MACROS??

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sabolfitwife
sabolfitwife Posts: 424 Member
in Food and Nutrition
How do you guys keep track of these? It's so hard for me... I'm always over on my sugars, even when I try to be good about it! I feel like if I can get ahold of this then I might have even more success. Any help?

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  • dawLs
    dawLs Posts: 84
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    Do you wait until the end of the day to tally up what you have eaten? Or do you look after every meal/ snack?
  • seashman
    seashman Posts: 51
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    Are you eating more fruit or more refined sugar? It's generally accepted that the sugar you have to monitor is added sugar (no more than 45g/day) whereas you can be a bit more lenient with naturally occurring sugars. Thing is, MFP can't differentiate between the two, so you have to keep tabs on it yourself.
  • ShaneOSX
    ShaneOSX Posts: 198
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    Are you eating more fruit or more refined sugar? It's generally accepted that the sugar you have to monitor is added sugar (no more than 45g/day) whereas you can be a bit more lenient with naturally occurring sugars. Thing is, MFP can't differentiate between the two, so you have to keep tabs on it yourself.

    This. Are you still using MFP's standard Macros settings? Because those are way off. You should aim to eat your weight in grams of protein daily, get around 25% of your calories from good fat, and then leave the rest for carbs. You can customize your macros in the same place where you change your MFP goals.
  • Lina4Lina
    Lina4Lina Posts: 712 Member
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    Sugar isn't a macro and yes if you eat more than a couple pieces of fruit per day, you will go over the sugars. I upped my sugar level due to that. I don't eat added sugars so it isn't a concern to me.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Sugar isn't a macro nutrient. I don't track it. I make sure I get enough protein and fiber, and not too many carbs or fat. Sometimes, I go over on fat, but I give myself a pass if my carbs were lower on high fat days.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    Ok, that is two people that post that sugar isn't a macronutrient. I'd like to understand what they mean.

    Sugars (note the plural) are carbohydrates - either simple or complex. Some sugars are essential to the function of the body - your brain without glucose will not function. So in a very real sense, on the cellular and tissue level they are macronutrients. While one does not need to eat table sugar and the body (primarily the liver) can make glucose.

    Consuming large amounts of fructose is a bad idea - there is a lot of research on the insulin insensitivity effect, etc.
    Not all dietary carbohydrates are the same. Pay attention to the sugars you eat.
  • zechks
    zechks Posts: 224
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    How do you guys keep track of these? It's so hard for me... I'm always over on my sugars, even when I try to be good about it! I feel like if I can get ahold of this then I might have even more success. Any help?

    Log everything you eat. Don't eat too much simple carbs like fruits or the refined stuff. You get too much carbs without being satisfied upon eating it and most probably ending up eating more.. That's when you go overboard with your carbs. Eat tons of veggies instead or some slow digesting carbs (sweet potatoes, yams, etc) Low on carbs, high in fiber.. Keeps you full for longer. But that's just my advice, you can still do whatever you wanna do. :)

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