Help me understand macros

Options
AZTeri2016
AZTeri2016 Posts: 77 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I had my macros set at 66 grams fat; 112 grams each protein and carbs. My calorie goal is set at 1300. All this was figured with the help of a nutritionist. I work out pretty hard, 3 days strength and weight training followed by 30 minutes cardio, two days of 45-60 minutes cardio and one day of a long bike ride - usually at least 120 minutes, but we are increasing that every week.

I just looked at my reports, and it shows that I was over in carbs for three days, all three of which were days I burned more calories from my workouts. I assume that is based on just the baseline and not the increased calories or carbs that I get when I work out. Because when I look at individual days, I was only over carbs by 6 grams one day, the rest of them I was well below. Is that true?

I know MFP recommends eating all your exercise calories, and I do have it set up to swap exercise calories. I'm just a bit confused over what the reports are showing. Or should I not bother with them? My net calories were all below my baseline. That's what I want to watch, correct?

Replies

  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Options
    AZTeri2016 wrote: »
    I had my macros set at 66 grams fat; 112 grams each protein and carbs. My calorie goal is set at 1300. All this was figured with the help of a nutritionist. I work out pretty hard, 3 days strength and weight training followed by 30 minutes cardio, two days of 45-60 minutes cardio and one day of a long bike ride - usually at least 120 minutes, but we are increasing that every week.

    I just looked at my reports, and it shows that I was over in carbs for three days, all three of which were days I burned more calories from my workouts. I assume that is based on just the baseline and not the increased calories or carbs that I get when I work out. Because when I look at individual days, I was only over carbs by 6 grams one day, the rest of them I was well below. Is that true?

    I know MFP recommends eating all your exercise calories, and I do have it set up to swap exercise calories. I'm just a bit confused over what the reports are showing. Or should I not bother with them? My net calories were all below my baseline. That's what I want to watch, correct?

    Set up your MFP diary according to the info you were given, but pay attention to the percentages. When you eat back exercise calories, your macros will increase and you can try to stay within the same percentage that you have when you eat 1300 calories.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    Options
    nutritionist or RD? I ask because one can be certified from a weekend course and the other had several years of higher education to gain a degree

    that being said - 1300 seems awfully low if you aren't eating back exercise calories - personally when i ate back, i focused on carbs and left my fat/protein as was because i treated them as static - but that is a personal strategy
  • AZTeri2016
    AZTeri2016 Posts: 77 Member
    Options
    To answer some question/concerns. The nutritionist I am seeing does have her degree. I’m not sure she’s an RD, but she is very good. I usually eat back most of my calories. Today I’m likely to burn at least 500 between my training session and the burnout cardio I’ll do afterwards. And the insight into making sure I use the percentages for fat and protein help a lot.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,948 Member
    Options
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    In general, the way it works with macros is that you want to make sure you get enough protein and fat without going over in calories.
    So in your case, the 66 grams of fat (594 calories) and 112 grams of protein (448 calories) being treated as the minimum intake for your goals leaves you with 258 calories to be spent on 64.5 grams of carbs (or more fat and protein if you prefer).
    66 grams of fat and 112 grams each of protein and carbs is actually 1,490 calories (fat is 9 calories per gram while protein and carbs are 4 calories per gram).

    But all that aside, for weight loss, the only thing that matters is that your overall calories consumed are less than your overall calories burned.
    The fat goal is for healthy joints, skin, hair, vitamin absorption, etc. while the protein goal is for muscle building/retention (which means more of the weight lost is from fat instead of muscle) and workout recovery.
    The carb goal is more of a "these are the calories you have left to spend on carbs for energy and/or enjoyment now that you've gotten enough fat and protein." And if you'd rather spend those calories on more fat/protein that's fine too.

    So long as you meet your goals for fat and protein, if you workout and thus increase your total calorie goal for the day, you can feel free to spend those workout calories on whatever you want.
    Net calories are indeed what will drive weight loss.

    ^^^All of this!

    I will only add to aim for 15 grams of fiber per 1000 calories...
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    edited August 2019
    Options
    J72FIT wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    In general, the way it works with macros is that you want to make sure you get enough protein and fat without going over in calories.
    So in your case, the 66 grams of fat (594 calories) and 112 grams of protein (448 calories) being treated as the minimum intake for your goals leaves you with 258 calories to be spent on 64.5 grams of carbs (or more fat and protein if you prefer).
    66 grams of fat and 112 grams each of protein and carbs is actually 1,490 calories (fat is 9 calories per gram while protein and carbs are 4 calories per gram).

    But all that aside, for weight loss, the only thing that matters is that your overall calories consumed are less than your overall calories burned.
    The fat goal is for healthy joints, skin, hair, vitamin absorption, etc. while the protein goal is for muscle building/retention (which means more of the weight lost is from fat instead of muscle) and workout recovery.
    The carb goal is more of a "these are the calories you have left to spend on carbs for energy and/or enjoyment now that you've gotten enough fat and protein." And if you'd rather spend those calories on more fat/protein that's fine too.

    So long as you meet your goals for fat and protein, if you workout and thus increase your total calorie goal for the day, you can feel free to spend those workout calories on whatever you want.
    Net calories are indeed what will drive weight loss.

    ^^^All of this!

    I will only add to aim for 15 grams of fiber per 1000 calories...

