I understand keto but I do not understand counting macronutrients.

I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say. In Keto you also eat carbs, though not many. Sugar is a part of carbs and is not evil as such. Are you asking what your macro setup should be? What for exactly? How do you want to eat and how do you feel happy doing so? Baring medical reasons, this should be the macro setup you should chose because what works for you might not work for others, and the other way around as it's totally individual.

danyellboehm wrote: »

Are there any resources for understanding how to do a diet based on macronutrients? Keto is super simple and easy to count the three main things. I do not understand macro nutrients because it throws in sugar and carbs whereas with keto it is a no-no. I’m not understanding how this works. It seems to be a more balanced way of eating but extremely difficult to follow and count. I cannot figure out the ratios or anything. Everything wants to base on a 1200 cal diet. I am a bariatric patient so right now 600 cal is my limit. I cannot even get that in.

The macronutrients are carbs, protein and fats. Three main things, still (unless you count alcohol, which is none of those, but has calories).

Fiber is not a macronutrient. Sugar is not a macronutrient. Yeah, they matter, just like vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients of other sorts, etc. Most dietitians will tell you you need some fiber. Sugar is more flexible (as a subset of carbs - more about that below).

If you don't care to do keto anymore, but want to try balanced macros, the MFP default macro percents aren't a terrible place to start, for most people (as long as they're not trying to cut calories stupid-low for ultra-fast weight loss, which is not a good idea for many reasons).

If you want to go in a balanced macros direction, restore MFP to its default percents, and log what you're eating now. Try to hit your calorie goal. Note where you're low consistently low on some macronutrient, and adjust your eating patterns as you go forward. Pretty simple.

It's still protein and fats that are key, because they're the "essential nutrients", in the technical sense that our bodies can't make them out of anything else, so we have to eat some. (Well, strictly speaking, it's some amino acids and fatty acids that are essential, but looking at it as the macros being essential is close enough for most of us.)

Carbs are more flexible, technically, from a nutrition standpoint. Some people find that carbs spike their appetite. Those folks may want to eat fewer carbs than MFP suggests by default. Some people find that eating low carb tanks their energy. Those folks may want to eat relatively more carbs.

You can chip away at this, and figure it out, find your personal happy place. If you're not starting with some diagnosed nutritional deficiency or diet-related health condition, you won't become instantly malnourished while you work things out over a period of weeks.

Best wishes!