Meeting macros but not meeting caloric goal?

lbenenatiot
lbenenatiot Posts: 3 Member
in Getting Started
Hey all! I just recently joined hybrid performance method, a nutrition program where a coach puts together a macro plan for me to meet my goals. Like many others, I’m trying to lose weight, but I’m confused. As per my coach, my macros are: Carbs: 175 g, Protein: 115 g, Fat: 53 g, Fiber: 20 g.

After I plugged those macros into the app, the app gave me a calorie amount that I would need to lose a pound a week.

Problem is that when I plan my meals for the day, I usually can fill my macros (usually being a little over or under each category by a small amount), but I’ll still have 200 or more calories left for the day. What am I doing wrong?! Thanks!

Replies

  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    Somebody's math is wrong. Whether it's yours or your coaches, there's no way to tell.

    Carbs are 4 calories per gram.
    Proteins are 4 calories per gram.
    Fats are 9 calories per gram.

    Based on the macros you listed above, that would make your calorie goal 1637. What calorie number did your coach give you?
  • lbenenatiot
    lbenenatiot Posts: 3 Member
    @quiksylver296 She did not give me a calorie amount in the plan, just the macros that I listed above.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    So it's MFP that's off? Just shoot for the 1650ish number, no matter what MFP says.
  • emmies_123
    emmies_123 Posts: 513 Member
    lbenenatiot wrote: »
    Hey all! I just recently joined hybrid performance method, a nutrition program where a coach puts together a macro plan for me to meet my goals. Like many others, I’m trying to lose weight, but I’m confused. As per my coach, my macros are: Carbs: 175 g, Protein: 115 g, Fat: 53 g, Fiber: 20 g.

    After I plugged those macros into the app, the app gave me a calorie amount that I would need to lose a pound a week.

    Problem is that when I plan my meals for the day, I usually can fill my macros (usually being a little over or under each category by a small amount), but I’ll still have 200 or more calories left for the day. What am I doing wrong?! Thanks!

    I have this happen too, although I was given percentage instead of actual numbers from my nutrition coach. The fix for me was to pre-log my planned meals for the day, then play around with it to try to hit both. If I ate super healthy I could hit all macros and be 300 calories under net goal. So instead I swap out things to try to see-saw it. If one macro suffers but I hit all others, I make sure to hit that one the next day so one macro doesn't suffer too many days in a week.

    Is this exhausting? Yes. And harder to do when I'm running low on groceries. But it does work, I'm now able to hit everything fairly accurately.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
    What calorie goal did MFP give you? You can change it manually to ~1637. Keep in mind: macros don't have to be perfect. Same with calories. If you're a little over/under don't worry. Do make sure to get enough fiber, enough protein, and don't cut your fat too low. Like if you had a day where your fat was coming in around 25-30, adding some nut butters or avocado would help for example.
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    Calories are king for weight loss, so I don’t personally worry much about my macros. That said, I try to balance and not just eat a ton of carbs or a ton of fat, but the balance is all about trying to feel satiated and eating healthier not bexause I need to eat certain amounts of this or that macro to lose weight.

    Personally, I think this sounds much harder than just counting calories and you may cause yourself to fail out of frustration. Talk to your coach and see what advice they have and best of luck!
  • emmies_123
    emmies_123 Posts: 513 Member
    Dogmom1978 wrote: »
    Calories are king for weight loss, so I don’t personally worry much about my macros. That said, I try to balance and not just eat a ton of carbs or a ton of fat, but the balance is all about trying to feel satiated and eating healthier not bexause I need to eat certain amounts of this or that macro to lose weight.

    Personally, I think this sounds much harder than just counting calories and you may cause yourself to fail out of frustration. Talk to your coach and see what advice they have and best of luck!

    I agree calories are king for majority of weight loss. I only started macro tracking this year and it helps with toning and strength goals. Macro tracking is what got me to lose the last 5 lbs to goal weight that I had plateaued at for months before changing my methods.

    I would recommend people just starting out on weight loss journey stick to CICO. But once you hit a certain point where exercise and basic nutrition are habits, macro tracking does help more. And because you've already build up tracking habits it isn't quite so frustrating as if you jumped in at the start.
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    emmies_123 wrote: »
    Dogmom1978 wrote: »
    Calories are king for weight loss, so I don’t personally worry much about my macros. That said, I try to balance and not just eat a ton of carbs or a ton of fat, but the balance is all about trying to feel satiated and eating healthier not bexause I need to eat certain amounts of this or that macro to lose weight.

    Personally, I think this sounds much harder than just counting calories and you may cause yourself to fail out of frustration. Talk to your coach and see what advice they have and best of luck!

    I agree calories are king for majority of weight loss. I only started macro tracking this year and it helps with toning and strength goals. Macro tracking is what got me to lose the last 5 lbs to goal weight that I had plateaued at for months before changing my methods.

    I would recommend people just starting out on weight loss journey stick to CICO. But once you hit a certain point where exercise and basic nutrition are habits, macro tracking does help more. And because you've already build up tracking habits it isn't quite so frustrating as if you jumped in at the start.

    I agree that particularly if you are trying to build muscle, you need to be more concerned with macros. I still have over 40 lbs to lose, so I’m not about to make things harder for myself than they need to be until I HAVE to. 😜

    If I get to the point where I’m not consistently losing weekly, then I will consider looking at my macros, but I’m probably still a good way off from that.
  • emmies_123
    emmies_123 Posts: 513 Member
    Dogmom1978 wrote: »
    emmies_123 wrote: »
    Dogmom1978 wrote: »
    Calories are king for weight loss, so I don’t personally worry much about my macros. That said, I try to balance and not just eat a ton of carbs or a ton of fat, but the balance is all about trying to feel satiated and eating healthier not bexause I need to eat certain amounts of this or that macro to lose weight.

    Personally, I think this sounds much harder than just counting calories and you may cause yourself to fail out of frustration. Talk to your coach and see what advice they have and best of luck!

    I agree calories are king for majority of weight loss. I only started macro tracking this year and it helps with toning and strength goals. Macro tracking is what got me to lose the last 5 lbs to goal weight that I had plateaued at for months before changing my methods.

    I would recommend people just starting out on weight loss journey stick to CICO. But once you hit a certain point where exercise and basic nutrition are habits, macro tracking does help more. And because you've already build up tracking habits it isn't quite so frustrating as if you jumped in at the start.

    I agree that particularly if you are trying to build muscle, you need to be more concerned with macros. I still have over 40 lbs to lose, so I’m not about to make things harder for myself than they need to be until I HAVE to. 😜

    If I get to the point where I’m not consistently losing weekly, then I will consider looking at my macros, but I’m probably still a good way off from that.

    When you do get there (likely last 5-10 lbs before goal) you can tackle it like you did the rest of the journey. Pick one macro to prioritize, and work on hitting that as a habit. Once that becomes easy enough, pick a second. Then a third, etc. My order was protein, fat, fiber, carbs.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,091 Member
    solution: 200 calories of alcohol
    JK
  • ecjim
    ecjim Posts: 1,001 Member
    I'd go with your coach's plan - you are paying for it. Monitor your weight for a time , you may have to adjust the calories up or down. If you have to adjust cals down , I would cut carbs rather that protein or fat.
    What is you weight now?

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