Anyone else have calories left but over on macros?

katiemegcz
katiemegcz Posts: 49 Member
in Getting Started
Strange problem. I am on 1200 calories per day. I eat a fairly consistent diet so far to keep things simple, and I have weighed an measured everything. I am losing 1.5-2 pounds per week, so no complaints.

However, at the end of pretty much every day, I am over in protein (weird since I am vegan), fiber (not so weird), and carbs. I have zero cholesterol. Sometimes I have a little fat left, but mostly not, yet I can be up to 300 calories under, which is too low on a 1200 calorie diet. The only way I could eat more calories without going way over on my macros is to drink straight vodka ; )...just kidding.

Anyway, I have been adding healthy food to get to 1200 calories, and ignoring the macros, but doesn't it seems strange? I did not adjust at all, and left the macros at the recommended number.

Replies

  • HappyNewTamera2014
    HappyNewTamera2014 Posts: 91
    All the time it seems.....however I have been managing to eat more calories since I started training for my first 5k in October. Feel free to look at my diary. I am one month in losing about 7.5 lbs every 2 weeks that was without exercising though. Now I eat more because I am exercising daily so I am hungry! EAT! Don't be hangry or hungry *snorts*

    All that being said.....you have to find what works for you. Alot of ppl are going to give you different advice. My advice is....listen to your body, eat when you are hungry, make good food choices not crap ones. Try and exercise a little it will add ccalories you could eat back or not..up to you. I do not have insurance or a doctor so I am going to a local famiy clininc next week to get a once over to make sure I am doing well to continue.

    On a high note there are many tricks I have learned to add high healthy calories to get to my RDI. At the end of the day I go over my diary and make sure the macros that are over are over because it is good food. I am always over on fat because I make sure to eat a serving of some kind of nut EVERYDAY...in a smoothie or salad or stir fry........anyways, I hope this helps. Fell free to add me or message me I am full of ideas.
  • katiemegcz
    katiemegcz Posts: 49 Member
    Thanks Happynewtamer! Wow! Congrats on your great success. I agree about eating when hungry, and being vegan, it is hard on 1200 calories to make bad food choices. Wine and oreos got me here (both vegan), but they just don't fit into my life right now.

    I just cannot figure out why as a vegan I am WAY over on protein, and slightly over on carbs, yet still under on calories. I am guessing some of the calorie counts must be off vs. grams of protein/carb etc. in MyFitnessPal. I guess it only matters if I am not losing, and right now it is working.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    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.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    I think what may throw it off is that the protein goal is a minimum goal, while fat is usually a maximum goal. Usually, if you use mfp's settings, rather than your own customized settings, the protein macro is set pretty low. Going over is probably a good thing. When you combine that with incorrect data entries, you get the sort of confusion you are experiencing.
  • HappyNewTamera2014
    HappyNewTamera2014 Posts: 91
    Because fruits and veggies are for the most part carby. BUT good carbs! Unlike breads. I go vegetarian on the weekends I cannot go vegan I need cheese to cont breathing LOL A good way to boost cals with goodness is olive oil....avocados.....nuts. yes macros will be over BUT they are good overage! Good luck I hope you find what works for you I am still learning as I go but tryin to get as much info as I can.
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
    It usually happens because people enter incorrect data into the MFP database.
  • katiemegcz
    katiemegcz Posts: 49 Member
    Thanks everyone! I am not going to sweat it as long as the weight keeps coming off. I am going to re-check everything I am entering though to make sure it is accurate so I don't start missing my calorie goals, which will become more important as I start adding back some variety. Early on it has just been easier to stick to a pretty consistent diet so I minimize fuss and measuring and start to see results. Now that it is happening, I need to incorporate some more variety so I don't get bored with oatmeal and tofurkey and kale and veggie soups (my big problem since my diet is very limited to begin with...no meat, fish, poultry, cheese, eggs, milk, butter, honey, caffeine, artificial sweeteners or refined flour, sugar).
  • Cathalain
    Cathalain Posts: 424 Member
    Somewhat related question: is there a way to manually adjust macro numbers in MFP? I've never tried, so I'm not sure. When I was using a similar site, it had my carbs MUCH lower and my fat/protein a LOT higher.

