I just started my Food Log today, which I set up in Excel.
The spreadsheet totals Cals, Protein, Carbs, and Fats. The three macros are entered in as grams. The issue I have is caculating the macro breakdown. Should I arrive at the percentage breakdown by the gram or by the calorie per macro-nutrient? Currently I am doing the breakdown by the gram.
If it is by the calorie, what are the per gram figures now acctepted for protein, carbs, and fats?
Here is an example I pulled from half a days meals before all my p&f’s, so don’t flame the imbalance
Cals=1517
Pr. 174gm Carb 191gm Fat 24gm
Macro-Nutrient Breakdown
Pr. 45% Carb 49% Fat 6%
Cals=1517
Pr. 174gm Carb 191gm Fat 24gm
Macro-Nutrient Breakdown
Pr. 45% Carb 49% Fat 6%
Use calories of the macro-nutrient divided by total calories. Your percentages for protein and carbs are right. For fat:
24g x 9cal/g = 216cal
216cal/1517 total calories = 14% fat
I had a feeling that was the case. That said, what do you do to accomadate the fact that when you multiply the amount of p,c,&f’s by 4,4,&9 the total sum doesn’t match up with the total sum of calories.
Which calorie count is correct, the listed cals or the macros multiplied by their respective cal factor.
In the above example my math says the following:
Cals=1571 vs. Multiplied Value of 1676cals.
In response to your post, the problem is that if you are multiplying by the macro factors 4,4,9 and dividing by total cals… you run into the issue of total cals don’t equal the sum total cals of the macros multiplied by their respective cal factors.
For the whole day yesterday, my revised numbers are:
Total Listed Calories = 2467
Total Sum Cals from mult. macros = 2659
Using 4,4,9 for cal factors for p,c,f
Total Prot. = 249gm.
Total Carbs = 193gm
Total Fat = 99gm
Well, this is one of those either/or kind of questions. Personally, I don’t think that it really matters all that much. Pick one way or the other, and then stick with it. That extra 100 cals or so isn’t going to have all that much impact on your diet/physique, but if you’re really worried about it then I’d say just go ahead and multiply out each of the macronutrients for your total cal count.
Remember, with stuff like this (cals, fat percentages, bodyweight, etc.), the number you get is just a number, not some key to a greater truth. It’s a starting point, a reference. Only. The main thing is to be consistent with whatever method you use, so that you can spot trends.
Regarding the issue of Total calories… is the delta between the two totals why the term “kcal” is used?
That is to describe the total calories arrived at by multiplying the 3 macros by their corresponding calorie factor(4,4,9).
