 55% carb, 25% fat and 20% protein split feasible to hit

ManyShadesofKaz

Thats kinda my problem too. No matter how many times a day I eat 8-9 times my calories are always under by at least 500 if I'm lucky! HELP!!!!!!