Hard Time Meeting Calorie and Macro Goals & Hunger

Sarlynn69 · January 2018

Hi! So I have been a MFP logger for quite a few years off and on. This is the year I have to take it seriously - was just over 190 lbs at the beginning of this month heaviest EVER - weight has been slowly creeping up 4 lbs or so per year since 2012. I am doing Damp January (alcohol has been major source of calories I know) and although one might not think so looking at my diary - have been successful at cutting down substantially so far this month.

Anyway - it seems if I meet my calorie goals - I am off on my macros. If hit my macros - I am off on my calories. What are your opinions on which is better to meet? Current MFP calorie goal is 1200 - I am 48 years old - have desk job but go to gym three times a week for cardio and strength workouts so would consider myself moderately active.

Additionally, as I was looking at this and trying to figure out what to do - it occurred to me that I don't remember the last time I ate simply because I was hungry. I am so accustomed to making sure to get "healthy snacks" in between meals - I am never really hungry when it comes time for my main meals. I certainly don't want to put my body into starvation mode but would a short fast of some kind maybe help "reset" me? It seems that I have read that you don't want to go below 1200 calories a day but if you are eating "good calories", could you?

janejellyroll · January 2018

Weight loss is created by meeting your calorie goal. Macros are for nutrition and satiety, but people can thrive on a wide variety of macro goals. If weight loss is your main goal, then focus on calories. You can then make adjustments if you see you are regularly failing to get sufficient protein and fat.

Are you eating back your exercise calories? Often when people aren't hungry on a very low goal (which I would consider 1,200 to be given your stats), it's either because they've just started or because they aren't measuring accurately and they're actually eating more than they think. How are you measuring your food (are you using measuring cups or are you using a food scale?)?

Edit: Looked at a few days in your diary and it looks like you're using a fair number of generic/homemade database entries created by other people and some less exact measurements. Are you currently losing weight?

mmapags · January 2018

Why 1200 calories? That may be too aggressive and that is why you are struggling. What is you loss goal per week?

MichelleSilverleaf · January 2018

Your body won't go into starvation mode. It doesn't need a reset and a fast isn't necessary. You don't want to go below 1200 because you're sacrificing nutrition by doing so. Use the number MFP gives you, eat back a portion of your exercise calories.

gamerbabe14 · January 2018

For me, calories are the easier goal to meet. With that said, what you eat is very personal and your preference really. I love eggs and bread and avocado and fish. All of those foods keep me satisfied for a very long time. If I eat oatmeal or nuts or chips, I get hungry very quickly and am not as satisfied. So the trick is to find what keeps you happy the longest.

Now what you'll notice is a lot of the foods I listed that keep me satisfied for longer are higher in fat and protein. You can adjust your macros to increase these in your macro calculation to find out what keeps you the most satisfied. Either method will work but in my case, I think calories are so much easier to keep track of.

Sarlynn69 · January 2018

Wow! Quick responses!

I do use a food scale. Good point about exercise calories - yes - I suppose I am eating them back - I use a Fit Bit and I know that it overestimates calorie burn so stay under what it tells me but maybe that is still too much. Could I come up with a "set" number to add back in on days I am at gym? Or would it be better just to stick at 1200?

I would like to lose 1 - 2 lbs a week - MFP set me at 1200. Maybe that is too aggressive?

vivmom2014 · January 2018

Forget "good" calories and "bad" calories. For weight loss, eat a variety of foods and maintain a calorie goal. 1200 calories would be self sabotage for me -- too low. But regardless, use your food scale and use accurate calorie data (I love using the recipe builder on the site for my home cooked food.)

coffeebean92 · January 2018

Try upping your calories to 1500 you should still lose weight. It will be slower but it's more sustainable. 1200 is soo low

kimny72 · January 2018

Sarlynn69 wrote: »

Wow! Quick responses! I do use a food scale. Good point about exercise calories - yes - I suppose I am eating them back - I use a Fit Bit and I know that it overestimates calorie burn so stay under what it tells me but maybe that is still too much. Could I come up with a "set" number to add back in on days I am at gym? Or would it be better just to stick at 1200?

I would like to lose 1 - 2 lbs a week - MFP set me at 1200. Maybe that is too aggressive?

What are your stats other than current weight - height, goal weight.

And wanted to highlight the note about homemade or generic entries - don't use them.

