Unhappy with MFP diaries

So, I tried logging my food and exercise in the diaries on MFP, and I have become very discouraged. As far as the food diary goes, it always says I eat too much fiber and too many carbs. I know I eat a lot of carbs, but I have been eating like this the whole time I've been losing weight, so I don't see the problem. And I know I eat a lot of fiber, but I need it for, um, regularity. I really don't get the exercise diary because most of my exercises as far as strength training goes are not even in the database. I couldn't even find HIIT. So I gave up on that. I really like MFP for the forums and stuff. I do want to know why eating a lot of carbs is bad if you burn them off. Can anyone explain this to me?

I wouldn't worry about either of those numbers, if it's the fiber putting your carbs over--I'm pretty sure MFP doesn't keep track of "effective" or "net" carbs. As for the fiber, I've found the MFP suggestion to be a bit low for me, so I'm always over. It's not something to worry about, I don't think.

Kris

There are many different perspectives on what is a "good" ratio of carbs to fat to sugar - Myfitnesspal defaults to a fairly generic percentage that suits most peoples needs. (it's like 50/30/20, or something, don't remember offhand)

The main thing about MFP is, knowledge is power. If you conscientiously choose to eat a different percentage layout of macronutrients than that, then go for it! There are many dietary plans that recommend higher carbs than that, generally for highly athletic people, or those doing alot of cardio. One thing to keep in mind is the type of carbs you are eating. IMO if all your carbs are coming from veggies and whole grains, I really wouldn't worry about it too much.

Just because something is in the red, doesn't mean it's "BAD", MFP is just notifying you. I'm almost always over on fiber too, because I eat so much veggies. You can just ignore it, or if the red bothers you, it's easy to change it so that fiber isn't one of the nutrients that is tracked.

As far as exercise goes, that's always really going to be an estimation - but you can get a descent guess with some work. For interval training I split of the time the way my workout was. So if i did 5 one minute sprints at the pace of a 5 minute mile, I'll add that in, and then 5 2 minute intervals at a 10 minute mile pace... or just average your pace and enter the distance... Specific strength training stuff isn't in MFP because it's so hard to accurately even guesstimate calories burned, but you can always add the cardio "strength training" option for a really rough guess.

First, you can change the macronutrients in goals -> custom goals.

Also, the strength training does count as calories, just look it up under cardio. The strength section is more to just track progress with your lifts themselves.

Agreed. Dig into the custom settings and change your numbers around to better suit how you like to eat.

I've got an hrm, so I don't even use the calculators for calories burnt. I just make custom ones.put in calories burnt from the polar.

I've got an hrm, so I don't even use the calculators for calories burnt. I just make custom ones.put in calories burnt from the polar.

Same here.

me 2 !