What do you track the most?

carashirley
carashirley Posts: 169 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I mainly pay attention to my calorie & sodium intake. With a "secondary nod" to protein & cholesterol. What is the main thing you focus on with your food?
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Replies

  • bound4beauty
    bound4beauty Posts: 274 Member
    Protein, Fat, Carbs and Fiber are the most important things to track, in my opinion. If haven't yet figured out how much protein and fat you need, you're probably making the weight loss process more difficult than it needs to be.
  • Confuzzled4ever
    Confuzzled4ever Posts: 2,860 Member
    calories and protein.. if you have those 2 in line, the rest falls into place easy.
  • explosivedonut
    explosivedonut Posts: 419 Member
    calories and protein.. if you have those 2 in line, the rest falls into place easy.

    Me too!
  • carashirley
    carashirley Posts: 169 Member
    Protein, Fat, Carbs and Fiber are the most important things to track, in my opinion. If haven't yet figured out how much protein and fat you need, you're probably making the weight loss process more difficult than it needs to be.

    I only pay attention to fat when it looks like I'm going over my limit per MFP. I don't really pay attention to fiber or carbs because I eat a fruit & veggie heavy diet which tends to keep my carb & fiber intake at a acceptable level. Thats why I look at my protein intake, sometimes I can be low on protein intake. I also look at my cholesterol because I tend to go over my limit when I up my protein. Still trying to find the right balance where those are concerned. My biggest issue staying under is my sodium. I go over more times than not it seems.

    I'm only 46 days into this journey & down 25lbs. I'm still trying to find the right mix & balance for me. I was mainly curious what others focused on.
  • bound4beauty
    bound4beauty Posts: 274 Member
    Recent research has suggested the dietary cholesterol has little impact on your cholesterol levels. Your genetics and obesity play a bigger role there. Getting enough protein will help you maintain muscle and enough healthy fat will help keep you satisfied. You should shoot for .8 to 1 gram of protein per pound unless you are very overweight then use your goal weight. So for me, even though I currently weigh 184 pounds, my protein goal is 125 grams minimum.
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
    Protein.
  • avskk
    avskk Posts: 1,787 Member
    Calories and protein, with fat a close second.
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
    Calories and Protein. I only pay attention to sodium to make sure it isn't skyrocketing, but I dont' care if it goes over now and then.
  • lisajsund
    lisajsund Posts: 366 Member
    Calories, obviously, and like many here, PROTEIN! I am averaging about 150 g per day for the last several weeks. 15% is too low for most people, I shoot for 25-30%. I found it keeps me more satisfied and easier to stay within my calorie goal. Loss is slow but consistent, averaging just over a pound a week.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    Haha, I assumed you meant most often and I was coming in to say COFFEE!
  • kimmymayhall
    kimmymayhall Posts: 419 Member
    Calories, protein, fat, iron. In that order.
  • Blacklance36
    Blacklance36 Posts: 755 Member
    red wine and Baileys.
  • perfect_storm
    perfect_storm Posts: 326 Member
    Calories and protein.
  • Soccermavrick
    Soccermavrick Posts: 405 Member
    When I was in weight loss mode; Calories and Fat 1st, with Carbs and Protein a distant 2nd.

    Now that I am switching to a Building and Toning mode Protein has moved up. So now it is; Calories, Protein and fat 1st, with Carbs a distant second. Of course if you have health issues you might want to track other things. (Luckily enough I have not had the need.) And MFP is only using suggested numbers, you may therefore need to see what fits you best, because I had to up the calculation for Protein and decrease the Fat Calculation.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Calories and protein are the only ones I really pay attention to on a day-to-day basis.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Haha, I assumed you meant most often and I was coming in to say COFFEE!

    :laugh:


    I thought that's what the OP was going to say too.
  • scottkjar
    scottkjar Posts: 346 Member
    Calories, Sugar, Protein, Fiber.

    It is the sugar that gives me cravings and wrecks my diet. If I can keep sugar low, I can keep the rest in line.
  • carashirley
    carashirley Posts: 169 Member
    So far I'm losing about half a pound a day. I know the smaller I get the smaller the loss will get too. I'm doing C25K 3 days a week & strength training another 3 days a week. I think I'll take my focus off sodium and put it on protein for a couple of weeks and see how that works for me!




    edited to correct spelling
  • louisemh28
    louisemh28 Posts: 29
    calories, protein and fibre, with a glance at iron and calcium.
  • 75in2013
    75in2013 Posts: 361 Member
    Calories only.
  • Joehenny
    Joehenny Posts: 1,222 Member
    Protein, then fats, then fiber. Carbs are added in with dessert :D
  • SweetJoanne
    SweetJoanne Posts: 106 Member
    i like to keep an eye on sodium i never add it myself and am always curious as to what processed foods have. I love tetsu chef wonton soup but I hardly every drink the broth and there are so many calories in it.
  • SweetJoanne
    SweetJoanne Posts: 106 Member
    love your reply Blacklance but you better get lots of exercise to wear off those calories from all the red wine and baileys
  • drvvork
    drvvork Posts: 1,162
    I watch carefully my protein and potassium (I'm Hypokalemic so it is a must).
  • VpinkLotus
    VpinkLotus Posts: 849 Member
    Calories, and to be honest I don't even pay attention to any of the other stuff. I don't know how much of everything I need nor do i know what they should be set at. Suppose i should figure that stuff out one of these days. :embarassed:
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    I track calories, all the macros, fiber, and sodium. But I really only pay attention to calories and protein unless something is visibly off (if sodium is several hundred in the red or fiber is way down, for example, I will look at my food day to see why). The only reason I even pay attention to protein is because I'm lifting heavy and want to support those muscles.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    Calories, obviously, and like many here, PROTEIN! I am averaging about 150 g per day for the last several weeks. 15% is too low for most people, I shoot for 25-30%. I found it keeps me more satisfied and easier to stay within my calorie goal. Loss is slow but consistent, averaging just over a pound a week.

    I would love to take a peek at your diary :smile: I have protein set to 100 g (25% of my daily calories, based off 1 g per pound LBM estimates) and struggle to get there many days.
  • kristafb
    kristafb Posts: 770 Member
    SInce I switched to a plant based diet I'm most interested in calcium & iron levels, making sure I get enough each day, other than that I watch calories & fat. I wish there were more spots on the screen, I'd like to see more things, like fiber, sodium & others but because I'm tracking the calcium & iron it limits my spaces.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    Calories, protein and fat.
  • marthahorn
    marthahorn Posts: 23
    You should shoot for .8 to 1 gram of protein per pound unless you are very overweight then use your goal weight.

    So where do you find what you should be using as a guideline?

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