What does everyone monitor??

DanaLynnMN

Just curious what you all monitor in your food diaries. Just calories, or calories and others such as Carbs, Protein, Fat, etc.???

I read somewhere that a good balace is 40% Carbs, 30% Protein and 30% Fat. Well, I set my goals to this....but I'm finding it extremely difficult to stay within the Carb goal....and hard to hit the protein goal.

Does this stuff really matter (dumb question I know!!!)??? If I'm eating healthier foods and watching my portions, shouldn't that be enough?? Should I just worry about watching my calories only??

I'm just not sure what to do here......I don't want it to be such a chore to plan what I'm going to eat.

Thoughts???

KatyE213

To lose weight is the simple equation of calories in and out and the balance of carbs/fats/protein shouldnt have much bearing on that. However, if you find that you are lacking energy or having any other health issues you may need to tweak some of them. Protein keeps you fuller longer than carbs so eat more of it if you are feeling hungry a lot of the time. Personally I wouldn't sweat it too much so long as the figures add up. Good luck

Pandorian

I track my calories, protein, fat, carbs and sodium because I am working on cutting back the amount of salt I'm eating... that means less pretzels or at least not coated with road-salt chunks when I have them.

I was using the 40% carbs 30% protein and 30% fat ration but changed it up to 35% carbs 35% protein and 30% fat to get my protein right where I wanted it (1 gram per pound of my goal weight (lean body mass I suppose though it IS my goal weight).

Yes the macro's matter... I ignore my "sugar" goal as I don't have problems there, I do watch my processed carbs though, if I'm eating carbs "raw" ie straight from veggies I can't eat enough to bother my calorie count, but if I'm scarfing pasta / bread then I want to watch them.
I use whey powder to get my protein count up I wouldn't want to try to afford eating chicken breast or fish to get all the protein it gives me.
Fats have good and bad ones.... get your Omega 3's, avoid trans fats, I don't mind saturated fat and use full-fat "homogenized" milk and full-fat (and flavour) miracle whip etc.

Eat nutritionally dense stuff, avoid the "candy bars" that laughably have nutritional info... if it has a nutritional info box on the wrapper it may be processed food

vibrant80

I pretty much watch only my calories, I find that as long as I choose more whole foods and less processed junk, the other numbers (carbs/protein/fat) naturally fall into place. (FWIW, I'm using the default MFP settings, which seem to be approximately 60/20/20).

barbiex3

personally, i think it matters a lot more for people who are closer to their goal weight, and people who work out a lot. You should just focus on eating more protein and nothing else because that is what works for me. I always look for high protein foods. Because usually high protein foods have less carbs. so, eggs, beef jerky, any meat really, TUNA, fish, etc. Not so much with the milk... but you can also buy protein water by special K.. idk. I have my goals set to like 50, 25, 25 i think, but it's hard to do-- i agree, but it's really up to you what you want to do. I don't beat myself up if i go over or under on anything unless it's calories for the most part tho.

TheBraveryLover

Just curious what you all monitor in your food diaries. Just calories, or calories and others such as Carbs, Protein, Fat, etc.???

I monitor calories, protein, carbs, fiber, sodium and sugar.

I read somewhere that a good balace is 40% Carbs, 30% Protein and 30% Fat. Well, I set my goals to this....but I'm finding it extremely difficult to stay within the Carb goal....and hard to hit the protein goal.

Mine is set at 30% carbs, 25% protein, and 45% fat (I don't track fat since I don't care if it goes over).

Does this stuff really matter (dumb question I know!!!)??? If I'm eating healthier foods and watching my portions, shouldn't that be enough?? Should I just worry about watching my calories only??

If you're doing well losing weight with only tracking calories, no it doesn't matter. Some people go through plateaus and lower their carbs or increase their protein in order to break it. Other people watch their carb/protein/fat because of health reasons. Others do it because they prefer not watching calories and only watching carbs. Regardless, nothing is one size fits all. If you're doing fine with what you currently have going, then, by all means keep it going!

erinsueburns

Mostly I monitor calories and fiber. I have alot of food allergies and sensitivities, especially grain so the mfp macros are unrealistic for me. And periodically I plug my info into nutritiondata.com to check micros. You have to find what works for you. I get a large portion of my calories from unsaturated fats like nuts and olive oil, and I am almost always over sugars but that is from various and strawberries and apples, but that works for me. Some people look at my food diary and think I an crazy, but truthfully fat doesn't make you fat, eating too many calories does.

junipuni

I found that just monitoring calories was not producing any weight loss. I don't have a lot to lose - 20 is my ultimate goal but that would include those last 10 "vanity pounds." When I looked back the only areas that were over the limit were carbs and sugar. So, for me it is not just calories in, calories out.

I monitor calories, carbs, fiber, sodium, fat and protein. I have it set 40/30/30 for carbs/fat/protein. Initially I could not meet that goal and kept going over significantly on carbs. Since really focusing on hitting that goal for carbs I have finally started to lose weight. I didn't really think about it but cutting down on my carbs has also cut down a ton of sugar intake so for me - yes, it does matter more than just hitting my target calories.

junipuni

You mentioned that you are having a hard time with the carbs - I was too. I had to really look at my eating habits and see what I could change. I changed the kind of bread I eat and eat much less bread than I used to. I was used to eating some kind of bread with every meal - toast at breakfast, sandwich for lunch, roll with dinner, etc. For me, that just doesn't work. I was the type of person to go to carbs for every snack or meal - crackers, chips, cereal, etc. Even when I stayed within calorie goal it just wasn't working.

janiepumphrey

The most important ones to me personally are calories, iron, and calcium.

Calories are for obvious reasons...

Iron because my "done for the day" feeling always seems to come around 100-120% RDA of iron regardless of what kind of food I was eating, so I feel full with less food when I'm getting enough of that.

Calcium because my diet was low in it for several months...I have an eye on it for health reasons. I check other nutrients in the reports from time to time, but those seem to be fine on my diet, which is mostly unprocessed food.

brandiuntz

I track calories, carbs/protein/fat, sodium, and fiber. The fiber to make sure I get enough since I eat few grains, and the sodium, so I can keep that low and get off this damn blood pressure medicine one day.

I think I'm set somewhere at 40/30/30, but also have a hard time hitting the protein level without going way over on fat. I'm usually under on carbs because I don't eat a lot of grain-based carbs. Those 3 things I track just to have a general idea of what to eat more of on when I haven't planned a meal, but want to know what macros I still need.

Rilke

You don't need those specific goals for macronutrients. There are no set C/P/F percentages that work for everyone. Adjust your carbs and protein to what works best for you, what makes you feel healthiest and most balanced.

I have mine set to 55/15/30 (which is MFP's default), but I don't even track carbs or protein. I know I'm fine in those areas. I just try to get as close to the fat allowance as possible without going over, because that's where my body functions best. I also track sodium, potassium, vitamin C, and fiber.