What nutrients do you track?

selbyhutch

What nutrients do you track in your food diary & why?

I track Cals - Carbs - Fat - Sat Fat - Sugar - Protein. I also toggle Sodium every now & then to make sure I'm not insanely over. I track Sugar because I've noticed that unnatural sugars really hinder my weight loss. I track Carbs because I'm a carb girl & need to be careful. Fats because duh & Protein because sometimes I don't get enough.

I'm trying to figure out why I track Saturated Fat. I've read a few things lately that say sat fat has been given a bad rap... but I'm a little confused on the issue. Sat fat used to be the DEVIL!! I've also noticed that most food diaries that I look at, do not track it. If anyone has clarification... or just a thought even, that would be most appreciated.

funkyspunky871

I have calories, carbs, fat, and saturated fat on my diary. I don't really track carbs (even though I'm not usually over); it's just a filler. Lol. And, a few times I've gone over on sat. fat, but really, honestly, didn't care. I used to track sugars and sodium, but I got really obsessive over it all and stopped eating. So, goodbye sugars and sodium! I'm pretty sure I go over by a lot every single day, but no problem with my weight loss.

LainMac

I have a goal of 25 gram of fiber (most days I hit or go over).

I track calories, protein, carbs, fat, fiber, and the evil sodium. Not that I'll stop eating salty foods but if I go over the 2500, I make a concerted effort to drink more water. Processed foods have so much even when it is a sweet thing like Kashi bar.

beethedreamer

I track calories (obviously ), carbs, fat, protein, fiber, and sodium. I am really cracking down on sodium and I try to stay under 1500 everyday. carbs are definitely my enemy and I am trying to cut down on those too, but it's hard. I'm actually thinking about switching fat for sugars because fat isn't a problem for me, but I know I'm over sugars every single day.

kaymd

I track carbs (not sure why because I am under everyday), Fat ,just because, sodium, because I used to be over every day and I know if I don't track it I know I will be over, fiber, which I could probably take off because I am almost always over, and protein because I never have enough.

Ely82010

Calories, Carbs, Protein, Fat, Sodium, and Fiber. Most of the time I am over the fiber and protein for few grams, very seldom I am over the sodium or the carbs.

I don't track sugars because I eat lots of fresh fruits and morning cereals sp it would probably send me over the limit. I don't eat sweets, candies, chocolate, pastries, or ice cream, so I don't worry about it.

lindseyelyzabeth

i honestly would probably swap the saturated fat for either tracking sodium or fiber. a lot of people have no idea how much sodium they consume a day, and it can really hinder you're weight loss (not to mention health.) same thing with fiber - most people have trouble getting enough fiber during the day, especially if you are on a more protein-rich diet. saturated fat is important to monitor occationally for your health, but if you are sticking to a low-fat diet, it's not going to have as much of an effect on your weight loss as sodium or fiber.

NotAllWhoWanderAreLost

I am currently tracking cals, carbs, protein, sodium, sugar and vitamin c.

I found, over time, that i was never over on fats or under on fiber, so dropped that off the radar. I feared tracking sodium for a long time, but have found that its not usually a problem for me. I am so frustrated with the sugars that i may just drop them too... I have NO IDEA how to stay under on sugar.

I watch my protein closely though because i tend to be a carb queen when i am heavy and eating whatever i want, so watching the protein intake forces me to balance my diet somewhat to get in the needed grams of protein before i run out of calories :P I've also learned this year how important protein is in post-exercise refueling.

NotAllWhoWanderAreLost

So glad you asked this actually! I just went in and changed my settings to watch:

CALS
CARBS
PROTEIN
SODIUM
FIBER
CALCIUM

it seems with my added focus on protein, i have let the fiber and calcium slide a bit... such constant tweaks!! LOL!! Someday i will have this 'healthy eating' thing down, right????

alantin

I track almost all of them. It's a bit more convenient with the iPhone app than with the site.. On the site I'm currently tracking Calories, Carbs, Fat, Protein, Calcium, and Iron.

