Macronutrients

Dazzlle22
Dazzlle22 Posts: 23 Member
in Food and Nutrition
How bad is it to exceed your macros? I always exceed my carbs and sugar intake by +50 grams but not my caloric intake. Will exceeding macronutrients have any negative effects on the diet if you stay within your caloric range?

Replies

  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,756 Member
    So long as it is not completely out of whack, it isn't super important for overall health or progress. The percent of carbs might be a better number to look at. If those extra 50 grams knock your percent of protein (for ex.) down below 10% it def. might need some addressing. Since I can't see what your caloric intake is, 50 grams could be a pretty significant or a pretty minor issue. To be honest though, even with a 1200 cal diet, 50 grams would only represent about smallish fraction and not a big issue.
  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    I listen to my body what it needs and not what it wants. The resulting macros required mean no "trigger food", no "cheat meals" but a reasonably balanced diet and meals which satiate me. Thanks to MFP I re - learned what I thought I knew about nutrition and the support of so many members is always great. Now about portion control....
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,173 Member
    Dazzlle22 wrote: »
    How bad is it to exceed your macros? I always exceed my carbs and sugar intake by +50 grams but not my caloric intake. Will exceeding macronutrients have any negative effects on the diet if you stay within your caloric range?

    High carbs and sugar are not inherently bad.

    If you have weight-management goals, exceeding the relevant calorie level is counterproductive.

    If you want good nutrition - which is important for health, body composition, energy level and perhaps satiation - then getting too little protein, fats, or veggie/fruit servings (for fiber and micros) is counterproductive.

    If your extra carbs and sugar make you exceed your calorie target, or lowball other nutrition targets routinely by a significant amount, then the extra carbs/sugar may have negative effects.

    Only the calories matter for weight loss, especially in the short run. The only short-run effect of macros/micros on weight loss is via satiation: If you're not satiated, and can't stick with your calorie goals, weight loss will be impaired. In the long run, if your nutrition is seriously deficient, it can affect your energy level or body composition, and those can have a side effect of slightly slowing weight loss. Other than that, only calories matter.

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