calorie counting or macro counting...

raven56706
raven56706 Posts: 918 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
so which one is prefered? they both kind of work in tandem but instead you are monitoring everything.

so if i eat 200g carbs(and over your allowance of carbs according to the plan layout) but still in a deficit, can you lose weight or do you need to monitor that?


Replies

  • kathrynjean_
    kathrynjean_ Posts: 428 Member
    You can lose weight eating whatever macro breakdown you want and still lose weight - as long as you are in a deficit. It doesn't matter if you go over carbs if you are still in a deficit.
  • dhimaan
    dhimaan Posts: 774 Member
    You will need to be macro specific once you get decently lean and want to get leaner. If you have a lot of weight to lose start with a deficit and work on managing that deficit.

    Yes you can go over carbs but if you are in a deficit you will lose weight. Not knowing how lean you are currently it's hard to give you specific advice.
  • raven56706
    raven56706 Posts: 918 Member
    dhimaan wrote: »
    You will need to be macro specific once you get decently lean and want to get leaner. If you have a lot of weight to lose start with a deficit and work on managing that deficit.

    Yes you can go over carbs but if you are in a deficit you will lose weight. Not knowing how lean you are currently it's hard to give you specific advice.

    im 30 lbs from my goal so im not lean at all.
  • dhimaan
    dhimaan Posts: 774 Member
    raven56706 wrote: »
    dhimaan wrote: »
    You will need to be macro specific once you get decently lean and want to get leaner. If you have a lot of weight to lose start with a deficit and work on managing that deficit.

    Yes you can go over carbs but if you are in a deficit you will lose weight. Not knowing how lean you are currently it's hard to give you specific advice.

    im 30 lbs from my goal so im not lean at all.

    Then work on managing a deficit.
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
    I guess it depends on your goals.

    For me, I have never, ever counted my macro's despite my personal trainer suggesting I cut my carbs to below a certain percentage. Personally, I was already counting calories and thus limiting my life-style to a degree so adding macro counting AS WELL would overwhelm me. I didn't want to live my life with numbers, calculations and restrictions following me everywhere. I counted my calories and I lost my desired weight - whether I could *LOOK* better by recording my macros, I don't know. But for weight loss, I don't feel it's necessary.

    I loosely make sure I eat a good amount of protein a day so I don't feel hungry but other than that, I just eat what I want to eat.
  • rightoncommander
    rightoncommander Posts: 114 Member
    As others have said, if you're in deficit you'll lose weight. Two things to consider when counting macros:

    1. Calories are usually pretty reliable in MFP. Macros are a little less reliable, especially for more unusual foods, and micros such as the sodium count and breakdown into types of fats and carbs is next to useless.
    2. Macro goals are about helping you manage your appetite and get the right amount of nutrition. Carbs are usually cast as the bad guy when counting macros. You could reduce carbs because they are associated with blood sugar spikes and crashes, leading to strong hunger pangs. There are other ways to achieve this, so you've just got to pick the method that works for you. For instance, you could get the same effect by cutting down on refined carbs and sticking to complex carbs. Or you could try to manage the GI of your carbs by eating them at the same time as fats and protein, which slows down the digestion of carbs.

    Personally, I just make note of the foods that make it easier or harder to stick to my calorie goals, and include or exclude them according to how full they make me feel for how long. My carb intake is way above what any macro-counter would target as I have a bit of a sweet tooth, and struggle to get much protein into my diet.
  • lknjohnson
    lknjohnson Posts: 351 Member
    bump
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    raven56706 wrote: »
    so if i eat 200g carbs(and over your allowance of carbs according to the plan layout) but still in a deficit, can you lose weight or do you need to monitor that?

    If you are in a calorie deficit you will still lose weight, regardless of your macro split.
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
    I think they are really two separate things, you count calaroies to make sure you are in a deficit, maintaining, or gaining, your macro's are a personal preference for your goals on top of that. Now I'm sure it is pretty easy to gain weight without counting calories, but counting Macros, you just need to eat a lot, but I think it is harder to maintain weight, or lose weight only counting Macros.
  • workinonit1956
    workinonit1956 Posts: 1,043 Member
    I count calories only.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    Calories for weight loss.

    Macros for satiety, can also be helpful for fitness goals and some health issues.

    If your primary goal is weight loss, and you're counting just one thing, count calories. I count calories and keep an eye on protein, but don't sweat it.
  • Dano74
    Dano74 Posts: 503 Member
    "Preferred" is what will work for you. If you've got protein or carb goals to hit, tracking makes sense. As you mentioned, counting macros will automatically take care of your calories as you adjust them to align with your goals, but not necessarily vice versa.

    Personally, I prefer counting macros to calorie counting.

    And ditto to all other answers as per going over carbs while in deficit- you'll still lose weight.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Interestingly enough, millions of people have lost weight without counting a single calorie or having the slightest clue what their macro ratios were...

    IMO, people needlessly obsess about macro ratios...they're pretty much irrelevant...they're an ok thing to be aware of, particularly from a performance standpoint and in terms of balancing your diet out, etc...but other than that, I can't believe how many people obsess about them.

    Calories are what matter to weight loss...macro ratios would be a pretty individualized thing...there is not universally awesome macro ratio...I'm an avid cyclist and I though I'm not full vegetarian, I eat vegetarian often...in doing so, my ratio of carbs is higher than someone eating meat 3x+ per day...I had no issues losing weight eating a carbier diet than many appear to eat and have had no issue maintaining and I have plenty of energy for my rides.

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