Do you pay much attention to individual macros beyond calories and maybe carbs?
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I don't believe sodium is usually a big deal unless you have high blood pressure. There are general recommendations, but if it's not something you need to worry about for medical reasons I wouldn't bother thinking about it.
About 1 in 3 adults has high blood pressure and the percentage increases with age. You can be fine in your 20s and 30s and then develop hypertension in your 40s. Worse, high blood pressure is generally asymptomatic: you can have it and not know it. Almost half of all people with hypertension do not have it under control, often because they don't know they have it. It's a disease that wears down your body slowly and as such is an aggravating factor in many other diseases.
So technically, yes, most people don't have to watch their sodium today but they may have to in the future and that future could be as soon as tomorrow. And because 1 in 3 is a pretty sizable chunk of the population, I would recommend anyone asking about sodium to first find out if they have recently had their blood pressure checked, preferably not when they are sick.0 -
I always watch and pay attention because I do want a balanced diet. I tend to eat a higher fat diet, which works really well in my body (HDL 71, LDL101) However, I do watch sodium and potassium daily. They have an inverse relationship and when sodium is in excess it drives down potassium levels. Since I workout and want my cardiovascular system pumping efficiently, I values these heart electrolytes. We need about 3x more potassium than sodium and most people are out of proportion. Plus too much sodium makes me feel bloated and tired.
As far as Macros, they tend to take care of themselves when you're eating a good variety of foods, funny how that works. I'm not the girl who eats 1000 cals of ice cream and hits the "finish diary" button and feels good about being under my calories for the day lol. I love making sure I'm fueling my body for health and fitness.0 -
It seems to be human nature to be reactive instead of proactive.0
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Fiber is the only thing I pay a lot of attention to. I have sugar, fat, protein and maybe something else on my diary because you have to have something there, but fiber is what I pay attention to. And protein somewhat, but only incidentally.0
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Obviously I'm out of the norm but why wouldn't you look at it and try to hit those goals as well? I'm 45 years old now and I've noticed things in life eventually catch up to you. So as I reduced my calories I started noticing I was falling short in other vitamins and nutrients. So I started taking a One A Day multi-vitamin. I try and eat foods that help me reach my potassium or fiber goals. Again I ask...why wouldn't you make those a priority as well? Aren't we trying to be healthier individuals as well as lose weight?
MFP isn't a good tool to figure out if you are getting enough, say, iron, because not all entries include iron, and for me it would be tons of work to make sure that information was in the entries for all the foods I eat, and simply not worth the trouble. Besides, I am not convinced we have quantified all the reasons that there are various health benefits from certain foods.
So I think it is a better approach--for me--to not drive myself crazy flipping around to see all my nutrients each day but simply to focus on including lots of, and a variety of, nutrient-dense foods.
I don't think this means I'm not making nutrients a priority. (I have watched potassium and find that when I am able to use the entries that include it only I end up well over, so I've stopped worrying about it. I always show low on iron, but I think this must be because of the entries, because I know how I eat and I also know my tests have always been fine on iron--and really on everything else to date.) I tried taking a multi-vitamin but it upset my stomach and I think my diet is sufficient, so I decided to supplement only D. (I've thought of adding fish oil, but I eat a lot of fish.)
People have different approaches to all this.0 -
I tend to monitor protein and fat mainly. I do try to check my weekly nutrition counts as well, to see how I did overall on the macro and micro's. But for daily monitoring, protein and fat are my main concerns.0
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Obviously I'm out of the norm but why wouldn't you look at it and try to hit those goals as well? I'm 45 years old now and I've noticed things in life eventually catch up to you. So as I reduced my calories I started noticing I was falling short in other vitamins and nutrients. So I started taking a One A Day multi-vitamin. I try and eat foods that help me reach my potassium or fiber goals. Again I ask...why wouldn't you make those a priority as well? Aren't we trying to be healthier individuals as well as lose weight?
