calorie total not equaling the macro breakdown

DamonLeBeouf

hi,

after totaling up the calorie total for my macros (fat / carb / protein) there is a daily disparity (by 100-200 calories) between it and my daily caloric total. this is sizable.

how does cronometer total up these values? are the values strictly off what is in the diary, or are there calculations going on to figure out the total calories from the macro breakdown?

Marie_Eve_Cronometer

Hello @DamonLeBeouf ,

The calories and the macronutrient values will be a bit off because each food is different in the actual amount of energy (calories) it contains.

What we mean here is that you were probably taught the rule that carbs and protein are 4 kcals per gram, and fat is 9 kcals per gram. They are not. They are close but there is better data on some foods and we use that in the calculations for the macronutrients. For example, some carbs are 3.8, 4.1, 4.3 kcals per gram etc. Same is true for protein and fats. That is why there will be a discrepancy, when our data is more accurate then the 4-4-9 crude estimation. It can make a big difference if you are calculating calories from net carbs vs. total carbs for example.

Best,
Marie-Eve

emharvey

Hi Marie-Eve! I have noticed what DamonLeBeouf mentioned also. Can this lead to a discrepancy of ~200 or so calories? This seems like quite a lot for small variances! I've also noticed, If I am reaching 100% of my protein, and 99% of my Carbs, this equals my total calories for the day when my fat is only at 50%. Shouldn't I only reach my total calorie amount when its 100% (or close to) of each macro breakdown?

Thank you
Emily

Marie_Eve_Cronometer

Hello @emharvey ,

The discrepancy in your case could be caused by a custom food that has strange values entered. Email us at support@cronometer.com with screenshots of your diary and we can look this over with you!

Cheers,
Marie-Eve

Kicking_with_Kara

Hi - I'm finding this often, like everyday. I'm a competitive bodybuilder and track everything by the gram and often I hit my macro target and it never matches on calories of by 150-200 calories each day. I am using total carbs and reviewing all labels for accuracy. how is this possible to be this far off? I'm aware that FDA guidelines for food labels create nuances base on what they have to report, what they can round up to have it be etc., but this seems to be really off. I have been making up the calories in protein, but fear I'm overeating so would you recommend just stopping when one hits their macro targets in grams??

Karen_Cronometer

It can depend on a few different factors, so it depends on how you are using Cronometer.

In general, some discrepancies can arise from:

1. The source of the data for the foods you add to your diary.

Branded products (from sources like CRDB, ESHA, Nutritionix, UPC) The values reported on the label are rounded, so the macro nutrient values may not match up with the caloric value exactly.

You can get more accurate values using generic foods from databases like NCCDB and USDA.

2. Your macronutrient target settings.
   For example, setting your macronutrients using Fixed Targets is independent of your energy target and these may not add up to the same value.

Send us an email if you'd like some help updating your settings to match these values: support@cronometer.com