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Calorie deficit suggestions - App feature?

FrankMarmaRio
FrankMarmaRio Posts: 5 Member
edited December 2023 in Feature Suggestions and Ideas
Hey there,

I'm new to the app and was wondering if there is a seamless option for the app to offer food options when you're in a caloric deficit after an intense workout day based on the consumption history of the user. I did a brief search and couldn't find anything in the community chat topics, but perhaps I was searching the wrong jargon???

I imagine there is some legalities with "suggesting" foods for users to consume, but I'm hoping there's a feature like this built in.

Why?: Spending time thinking about what to eat to meet a set goal is exhausting especially when you thought your planned meal was enough, but your macros suggest otherwise.

Sidenote: Does anyone know where to purchase food replacement pills? Asking for a friend ;)
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Replies

  • Dr_Axe
    Dr_Axe Posts: 24 Member
    I suggested something similar. But the replies I'm getting suggest I'm overthinking it. Nice to see I'm not the only one mindful of their macros.
  • frhaberl
    frhaberl Posts: 145 Member
    I've come up with my own method for making my own "suggested" list. I use the "My Meals" feature and add food combos that I eat regularly (and therefore usually have on hand). It's nice because I can quickly scan for something in the right calorie range and then look at the macros if I have a macro I need to beef up for the day.

    My suggestion that would make this option easier would be to add a sort option so that you could sort by calorie count, not just date added or alphabetically.
  • Jean
    Jean Posts: 845 MFP Staff
    That is a neat idea! I just passed this along to our team to think more about. In the meantime, you may be interested in the Recipe Discovery feature. You can read more about it here.
  • FrankMarmaRio
    FrankMarmaRio Posts: 5 Member
    Dr_Axe wrote: »
    I suggested something similar. But the replies I'm getting suggest I'm overthinking it. Nice to see I'm not the only one mindful of their macros.

    I think that if you're tracking your macros, to most people "we're" already overthinking it LOL If MyFitnessPal needs me to put a business plan together to justify the cost of resources to develop this, I will gladly do so! haha all the information we need is within the app already... maybe in 2024?!?!
  • FrankMarmaRio
    FrankMarmaRio Posts: 5 Member
    frhaberl wrote: »
    I've come up with my own method for making my own "suggested" list. I use the "My Meals" feature and add food combos that I eat regularly (and therefore usually have on hand). It's nice because I can quickly scan for something in the right calorie range and then look at the macros if I have a macro I need to beef up for the day.

    My suggestion that would make this option easier would be to add a sort option so that you could sort by calorie count, not just date added or alphabetically.

    This is a great idea! I would like to select about 100 foods to eat on the regular and simply taking the time to enter these into a spreadsheet with specific macro data would allow me to do this...however, i dread opening more than 1 app to help me decide what to eat. MFP (MyFitnessPal) is totally capable of this feature and I hope they are the first to market with this. It would truly be a one-stop-shop with its ability to share data with Garmin Connect; there would be no reason to shop for other apps (wink, wink)!

    ...I hope this thread gains some traction; I don't want to be scrolling between MFP and a spreadsheet of macros while the rest dinner table is ordering entrees!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,234 Member
    edited December 2023
    I don't think you're going to need to scroll between MFP and a spreadsheet . . . certainly not for long, if at all.

    Based on my experience, if you log your eating and pay attention to your diary, you'll soon dial in routine habits that get your macros in decent shape without much explicit attention.

    Further, it's not essential to be exactly exact every single day. Pretty close on average, over a few days to a week, is fine.

    Macros aren't directly controlling body fat gain/loss. At most, they affect fat levels indirectly through energy level or appetite. Macros are for nutrition, health, athletic performance, body composition (fat vs. lean), etc. Fat gain/loss is directly and mainly about calories.

    If you're not starting with a diagnosed deficiency or relevant extreme health condition, you can chip away at improving macros over time, by changing habits. That'll be fine.

    It's always OK to be over protein or fats goal, as long as the other isn't persistently very low, and as long as you're close to calorie goal.

    If you're stressed about this in the short run, do a web search for "macro cheat sheet" or "what to eat for macros" and look at the images especially. The one below is an example from a random web site (ownyoureating), but I'm not particularly endorsing that site (I know nothing about it). It's all kind of straightforward information; the sites may differ a little, but they'll have a lot of overlap. It's just a guide, not a prescription/proscription.

    zxvrk32sj5o5.jpg

    No need to make this harder than it needs to be, I think.

    Best wishes!


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