Most Important to you - Calories, Fat or Carbs???

2

Replies

  • Rocket_Man44
    Rocket_Man44 Posts: 896
    Macros - Protein carbs and fat. But I've set my own ratios for them as per my activity needs and fitness goals.

    Whilst adhering to said calories.

    I'm at 40-20-40 right now, so hoping that will work for me.

    Depends what you do really ?

    I box 2 times a week and weight train 4 times. I need more Carbs = energy and enough Fat = Hormone productivity and satiety.

    Since I'm cutting bodyfat , I keep protein around 1 gram per pound of body weight.

    So it really depends on what your activity levels are.
  • ajnb88
    ajnb88 Posts: 339 Member
    Overall? Calories. In terms of macros, I find I rarely go over on total fat/carbs, although I often go over on protein.
  • cw106
    cw106 Posts: 952 Member
    1 calories
    2 exercise.

    will re- evaluate after 3 months.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    the portion of food which i guess translates to calories
  • funchords
    funchords Posts: 413 Member
    I'm surprised nobody has reposted this yet...

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it

    It puts Calories, Carbs, etc. in its correct context.
  • Carolynnr59
    Carolynnr59 Posts: 9 Member
    My counselor has me focusing on carbs first...she suggested 40-60 per day. I wanted to beat her up the next time I saw her, but realized this was an area for me to shoot for which has made it a little easier to handle!
  • moraiwebird
    moraiwebird Posts: 71 Member
    Calories, Protein, Fiber. In that order.
  • LessHeavyVeggie
    LessHeavyVeggie Posts: 208 Member
    Calories are definitely the most important for me.

    After that, I try to make sure I'm getting a good amount of protein, then I just let carbs and fat fall where they may, although they're generally in line with MFP's goals - I guess that's why I haven't really taken much care about them.
  • SandyBVTN
    SandyBVTN Posts: 367 Member
    Calories are most important for me! I find on my most satisfied and energetic days, I hit my protein, go over on my fat, and am under on my carbs and sugar.
  • JenD1066
    JenD1066 Posts: 298 Member
    I watch everything and just keep it out of the "red zone."
  • wulfax
    wulfax Posts: 93 Member
    I actually try to stay under on everything. Because I have been unfit for so long I have a few medical issues that are of concern. I did not try to do everything at once however, I did it a bit at a time, and this is what has worked for me (and hopefully continues to do so).

    When I first started about a month ago I looked at calories only. I work in an office, so I bring my food with me every day, so I was able to map out the day before what I was bringing to work the next day.

    Once I got the calories straightened out and felt comfortable I started working on the carbs. This was my next issue because I am a diabetic and I needed to limit how many I was taking in. I looked at what I was bringing to work, did some research, and started substituting low carb options for most things.

    Next I moved on to Sodium because I have high blood pressure. This was perhaps the hardest one to achieve as everything has crap tons of sodium. My daily goal for Sodium is about 2300, but I noticed I was consistently getting about 4k-5k, over twice as much! So I started changing all my foods to low sodium options. One of the biggest offenders for me was my lunch, a nice sandwich that my lovely wife made for me every morning. I found that it had about 1700mg of sodium in it, almost my full daily allowance! Now I grill up chicken fillets in the morning when I make my breakfast and it is down to 520 mg now. Sadly, no more pickles. :cry:

    Next, I noticed that I was over on cholesterol. That was a real easy fix, in the morning when I make breakfast I now have just scrambled egg whites instead of whole scrambled eggs.

    Because I have made all of the above changes I found that my fat intake falls right into line. I did not have to adjust anything.
    I am consistently below on how much protein that I want to take in (I want most of my calories to come from protein, just because). However, I am usually around 85-100g, so I am not too concerned.

    What I like about my approach is that it gives me some consistency and stability, but also flexibility.
  • carolineat111
    carolineat111 Posts: 97 Member
    Protein is my #1 followed by calories. I don't worry too much about the rest (I mean, I don't care if I go over on sugar because of fruit, but if it's candy or something then I'd pay attention). I get about double the MFP suggested protein.
  • threnjen
    threnjen Posts: 687 Member
    Calories, then protein, and I don't care after that. I have custom macros for more protein.
  • happyfeetrebel1
    happyfeetrebel1 Posts: 1,005 Member
    Protein first, then (sort of) Calories. I'm super carb sensitive to the point of hypoglycemia if I eat too many, so I mostly watch protein. Seems to work so far :)
  • happyfeetrebel1
    happyfeetrebel1 Posts: 1,005 Member
    I actually try to stay under on everything. Because I have been unfit for so long I have a few medical issues that are of concern. I did not try to do everything at once however, I did it a bit at a time, and this is what has worked for me (and hopefully continues to do so).

    When I first started about a month ago I looked at calories only. I work in an office, so I bring my food with me every day, so I was able to map out the day before what I was bringing to work the next day.

    Once I got the calories straightened out and felt comfortable I started working on the carbs. This was my next issue because I am a diabetic and I needed to limit how many I was taking in. I looked at what I was bringing to work, did some research, and started substituting low carb options for most things.

