Macros all over the place

Options
Tic150
Tic150 Posts: 23 Member
edited September 2015 in Food and Nutrition
Hi!
Even though what I eat is under my calorie goals, what I've noticed is that my macros (proteins, fats, carbohydrates) are all over the place, meaning I eat way too many of them.
I do check the nutrition facts on foods and try to stay away from the crazy ones, but it seems like I don't really have any luck.
If my carbs are right, I've eaten too much protein. If my proteins are right, I've eaten too many carbs. You know what I'm saying?!
My macros are set the way MFP set them, I did not change them.

So my questions are:

1. Who else is struggling with this?
and
2. Any tips?

Replies

  • M30834134
    M30834134 Posts: 411 Member
    Options
    Well, where do you want your macros to be? And, why?

    Once you resolve the above 2 questions, you'll be able to adjust and/or meet them according to your needs.
  • pmm3437
    pmm3437 Posts: 529 Member
    Options
    There are certain minimums recommended by various medical or government bodies. Once you've met or exceeded those, the rest is arbitrary. This is why there are so many different/competing diet plans.

    You need to determine what kind of lifestyle you have/want, and then adapt your plan to fit it, in a healthy, nutritionally balanced/safe way.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Options
    Generally don't worry too much about macros at first. There's a huge range of healthy macro breakdowns and you may find that something else works better for you than the MFP defaults. Usually I recommend just focusing on calories and tracking for a while and then look back and see where your macros are and if there is any pattern (for example, if you are feeling hungry you might want to try adding more protein, stuff like that).

    I looked at a couple of days for you and did notice that protein seemed low -- that's one exception where I'd try to at least meet the default goal -- and that your calories were awfully low sometimes. I hope you aren't stopping eating before eating your calories to avoid going over on macros -- it's normal to go over on macros.

    Also, at least one day you were WAY over on carbs because you had a bad entry -- 141 cal of orange juice has something like 35 carbs, not the 350 in your entry.
  • Tic150
    Tic150 Posts: 23 Member
    Options
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Generally don't worry too much about macros at first. There's a huge range of healthy macro breakdowns and you may find that something else works better for you than the MFP defaults. Usually I recommend just focusing on calories and tracking for a while and then look back and see where your macros are and if there is any pattern (for example, if you are feeling hungry you might want to try adding more protein, stuff like that).

    I looked at a couple of days for you and did notice that protein seemed low -- that's one exception where I'd try to at least meet the default goal -- and that your calories were awfully low sometimes. I hope you aren't stopping eating before eating your calories to avoid going over on macros -- it's normal to go over on macros.

    Also, at least one day you were WAY over on carbs because you had a bad entry -- 141 cal of orange juice has something like 35 carbs, not the 350 in your entry.

    Thank you for checking out my diary. That crazy 'carb day' was my day of the week where I had my YOLO meal, so I let myself slack a little. :D
  • Tic150
    Tic150 Posts: 23 Member
    Options
    Thank you guys for clearing things up. :)

Categories