Cronometer has me confused

#1

So I saw some people saying they used Chonometer so I thought I would check it out. I like how it shows the vitamin intake. Found out I’m not getting enough of potassium, vitamin k, or fiber. Also says that I’m eating to much protein says I should only be eating 50g a day. but according to my fitness pal (love the pie chart.) I’m 74% 141g fat 25% protein 104g 1% carbs 6. Heading out today to grab some potassium and vitamin k and fiber. But now I’m confused on the protein should I cut back on it or am I still good.

(Todd Allen) #2

The macro targets are settable. I think the base values are set for people hoping to maximize longevity by restricting calories and protein (supposed to reduce risk of cancer). The name CRON-O-METER, CRON stands for Caloric Restriction Optimize Nutrition, as people who greatly reduce how much they eat need to pay close attention to all of the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc.

#3

So how do I find out how much protein i should be eating a day? I have just been going off of the pie chart on fitness pal keeping the 70+ fat and trying to keep my carbs as low as possible and the protein just seems to fall in place on its own. Never thought I might be getting to much till now

(Todd Allen) #4

There are many threads in these forums discussing protein targets. You can use the search tool, icon looks like a magnifier - should be on the top right of your screen.

(less is more, more or less) #6

You never need to worry about your calories, big stinkin’ red herring that is. Eat to satiety. It is possible that your measure of satiety is flawed, and you may need to eat less, but that is not to say calories in, calories out or CICO, which is a fatally flawed method for weight maintenance.

No matter how accurate the tracker, (cronometer is far more accurate than MFP, having used both extensively) they introduce more uncertainty and confusion than is warranted or generally helpful.

#7

The reason I’m concerned with calories is lots of people saying you can lower your bmr if you don’t get enough and of course gaining weight by eating to much. I like the mfp cause I can just look at pie chart and see my fat to protein ratio and I like Chrono cause of everything else. I had to shovel the food in last night cause I was only at 1000 calories for the day and now I’m getting paranoid about my bmr dropping

(Candy Lind) #8

You are too new at this to get tied up in all these stat things. My suggestion is this: use Cronometer to look at the pie chart & make sure you’re around 70F/25P/5C with no more than 20 carbs (net or total, however you decide to count). IGNORE THE REST. When you eat, eat until you are comfortably full and stop. Eat 3 eggs and 8 strips of bacon if that’s what it takes. If you are hungry 3 hours later, you didn’t eat enough (probably fat). Eat when hungry, don’t eat when you’re not. NO SNACKING, eat full meals. Don’t worry about calories. When you are IR, it’s more important to overcome that BY EATING ENOUGH.

Be careful on Potassium (K) supplementation. The RDA doesn’t account for the K your body stores if you’re ingesting enough salt. If you’re eating K-rich foods like avocado, you shouldn’t need to supplement. Instead, look for some salt tabs. I find it hard to get the 3-5000 mg of salt recommended on keto (you need a lot to process fat), so I take one nightly and some mornings. Drink lots of water. Lack of salt & water are the 2 biggest causes of keto flu.

Vitamin K (not potassium, K2) is a definite YES on supplementing, as is Vitamin D3 unless you get a substantial amount of sun. Also, many folks are deficient in Magnesium (Mg). There are lots of kinds of Mg, and many don’t absorb well, so read up if you think you need it.

Track fiber if you find there’s no other way to stay regular. Plant food fanatics would have you think it’s a requirement, but many folks do fine without, and it’s definitely easier to keep carbs low if you’re not worrying about fiber.

#9

So are their carbs in fiber supplements? I’m not eating cheese or veggies right now in order to keep my carbs low. Currently around 6 from the fish oil and other pills I started popping since starting keto. What is your concern about potassium? I’ve been at 0 for weeks and can feel my legs wanting to cramp up all the time. Started taking mag this week idk if it’s any good or not had it lying around the house and started using it as well as iron and cinnamon. Still working on the avocadoes. I’m a picky eater so I don’t have a big food selection to choose from

(MelissaH) #10

I’m going to agree with @CandyLindTX and say that you need to relax a little with all the details and supplements. Focus on the basics. If we knew more details about you it would help? Like age, height, and weight. You mentioned your a picky eater. So what does a typical day of eating look like?

(mole person) #11

If Cronometer is telling you to only eat 50g of protein a day my guess is that you don’t have it set to a ketogenic diet. You need to go to Profile -> Edit Macronutrient Targets -> Diet Profile and then set it for the High Fat/Ketogenic option.

(less is more, more or less) #13

The good news is it’s far more simple than this.

Listen to your body, not a spreadsheet.

We’ve been yelled at for decades by angry nutritionists and dieticians who were clueless about how reckless their recommendations are. They think we’re fat for not following their impractical guidelines. Sometimes simple changes are the hardest. I know, I added unnecessary complexity for months and years on some things, to only let go and relax. I no longer track all I eat. I occassionaly check macros to keep me honest. Keeping below 20 TOTAL grams of carbs, daily, also doesn’t require a spreadsheet.

Learn to understand your hunger. You may go over on some days, under others, but CICO and calorie counting, are not worth their risk.

As they say here, Keep Calm, LCHF on and Keep It Simple. Best wishes to your progress.

(less is more, more or less) #14

Consider Dr. Westman’s approach: stick to his famous “Page 4” recommendations on quantity and quality. No tracking, no calculating, no slavish data entry. Cronometer is accurate, but insists on showing you your daily caloric intake. The data point is front and center, and as I’ve already said, for weight management, your daily caloric intake is nearly irrelevant. Especially if you eat to your body’s need.

#15

It says high fat/ keto. And wouldn’t let me change it until I switched to the default.

(less is more, more or less) #16

That was @Ilana_Rose’s question, not mine.

#17

My bad. Copied off of yours. I won’t do it again. Please don’t hit me anymore

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #18

The standard recommendation is 1.0 to 1.5 g/kg of lean body mass / day, but Prof. Bikman recommends up to 2.0 g. Dr. Naiman claims that “too much protein isn’t even a thing.” Other experts recommend considerably less. This is all in the context of low carbohydrate intake, of course. I am leaning towards the logic of those who recommend more, rather than less, but am prepared to revise my thinking as new evidence comes out.

When I started on the forums, the big fear about protein was that too much would be converted by the body into glucose and spike insulin; but we know now that the process of gluconeogenesis is driven by demand, and the body finds other ways to use exess protein if it doesn’t need glucose at the moment. The more serious concerns, as I understand them, are (a) not getting enough protein to sustain muscle mass, and (b) the gradual decline of our ability to assimilate protein as we age.

(Bob M) #19

I went from eating high fat, lower protein (think adding butter to my steak, fat bombs, bullet proof coffee), to eating higher protein, lower fat. Now, I find it difficult to eat some high fat foods. For instance, I’d rather eat ham than salami. Has it helped? I’d need two of me to find out.

There are those who believe higher protein = death, as in cancer, mTor, etc. I’m not one of those people though.

(Jane ) #20

I went back to Dr Westmans Page 4 and the weight is just flying off…Keep it simple. I tracked the forst 2 weeks to check my carb counts, now I just journal loosely.

(Running from stupidity) #21

Those two things just aren’t linked. It IS important to keep your calories up (as per my post I linked to the other day) for reasons of BMR, but NOT important is “gaining weight by eating to much,” especially early on.

Have you read Jason Fung’s book “The Obesity Code?” I highly recommend, it, it’s covers this stuff in excruciating (but highly readable) detail.

#22

What is that 3rd word? Is that even English? Lol