Do you worry about MFP nutrients and macros?

LovesDogsAndBooks

Wow, just changed those settings to show Vit A, C, iron and calcium and it does it even for the past. I am now shocked to see how vitamin deficient my diet has been. I've been on this only a good 2 weeks and have been mostly trying to get my protein up to at least reach the recommended number, since you seem to need that to prevent too much muscle loss while losing weight. I've never taken supplements, but now I wonder how you can get your vitamins on a calorie deficit while concentrating on enough protein? This is getting more and more complicated!

starryphoenix

I'm not super strict, but I do keep an eye on them. I eat pretty healthy, so most of the time I don't need to worry.

macchiatto

I'm one of those people who finds macros make a huge difference for me in terms of satiety and adherence, so I adjusted my macros based on what works better for me and I keep a close eye on those, but definitely calories as well. However, I'm also somewhat flexible. If I have a super "hungry day" I might eat a bit more but just try to keep it below maintenance calories. I have other days where I don't have as much of an appetite so it tends to balance out.

Tacklewasher

LovesDogsAndBooks wrote: »

Wow, just changed those settings to show Vit A, C, iron and calcium and it does it even for the past. I am now shocked to see how vitamin deficient my diet has been. I've been on this only a good 2 weeks and have been mostly trying to get my protein up to at least reach the recommended number, since you seem to need that to prevent too much muscle loss while losing weight. I've never taken supplements, but now I wonder how you can get your vitamins on a calorie deficit while concentrating on enough protein? This is getting more and more complicated!

I take drugs pills. Centrum 50+ for men, Omega 3, Vitamin D and lately an antihistamine. I still end up low on Iron most days but am fine for most other things.

junodog1

I only track calories. It is work enough to find valid entries in the data base for calories. I do eyeball the entries in my diary daily for macros, sodium and iron and wonder if the values are correct. If I decide to track other things one day I will probably have to make a lot of "My Foods."

AnnPT77

LovesDogsAndBooks wrote: »

Wow, just changed those settings to show Vit A, C, iron and calcium and it does it even for the past. I am now shocked to see how vitamin deficient my diet has been. I've been on this only a good 2 weeks and have been mostly trying to get my protein up to at least reach the recommended number, since you seem to need that to prevent too much muscle loss while losing weight. I've never taken supplements, but now I wonder how you can get your vitamins on a calorie deficit while concentrating on enough protein? This is getting more and more complicated!

Keep in mind that the crowd-sourced MFP food database may be even less accurate for micronutrients (vitamins & minerals) than it is for calories. Some of the micronutrient data is optional, not required, on food product labels in the US, and folks who aren't tracking micronutrients may not be motivated to research it beyond the food label (if they even pay that much attention) when they put the food in the database.

Before you panic, you might want to do some research on sources for your nutrients of concern . . . you may already be eating more than you think based on your food diary results.

Also, note that in the MFP web version, there's a "Reports" link you can use to get a multi-day report of various nutrient levels - not as useful for analyzing day by day as the Nutrition link in the phone/tablet app, but handy for longitudinal looks.