The most important thing to track for weight loss?

keltoi93

So Im trying to get from 248 lbs to 180-190 lbs and at the moment and tracking what I eating but when selecting what I eat Im really only taking into account calories. How important are areas like sodium, sugar and carbs for weight loss? I tend to eat between 3-5 mandarin oranges a day so my sugar limit is the only one Im over this week.

AJ_G

Most important things to track are Total Calores, Grams of Protein, Grams of Fat, Grams of Fiber

FP4HSharon

The most imporant thing to track is your calories. Then you should focus on getting in the recommended amounts of protein, then fats, because usually the carbs take care of themselves. I track calcium (due to osteoporosis in the family ) & fiber (because usually the healthier you eat, the higher it is in fiber). I don't track the sodium & sugar, because sometimes no matter what you do, those seem to run high. Some posters have said their recommendations are not really in a good range. But on the mandarin oranges, I love them too, but try to limit myself to no more than 1/day, because they are very high in calories/sugar for the amount of food you get.

AmyRhubarb

Calories first.

As you go along you can start fine tuning things, especially if you notice that you tend to be high in sodium, or low on protein, etc. That was all part of the process for me as I've learned to change my eating habits, and what to eat in order to meet my calorie goals and my macro goals as well.

Cutting4life

overall caloric intake

AJ_G

There's a big difference between weight loss and fat loss. If your goal is purely weight loss, then all you have to do is eat at a caloric deficit, end of story. If your goal is fat loss while retaining muscle, then you have to eat at a caloric deficit, and eat a minimum amount of protein to preserve muscle, and the MFP protein guidelines are ridiculously low btw