Carbs.... Do I really need that many?
Cynsonya
Posts: 668 Member
I'm finding it very hard most days to reach my carbs goal. A lot of days I don't even reach half. I'm not a big carb person and now that I've cut out soda and RedBull I usually don't come close. Even though I eat quite a bit of fresh fruit. I don't have much trouble with Protein and fat though, lol. My macros are set at default.
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Replies
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I don't agree with the default settings. So there. Haha!
The carbs are way too high and fat and protein way too low.0 -
llrmacdougall wrote: »I don't agree with the default settings. So there. Haha!
The carbs are way too high and fat and protein way too low.
Good! My body agrees
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i never hit my carbs macro either. or protein. I almost always go over fat and sugar though. but I'm scared to mess with the macros coz I assume they're at what they're at for a reason. but what do I know0
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Are you coming close to your calorie target? Then I suggest you modify your macro ratio to the way you eat. You are obviously getting enough protein.0
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Carbs are not essential for the body. Eat enough protein and fats to get to your calories. You are fine.0
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Essential if you want to poop. And not be malnourished.
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Depends by what you term essential. Fruit and veg = essential. Bread and pasta etc, not really essential if you get the fibre and b vits from elsewhere.0
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Well, for feeding oodles of people(think world pop) they may be essential. Unless, maybe everyone ought to switch to high fat diets for fuel. Are you shorting the coconut futures in the hopes of making money? Do you own dairy cows and want to impact the markets? Have you heard of Michael Milken?!?!? (ironic last name given the discussion of cornering markets and fat).Carbs are not essential for the body. Eat enough protein and fats to get to your calories. You are fine.
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OP many people manually adjust their macro settings to targets that best fit their lifestyle and personal health and fitness goals. A lot of people treat the protein and fat goals as minimums and the carbs sort of sort themselves out. If you don't have a medical reason to restrict carbs they can be part of a balanced diet as many "healthy" foods such as fruits and vegetables, grains, etc are carbs containing micronutrients.
For weight loss, the calorie deficit is what matters the most, macro balance can provide satiety and impact body composition.0 -
OP----see above. mcaros and settings for personal goals makes sense. P and F are mini's for many and carbs are the rubberband....some days it stretches for more, other days it is less. Hit your P and F mini's and let carbs be flexible. Now, the bigger question is......what should P and F be?!?!?!?!?!?0
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Thanks everyone!0
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I rarely ever look at macros unless it's a quick glance to see if I have had enough protein. You will be fine. Some people barely eat any carbs at all, and some eat mostly carbs like I do. It's all about personal preference and what helps you be happy while you diet.0
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To add another voice;
You can live quite well on 0g carbs. You cannot live on 0g fat or protein.
Trying to do exercise, let alone significant exercise such as weight lifting, sprints, or other high value and high cost activity, without any carbs is usually a recipe for a bad time.
For a diet, the most important thing is what type of deficit, fat or carb, helps you adhere to the diet better and you find you feel best on. Set your protein at a useful level, and whatever carb or fat level you hit while keeping yourself in a calorie deficit will work.0 -
To add another voice;
You can live quite well on 0g carbs. You cannot live on 0g fat or protein.
Trying to do exercise, let alone significant exercise such as weight lifting, sprints, or other high value and high cost activity, without any carbs is usually a recipe for a bad time.
For a diet, the most important thing is what type of deficit, fat or carb, helps you adhere to the diet better and you find you feel best on. Set your protein at a useful level, and whatever carb or fat level you hit while keeping yourself in a calorie deficit will work.
Sounds good!
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To add another voice;
You can live quite well on 0g carbs. You cannot live on 0g fat or protein.
Trying to do exercise, let alone significant exercise such as weight lifting, sprints, or other high value and high cost activity, without any carbs is usually a recipe for a bad time.
For a diet, the most important thing is what type of deficit, fat or carb, helps you adhere to the diet better and you find you feel best on. Set your protein at a useful level, and whatever carb or fat level you hit while keeping yourself in a calorie deficit will work.
maybe you can live quite well on zero carbs, but i can't because I would have zero energy.