    Next I moved on to Sodium because I have high blood pressure. This was perhaps the hardest one to achieve as everything has crap tons of sodium. My daily goal for Sodium is about 2300, but I noticed I was consistently getting about 4k-5k, over twice as much! So I started changing all my foods to low sodium options. One of the biggest offenders for me was my lunch, a nice sandwich that my lovely wife made for me every morning. I found that it had about 1700mg of sodium in it, almost my full daily allowance! Now I grill up chicken fillets in the morning when I make my breakfast and it is down to 520 mg now. Sadly, no more pickles. :cry:

    Next, I noticed that I was over on cholesterol. That was a real easy fix, in the morning when I make breakfast I now have just scrambled egg whites instead of whole scrambled eggs.

    Because I have made all of the above changes I found that my fat intake falls right into line. I did not have to adjust anything.
    I am consistently below on how much protein that I want to take in (I want most of my calories to come from protein, just because). However, I am usually around 85-100g, so I am not too concerned.

    What I like about my approach is that it gives me some consistency and stability, but also flexibility.

    I enjoyed reading this very much. Nice, sensible approach. I'd just like to add that for most people, my dietician said you'd need about 1g per inch of your height. Example, I'm 5'11 or 71 inches tall, that means 71g goal of protein per day. The USRDA is 50g per day..generically, but that's really low.

    Kudos to you :)
  • wonderwoman325
    wonderwoman325 Posts: 49
    My goals are set on myfitnespal in terms of calories, carbs, fat, protein and so forth. Just wondering if you are trying to stay in line with ALL categories, or do you focus mainly on one thing, like calories? I've been trying to watch my carbs and find that I generally stay under calories when I do that, but am curious to know what everyone else focuses on. Thanks :)

    1. Calories
    2. Protein
    3. Fiber

    If you're meeting your protein and fiber needs and keeping within your calorie targets, your fat and carbs will work themselves out just fine.

    This is what I've always followed. My protein intake is pitiful though as I'm not big on meat.
  • brightsideofpink
    brightsideofpink Posts: 1,018 Member
    I really only focus on calories, but do watch my carbs for moderation. Not for weight loss, but because I had gestational diabetes and have long been considered at risk for diabetes given weight and family history. Looking forward to having my A1C tested again and getting away from the at risk category.
  • lilmisfit1987
    lilmisfit1987 Posts: 183 Member
    I watch my calories first, my fat second, and my sugar last. I don't even worry about carbs because I always find I'm WAY under the goal they set anyways. I'm not much of a carb person until it comes to pasta, which I don't have very often. I don't watch protein either because I have meat for dinner every day and a protein shake for lunch so I know I'm going to be close or a little over.
  • nolabone
    nolabone Posts: 117 Member
    Calories first. I am usually under on my carbs by a bit, just by the nature of foods I like to eat, and slightly over on my calorie goal even with the low carb #..

    Anywho, calories, then protein, then sodium for me.
  • kazzsj0urney
    kazzsj0urney Posts: 57
    Calories first then I look at all macros and try to balance them out the best.
  • Walter__
    Walter__ Posts: 518 Member
    For me it's

    Calories -> Protein -> Fat -> Carbs
  • Staceyo1991
    Staceyo1991 Posts: 9
    I go below my calorie intake anyway but I do more cardiovascular exercises and it burns the calories off. I do pay more attention to my sugar levels though because if I have sugar it will put more weight on me.
  • Kellyfitness128
    Kellyfitness128 Posts: 194 Member
    Calories first, then fat. I try to keep my diet low fat (~10-25%) and high carb.
  • LaReinaDeCorazones
    LaReinaDeCorazones Posts: 274 Member
    Calories, I'm almost always under on carbs n fats so no prob there.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
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  • GertrudeHorse
    GertrudeHorse Posts: 646 Member
    I count total calories. My main struggle is to get enough protein so I prioritise this. It seems when I make an effort to eat protein-rich food then all the other macros sort themselves out just fine.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    I focus on Cake
  • PurrlyGirl
    PurrlyGirl Posts: 59 Member
    I focus on calories - I don't let myself go over at all, so that's always my primary concern. Past that, I aim to eat enough fat, fiber, & protein to keep me feeling full and good. I also look at iron & calcium, because I'm quite anemic and my doctor has told me to make sure I'm getting a regular intake of calcium.

    But calories are the only one I'm really anal about.
  • PrizePopple
    PrizePopple Posts: 3,133 Member
    Calories then fiber. I need to lose weight, but I also don't want to risk losing part of my colon due to the disease I have, so fiber is my very good friend.
  • cincysweetheart
    cincysweetheart Posts: 892 Member
    Calories trump all for me.

    But once I'm in line with my calories… then I pay attention to percentages on my macros, more so than actual numbers because I'm usually under my goal… and I want to know how my current eating plan will transfer as my calorie count goes down and then as I move into maintenance.

    From there, fiber and vitamin C is probably what I pay the closest attention to.

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