Question on WHAT YOU MONITOR

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  • abellante_0205
    abellante_0205 Posts: 368 Member
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    I found monitoring my sodium helped me a LOT!!!!! Calories helped too but eh... lol Sodium and sugars is what hurts me mostly!
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    I think it depends on people's individual health needs.

    Ultimately this. I am not diabetic and I have very low blood pressure.

    I watch calories, protein, fat, carbs in that order of importance, and I don't have a reason to track anything else.
  • weightofyourskin
    weightofyourskin Posts: 173
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    I track calories, carbs, protein, fat, sodium and Vitamin A.

    Sodium for health reasons. I think the FDA recommends 2500 mg a day... Health Canada says adults don't need more than 1500. My mom has high blood pressure, so I'm trying to avoid that.

    Vitamin A because I'm taking Accutane which is a strong vitamin A derivative. So if I have too much vitamin A in my diet that increases my chances of vitamin A toxicity.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I have no idea what "we" should monitor as I'm sure that is not the same for everyone. I monitor calcium, iron, saturated fat, calories, protein and carbs, because these are things I'm concerned about getting too much or too little of.
  • gymshoe42
    gymshoe42 Posts: 97 Member
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    i track calories only. My belief is that by doing so, I'm already watching what I eat and eating better. It sucks to know how long it takes to burn 150 calories on the treadmill ...do I really want to eat this donut that will take me 15 seconds to eat. I find I'm naturally keeping everything else in check. Besides, the amount of time to track even more things would likely discourage me from tracking anything....so... I track only a few things (calories and my workouts) and do it well.
  • cofakid
    cofakid Posts: 213 Member
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    i only monitor calories but im only 5 months in. I find that my basic macros (carbs, protein, fat) all seem to be ok even without me monitoring them. In time i might monitor other things or i might not depending on how i go. I'm iron deficien so i might monitor that, and i know i eat a lot of salty things and add salt to a lot of meals, so if im not losing weight i'll start monitoring that. if i decide i want to uild more muscles i'll monitor my protein.

    I think its an individual thing as to what "level" of healthy eating your aiming for, personal goals and personal health. Calories is the basic starting point and it might be all you need or you might need to monitor other things too.
  • Debbe2
    Debbe2 Posts: 2,071 Member
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    Calories, Protein, FIber, Carbs, Sugar and Fat. Fat could be Sodium makes no difference to me. I really care most about
    Calories, Protein and Sugar
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    I have ready so many MFP success stories. And it seems a lot of them ONLY monitor calories. Not fat. Not carbs, sodium, or anything else. What are you opinions on this? Should we be watching those other things if the goal is to lose weight? I just want to see my weight number go down. I'd rather be SKINNY FAT than FAT FAT.

    Well, if I had my choice, I'd go back in time and do more heavy weight lifting to avoid the skinny fatness cause it's taking me longer to get to my goal since I went from "fat fat" to "skinny fat" to "lean and fit." But I digress.

    To just lose weight, you only really need to look at calories unless you are sensitive to things like dairy, gluten, sugar, etc. like you have an allergy or condition such as diabetes.

    To make a total transformation of your body composition I think the other things are important. You need protein to build or maintain muscle mass, for example. You can lose weight cutting protein, but you risk losing muscle and will still look soft and mushy at your goal weight.

    I look at saturated fats for health reasons because of cholesterol issues in the past. When I am able to keep my sat. fats. lower, I can keep my cholesterol in check. But it doesn't mean much for weight loss, really. As long as I am under my calorie goal, I will lose pounds.

    I also look at fiber. Being less bloated and having more "regularity" is important to me. Again, health reason other than weight loss.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,719 Member
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    Just my calories. I know I'll always be over in sodium (I'm Asian so I use soy sauce, MSG, etc. when I cook) and protein.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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