Hello all, a simple question but a long winded explanation. I installed My Fitness Pal to keep a record of things but every time I put in the ingredients, my protein is down and carbs are up. I nearly had a melt down trying to week the percentage figures without any joy.

Do I just follow the protein and ignore all the other details?

I am pre-diabetic and need to lose two and a half stone in weight.

Hi there welcome to the site. MyFitnessPal measure cals, carbs, fat, protein, sodium and sugar in that order across the top of the food input. Are you sure you are not eating more carbs than you think. To give a full answer would need an example of what you ate in, say, one day. There are carbs in everything except proteins like meat, eggs, cheese, fish etc. So your problem seems to be you think you are eating more protein than it is recording.

There is another thing that I have only recently found out. Just because a food is classified as a protein it wont contain an amount of protein per grams weight. For instance, 100g of chicken breast contains only 21g of protein. Is that what you are experiencing.

Hi Sunshine Girl
thank you for your reply.
I ate from the books…
Iced Berry Shake, One Pan Breakfast and Pan Fried Pork, Apple and Leek plus a cup of coffee with milk and lots of water.
According to the books, I have had 14g carbs, proteins 52.7g and 900 calories (oops)
According to MFP I have used 63g carb, 55 proteins and 860 calories.

I can only suggest the book is not accurate. This has been noted before but not by quite so much. I can see straightaway that the pork with apple and leek would have more than 7g carbs. Half of the apple (for one person) would be at least 14g. Just what might seem a silly question but you do realise the recipes are for 2 people – are you eating it all or halfing the ingredients. Might seem obvious but it has happened before.

I will do a full calculation and comparison tomorror – it is a bit late right now. Bedtime.

Lol. Yes, unless stated.
I did this 7yrs ago without any problems but this time by using the app, it’s confused me. I know there are discrepancies in the books but…

Thank you for taking all this time.

Okay my friend I have done my research (wearing my scientific head) and the berry shakes doesnt show any carbs in the book but is actually 33g carbs, 280 cals, so even the calories are way out in the book. Your half an apple and the leeks come to another 30g carbs. So MFP is pretty accurate as I have also put these in a different generic calculator so it is the book that is totally wrong. My only suggestion is to do the calculation before you eat something rather than relying on the book. Legally they are allowed to be up to 30% out according to my daughter who is a food scientist.

You need to find out more about where your carbs are coming from. For example not all fruits and veg are good in terms of calories or carbs – the banana and apple for example. What I have previously done when following a recipe is look to see if there is something I could leave out. What is the point of the ground almonds – okay no carbs to speak of but 83 calories when you are already getting plenty of fibre and roughage from the oats. Why do you need the yoghurt and the milk. These are just examples of where you could have saved carbs and cals. I know the books are supposed to make life easier for us but where food is concerned it is so much more complex than it appears.

I see you are pre-diabetic and this diet can change that for you. Believe me getting rid of the carbs are the key to this. Have a look on thedietdoctor.com and ask for the page showing carbs in fruit and veg just as a start to your journey. I know you did it 7 years ago and were probably being more instinctive and there were not the amount of books and online support as now.

Good luck. BTW where in France are you. I am 20km north of Bergerac.

Thank you so much. I will investigate further. Really appreciate your advice.
I’m in the Creuse, east of Limoges, I have been here for 9 yrs and absolutely love it! We visited Bergerac a few years ago, lovely spot… We were passing through heading to Andorra, but stayed overnight and part of the following day

Okay, not somewhere we have been except to drive through Limoges and stop to have lunch. We were looking for a place that made the famous pottery but couldn’t find it. We have been here 8 years and besides getting a silly idea to return to the UK after covid and changing our minds as soon as we started house hunting. Decided we are here for life – or until one of us dies when the other would reassess.

Bonne chance et bonne continuation avec ta vie en France.

Sorry that should say 18 years.