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I'm not avoiding at all. I just don't seem to ever eat enough to satisfy the macro goal.0 -
If it were me: I'd eat some nutrient dense, high fiber carbs (vegetables, fruits) everyday and perhaps have some high quality bread (100% whole grain, high fiber, short ingredient list) and then I wouldn't fret about trying to get up to a carb level that didn't feel right to me. Eat a bit more protein, eat a bit more good fat.0
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I'm finding it very hard most days to reach my carbs goal. A lot of days I don't even reach half. I'm not a big carb person and now that I've cut out soda and RedBull I usually don't come close. Even though I eat quite a bit of fresh fruit. I don't have much trouble with Protein and fat though, lol. My macros are set at default.
Everyone is different. If you enjoy your food, have enough energy to do what you want to, and feel good, there is no reason to adjust your carb intake. You seem to have found your "sweet spot" with no effort so go with it. If you want to switch your macro goals to reflect what you prefer, you can customize them. If you find you are a bit sluggish at times, think about maybe adding a bit more fruit or have a sweet treat.0 -
Like others have said, macro percentages is a personal decision, including whether to care about them at all. You should see where yours fall and then decide if they need to be adjusted or not -- the MFP default isn't magic and is probably more about balance for people who don't eat much protein or tempted to cut super low on fat because of the old notion of fat being bad for a diet. If you are hungry or feeling low energy, it's worth looking at macros to see if they should be adjusted, but otherwise, you are probably fine.
Personally, I started by focusing on protein because of the research that eating .6-.8 g/lb of healthy body weight can be beneficial in retaining muscle mass and for athletic activity. Beyond that, I don't normally care much about how my fat and carbs fall (although I tend to eat pretty normal amounts of both, neither is especially high or low), but am more focused on choosing nutrient-dense sources -- basically on food choice, not macro amount. Lately I am trying to get my carbs up to 200 g (I tend to naturally eat more like 150 g or a little more), as I've read a lot about it helping with training and workouts and recovery even when people thought they were doing fine (based on studies).0 -
I'm not avoiding at all. I just don't seem to ever eat enough to satisfy the macro goal.
Personally, I would concentrate on total calories and then protein (should be aiming for .6-.8g per lb of mass) and let the rest fall out. I wouldn't get caught up in the whole non essential vs over abundance discussion. You can do find on very low carb or even low fats.0 -
Make sure you meet your protein and fat and do with carbs whatever best suits you and your health needs. As others said, you can even aim for zero carbs although achieving that is not possible in most cases.
Some have associated low carbs with low energy, but it seems that is usually only true while you are adjusting to a lower carb intake. Once your body is used to a certain carb level it is a nonissue.
I eat very low carb. For just over a month after lowering my carbs I noticed less energy while my body was adapting (to ketosis). It passed and now I am doing P90x again without any noticeable difference in energy that I had in the past.
It sounds like you are naturally lower or low carb (considered to be below 100-150g of carbs per day ), like @lemurcat12, and are used to that level, so there is no issues with low energy. If you drop carbs you may notice a difference for a time.0 -
I do make sure I get 25g of fiber or more most every day.0
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I'm not avoiding at all. I just don't seem to ever eat enough to satisfy the macro goal.
Personally, I would concentrate on total calories and then protein (should be aiming for .6-.8g per lb of mass) and let the rest fall out. I wouldn't get caught up in the whole non essential vs over abundance discussion. You can do find on very low carb or even low fats.
Wait... did someone just post a reasoned response?
I've actually looked for studies on the high and low ends of carbs, and find that they are hard to find where it comes to at what points performance in certain sports might fall off. Though I've never done really low carb long term, the brief time I did I saw no changes in energy levels, and at the time I had a fairly physical job.
Like yourself, I think there is a lot of wiggle room in the carb and fat percentages. I'm sure at some level the wiggle room would lessen for the elite athletes, but most of us don't fall into that segment.0 -
I wouldn't worry about missing your carbs. I personally see protein and fat as minimums to meet and carbs are a maximum.
Maybe fiddle around with the percentages to see what ratio keeps you the most satisfied and full. For me it's about equal percentages for all 3.0
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