Calories vs. Macros

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ktownchik2005
ktownchik2005 Posts: 34 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay, so I was just wondering what peoples opinions on calories vs. macros were. Do you stop eating (even if you are under your calorie goal) if you are close to going over your macro goals i.e. sugar, fat, etc. ? Or do you eat to your calorie goal and just try to stay as close to your macro goals as possible?

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  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Both are important, but some perspective is necessary.

    1) protein should never be seen as a limit, it should be treated as a minimum.
    2) in most cases, fat should be viewed the same ^^
    3) your calorie goal has a deficit built in to help you lose weight, in most cases by at least 250 cals, usually more. If you go over by 50 or 100 cals, you're still in a deficit and still going to lose weight.
  • ktownchik2005
    ktownchik2005 Posts: 34 Member
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    Both are important, but some perspective is necessary.

    1) protein should never be seen as a limit, it should be treated as a minimum.
    2) in most cases, fat should be viewed the same ^^
    3) your calorie goal has a deficit built in to help you lose weight, in most cases by at least 250 cals, usually more. If you go over by 50 or 100 cals, you're still in a deficit and still going to lose weight.

    Good, because I always go over protein:)
  • djeffreys10
    djeffreys10 Posts: 2,312 Member
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    What that guy said, except I set up my own macros and calorie goals rather than using what MFP automatically set. As such, while I do view protein as a minimum, I view fat as a limit (I have it set up to about 0.4 grams per pound of body weight). Ymmv
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    What that guy said, except I set up my own macros and calorie goals rather than using what MFP automatically set. As such, while I do view protein as a minimum, I view fat as a limit (I have it set up to about 0.4 grams per pound of body weight). Ymmv

    Good point... I set custom goals as well.
  • chdeloriers
    chdeloriers Posts: 2 Member
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    I am confused. New to MFP. I set my macros and then the calorie count in too low. When i switch it to percentages rather than grams I haven't met my calorie intake and I gave lots more I can eat according to macros and calories. Shouldn't macros and calories work in the same proportion ones they are set. Someone please educate me. So confussed...
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,612 Member
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    chdeloriers wrote: »
    I am confused. New to MFP. I set my macros and then the calorie count in too low. When i switch it to percentages rather than grams I haven't met my calorie intake and I gave lots more I can eat according to macros and calories. Shouldn't macros and calories work in the same proportion ones they are set. Someone please educate me. So confussed...

    Eat to your calorie limit. The different macros make up your calories. You can decide what percent of your calories you want to devote to each. But mostly, just focus on the calories. As long as you're getting some protein and some fat (and I can guarantee you are, unless you're a fruitarian or raw foodist) you'll be fine. Don't overcomplicate it, you'll psych yourself out.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,164 Member
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    chdeloriers wrote: »
    I am confused. New to MFP. I set my macros and then the calorie count in too low. When i switch it to percentages rather than grams I haven't met my calorie intake and I gave lots more I can eat according to macros and calories. Shouldn't macros and calories work in the same proportion ones they are set. Someone please educate me. So confussed...

    Yes, macros and calories should balance. Each macro has a characteristic calorie level. Protein and carbs are about 4 calories per gram, fats 9 calories per gram, alcohol (not strictly a macro, but has calories) 7 calories per gram.

    Therefore, counting calories while watching macros, or counting macros while watching calories, ought to get you to about the same place.

    Two thoughts:

    1. Review your settings again. Switching to percentages shouldn't increase your calorie goal. Changing your activity level would, and so would slowing down your requested weight loss rate. (Those are the biggest possibilities, but there might be some other uncommon ones.)

    2. Make sure the foods you're logging are close to accurate. For one thing, the database is crowd-sourced, i.e., foods are entered by regular MFP users like you and me, except some of those people don't care about very much about macro accuracy. The first time you log a food, check against the package or an authoritative source** and make sure it's correct. After that, foods you eat frequently will stay in your MFP recent/frequent foods and come up first when you search. Even then, labels are allowed some approximation, so macros and calories may not balance exactly.

    ** Such as: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/ . Many of the "SR Legacy" foods are in the MFP database under the same name, and are usually accurate.

    Best wishes!
  • chdeloriers
    chdeloriers Posts: 2 Member
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    Thank you so very much for you explanation and advice. I appreciate all of you.

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