Counting macros good or bad?

glacierlilly · May 2016

Anyone struggle with this? Trying hard to change diet habits, seems like the more I try the more I self sabotage. Like when I pay too much attention to all this counting, I just end up coming home and being bad at the end of a good eating day and having ice cream - WTF. I'm really disappointed in my will. If stopped filling out the food journal, because it's I feel so crappy about putting junk food on it. It's like if I can't be perfect then I don't want to do it. I know this isn't right thinking. Frustrating.

ghudson92 · May 2016

Make small changes at a time and introduce them gradually. If you strive for perfection then you will probably end up binging a lot. Also, ice cream is wonderful, work it in to your macros

kelseymallen · May 2016

I used obsessed over macro percentages when I first started. Now that I've been using the app for a while, I don't stress about it as much. I shoot to get my macros in the right ballpark. Protein is the only one I am still strict with because I'm lifting and need it for muscle repair; my carbs and fat are set at 50% and 25% respectively, and as long as I get them close to those numbers, I'm cool with it.

As far as feeling bad about junk food goes; if I want a couple Oreos or some chocolate at the end of the day, I eat it and enjoy it as long as it fits in my calorie allotment and doesn't throw my macros ridiculously out of whack.

Carlos_421 · May 2016

Preparing meals ahead of time and pre logging can be really helpful.

glacierlilly · May 2016

Thanks everyone, georgy, kelsey, and carlos. All great ideas. I need to figure out FOR SURE where my calories should be and correspondingly where my macros need to be. I am also lifting four times a week and need to keep protein at at least .8 gram for each lb I guess. So I guess I need to figure all that out, the thing is, that I am short, and small boned, so that is messing with me a little in that maybe matrix calculations don't understand this? Am I thinking too much into it? Sounds like you kelsey are doing 50% carbs, 25% protein and 25% fat? Sorry for the lame questions, just trying to figure it all out.

I wish I liked to cook, I need to try harder in being organized and preparing meals. That does seem to help - I've done it once - one week lol.

glacierlilly · May 2016

Georgy, I meant to say thanks, I was trying to make too many changes all at once. That needs to ease up immediately.

sijomial · May 2016

Think you would be happier moving away from fixed macro percentages if that's what you are aiming for - they really aren't a good idea unless you really, really want to eat the same day after day. (Boring!)

Much more flexible to regard protein and fat as minimum targets in grams with carbs falling wherever they fall within your daily calorie goal.

Unless you are an elite level athlete you really don't need to be very precise. If striving for perfection (whatever that may mean) makes you unhappy, stressed or starting to regard foods (in isolation) as good or bad then would suggest finding a less restrictive way.

mjwarbeck · May 2016

I aim for CPF of 50:25:25. Not too worried if I am not there....I find it hat that is where I average more or less...

maddieg_2 · May 2016

I enjoy making a cup of coffee and planning out my meals for the day, then getting to work making them either in the morning or at night. Macros to me are very important because I aim to make my calories as useful to my body as I can. I do a high fat low carb diet, and when I reach my high fat and protein macros I don't feel as hungry [5:30:65]. That said, if I don't pay attention and allow my carb macro to get too high I have the munchies all day. I feel my appetite is directly influenced by my macros, and how good I feel as well. Having said that, I've slowly adjusted my diet for four years now, so counting macros isn't as overwhelming as it was previously. In the beginning, it would have been way too much to handle and failure would have been imminent. I would say that if you feel like it's too much, just relax and count calories. Once you've gotten that down, then you can begin investigating which macro ratio path you want to go down. You can do an isocaloric which is having your macros set at 33:33:33, or a high fat low carb ketogenic which is 5:25:70 [C,P,F] or whatever you personally find your best results. It's all about lifestyle change and doing it to feel better, so it's all for you.

cwolfman13 · May 2016

All or nothing mentality...good/bad....black/white...matters of nutrition aren't really black and white. You need to do something about that mentality.

Macros are great to be aware of in terms of balancing your diet, etc...but people do way too much hand wringing trying to be perfect or whatever...

J72FIT · May 2016

cwolfman13 wrote: »

All or nothing mentality...good/bad....black/white...matters of nutrition aren't really black and white. You need to do something about that mentality.

Macros are great to be aware of in terms of balancing your diet, etc...but people do way too much hand wringing trying to be perfect or whatever...

