Macro recommendations websites?

backformore1
backformore1 Posts: 5 Member
in Getting Started
I think it wold be really cool if myfitnesspal offered food recommendations according to personalized macros. Often I find that I to find the right foods to hit my macros. According the myfitnesspal, I'm not eating enough calories but I don't know what to eat? I can find a lot of food (even in my fridge) that will hit the calories, but it'll throw off the macros. Many years ago I used a menu plan from APEX FITNESS but they don't seem to offer it anymore. I lost a ton of weight on that system but a computer figured everything out.

Are there any ideas about this? Any third party apps?

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Why are you that overly concerned about your macros?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,409 Member
    Yeah, macros aren't that big a deal to get perfect...but I just did a Google search and there were 19 million hits for "meal plan by macro."

    I just learned by doing. Meat and vegetables for dinner. Eggs and sides for breakfast. Whatever for midday. Fruit and yogurt for snacks. Adjust portions to fit.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    Way more important to get your calories right, even if it means getting your macros wrong. I found it was typically protein I was low in, so I focused on increasing my protein and didn't sweat the other stuff. Agree with @cmriverside it's really more about adjusting portions than anything else. I typically pre-log as much as I can and fiddle around with portion sizes until it makes my numbers look half way decent.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,162 Member
    As others have said, your macros don't need to be exact. I think of protein and fats as minimums, and don't worry much where carbs fall (because protein and some fatty acids are essential nutrients, i.e., our bodies can't manufacture them from other nutrients, but can turn other nutrients into carbs, in effect). Close on macros is good enough, especially if you're a bit over on one or the other some days, but a bit under on other days.

    If you're persistently under on protein or fat by a lot, then that's an issue of gradually remodeling your eating to increase that one, using calories freed up by reducing some food that mostly has some macro you routinely get plenty of.

    If it's more that you'd like some ideas about what to eat when you need more calories, but you're under on some random macro but over (or close to over) on others, this chart may be helpful:

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  • backformore1
    backformore1 Posts: 5 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Why are you that overly concerned about your macros?
    I'm really glad that you asked this way. I'm overly concerned about macros because of that plan by APEX FITNESS that really straightened out my diet. I stuck to it probably.... 90% of time and had maybe a cheat day every two weeks. But based on the responses I'm seeing from my post, looks like maybe I shouldn't pay that much attention to them and simply stay off sugar and increase protein.
  • smaerose
    smaerose Posts: 18 Member
    What, exactly, is a macro?
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,979 Member
    smaerose wrote: »
    What, exactly, is a macro?

    Macro nutrients are the three primary nutrients the body uses in larger quantities: Protein, Fat, Carbohydrates
    Micro nutrients are those we use in smaller amounts: Potassium, sodium, iron, etc.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,162 Member
    I should've mentioned https://www.eatthismuch.com/ as a planner some people here like. I know it lets you choose an eating style (standard, paleo, vegan, etc.), but not sure if it lets you set specific macros. (I do my own meal planning.)
  • giancarlov1191
    giancarlov1191 Posts: 493 Member
    https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/macro-math-3-keys-to-dialing-in-your-macro-ratios.html
  • smaerose
    smaerose Posts: 18 Member
    I know what micronutrients are, but for macronutrients, Never saw it that way...just more as specific kinds of foods as building blocks contributing mainly specific things....eggs and nuts for protein (vegetarian here), fruits and vegetables and some grains for carbos, dairy for calcium and small amounts of “extras” like desserts and sugars for occasional treats.
  • giancarlov1191
    giancarlov1191 Posts: 493 Member
    For me, calculating and tracking macros in addition to weighing EVERYTHING has been a complete game changer for me.
  • theIronDad
    theIronDad Posts: 7 Member
    eatthismuch.com is a pretty good one for recommendations that fit into macros.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited June 2019
    This is a very good read and suggests a far more flexible way to manage your macros rather than being restricted to set ratios, percentages or numbers.....

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

    Personally flexibility over food choices within an overall weekly calorie goal was a huge factor in making my adherence far easier and more enjoyable (and ultimately successful). OTOH unnecessary restriction causes me boredom, frustration and in the past led to falling off the wagon.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    I should've mentioned https://www.eatthismuch.com/ as a planner some people here like. I know it lets you choose an eating style (standard, paleo, vegan, etc.), but not sure if it lets you set specific macros. (I do my own meal planning.)

    It does. I don't use it, but often do recommend it to people wanting meal plans. You can either choose macros based on percentage or within a range. It recommends the range approach, as apparently the way it works it allows for more variety. It's also sensible since there's no need to eat a specific percentage of P/F/C daily, of course. The range means you can set your minimums and maximums or "generally about this" numbers and then give some leeway.

    Personally, though, I don't care about macros beyond having my protein in the ballpark and I figured out how to hit the right numbers just by looking at my numbers and adjusting portions.
  • Sharon_C
    Sharon_C Posts: 2,132 Member
    giancarlov1191 wrote: »
    For me, calculating and tracking macros in addition to weighing EVERYTHING has been a complete game changer for me.

    Same. Completely changed my body.

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