Help? Not hiting calories but hiting macros

HelenMelon412
HelenMelon412 Posts: 8 Member
edited November 23 in Food and Nutrition
I've only started using this app as of today but I really cannot seem to get my head around it!
I'm way under my calories by a good 450/500 however I've exceeded my macros.

I'm trying to do low carb (so around 80g) however today I've eaten around 130g (which isn't a problem because I'm still getting used to it) however I've still fallen short of my calories?
I looked online and people have said it could be due to inputting food wrong but I'm sure I've done it correctly,ive even weighed all my food?
Any help would be great because I'm a bit lost
Thanks!

Replies

  • belle5053
    belle5053 Posts: 1 Member
    I'm having the very same issue and double checking proper food entries. Always off by 500-650 calories and would love for someone to explain just how it's possible to maintain nutrient balance?? Should we change/edit the calorie requirements manually?
  • sixxpoint
    sixxpoint Posts: 3,529 Member
    What is your age, gender, height, weight, activity level, and body fat percentage?

    Most people on this site don't hit their macros on a daily basis.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    your macros (protein/fat/carbs) are what make up your calories...so if you're hitting your macros you would be hitting your calories +/- rounding. this tells me that you are using erroneous entries from the database for which there are many. you should be comparing packaged food data base entries to the actual package. you should not use generic entries like, "chicken noodle soup"...that's some random members recipe and you have no idea if it is even close to your own...this can be a reasonable way of estimating calorie intake, but it's not going to be accurate. for produce, meat, etc you should tag your search with USDA...i.e. "broccoli - usda"

    keep in mind that macros are a great thing to be generally aware of in regards to your nutrition and balancing out your diet, but it isn't necessary to be bang on your macros by any means. for weight management, calories are far and away the most important thing to look at.
  • HelenMelon412
    HelenMelon412 Posts: 8 Member
    I've been scanning the barcode of whatever I'm inputting then weighing how much im eating? The only generic entries I've been inputting is for veggies for example generic brocolli, however I still weigh how much it is.

    Tbh I'm not superrrr worried about the whole thing I just don't want to have to eat extra food when I already feel full just to hit my calories & also don't want it to look like I'm starving myself or anything like that.
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    You are 200 cals over on carbs, yet still under daily calorie target? Probably need to increase your fats. You didn't say what your protein or fat intakes or targets were.
  • HelenMelon412
    HelenMelon412 Posts: 8 Member
    I exceeded my fat however fell slightly short on my protein. Do you think that shortfall could be why I'm lacking in calories?
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,399 Member
    Be cautious of having too large of a calorie deficit. Opinions vary, but cutting back too much can have negative impacts. As a general rule of thumb, most seem to say 20-25% tops, and that is pushing it.

    If you view macros as a percentage, you can reach the right "balance" with a deficit. But you will fall short in all categories for the daily total. Once again, a lot of varied opinions on what things are most important. Sometimes figuring out what works for you personally is the best method. I can have a larger calorie deficit here and there, but I feel better if I at least get close on my protein goal. The mix of fats and carbs doesn't seem to have as much impact in the way I feel.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    HelenMelon412 wrote: »
    I exceeded my fat however fell slightly short on my protein. Do you think that shortfall could be why I'm lacking in calories?
    No. Fat is 9 calories per gram; protein only 4.

    If you are meeting macros but not calories, you're using entries that are incorrect or are off by small amounts due to rounding. It's the macros that determine the calories. The amount of calories is totally dependent on the amount of macros. You can't be off on one and not the other without there being an error somewhere in the process.

  • HelenMelon412
    HelenMelon412 Posts: 8 Member
    Thanks for all the help guys, I think the general consensus is that I'm entering stuff wrong. I'm not sure how but I'll do some more research and hopefully figure it out

    Thanks again!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Probably inaccurate entries. Open your diary maybe so we can help?

    MFP rounds up macros though so you can be over on macros pretty often, but yeah, 400 calories left and over on macros isn't right.
  • HelenMelon412
    HelenMelon412 Posts: 8 Member
    This is what I had yesterday ( bear in mind it was my first day actaually tracking)
    I don't understand how I can have so much calories left when in my eyes I ate loads. I'm trying low carbs so about 80-100g a day.
  • HelenMelon412
    HelenMelon412 Posts: 8 Member
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  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Change your Diary Sharing to Public http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings so we can look at the individual entries.
  • HelenMelon412
    HelenMelon412 Posts: 8 Member
    Done, I've only being doing it for 2 days so there's not much
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    Keep in mind that even bar code scanning can be off. I've found that when I double check the bar codes scan, often the entries are still off. I have to manually enter quite a few foods myself.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited September 2015
    Your diary isn't open yet, but what you have showed us explains the issue. It's not logging inaccurate entries (well, probably not), it's using the percentage chart and not the gram goals. Your percentages before you hit your actual goal aren't going to be meaningful. When you say you are over or under you need to focus on the grams. You are under because you are pretty far under on fat and especially protein.