100% agree...

imonmyway7 · May 2016

glacierlilly wrote: »

Thanks everyone, georgy, kelsey, and carlos. All great ideas. I need to figure out FOR SURE where my calories should be and correspondingly where my macros need to be. I am also lifting four times a week and need to keep protein at at least .8 gram for each lb I guess. So I guess I need to figure all that out, the thing is, that I am short, and small boned, so that is messing with me a little in that maybe matrix calculations don't understand this? Am I thinking too much into it? Sounds like you kelsey are doing 50% carbs, 25% protein and 25% fat? Sorry for the lame questions, just trying to figure it all out.

I wish I liked to cook, I need to try harder in being organized and preparing meals. That does seem to help - I've done it once - one week lol.

Example for myself 6 foot 4 age 38, I set my Marcos at 40/30/30 . This is for weight loss but also allows me the amounts to train with weights and still make some gains as I'm obese or well was 80 lbs over my desired weight. Every time I hit my Marcos and I feel hungry still i crank up my calories by 100 and wait and see how I feel, if still hungry then add another 100 calories but still within my 40/30/30 range.

glacierlilly · May 2016

Uh WOW, I am immensely impressed with the information from all of you. Thank you a ton. Interesting to see some carbs at 5. Okay so carbs are fuel/energy and protein is muscle growth, but what is fat really good for? Why would it be that high? I see above someone has 70% fat. Obviously from the 'good fat' foods. So, I know that the more protein I eat, my body does not crave food as much. I do need to work this out personally for me. I am a short person with small bones. Seems like if I eat any carbs at night it gives me a belly instantly. I tried many variations of different carbs at night and they all give me an instant belly the next day - this kind of sucks. So that is one good experiment. I know that I am going to need both more carbs and more protein on my workout days especially, but still not under standing why I would need high fat yet.

I can move from percent ratios to grams, I see with the upgrade I have the ability to do that on here. I can try doing that for sure.

I feel I definitely need to let go of the perfectionism as it is definitely self sabotaging and there is no reason I should do it, I'm just trying to improve by health and strength is all, not trying to be elite or anything lol.

Thanks again everyone, so grateful for the help.

SideSteel · May 2016

glacierlilly wrote: »

Uh WOW, I am immensely impressed with the information from all of you. Thank you a ton. Interesting to see some carbs at 5. Okay so carbs are fuel/energy and protein is muscle growth, but what is fat really good for? Why would it be that high? I see above someone has 70% fat. Obviously from the 'good fat' foods. So, I know that the more protein I eat, my body does not crave food as much. I do need to work this out personally for me. I am a short person with small bones. Seems like if I eat any carbs at night it gives me a belly instantly. I tried many variations of different carbs at night and they all give me an instant belly the next day - this kind of sucks. So that is one good experiment. I know that I am going to need both more carbs and more protein on my workout days especially, but still not under standing why I would need high fat yet.

I can move from percent ratios to grams, I see with the upgrade I have the ability to do that on here. I can try doing that for sure.

I feel I definitely need to let go of the perfectionism as it is definitely self sabotaging and there is no reason I should do it, I'm just trying to improve by health and strength is all, not trying to be elite or anything lol.

Thanks again everyone, so grateful for the help.

Someone consuming 70% fat is likely doing a ketogenic diet.

Fat is an essential nutrient. In other words, you NEED a certain amount of it to prevent deficiencies but that also doesn't mean you need tons of it.

Carbs at night are not inherently fattening. It's possible that it effects bloating but you don't have to worry about evening carbohydrates contributing to fat accumulation compared to eating those carbohydrates during the day. Differences in timing of those carbohydrates are likely inconsequential and so you should really eat them when you prefer to eat them.

This of course assumes we are talking about changing the TIMING and not the AMOUNT.

I think you should really try to simplify your process.

Here's a starting point:

Track your calories
Track your protein
Try to stay within a reasonable calorie target for your goals. If the goal is weight loss and you do not have obesity, try starting between 10-12 calories per lb of bodyweight.

Set protein somewhere around 1g/lb goal body weight.

Structure your meal timing and distribution around personal preference and satiety. A good STARTING POINT would be 3-4 feedings/day and adjust from there as needed.

Then, TRACK YOUR PROGRESS and if you are not losing weight after a couple of weeks, make a slight reduction to total calories while leaving protein where it is.

If you are losing weight very fast and feeling great, stay the course.
If you are losing weight very fast (greater than 1.5% change in BW/week) and you feel hungry, add some calories back in to your diet leaving protein the same.

Repeat.

Counting macros good or bad?

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