Calories vs. carbs, protein & fat

FlamencoGal
FlamencoGal Posts: 126 Member
edited December 19 in Food and Nutrition
I have been using MFP for a couple of months sporadically and much more consistently the last few weeks. I don't know if I am doing the eating thing correctly. Almost every day I have calories left over (sometimes a lot), but usually go over proteins, etc. Also, when I input my exercise, that adds so many more calories. Which is more important to follow......calories or the other?? And if I eat all the calories I am supposed to, then my protein, carbs & fat will be WAY OVER what they should be. I am very confused. Please help!!!! I will appreciate any assistance the MFP community can offer!!

Replies

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    If you are using MFP defaults tread the carbs as a max, and the protein as a min. Or you can change the settings to more closely reflect your diet.
  • Mercenary1914
    Mercenary1914 Posts: 1,087 Member
    I have been using MFP for a couple of months sporadically and much more consistently the last few weeks. I don't know if I am doing the eating thing correctly. Almost every day I have calories left over (sometimes a lot), but usually go over proteins, etc. Also, when I input my exercise, that adds so many more calories. Which is more important to follow......calories or the other?? And if I eat all the calories I am supposed to, then my protein, carbs & fat will be WAY OVER what they should be. I am very confused. Please help!!!! I will appreciate any assistance the MFP community can offer!!


    Depends on your targets, and what kinds of workouts you are doing if any....

    Calories are the basis of them all...but if you plan on not doing much working out...or having light workout days...go heavier protein....if you are going hard in the gym do something like this 40/30/30 Carbs/Fat/Protein


    There is a calculation where it's ALMOST impossible to go WAYYY over your cals, if you are eating right at each category
  • kenziberry
    kenziberry Posts: 164 Member
    you should definitely eat all of your calories or as close to as possible. depnding on what you eat you can go in and set your macros to either higher or lower grams if necessary. i eat a lot of protein so i had to up my protein macros which then had me lower a different one to kep balance.
  • Mercenary1914
    Mercenary1914 Posts: 1,087 Member
    you should definitely eat all of your calories or as close to as possible.

    Oh lord
  • Amommymoose
    Amommymoose Posts: 29 Member
    Yeah... you need to look at your overall health and set your targets appropriately. MFP is a good TRACKING program but it's obviously not meant to create your plan for healthy eating... kwim? And that will differ by the person based on their existing health, health problems, etc.
  • douglasmobbs
    douglasmobbs Posts: 563 Member
    If you have weight to lose you have a great source of energy in you body fat. The macros are a lot more important in this case
  • sazzyp1973
    sazzyp1973 Posts: 517 Member
    protein shakes baffle me. I leave well alone! I am pretty sure that my exercise is not hard enough to warrant them anyway.
  • apilant
    apilant Posts: 87 Member
    I'm in the same boat! I try to eat my calories in a healthy foods, but the macro %'s i'm really unsure of. I've been fighting the dreaded last 10 lbs for some time now and I think it is time I figure out how to modify them to help me!
  • SteveTries
    SteveTries Posts: 723 Member
    protein shakes baffle me. I leave well alone! I am pretty sure that my exercise is not hard enough to warrant them anyway.

    Just think of it as any other food
  • SteveTries
    SteveTries Posts: 723 Member
    The most important thing is a calorie defecit. Everything else is oriented around optimising the effectiveness and ensuring health.
  • masterjosue
    masterjosue Posts: 11 Member
    The most important thing is a calorie defecit. Everything else is oriented around optimising the effectiveness and ensuring health.

    Agreed. Assuming you're trying to lose weight, you have to first determine how many calories your body consumes. Calculate your BMR and then set your macros based on that.

    Typically in order to maintain the muscle mass you have, you should try to consume 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, 1/4 a gram of fat per pound of body weight, and use the rest of your available calories for carbs.

    If you determine your body needs 2000 calories to function daily, based on your lifestyle, shoot for a 500 calorie deficit daily, which would be 1500 calories. You should lose about a pound per week.

    Obviously there is a little more to it then this, but it's a place to start. Every macro is important in it's own way...
  • SenshiV
    SenshiV Posts: 131 Member
    IMHO, y think that you could change some of the thing you are eating for more fish and chicken, which have way less protein and fat than meat.

    I have been here just a week, are no expert or anything, but I already see how people have so different eating habits, and I can say that what I think is people need to find more choices, replace some meals for others, or the amounts, or for example if you are eating any kind of meat make it once a day at any meal only.

    My only and final recommendation would be that, look for choices, and change some meats for fish and chicken, so you don;t go over your counts. Also you can get some tips here, but there are many other sites around:

    http://fitbie.msn.com/eat-right/food-weight-loss

    Good luck, just never forget that the hard part is to decide to do something to change, and you are already there :).
This discussion has been closed.

Categories