Newbie - question about macros

(Mary M.) #1

Good morning all. My name is Mary, I am a 55yr. young female living in Toronto. I’m about 2 weeks into this new lifestyle and so far I’m loving it. Although I would like to get to a healthier weight, for me this is more about getting healthy (inflammation and high BP) as I get older.
My question is…how important is it to count/log macros and what’s the easiest way to do that other than using an app?(no patience logging) I just started eliminating almost all carbs and increased the fat. I am down 5lbs and living through keto flu…which I welcome…I guess I’m doing something right?! :slight_smile:

Thanks in advance and I look forward to making some connections on this new journey.

(MelissaH) #2

Hi Mary! Welcome to the forum
When I first started I took it slow just cutting out carbs and adding fat. You could look up a keto macro calculator so you know how much fat, protein, and carbs you need. Once you get a good idea of what an ideal meal looks like it becomes easier.
Fat 70%-80%
Protein 20%
Carbs 5%
These are rough estimates of daily calories. They vary day to day slightly.

#3

I just downloaded my fitness pal and it’s nice cause once you find it, it keeps it for you and you can set you calories and macros and it tracks it and you can go back and put it in later if you forget. Just make sure to check and make sure you pick the right one they have a lot they even have a spot for making your own stuff. I know you didn’t want an app but it might be worth checking out. Congrats on the 5lbs

(less is more, more or less) #4

I’m continually evolving on this question. I find great value in journaling what you eat. I’m less favorable to detailed macro tracking.

Using an application like MyFitnessPal or Cronometer (I’ve used both) are helpful in understanding the macros in what you’re eating, (Cronometer is far better for this) but the reported calories tracking continues the nasty Calories In-Calories Out lie that will not die.

Look up what you eat, you may be surprised at the hidden carbs. Keep your total carbs (not net) below 20 grams. You don’t need a spreadsheet to count to 20. :wink: Keep a log of what and when you ate, and how you felt before and after.

(MelissaH) #5

Cronometer is my favorite as well… it is hard to let go of CICO but it must be done!! Once I stopped obsessing over this and started listening to my body the weight started coming off again.

(Ellie) #6

Welcome Mary,

I think that logging carbs is useful at the beginning. Not everything you buy has a label on it, and a lot of new people on this board are surprised about carbs in things they hadn’t considered like veggies.
Once you’ve done it for a bit, you’ll end up with a number of things in your head that you know the carb counts of and it will become more intuitive, and then you could stop.
It would be a real shame to think you are doing keto properly and staying below 20g carbs, only to find out a few weeks later that there is something with carbs in that you didn’t realise.

(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #7

I agree that tracking is good as a trading method. I only used Cronometer for a couple weeks, but I still look up carb counts occasionally, even if I don’t track it. Many people have great success by paying attention to carbs, eating whatever protein seems natural, and eating fat to satiety without tracking. Some people love tracking and it works for them. But it isn’t necessary. If I hit a bad stall, I’ll probably try tracking just to make sure I’m not fooling myself about something.

(Alex Dyke) #8

Welcome!

I started with a similar philosophy to shift weight and loosely track my macros. What I found was that to really understand the impact of my diet, I needed to be more disciplined

I looked at a few apps, ended up using the Keto Diet App as I preferred the interface and ability to link recipes from their site. I had My Fitness Pal, as that was linked to my exercise regime, but didn’t like the interface

Now I’m fairly thorough on my data recording and I’ve seen the benefits of upping fats post fast, opting for low carbs well under my threshold or boosting them , same with protein all to understand the impact to weight or blood glucose

What I realised was that whilst I could review others progress, the body is unique so I needed to elevate my understanding to be optimal for me. I now find it intriguing to see the impact of this on my body

#9

Was just perusing the Keto app for fast foods, etc and was shocked at the carb counts. Never thought they were that bad. Particularly depressing was my favorite monthly cheat of a large chocolate malt from Dairy Queen.

220 CARBS!!!

That’s like 11 days worth of Keto-limited carbs!

Heck, I could eat like 7 Krispy Kreme donuts and take in less carbs than that malt.

Guess I’m going to have to find a new cheat.

(Natasha) #10

I found a recipe for keto friendly malt ice cream. It could probably be blended with cocoa and extra cream to make a shake!

http://mariamindbodyhealth.com/malted-milk-ice-cream/

(Running from stupidity) #11

Pay someone to do it for you, I guess.

Logging is part of the learning process, IMHO. So many things that look safe are in fact not. It’s also a very good planning tool.

I use Cronometer because it has an official database that is controlled by the company, rather than one that anyone can add anything - no matter how incorrect - to. If I’m doing tracking to ensure I’m doing it right, I want to be sure I’m doing it right.