How strict do you follow nutritional quotas?

embym

So far I've only really been focusing on my calories for the day, but I find that I go over some of the nutritional quotas by a bit frequently. I don't want to overcomplicate things for myself, but I also want to be doing this right. Every single day I end up going over on my iron, sometimes by a lot. This is ironic because I'm vegetarian, but it looks like I'm getting it from cereal. The other common culprit is my carbs, but this is not daily. Is it extremely important to not go over these quotas?

SunLove8

So far I've only really been focusing on my calories for the day, but I find that I go over some of the nutritional quotas by a bit frequently. I don't want to overcomplicate things for myself, but I also want to be doing this right. Every single day I end up going over on my iron, sometimes by a lot. This is ironic because I'm vegetarian, but it looks like I'm getting it from cereal. The other common culprit is my carbs, but this is not daily. Is it extremely important to not go over these quotas?

Honestly, not totally. Maybe I should though. I think having WAY more protein is causing some issues for me. I think as a vegatarian (I was for a loooong time until 6 1/2 years ago) may has someting to do with having more carbs in your diet than say, protein. Keep an eye on it and see how you feel and what you're body is telling you. I think it really does depend on the person and their diet. Good luck!

clioandboy

Sorry to be a bad influence..... But I don't, I have eliminated all but the calorie count from my diary. I do understand that nutrition is important but I found I was getting obsessed by red numbers..... When I get to maintenance I am gonna change my focus from the cals to the nutrition to fuel my running as i should.

SunLove8

Sorry to be a bad influence..... But I don't, I have eliminated all but the calorie count from my diary. I do understand that nutrition is important but I found I was getting obsessed by red numbers..... When I get to maintenance I am gonna change my focus from the cals to the nutrition to fuel my running as i should.

LOOK AT YOU!! You have done something FANTASTIC! You are very inspirational and I just had to let you know that!

NeuroticVirgo

Sorry to be a bad influence..... But I don't, I have eliminated all but the calorie count from my diary. I do understand that nutrition is important but I found I was getting obsessed by red numbers..... When I get to maintenance I am gonna change my focus from the cals to the nutrition to fuel my running as i should.

This is what I do pretty much. I still have my nutrition on there, but the only thing I watch is my sodium (because it can make you retain water...which makes you not lose or gain sometimes :grumble: ) I've had days that I only got to 1200 calories but I was RED on almost everything else, usually from things like cereal etc. But I still manage to lose the weight I'm supposed to. So I figure the main thing is calories, and later when I've got that down pat I'll try and focus on the other stuff.

GremlinJenny

i'm going to be completely candid.

i say i started this journey to fit into my jeans. to lose 30lbs by my 30th bday. the real reason i started this journey is that i'm taking new life-saving medication that has some serious side effects. i have to monitor my cholesterol, my fat intake, my sodium, sugars, carbs, triglyerides... pretty much everything in order to stay healthy. and to stay... here, around. alive. i've run this site by my doctor and i talk to her every few days. so, to answer your question, i do take into acct all the nutritional quotas, because i'm really, genuinely, trying to live a healthier life. the weight loss from staying within the quotas has been a lovely side effect, and a nice distraction for my brain from some of the heavier issues on my mind.

a lot of people on here will sing the "it's a healthy lifestyle change" song, but if you really believe that, then you will care beyond the calories and pants sizes and scales. you will care about keeping your heart healthy with exercise. you will care that you're taking in more sugar than your body knows to deal with. you will care that you're giving your body the fuel it really needs to keep you around for your family and your future.

i'm the biggest advocate of babysteps. i'm not saying take it all on. if it's too much, you'll just crumble and stop altogether. no one wants that. do what you need to do to help yourself succeed. you know yourself best, how much you can handle. but always strive for those mini goals to bring you closer to a genuinely healthy (and not just skinny) lifestyle.

congratulations on having already made the first steps on this amazing journey.

xoxo.

pinstripepirate

I kind of go back and forth. In the beginning, it was a struggle just to make sure I came under my calorie goal each day. After I got that part down pat, then I started paying attention to my nutritional goals. Then after that seemed to be good for a while, I ignored them completely for about a month. The vitamins I am never concerned about because I take a multi-vitamin... so whatever I don't get from food I will get from that.

Some days I pay more attention to the goals than others. The hardest thing for me to stay under on is sugar because I eat a lot of fruit. I really should start keeping track of the sugar from fruit and the sugar from other food separately so I know how much I'm getting, because the red number can be ugly sometimes. Other than that, on occasion I will use the nutritional goals to help me pick a snack or dinner (like, how much sodium do I have left for the day? How much fat have I consumed?).

However, take this into account: if you ever do quick add calories for anything (which I do fairly frequently), then those don't do anything for your nutritional goals. So you may be over on things for the day without realizing it.