    And I will second that recommendation.
  • AZTeri2016
    AZTeri2016 Posts: 77 Member
    Options
    Except she took into consideration the fact that I nearly always burn at least 500 calories working out. She said that the 1300 goal is only for the one day a week I don't work out, otherwise, eat back most, if not all, the workout calories. Normally the numbers are 98/98/50something (don't remember right now) The higher numbers are based on my BMR which is 1438. I do have it listed as %, so I stay within that. And I've already lost 5 pounds in the two weeks I've been following this, so....
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,960 Member
    Options
    AZTeri2016 wrote: »
    Except she took into consideration the fact that I nearly always burn at least 500 calories working out. She said that the 1300 goal is only for the one day a week I don't work out, otherwise, eat back most, if not all, the workout calories. Normally the numbers are 98/98/50something (don't remember right now) The higher numbers are based on my BMR which is 1438. I do have it listed as %, so I stay within that. And I've already lost 5 pounds in the two weeks I've been following this, so....

    Well when you exercise and eat more, your grams of protein fat and carbs are going to go up. That's exactly what they are supposed to do. Fat is 9 calories per gram, protein and carbs are 4 calories per gram so if you are eating 300-500 extra calories above the 1380 on days you exercise, your grams will go up proportionally to the calories.

    I'm still not understanding your question.

    Has anyone answered it?
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Options
    This is the problem with using percentages. Ideally, it is best to use grams and a hierarchy. Protein first at .8 grams per lb of body weight. Fats next at a minimum of .35 grams per lb of body weight. The rest, carbs or whatever you want.

    The anomaly of using both a NEAT model and percentages is that as exercise goes up, the macros increase based on the percentages. If your protein goal and fat goal are set correctly, there is no need to increase their intake. If you prefer to, find but there will be little if any additional benefit.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,964 Member
    Options
    AZTeri2016 wrote: »
    Except she took into consideration the fact that I nearly always burn at least 500 calories working out. She said that the 1300 goal is only for the one day a week I don't work out, otherwise, eat back most, if not all, the workout calories. Normally the numbers are 98/98/50something (don't remember right now) The higher numbers are based on my BMR which is 1438. I do have it listed as %, so I stay within that. And I've already lost 5 pounds in the two weeks I've been following this, so....

    If you add 500 calories, then the macros she gave you are going to add up to about 300 calories short of that goal.

    I'm not understanding what the mismatch is on the three days you expressed concern about in your OP.

    Is it between what you logged and what the nutritionist prescribed, without any indication of how that would differ between the days you don't exercise and the days that you do? The numbers you say she gave you won't work for either your non-workout days or your workout days it's somewhere in the middle. Or is the mismatch just between the numbers you log and the numbers you end up with on MFP after it adjusts for your logged exercise? Is it just carbs that are off?
  • CardinalComb
    CardinalComb Posts: 66 Member
    Options
    Just wanna say, that’s a *kitten* ton of exercise you’re doing.
  • AZTeri2016
    AZTeri2016 Posts: 77 Member
    Options
    Maybe this helps. I was below the numbers on my dairy, but the report shows I was over my carb goal. Is it because the report doesn't take into account and adjust for my exercise as the diary does? I do have the diary set to use my exercise calories. And I am losing, so ??


  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,960 Member
    Options
    AZTeri2016 wrote: »
    Maybe this helps. I was below the numbers on my dairy, but the report shows I was over my carb goal. Is it because the report doesn't take into account and adjust for my exercise as the diary does? I do have the diary set to use my exercise calories. And I am losing, so ??


    What is this "report"?

    Where do you see it? On the app or on the web version?

    What do you mean by "numbers" in this quote?
    I was below the numbers on my dairy
  • AZTeri2016
    AZTeri2016 Posts: 77 Member
    Options
    cmriverside wrote: »
    AZTeri2016 wrote: »
    Maybe this helps. I was below the numbers on my dairy, but the report shows I was over my carb goal. Is it because the report doesn't take into account and adjust for my exercise as the diary does? I do have the diary set to use my exercise calories. And I am losing, so ??


    What is this "report"?

    Where do you see it? On the app or on the web version?

    What do you mean by "numbers" in this quote?
    I was below the numbers on my dairy


    I know I access it on the web, but I think you can on the app as well, at least on my iPad. Let me look and come back and tell you where to access them on the iPad app. Not sure about the phone app. And the number I’m referring to is the number of carbs I’m allowed.
  • AZTeri2016
    AZTeri2016 Posts: 77 Member
    Options
    Ok, if you are at your home screen in the app, there are three little dots on the bottom right that say “more”. Tap those..Then scroll to Nutrition and tap that. At the top there are Calories, Nutrients and Macros. You’ll see the reports here. Disclaimer, I have the Premium version, so this may or may not be available if you don’t.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,964 Member
    Options
    Have you adjusted your goals in MFP settings to match the macros you're "allowed" (by which I'm assuming you mean what the nutritionist says you're allowed)?

    I'm sorry to be asking so many questions, but I'm not understanding what numbers aren't matching, so it's hard to know how to answer your question. One reason for people's macro and calorie numbers not matching up is that they're using bad database entries. But I really can't tell if that's the issue here.
  • AZTeri2016
    AZTeri2016 Posts: 77 Member
    Options
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Have you adjusted your goals in MFP settings to match the macros you're "allowed" (by which I'm assuming you mean what the nutritionist says you're allowed)?

    I'm sorry to be asking so many questions, but I'm not understanding what numbers aren't matching, so it's hard to know how to answer your question. One reason for people's macro and calorie numbers not matching up is that they're using bad database entries. But I really can't tell if that's the issue here.

    Yes, I have. The number I'm referring to are the goals that show up in my diary. I am generally under the allotted goals for all three but occasionally go over by less than 10 grams. And yes, I agree the database is tough to negotiate. I see so many options that it's hard to determine the right one. I've taken lately to going to the USDA nutritional database, but that is so very time-consuming.

Categories