Met Calorie Goal but Over Limit on Fat Grams

MichelleMinus100
MichelleMinus100 Posts: 101
in Food and Nutrition
Hi there, I'm brand new here and have a question about fat. I have hit my goal of 1300 calories for the day, but my fat (which I have set at 20% of daily calories) is way over. My fat goal is 62 and my daily today is 87 (which is 25g over). I won't be doing this everyday, as the extra fat grams came from some good fat salad dressing and almonds. How bad is this to do (let's pretend daily) if I'm still meeting my calorie needs?

Replies

  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    It's not bad at all.

    Calories are what matter for weight loss. As long as you stick to your calorie goal and you are accurately tracking what you eat you should still lose weight. Depending on how your goals are set up, you can even eat a little more than MFP's number and still lose weight for the week, albeit a little more slowly.

    Macros (fat/protein/carbs) help with various things. Protein and fat both help keep you feeling fuller and more satisfied. Protein helps to rebuild and retain your lean muscle mass. Fat is good for you and helps with everything from hormone control, vitamin absorption, cell growth, etc. And carbs give you energy. You can be over or under on any of them and still lose weight as long as your calories are okay. Finding the right macro ratio depends on your goals, medical history, workout routine, etc. Don't be afraid to adjust MFP's defaults to better suit your routine. MFP tends to set it's protein default too low anyway.

    Sugar and Sodium are the other two default nutrients tracked and I honestly don't know why they picked those two. Excess sodium may cause you to retain water weight, which can cause a jump on the scale, but if you don't have any health issues neither is strictly necessary to track for weight loss. Tracking them or ignoring them will, again, depend on your personal goals.

    Don't be afraid of the red and green numbers in your food diary. Red doesn't always mean bad and green doesn't necessarily mean good. They're just an indicator of whether you're over/under the goal MFP has set for you.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    Fat is good for you, there's absolutely nothing wrong with going over your fat goal, in fact, as long as you hit your protein goal and don't go over your calorie goal, there's no maximum amount of fat you should have.
  • MichelleMinus100
    MichelleMinus100 Posts: 101
    I really appreciate both of your comments, thanks.

    Diane, thank you for your post. I feel better now knowing not to worry too much about macros. I'm really glad to be here!
  • khara2012
    khara2012 Posts: 1,051 Member
    Welcome to my world!! I am always over on fat and sugar.
  • AlyMoniz
    AlyMoniz Posts: 9 Member
    There is nothing wrong with going over your fats as long as a large portion of it is coming from junk :D
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    Fat is good for you, there's absolutely nothing wrong with going over your fat goal, in fact, as long as you hit your protein goal and don't go over your calorie goal, there's no maximum amount of fat you should have.

    /thread
  • walterm852
    walterm852 Posts: 409 Member
    It's not bad at all.

    Calories are what matter for weight loss. As long as you stick to your calorie goal and you are accurately tracking what you eat you should still lose weight. Depending on how your goals are set up, you can even eat a little more than MFP's number and still lose weight for the week, albeit a little more slowly.

    Macros (fat/protein/carbs) help with various things. Protein and fat both help keep you feeling fuller and more satisfied. Protein helps to rebuild and retain your lean muscle mass. Fat is good for you and helps with everything from hormone control, vitamin absorption, cell growth, etc. And carbs give you energy. You can be over or under on any of them and still lose weight as long as your calories are okay. Finding the right macro ratio depends on your goals, medical history, workout routine, etc. Don't be afraid to adjust MFP's defaults to better suit your routine. MFP tends to set it's protein default too low anyway.

    Sugar and Sodium are the other two default nutrients tracked and I honestly don't know why they picked those two. Excess sodium may cause you to retain water weight, which can cause a jump on the scale, but if you don't have any health issues neither is strictly necessary to track for weight loss. Tracking them or ignoring them will, again, depend on your personal goals.

    Don't be afraid of the red and green numbers in your food diary. Red doesn't always mean bad and green doesn't necessarily mean good. They're just an indicator of whether you're over/under the goal MFP has set for you.

    +1
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
    No worries! I went 142 over one day on my fat grams from a freaking salad, but I was still under my calorie goal. Also, I am consistently under my fat macros, so I didn't worry about it. As long as you are consistent on most days, you should be fine. :smile:
  • MichelleMinus100
    MichelleMinus100 Posts: 101
    Thank you for the comments, I won't worry!
  • Mello_Rello
    Mello_Rello Posts: 421 Member
    My daily fat limit is 39 grams, hardly NOTHING! I go over by a few some days, and I get down on myself for it since I'm training hard to compete. I limit myself to healthy fats s much as I can. I try to get fats from eggs, avocados, a bit of olive oil, and that's it. As you're tracking what you eat, pay attention to the fats in various foods. For example, I love chees, but it has fat in it, so I ask myself, do I need this cheese, or do I want to save this few grams of fat for something else that's more filling? It's hard, but you can do it. Just keep logging your foods.

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