Feeling stressed about it all
fatkel85
Posts: 3 Member
I thought calorie counting would make the dieting easier but now having looked into it more and having to take into account % of fat,protein and carb intake per day I'm finding it all a bit stressful
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Stop worrying about the macros. Just concentrate on counting your calories and having a balanced diet. The macros (fat/protein/carbs) will generally sort themselves out fine.0
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I thought this but after my meeting with the gym women she was saying the results I was inputting I should have lost 6lb this week and instead I put 1lb on, this is day 8 of healthier eating and exercise.
She suggested it was to do with these % not being stuck to?0 -
no
macros are added bonus
the pound could be all sorts of things from water retention because of a new activity level, to high sodium, to hormones.
also weigh your food on a scale. this will help you keep a better idea of how much you are eating0 -
I think the macros are way less important than your total calories for the day. Make sure you are logging accurately. Weighing your food on a digital scale will be the most accurate way.
Keep trying. It took me a couple months to get used to tracking my food and staying in my calorie goal.0 -
Expecting a six pound loss is outrageous. Even that would have been a high percentage of water weight.
Focus on calories for now, then once you have your logging down, work on getting your macros where you want them.0 -
I agree and disagree a bit. I think macros are important. Not sure if there is a "right way" and "wrong way" but this is what I've been doing. I'm 5'6/160lbs. I arbitrarily picked 1500 calories as my goal for daily cals. I bought into the "1g of protein per pound of lean muscle-mass" to maintain it. I made a ballpark guesstimation that my lean muscle mass is 130lbs (ballpark people!). So I'm shooting for 130g of protein/day. As long as I get that, I'm happy. I've been hitting +/- 2000 calories, but I'm happy with the results, although I can't really drop below 160lbs for some reason.........probably all of the beer I drink on the weekend. Anyway, I don't think you can disregard the macros because if you're eating 1500 calories and it's all coming from carbs, you're not going to be a happy camper and you're probably not going to get where you want to go.0
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Stop worrying about the macros. Just concentrate on counting your calories and having a balanced diet. The macros (fat/protein/carbs) will generally sort themselves out fine.
This. I never ever manage my macros, because it's basically witchcraft to me. If I had been trying to sort my calories AND my macros out when I started, I would have failed. For me, it was a matter of figuring out how I could eat in a sustainable way, and to figure out which of my habits were causing the most harm. Focus on the calories, and you can give macros more attention later when the calorie controlling isn't as overwhelming.
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I'm on 1200 calories, I think that works out to 130g carbs, 25g fats and 40g protein.
I've done 4 x 30 mins exercise classes since starting 8 days ago. I have my calories spot on really just not the % of the intake on macros0 -
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I'm on 1200 calories, I think that works out to 130g carbs, 25g fats and 40g protein.
I've done 4 x 30 mins exercise classes since starting 8 days ago. I have my calories spot on really just not the % of the intake on macros
Recheck your macro targets. What you have adds up to only 905 calories (130x4 + 25x9 + 40x4).
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I thought this but after my meeting with the gym women she was saying the results I was inputting I should have lost 6lb this week and instead I put 1lb on, this is day 8 of healthier eating and exercise.
She suggested it was to do with these % not being stuck to?
That's a crazy high loss expectation for only a week. That would be more normal for a couple months, or at least 6 weeks at a minimum.
Talk to a registered dietitian for better advice, not a gym trainer or nutritionist.
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If you are using the MFP default macros, 1200 calories is 150 g of carbs (50% of calories), 40 g fat (30%), and 60 g protein (20%). I can see why the percentages weren't working out if you were using gram amounts that were all lower than they should be for your calorie goal.I'm on 1200 calories, I think that works out to 130g carbs, 25g fats and 40g protein.
I've done 4 x 30 mins exercise classes since starting 8 days ago. I have my calories spot on really just not the % of the intake on macros
Don't stress about it. One thing at a time. Calories first. Once you get the hang of that, you might pay closer attention to your macros and you might not.
Weight loss isn't a contest or a race. Make changes a bit at a time that you can live with forever and the weight will come off when it comes off.0 -
I thought this but after my meeting with the gym women she was saying the results I was inputting I should have lost 6lb this week and instead I put 1lb on, this is day 8 of healthier eating and exercise.
She suggested it was to do with these % not being stuck to?