You should definitely eat back at least some of your exercise cals

Adjusting your macros can help with hunger, but calories are king for weight loss.

kdbulger · January 2018

Take my advice with a grain of salt because I haven't followed a macro diet - however based on the information you gave, especially considering you're exercising and that 1200 is the bare minimum for most people - I would bet that following a macro approach (regardless of the calories) might be more efficient.

As an aside (because I saw your comment about snacking and not being hungry by meal time), a program I follow has me forgoing snacks altogether in favour of larger, balanced meals. I can't begin to tell you how effective it's been for me. My meals keep me full until an hour or so before the next meal, so I'm hungry when I eat. Also, the stress of planning small, healthy snacks and then still planning meals is gone....I only have to worry about the meals and they are way more flexible because they can be larger. It's a more balanced approach FOR ME.

kommodevaran · January 2018

Your macros are your macros, and if you hit protein, fat and carbs goals and not calories, and the discrepancy can't be down to rounding, something is off. You have to check each entry for errors.

Your calorie deficit is what makes you lose weight, so that is most important. A good macro split can be the one thing that makes you stick to your calorie deficit, and in that case, that is important too.

Starvation mode as we have all heard about, is not a thing. A short fast is not harmful (how long is short?), but it won't reset you in any way, either. Calories are neither good nor bad, they are a measure of energy, and energy just is.

If you really stick to 1200 calories, you will feel some hunger, eventually. Feelings of hunger isn't in itself bad, what's important is that you get in sufficient nutrition, that you lose fat and not too much muscle, and that you feel good overall so you don't want to "quit". 1200 real (correctly logged) calories is most likely not enough for you; keep in mind that MFP is designed for you to eat back some of your exercise calories too. Going under 1200 is associated with halfarsed logging, impatience, cheating, binge-restrict cycles, and yoyoing. Be smart. You can't cheat the system.

roxskow · January 2018

If you are not hungry you don't need a snack! Hierarchy of importance on cals vs macros for weight loss is #1 Calories, #2 Protein (.6-.8g per lb bodyweight), #3 don't worry about the rest unless you have specific needs

Otherwise what others have already said seems to be on point, make sure you are measuring/logging properly!

janejellyroll · January 2018

Sarlynn69 wrote: »

Wow! Quick responses! I do use a food scale. Good point about exercise calories - yes - I suppose I am eating them back - I use a Fit Bit and I know that it overestimates calorie burn so stay under what it tells me but maybe that is still too much. Could I come up with a "set" number to add back in on days I am at gym? Or would it be better just to stick at 1200?

I would like to lose 1 - 2 lbs a week - MFP set me at 1200. Maybe that is too aggressive?

Eating back calories is fine, although you'll want to pay attention to your results to ensure that your Fitbit isn't over-estimating your calorie burn (some people find that it does, others -- like me -- find that it is accurate for them).

If you set a goal of 2 pounds a week and MFP gave you 1,200 calories, know that is the most aggressive weight loss goal so that's why it is such a low calorie goal. If you do find it difficult to get sufficient protein and fat on 1,200 calories, you can always adjust your goal to something more reasonable to get more calories per day.

One reason why heavier drinking is more challenging with a lower calorie goal is because it can make it hard to get sufficient protein and fat. Since alcohol doesn't have either of these macronutrients, dedicating a big chunk of calories to them (which it looks like you do, especially on the weekends) is going to make it harder to get what you need nutritionally.

andfivesixseveneight · January 2018

How do your weekly totals look?
Personally, I like eating less on days I’m not hungry and more on days I am, as long as it evens out by the week’s end.
That way, I’m listening to my body and discerning between physical hunger cues vs emotional/situational prompts to eat.
For setting macros on a low calorie diet, my dietician said to think of it in terms of meeting minimum requirements for health. Just make sure you’re not so deficient in any one macro that your body cannot maintain itself.

Sarlynn69 · January 2018

Thank you all - this is really helpful. With so much info out there - it is overwhelming sometimes. It helps to have real people's input - not just article after article from a Yahoo search - LOL! I think I am going to try foregoing the snacks as some of you have suggested. It had just become a habit. And if I am still hungry after lunch - I can always eat one then.