In the fat department, I try to get as little saturated fat and trans fats as possible and as much unsaturated fats as possible to make the cholesterol I have to be the good one.

I'm also great on tweaking the goals.The very first things were to increase the fiber goal to 30 g, decrease sodium goal to 1500 mg (those are what they recommend here), and tweak the macro nutrients so I got enough protein with the 1400 Kcal diet, I was following back then. Now that I'm eating maintenance (calories or slightly below), I used the Finnish Olympic Committee's guidelines for athletes and increased carbohydrates and cut back on protein.

PrincessPudgy

I track Calories, Carbs, Fat, Sugar, Sodium and Fibre. Calories for obvious reasons. Carbs because I think I should eat few of these. Fat, Sugar and Sodium because I'm monitoring these so I don't go over. And Fibre just so I can make sure I get enough of this.

alantin

I just changed my trackings. I'm now tracking Calories, Carbs, Fat, Protein, Sodium, and Potassium.
I't seems I never get enough Potassium and usually little sodium when I cook myself (which is almost always..)..

It seem's I'm going to have to add more fruits and vegetables to my diet and actually begin adding salt to my food!!!! :ohwell:

selbyhutch

Switched out Sat Fat for Sodium. Good point that if I'm following a lower fat "diet" then my sat fat will stay in check as well. Toggled my fiber & it looks good.

Yuck on the Sodium!! At least I never add salt to anything.

Valtishia

I track calories, fat, carbs, fiber, protein and sodium.

Fat cause I used to not get enough so I track it to make sure I don't go too low again.
Sodium I track as I am so sensitive to it and bloat like hell if I have too much.
The others I generally don't have a problem with but I like to make sure I am within my ranges anyways.

thektturner

I track Calories, Carbs, Fat, Protein, Sugar, and Fiber.

I log everything at the beginning of the day and focus on getting enough Protein and fiber for however many calories I'm eating that day (I cycle calories: 1200 some days and 1400-1500 other days) while not going over the sugars.

I used to be a salt queen. I would put 1 1/2 packets of flavoring in a thing of ramen. Which was probably about 50x the daily allowance of sodium. Now, I just don't put table salt on anything, so I know I've decreased my intake severely. I don't care if it's under the actual recommended.

Fiber is SUPER important to how bodies digest food. It's something alot of people don't think about, but it is really important. I had a friend who got diverticulitis. She was a skinny girl who was very active and seemed to eat healthy things: she just didn't get enough fiber.

I have to drink alot of skim milk to hit my protein as I don't like to cook meat and I don't like meat in soups or frozen meals.
I also eat Fiber One bars as a quick fiber fix, so I have to watch my sugars. I don't worry about going over the sugar if it is from milk or produce: those are natural sugars and they are necessary.

I was tracking on another website before this one that would track EVERYTHING. I did that for about 11 weeks and I never even went near the fat, saturated fat, or cholesterol, so I don't worry about those.

alantin

Yuck on the Sodium!! At least I never add salt to anything.

Me neither and I usually do all my cooking myself which is why I seem to be so low on it on an average day. I have always been that way. I seem to get about 600 mg on average day which is about the needed amount per day, but it's also lost in perspiration during hard exercise. According to what I read, the 1500 mg per day is a good goal that you shouldn't be much over or low.

Someone told me to add some salt into the water I take to the dojo since during and after exercise is exactly when you need to regain your mineral balance. I think, that's a good advice!

beccajoh

Calcium
Iron
Saturated fat
overall calories

kaymd

I found, over time, that i was never over on fats or under on fiber, so dropped that off the radar. I feared tracking sodium for a long time, but have found that its not usually a problem for me. I am so frustrated with the sugars that i may just drop them too... I have NO IDEA how to stay under on sugar.

Same for me! Sugar is very frustrating so I stopped tracking them also! Sodium was a problem for me at first too but I think I finally got a pretty good handle on it.

selbyhutch

I recently got a new cell phone & d/l the MFP app... but never paid much attention to it. Very nice!!! I see what you mean by it's easier when using the app... it tracks everything at a glance.