Nope, when I hit my macros I am fuller longer and have more energy, but if I didn't hit them and ate at the same deficit, I'd lose the same amount of weight.
(I'm off to bed - someone please do the math for what the OP's Before calories would have to have been to have lost 6 pounds in a week.)0 -
I thought this but after my meeting with the gym women she was saying the results I was inputting I should have lost 6lb this week and instead I put 1lb on, this is day 8 of healthier eating and exercise.
She suggested it was to do with these % not being stuck to?
1. 6 lb per week - assuming she meant fat - is insane. Even if you were morbidly obese, that's a ton. That would be a 3,000 calorie deficit - just to be physically possible to lose that much fat, you'd need at least 100 lb of body fat just to have enough fat cells to supply fat at that rate. One pound of body fat can only supply about 31 calories per day (which by inference means you can never reduce body fat faster than about 1% per day).
2. My guess is she meant water weight, and while many people do shed several pounds of water out of the gate, not everyone does, and some people gain water weight too.
3. Macros have nothing to do with either water retention or fat loss.0 -
"The gym woman". Is she a registered dietician?
Use the gym people for gym stuff - workouts & such. But they generally just repeat wrong stuff other people say when it comes to food. The things other people said are accurate. For weight loss calories are all that matter. For general health and feeling better and fuller, macros matter - but you can figure that out gradually along the way.
The first one I'd pay attention to is protein, try to get 100+ grams per day. This should help you feel fuller for longer, and will prevent some of the muscle loss that always comes along with fat loss. But if that's a lot more than you usually eat, you can aim for a lower number at first and work your way up.
Not a registered dietician, but I have a BS in biology, and can recognize BS science.
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Start with getting your calories in order first. Work on it from there. Do you end up being consistently carb heavy and really low on protein at the end of you day? Slowly work on adjusting them so they are more balanced. Not even those who have been here and doing this for literally years are spot on with their macros. Hell I've been at this for over a year and it is rare for me to nail my macros. I have my own personal goals for my macros - over on protein, under on carbs but over on fiber. I am at times woefully low on my fat, so that's what I'm still working on... 13 months later I'm still working on finding my balance. Don't expect it to all fall into place instantly. That's not how it works.0
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When eating 1200 calories, 20 to 25% of calories (60 to 75 g) from protein is plenty even for active people. There needs to be room in the eating plan for fats and carbs as well.The first one I'd pay attention to is protein, try to get 100+ grams per day. This should help you feel fuller for longer, and will prevent some of the muscle loss that always comes along with fat loss. But if that's a lot more than you usually eat, you can aim for a lower number at first and work your way up.
The DRI (Dietary Reference Intake) is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.
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I've been doing this for over 12mths and I never get my macros perfectly spot on.0
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If the macros are stressing you out, skip them for now. Measuring and/or weighing food, then logging it - that's enough at first.
After a while, when you're in the groove, you can start looking at macros, if you want.
Make it as easy as possible. You can add in things to work on (say, getting enough iron or increasing your fiber) when you're ready and feeling like taking on a new challenge.
Don't overwhelm yourself.0 -
When eating 1200 calories, 20 to 25% of calories (60 to 75 g) from protein is plenty even for active people. There needs to be room in the eating plan for fats and carbs as well.The first one I'd pay attention to is protein, try to get 100+ grams per day. This should help you feel fuller for longer, and will prevent some of the muscle loss that always comes along with fat loss. But if that's a lot more than you usually eat, you can aim for a lower number at first and work your way up.
The DRI (Dietary Reference Intake) is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.
I could be wrong, but I understood that to be the amount for normal consumption. I've always heard people eating at a deficit should eat 1 gr of protein per pound of lean body mass. Since most people don't know their lean body mass the general guideline is .8 gram per pound you weigh. People eating at a calorie deficit are at more risk to lose muscle than other people. Therefore the recommendation for more protein is to help preserve as much muscle as possible along the way.
But it's just a suggestion, I don't insist on it for everyone, or say they can't lose weight properly without it. And if I only had the mental capacity to count 1 thing right now, it would certainly be calories.
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I started bt focusing on calories only. When ii noticed I was too hungry, I checked macros and saw my protein was too low. Adjusted that and was comfortable. Then I watched sodium for myself. Anyway, I used them to help, but cals is my real goal.0
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