Kimmy72 - I am 5'7" - my goal weight is 175 which is what I last felt "good" at. According to some of the charts I have seen that is still overweight but I liked the way I looked, had good energy, etc. so am using that for the moment because it also is something that seems like it is attainable. A lower number would be great but I am trying to set realistic goals that won't make me depressed to see it so far away. I do not have any measurements - haven't done them in awhile. I do use the generic entries - will keep an eye out for those and match to what I am actually eating....

Vivmom2014 - I too LOVE the receipe builder feature as I crockpot Sundays and then do the leftovers throughout the week.

kimny72 · January 2018

You don't have much to lose, so set your goal to no more than 1 lb per week. If you're struggling, there's nothing wrong with going down to half a lb per week if you need to. Progress is progress

kommodevaran · January 2018

It was staring me in the face - alcohol has calories too, so yes, your macros can be spot on and your calories be off and all entries can be perfect

Sarlynn69 · January 2018

Thanks everybody! Am incoporating the suggestions - actually a bit hungry going into lunch - skipped snack. Appreciate everything.

AliceDark · January 2018

kommodevaran wrote: »

It was staring me in the face - alcohol has calories too, so yes, your macros can be spot on and your calories be off and all entries can be perfect

I was going to point this out too -- incorporating alcohol means that you're not going to be able to hit all of your macro targets. That's not such a problem when you're playing with a bigger calorie budget, but trying to hit 1200 gives you little, if any, wiggle room.

fiddletime · January 2018

I’m 5’2” and 63 yo. I’m at 1200 calories. You should be higher than that. It’s very hard to eat that little and drink alcohol, so I finally cut out all alcohol and started losing as I’d hoped. I’m in maintenance now, but was losing 2# a month for the 15 pound loss I was aiming for. I eat back half my Fitbit cal in workout classes.

Now that I’m in maintenance, thanks to overeating during the holidays, I’m back at 1200 trying to lose a few of those holiday pounds. My maintenance is 1350 so it’s a little help but once you lose your weight, be prepared for mini gains and losses for forever. It takes patience and logging to get to your “real” numbers, as everyone is different. I eat a Kirkland protein bar every morning for my snack, and find it very filling. 20 gm protein, 190 calories.

granite_peapod · January 2018

Im the same height as you and roughly the same age. Desk job and commute by car so I've set MFP to sedentary and it gives me 1570. If I hit over 8000`steps' on my fit it I eat back about half the extra calories, sometimes more. I started heavier than you and did 1200 for a while and dropped 1lb plus a week but felt awful and was regularly 'hangry' hehe. So now I am happy if I can average around 0.5lbs a week, eat well and enjoy some wine at the weekends. Only macro I look at is protein as I don't eat a lot of meat and it's often low. I try to eat more of other sources like fish, beans and dairy. I look at my average calls over the week as I find it all less stressful.

crb426 · January 2018

Some days 10%-20% of your calories are from alcohol. And you drink alcohol every day. I'm not trying to pry, but maybe there's a bigger issue here...?

Sarlynn69 · January 2018

CRB426 - No worries - I appreciate how non-judgemental everyone has actually been. I really had to take a deep breath before I made my diary public because I was self-concious but if I am asking people for help - but how can they give suggestions without seeing it.

Unfortunately, it just seems like the last couple years the drinking has gotten out of hand. It isn't like I am getting wasted every night and I don't wake up with hangovers. I have gotten in the habit of having a shot when I get home from work, then one before I make dinner, then of course I have a glass of wine or two with dinner...then on the weekend - add a hard seltzer with lunch and maybe another couple shots during the football game. Am not running around in a druken stupor - apparently have built up my tolerance a little too well...

So - what I am trying to do is cut out hard alcohol during the week and stop at my one glass (1.5 serving) of wine with dinner. Instead of buying a bottle of vodka to make cocktails with - I am buying the tiny bottles and allowing myself two cocktails on Saturday and one on Sunday during the football game. When I have the bigger bottle around - it kind of tends to disappear a lot faster than it should....

AliceDark · January 2018

I like your approach, and your tolerance for hearing feedback! (I personally feel like that's a huge predictor of who will be successful in making life changes -- along with other factors, of course). Anyway, I don't think your alcohol consumption would've stood out to me at all, except that it represents a relatively high % of your overall calorie goal on some days. It's just rough trying to fit in any extras when you don't have a lot of calories to play with.

Hard Time Meeting Calorie and Macro Goals & Hunger

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