Calorie total not matching macros

sue_gruenhagen
sue_gruenhagen Posts: 2 Member
in MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions
The calories I have remaining for the day do not match the macros calories remaining.
Ex: 240 calories remaining
But remaining macros ….
Carbs 23 gm remaining =. 92 calories
Fat 0gm remaining
Protein 4 gm remaining = 16 calories
This totals 108 calories NOT 240 calories remaining
Which is correct?

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Best Answers

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,885 Member
    Answer ✓
    You have possibly used some incorrect food entries - the database is mostly crowdsourced with many wrong entries.
    Another factor is also that (unlike for example the EU) in the US fiber is counted under carbs, but they contain no/fewer calories.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,622 Member
    Answer ✓
    If you look at your individual food entries, and do the same arithmetic, you can figure out which ones are contributing materially to the end result. Maybe the answer is finding more accurate entries in the database, but it's never going to be exact: Even food labels are allowed to have some variance (in the US).

    I'm not saying you have to feel this way, but as long as I hit or exceed my protein/fats gram minimums, and land within calories, I'm happy.

    You probably know this, but for others who may not: It's not important to hit macro goals if the only goal is weight loss. That's directly all about calories, though nutrition can have an indirect effect through energy level or appetite. Nutrition is important for health, of course, but even there "pretty close on average most of the time" is IMO reasonable for macro goals. Exactly exact every single day isn't essential, and can be stressful.

    Best wishes!

Answers

  • sue_gruenhagen
    sue_gruenhagen Posts: 2 Member
    edited September 23
    If I am understanding this correctly, the actual total calories shown is likely correct but the macro breakdown may be incorrect due to inaccurate entries into MFP? I am most concerned about the total calories and protein. Going forward I will pay more attention to the food entry I choose and the calculations. I agree that it doesn’t have to be perfect. I have actually been tracking and using MFP for 2+ years with good success. But, always wondered why the numbers are off lol Thank you!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,622 Member
    sue_gruenhagen wrote: »
    If I am understanding this correctly, the actual total calories shown is likely correct but the macro breakdown may be incorrect due to inaccurate entries into MFP? I am most concerned about the total calories and protein. Going forward I will pay more attention to the food entry I choose and the calculations. I agree that it doesn’t have to be perfect. I have actually been tracking and using MFP for 2+ years with good success. But, always wondered why the numbers are off lol Thank you!

    Yes, it's more probable that the calories are correct, and the macros off.

    But all of this is estimates in one sense, right? Food labels are allowed to vary to a certain extent, one apple is sweeter than the next, sometimes people enter things inaccurately in the database, sometimes food product formulations change and the old entry is still in the database because it was true at one time, the site is international and the same food product can be formulated differently in different countries, different countries' labeling laws differ from the US laws somewhat . . . etc.

    Fortunately, we don't need perfect estimates, we only need decently workable ones. ;) That goes for calories AND nutrition.

    If you check entries when you first pick them from the database, you'll do fine.

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