Very confused

Better for what? What goal?

Generally speaking:
- calories for weight management
- macros for health and satiation

For example:
- some people feel more full at specific macro distributions (for example high protein, or high fat)
- a minimum of protein is necessary to protect muscle mass (limit loss or gain, depending on the situation)
- a minimum of fat is necessary to ensure brain and hormone health
- carbs aren't strictly necessary, but some people do need them to feel energized or capable of intense/long exercise
- some people get hungry again very quickly when they eat high carb/sugary foods
...

I started out losing weight just by looking at my calorie intake, and then later on increased my protein intake because I found out it was low. You don't need to look at your macros if it makes things unnecessarily complicated for you.
If you want to, it's enough to look at the weekly average, since it's even more complicated if you want to reach your macro goals 'precisely' each day. ('precisely' isn't necessary either, a percentage over or under isn't going to have a big impact)

MFP's standard macro split is a good starting point, but others are possible too depending on what works for you.

Agree with the other posters. Just get used to counting calories and staying within your daily goal. You can branch out when you're ready.

Meal ideas to give you a template to start on.

Upon waking…8 ounces lemon water with any am medication.

Breakfast meal idea…Egg, poached…1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt…Clementine orange…1/2 cucumber…small bread toast slice with hummus or avocado smear (or) 1/4 cup (dry) steel cut oats with flax seed and 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil. 8 oz. Lemon Water and coffee. Age appropriate multi-vitamin. 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar in 6 ounces body temperature water. 1 teaspoon cod liver oil. ~350 calories

Snack…1 almond, 1 walnut, 1 Brazil nut, nonfat mozzarella cheese stick, celery stalk, 5 cherry tomatoes, 5 green grapes. 8 oz lemon water, green tea plain. ~200 calories

15 minute walk, fastest pace you are comfortable with.

Lunch meal idea…lettuce…small can chunk light tuna…1 teaspoon mayo or miracle whip & 1 tablespoon plain nonfat Greek yogurt…mustard salt and pepper to taste…apple…carrot sticks…1/4 cup low sodium nonfat cottage cheese…Wasa cracker. (Eat as salad, lettuce wrap or on Wasa cracker…more lettuce is better). 8 ounces lemon water, raspberry tea. ~280 calories

Snack…1 almond, 1 walnut, 1 Brazil nut, 1/2 cup applesauce, carrot sticks, small oatmeal cookie (lowfat, low sugar, homemade, bake and freeze one week at a time), black tea, 1/2 teaspoon sugar or honey, 1 tablespoon milk. 8 ounces lemon water. ~290 calories

15 minute walk, fastest pace you are comfortable with.

Dinner idea… 3 oz chicken breast…big serving broccoli…1/2 cup brown rice…cantaloupe….1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt. 4 ounces red wine, 8 ounces lemon water. ~500 calories

15 minute walk, fastest pace you are comfortable with.

Dessert…Twining's honey vanilla chamomile tea, 1/2 teaspoon sugar or honey, 1 tablespoon milk. ~30 calories


8 ounces of lemon water for pm medications and bedside use throughout night.

This is about 1650 calories which would provide “most” with a 500 calorie daily deficit. This should show about a pound a week reduction at the scale. It also includes plenty of water. It is similar to what we try to shoot for in our home since Mr.’s open heart surgery. We use “I can’t believe it’s not butter” spray in lieu of butter. We wipe pans with olive oil, not douse them. We season sparingly with salt but use Mrs. Dash more. The caffeine in afternoon snack is good to pick you up and to help keep water retention down. Lemon in water makes it more palatable if you “hate” drinking water. If you need more bulk like I do, just add raw veg. You can eat 2 full cups for usually under 50 calories. Plain popcorn cooked in the microwave in a lidded Corning dish can give you that after dinner crunching snack…try to keep it to a cup. You might say where is the flavor? After 2 months we are really loving the true food flavors. Our dependence on salt fat and sugar is gone. You can always use low-cal condiments but be careful of sodium content. We try to limit our sodium to 1 mg per calorie but always under 2300 mg. I was down to 900-1000 mg sodium but was getting cramps, headaches and not feeling right so don’t go too far into low sodium.

tdkomane35 wrote: »

@luannslink i agree with you. I’m not so bad with technology but this is the worst App I’ve ever come across and user friendly at all. I have not even started my program yet because I’m still trying to figure it out. Anyone out here who can advise what email address to use to get some guidance on using MyFitnessPal please?

I’ve found the app quite user friendly and I have a low patience threshold.

Look at it honestly. Some folks subliminally want the app to be frustrating so they can blame it for failure. Do you want to actually invest the time in learning to use it and have potential success?

Invest a few hours into reading the “sticky” threads at the top of each board category. Read the threads that resonate with you. Identify the posters who strike you as reliable and informed, versus the ones simply propagating woo woo or po’po’pitiful me posts.

The app is only going to work as well as the effort you’re willing to put into learning it. IOW, same as much of life. How many times have we put something together without bothering to read instructions, only to realize we’d wasted time or ruined something?

YOU, your body and your health are WORTH investing in.



ETA: I’m also eating a hella lot better than the poster above, staying within calories, enjoying tacos last night, lasagna tonight, and not limiting myself to one nut for a snack, counting grapes, or forcing down apple cider vinegar (a favorite topic of woo here on MFP and I will confess, I did that myself before learning better by regularly reading these boards ). My diary is open, btw.

I misspoke above when I said MFP wasn’t a program. I just saw there is a premium feature that offers an eating plan and recipes here. Sorry about that! I had never clicked that button before!