    Your goal is 1740, with 40% fat, 40% protein, and 20% carbs (as an aside, 40% protein is probably unnecessary and looks like it will be difficult for you -- low carb usually gives more of the excess to fat, so think about switching to 50% fat and 30% protein or 55/25 if your goal is 1740).

    At 40% fat and 1740 calories, that means you are aiming for about 77-78 g fat.

    At 20% carbs and 1740, you are aiming for about 87 g carbs.

    At 40% protein and 1740, you are aiming for about 174 g protein (again -- hard to do and unnecessary).

    Looks like you actually got 107 g carbs, so a little over; 64 g fat, so under (by about 120 calories); and 45 g protein (so WAY under, by over 500 calories, and probably too low, although I'd need to know your goal weight to give a good protein recommendation).

    The chart is not useful, as it shows percentage of what you HAVE eaten, and you are aiming for a particular gram number that is a percentage of what your goal is.

    So I'd eat more fat and protein to make up the missing calories. (And since that might be tough, I'd simply eat some more to get the calories up and work on adjusting the macros over a period of a few days. It's often trial and error.)

    Also, I ignored the fact that your real goal here looks like it's higher than 1740, because you have added in exercise calories. I don't know if the plan is to eat back some of the exercise calories (depends on how you got the goal and how aggressive it is), but remember if you do you'll need to decide if you will eat it back at the same macro ratios (which is what MFP will assume) or if you will keep to below 90 g carbs no matter what, in which case it will increase the fat and protein grams even more.

    Hope that helps clear things up.
  • Bansh3e
    Bansh3e Posts: 71 Member
    why would you eat low carb if you are following IIFYM.Do you have some medical problems with carbs?
  • HelenMelon412
    HelenMelon412 Posts: 8 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Your diary isn't open yet, but what you have showed us explains the issue. It's not logging inaccurate entries (well, probably not), it's using the percentage chart and not the gram goals. Your percentages before you hit your actual goal aren't going to be meaningful. When you say you are over or under you need to focus on the grams. You are under because you are pretty far under on fat and especially protein.

    Your goal is 1740, with 40% fat, 40% protein, and 20% carbs (as an aside, 40% protein is probably unnecessary and looks like it will be difficult for you -- low carb usually gives more of the excess to fat, so think about switching to 50% fat and 30% protein or 55/25 if your goal is 1740).

    At 40% fat and 1740 calories, that means you are aiming for about 77-78 g fat.

    At 20% carbs and 1740, you are aiming for about 87 g carbs.

    At 40% protein and 1740, you are aiming for about 174 g protein (again -- hard to do and unnecessary).

    Looks like you actually got 107 g carbs, so a little over; 64 g fat, so under (by about 120 calories); and 45 g protein (so WAY under, by over 500 calories, and probably too low, although I'd need to know your goal weight to give a good protein recommendation).

    The chart is not useful, as it shows percentage of what you HAVE eaten, and you are aiming for a particular gram number that is a percentage of what your goal is.

    So I'd eat more fat and protein to make up the missing calories. (And since that might be tough, I'd simply eat some more to get the calories up and work on adjusting the macros over a period of a few days. It's often trial and error.)

    Also, I ignored the fact that your real goal here looks like it's higher than 1740, because you have added in exercise calories. I don't know if the plan is to eat back some of the exercise calories (depends on how you got the goal and how aggressive it is), but remember if you do you'll need to decide if you will eat it back at the same macro ratios (which is what MFP will assume) or if you will keep to below 90 g carbs no matter what, in which case it will increase the fat and protein grams even more.

    Hope that helps clear things up.

    Thank you so so so much! This was very helpful! I think it's gonna very much be a trail an error thing but this really helped
    Thanks again! x
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Bansh3e wrote: »
    why would you eat low carb if you are following IIFYM.Do you have some medical problems with carbs?

    One doesn't need to have a diagnosed medical condition with carbs to benefit from reducing carbs. We can all experiment and find what works best for our body. For me and many others, reducing carbs and increasing protein makes it easier to eat at a deficit.

  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    HelenMelon412 wrote: »
    Thanks for all the help guys, I think the general consensus is that I'm entering stuff wrong. I'm not sure how but I'll do some more research and hopefully figure it out

    Thanks again!

    It won't always come out exactly due to rounding and carbs that are not absorbed, such as fiber and sugar alcohols. Calories for these are generally not listed, but since you are doing low carb this is probably not going to be much for you.

    You can check entries here for most foods
    http://ndb.nal.usda.gov//
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