I trust the blood work at my regular check-ups to let me know if I have a nutrient deficiency. I'm 51 now and so far no deficiencies without taking supplements.0 -
peter56765 wrote: »I don't believe sodium is usually a big deal unless you have high blood pressure. There are general recommendations, but if it's not something you need to worry about for medical reasons I wouldn't bother thinking about it.
About 1 in 3 adults has high blood pressure and the percentage increases with age. You can be fine in your 20s and 30s and then develop hypertension in your 40s. Worse, high blood pressure is generally asymptomatic: you can have it and not know it. Almost half of all people with hypertension do not have it under control, often because they don't know they have it. It's a disease that wears down your body slowly and as such is an aggravating factor in many other diseases.
So technically, yes, most people don't have to watch their sodium today but they may have to in the future and that future could be as soon as tomorrow. And because 1 in 3 is a pretty sizable chunk of the population, I would recommend anyone asking about sodium to first find out if they have recently had their blood pressure checked, preferably not when they are sick.
Yeah, I pretty much agree with this. I've watched my sodium for decades now.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Obviously I'm out of the norm but why wouldn't you look at it and try to hit those goals as well? I'm 45 years old now and I've noticed things in life eventually catch up to you. So as I reduced my calories I started noticing I was falling short in other vitamins and nutrients. So I started taking a One A Day multi-vitamin. I try and eat foods that help me reach my potassium or fiber goals. Again I ask...why wouldn't you make those a priority as well? Aren't we trying to be healthier individuals as well as lose weight?
I trust the blood work at my regular check-ups to let me know if I have a nutrient deficiency. I'm 51 now and so far no deficiencies without taking supplements.
I'm with the VA and their standard test does not include iron and D - I have to request it.
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I have realised that apart from fat, protein and carbs there is no correct data in most of the entries so I don't bother anymore. I usually look at the numbers but so far I know that I usually don't have enough protein, could have more carbs and should have less fat. oh well...0
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I only really care for calories and protein.0
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lessismoreohio wrote: »Wow. I started to look closely at my macros. In the past week, I've done good with staying below my calorie and carb limit, but I see my sodium intake is (way) too high. Must work on that.
Do you pay much attention to individual macros beyond calories and maybe carbs?
I always glance at fiber, potassium, and sugar out of curiosity. I like to know I'm getting enough fiber most days. The only time I try to adjust for sodium is eating out. I'll use a nutrition guide and choose the best option with that in mind but don't make it a goal per se0 -
lessismoreohio wrote: »Wow. I started to look closely at my macros. In the past week, I've done good with staying below my calorie and carb limit, but I see my sodium intake is (way) too high. Must work on that.
Do you pay much attention to individual macros beyond calories and maybe carbs?
I was like you until i wasn't loosing any weight, i cut down on sodium and sugar to stay below my MFP goals and in 2 weeks i have lost 8 lbs which was water retention from high sodium and the rest was just by adjusting and adhering to my macros. Good luck :-)0 -
It really depends what your goals are. If you simply want to lose weight then all you need to consider is how many calories you are taking in vs how many calories you burn. Where the calories come from is almost irrelevant.
If you have goals involving overall health and feeling full etc then you might want t consider your macros more.
Alot of people start off by just calorie counting then becoming more aware of their macros and then manipulating them to get different results. Its almost a natural progression.
I'd advise to do whatever you feel most comfortable and confident doing. And be aware that no one has the 'perfect' diet so dont feel too defeated if you struggle to hit the macros you set yourself all the time! :-)0 -
nope. for me.... just calories.0
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Yes and no. I try to keep my fat low, but let the protein and carbs fall where they may when I've eaten what I eat. Micros, I work on getting more of this or that. Salt is one I work at keeping low. This is much easier than it used to be. I struggled (and mostly failed) with salt for YEARS.0
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I only look at calories and protein, but I do try to eat more carbs before/after workouts on days where I lift0
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