Why do my calories/macros vary between options (days)?
There are a couple of reasons as to why your calories/macros will vary between days. We won't go into detail regarding calories and macros, but every client is going to have a different calorie intake and macronutrient breakdown depending on their goal and individual statistics. Additionally, protein and fat are essential macronutrients; meaning, there are minimum requirements that must be met.
1. Diet Preferences & Recipes
The diet preference you select dictates what meals/recipes become available for potential inclusion in your meal plan; the diet preferences with fewer restrictions allow for a wider variety of meals/recipes. But, it's less variety that can often lead to a more consistent plan. Let's say you select Vegetarian as your diet preference, and you add multiple items to your allergies/dislikes list. This would result in a restricted meal plan as far as meals/recipes go, but, because of these restrictions, only similar types of meals, consisting of similar calorie/macronutrient breakdowns, can be included. Similar meals/recipes mean consistent calories/macros, which ultimately leads to a tighter consistency across options (days).
Your diet preference and meals/recipes are two of the most significant contributing factors when it comes to your calories/macros varying between options (days).
2. Allergies/Dislikes List
Adding items to your allergies/dislikes list creates limitations surrounding your meal plan. It's these limitations —within reason—that can lead to a more consistent meal plan. Just be sure not to add too many items, or you won't have a meal plan.
3. Vital Statistics & Gender
Your vital statistics (including gender) all contribute towards your calorie/macronutrient breakdown. The more calories you consume, the more recipes/meals become available for potential inclusion in your meal plan. And —you've guessed it— the more variety within your meal plan, the more inconsistent your meal plan's calorie/macronutrient breakdown can potentially be.
4. Rounding
Lastly, rounding. We round ingredients, recipes, and statistics, to the nearest half.
You may (by chance) end up with a plan that consists of multiple meals, that contain multiple ingredients, that have been rounded. If you took a six meal-per-day meal plan, for example, that could be a decent amount of rounding. Rest assured our rounding tolerance is set to 3-5% total, so your meal plan can not round to a point where you would need to worry about it impacting your body composition/goal.
As always, if you've taken all of the above into consideration, and still have concerns surrounding your plan, please do not hesitate to reach out to us -
support@macroactive.com