I'm always going over my carbs!

It's totally fine.

How far over? What do your macros pan out to in grams usually? Why did you pick 45% carbs? Medical issue or just a personal goal?

But in general, all the CICO peeps are going to say "you are fine as long as you are at a deficit."

How far over? What do your macros pan out to in grams usually? Why did you pick 45% carbs? Medical issue or just a personal goal?

But in general, all the CICO peeps are going to say "you are fine as long as you are at a deficit."

I have 214g of carbs and I usually get eat around 250. I did this TDEE-20 calculator online and it also gave me my macros so that is how I came up with 45%.
And I figured that as long as I'm at a deficit I'll lose weight but I'm still concerned about eating too many carbs.

At your carb level, it doesn't matter. If you were doing a low-carb diet that required you to get into ketosis, my answer would be different. If you were on a low-carb diet for diabetes, I would also answer differently. But you aren't so what you want to be concerned about is carb quality, I'm guessing. Fruits, veggies, and grains all have carbs in them. So do table sugar and high fructose corn syrup. If you are concerned with carb quality or whether or not it is a complex or simple carb, then aim for complex carbs. The low end of the Glycemic Index. But at this carb level, what matters is calorie deficit. If you also want to worry about "good" carbs and "bad" carbs. Choose those low on the Glycemic Index. The "good" ones. And if you go over the carbs, you'll still be following your aim. If that is what it is.

DancingOrchid wrote: »

I have this problem too. My carb goal is 105g (which is reasonably low for me, but not too low), & the last few days I've gone over that (1-2 g over goal the past 2-3 days, 35g over goal today). I've managed to stay under my 1200 calorie goal, & usually under on fat & protein (going over on those occasionally, & not by much), & try to do an hour walk or 30-minute belly dance drills sessions at least 3X a week. I really hope this won't keep me from losing weight/inches.

This is a very old thread you've replied to (2014), but I see that your comment is new.

Going over your carb goal is fine. For weight loss, only calories matter directly (though nutrition can indirectly affect weight management via energy/fatigue or cravings/compliance).

For health, and for fitness performance, nutrition can be more important. Generally it makes more sense to treat protein and fats as minimums, and try to hit close or exceed them. Both of those things are "essential nutrients" in the technical sense of the term, i.e., our body can't make them out of other nutrients, so we need to eat some. Carbs are not "essential nutrients" in that sense, so are more flexible.

If you have certain health conditions (such as diabetes or insulin resistance), it may be necessary to pay attention to carbs. Also, some people find carbs affect their energy level or cravings, but that's very individualized. Other than that sort of thing, carb levels don't really matter, IMO.

Also, close to any macro goal is fine; you don't have to hit them all exactly. If you're persistently lots under on fats or protein, it would be good to try to improve that, health-wise. If you're close most days, or under some days and over others such that it averages out, that's just fine.

Setting macro goals by percent (the way MFP does it) is an approximation of needs in the first place. There's no need to be anxious about hitting those approximations exactly. Even calorie goal isn't some kind of magical thing: If you're under it some days, over it others, such that you average out right around goal, things will work out the same way, with respect to weight loss, in the long term.

It's all approximations and averages, no need to worry about being super precise about hitting the numbers *exactly*.