I don't really understand the nutrition pages

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deasphodel
deasphodel Posts: 23 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I read them everyday, and I get that they're telling me breakdown of the food that I eat, but I don't really have a way to use that information.
I am losing weight at the moment but would it actually be helpful to do research into the macros or just to keep it simple?

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  • harmar21
    harmar21 Posts: 215 Member
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    start off by keeping it simple. Let MFP guide you. Set a realistic weight you want to lose per week, and it will tell you how many calories you can eat to reach that weightloss. So stick to under those calories, you dont have to hit the exact macros they tell you, but you may want to get somewhat close. Once you get more knowledgable you can start tweaking the macros to what suits you... eg, I lowered the carbs fairly significantly, and bumped up protein and fat.
  • deasphodel
    deasphodel Posts: 23 Member
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    Oh okay, so can you move around percentages? I pretty constantly get highest on the card percentage, next on protein and then tiny on fat, or the other way round with fat and protein.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    As for the weight loss part. Macros are not as important as calories being less than you burn. Don't complex this process when It really doesn't need to be.
  • harmar21
    harmar21 Posts: 215 Member
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    deasphodel wrote: »
    Oh okay, so can you move around percentages? I pretty constantly get highest on the card percentage, next on protein and then tiny on fat, or the other way round with fat and protein.

    Yes, first go to goals, and do a guided to get the calories. Then go back to goals and do custom. There you can modify whatever you want for both macros (by percentage/slider) and nutrients (hard value)

  • sheltol
    sheltol Posts: 120 Member
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    If you are not exercising macros will not play as significant of a role as your calorie intake. If what you are doing is working for you, keep it simple.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Total calories is what matters for weight loss.

    People with specific conditions will watch macros more carefully. For instance, before my diabetes went in to remission, I wanted to have a pretty good balance between protein/carb/fat intake. Now, post-bariatric, it is important to make sure I get enough protein daily. I watch that. I just found out this week that someone with poor kidney function needs to limit potassium and protein intake. Someone with high blood pressure will be watching salt. So it all depends on the individual.

    Now, people may try and tweak their diet by lowering a particular macro, like fat or carbs, and they will feel specific effects from doing that, but it is the calorie deficit that contributes to weight loss.
  • drltucker
    drltucker Posts: 1 Member
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    I'm post sleeve only 4 1/2 weeks and still only get in an avg of 500 cal per day. So the app "punishes" me by not posting that I completed this or that. Kind of a bummer.

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