    (It doesn't seem to make a difference for me, either, I'm still losing weight but I'm just curious.)
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    I wouldn't worry too much about macros. As long as you're not going to town on refined and processed foods, you should be fine. Even lots of carbs from legumes and whole grains are OK if you're eating them accompanied by the natural fats or oils that come in the plants.

    Do you eat a lot of tempeh, seitan, TVP, veggie burgers, etc.? They are quite high in protein. So is spinach: nearly half the calories in raw spinach come from protein (according to the USDA's National Nutrient Database). That one was a big surprise to me. Legumes have a lot, though not as much proportionally.

    This page has a useful table of protein content of vegan foods:
    http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.php
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    Somewhat related question: is there a way to manually adjust macro numbers in MFP? I've never tried, so I'm not sure. When I was using a similar site, it had my carbs MUCH lower and my fat/protein a LOT higher.

    From "My Home," click "Goals" on the darker blue menu bar, then click the green "Change Goals" button at the bottom. Choose the "Custom" option, which will let you manually change macro- and micronutrient targets, calorie targets, exercise targets, etc.
  • marypatmccue
    marypatmccue Posts: 521 Member
    Because fruits and veggies are for the most part carby. BUT good carbs! Unlike breads. I go vegetarian on the weekends I cannot go vegan I need cheese to cont breathing LOL A good way to boost cals with goodness is olive oil....avocados.....nuts. yes macros will be over BUT they are good overage! Good luck I hope you find what works for you I am still learning as I go but tryin to get as much info as I can.

    You BITE YOUR TONGUE! Bread is not bad! LOL

    I'm an IIFYM-er, and there is no such thing as a good carb or a bad carb, in my opinion!
  • calibriintx
    calibriintx Posts: 1,741 Member
    It usually happens because people enter incorrect data into the MFP database.

    ^This. A gram of protein is approx 4 cals, a gram of fat is approx 9 cals and a gram of carbs is approx 4 cals. Look at each of the things you enter in and add them up and you should be able to see if there's a recurring food item that's screwing things up for you. Then you can go into the database and either fix it once you've verified what's on the package, or try a different entry for that item if you aren't able to confirm it on your own.
  • calibriintx
    calibriintx Posts: 1,741 Member
    Somewhat related question: is there a way to manually adjust macro numbers in MFP? I've never tried, so I'm not sure. When I was using a similar site, it had my carbs MUCH lower and my fat/protein a LOT higher.

    (It doesn't seem to make a difference for me, either, I'm still losing weight but I'm just curious.)

    Yup. Go to goals and then custom goals.
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,010 Member
    Strange problem. I am on 1200 calories per day. I eat a fairly consistent diet so far to keep things simple, and I have weighed an measured everything. I am losing 1.5-2 pounds per week, so no complaints.

    However, at the end of pretty much every day, I am over in protein (weird since I am vegan), fiber (not so weird), and carbs. I have zero cholesterol. Sometimes I have a little fat left, but mostly not, yet I can be up to 300 calories under, which is too low on a 1200 calorie diet. The only way I could eat more calories without going way over on my macros is to drink straight vodka ; )...just kidding.

    Anyway, I have been adding healthy food to get to 1200 calories, and ignoring the macros, but doesn't it seems strange? I did not adjust at all, and left the macros at the recommended number.

    Fiber isn't a Macro. If you're going over go over in protein. It sounds like you are doing it right.
  • katiemegcz
    katiemegcz Posts: 49 Member
    I wouldn't worry too much about macros. As long as you're not going to town on refined and processed foods, you should be fine. Even lots of carbs from legumes and whole grains are OK if you're eating them accompanied by the natural fats or oils that come in the plants.

    Do you eat a lot of tempeh, seitan, TVP, veggie burgers, etc.? They are quite high in protein. So is spinach: nearly half the calories in raw spinach come from protein (according to the USDA's National Nutrient Database). That one was a big surprise to me. Legumes have a lot, though not as much proportionally.

    This page has a useful table of protein content of vegan foods:
    http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.php

    I have been eating some soy meat substitutes to try to keep myself from feeling so hungry, and you are right-lots of protein. I usually am not a fan of meat subs, it is easy to stay full on a healthy vegan diet. But at 1200 calories, I needed to make a few adjustments to have energy.

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