Food tracking...what do you track?

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  • kateroot
    kateroot Posts: 435
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    The OP is asking what NUTRIENTS she should set up in her diary to track.

    Not whether or not she should track everything she eats.

    ETA: As she just mentioned 30 seconds before I posted this. Oops!
  • lorac321
    lorac321 Posts: 627 Member
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    Besides carbs, fat, protein, I track sugar and sodium...it was a real eye-opener to see the difference in salt from food I buy at restaurants vs what I make at home.

    This & cardio.
  • Grokette
    Grokette Posts: 3,330 Member
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    What are the most important things to track? They give you so many options, but which ones are the most important to stay within a certain range?

    Fat
    Protein
    Carbs
    Sodium (because I don't get enough)
  • Rayman79
    Rayman79 Posts: 2,009 Member
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    What are the most important things to track? They give you so many options, but which ones are the most important to stay within a certain range?
    I think a lot have people have missed the point of the question.

    The most important ones to track, without question, are your macronutrients (Carbs, Protein & Fat). The ratios will vary from person to person, but dont be afraid to go well over the protein as recommended by MFP on the default settings. Going a bit over on fat is ok too, but as long as the primary sources are not saturated or trans fats.

    Aside from the macros, I personally track sugars and sodium. My advice on this is to look at your average diary for a couple of weeks, and see where your trouble areas are and track those most closely. Eg if you eat a lot of pre-packaged foods your sodium will likely be too high, so track that and try to make a conscious effort to get that number down.

    Feel free to PM or friend me if I can help further.

    Cheers,

    Ray
  • albinogorilla
    albinogorilla Posts: 1,056 Member
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    Everything............calories being most important for weight loss............and protein a close second for muscle retention............
  • SKHaz1
    SKHaz1 Posts: 145 Member
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    The OP is asking what NUTRIENTS she should set up in her diary to track.

    Not whether or not she should track everything she eats.

    ETA: As she just mentioned 30 seconds before I posted this. Oops!

    Haha thank you!!! I couldn't think of how to word it!
  • ms_erica
    ms_erica Posts: 173 Member
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    besides the calories..i really try to track on sodium and sugar
  • kateroot
    kateroot Posts: 435
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    The OP is asking what NUTRIENTS she should set up in her diary to track.

    Not whether or not she should track everything she eats.

    ETA: As she just mentioned 30 seconds before I posted this. Oops!

    Haha thank you!!! I couldn't think of how to word it!

    Haha, I think you worded it perfectly, just a few posters had a reading comprehension fail. Happens to us all!
  • sarahgilmore
    sarahgilmore Posts: 572 Member
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    carbs (although I don't really care about these), saturated fat, protein, fibre and iron.
  • aimeelouwhite
    aimeelouwhite Posts: 181 Member
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    carbs, protein, iron, fibre and fat
  • mgmlap
    mgmlap Posts: 1,377 Member
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    Since I am on a Primal diet I track the following

    Carbs (20%)
    Fat (50%)
    Protein (30%)
    Fiber
    Sodium

    I used to track sugars...but not anymore. As long as I stay within the confines of Primal..I dont need to worry about sugar. I also listed what my macros are at....
  • mynameiscarrie
    mynameiscarrie Posts: 963 Member
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    I track calories, fat, protein, carbs, and sodium.

    I used to track sugar, but i have never been under sugar one day--ever--and I've been here for almost a year. I hated seeing the red numbers, even when I tried to cut back on sugar. I eat a lot of fruit and it counts the sugars in fruit which would cause my numbers to go over.

    SO i just don't track sugar anymore (though I am conscious of not eating junk food).
  • niknak2308
    niknak2308 Posts: 315 Member
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    I track Carbs, Protein, Fat, Fibre, Sodium at the moment, but I vary the last two as and when I have "mastered" getting a full daily quota regularly.
    I never used to eat enough fibre so I made a point to track it. After a few weeks I now know how to get enough easily, and so I'll change it to something else I need to master, eg I think Vit C is next.
    I'll then move onto something else when I feel happy I'm hitting my targets. :smile:
  • sbrooks0387
    sbrooks0387 Posts: 167 Member
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    i track iron and calcium since i tend to run low in those two areas. i track salt since i have a salt senstivity and can not consume a lot. then i track fiber and sugar.
  • I_get_fit
    I_get_fit Posts: 145 Member
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    I mainly focus on calories and protein.
  • dalygirl_2010
    dalygirl_2010 Posts: 95
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    I mainly focus on calories and fat, carbs, and soduim...
  • grag79
    grag79 Posts: 70 Member
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    I track everything I eat drink and exercise!xgx
  • IvoryParchment
    IvoryParchment Posts: 651 Member
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    I make sure I limit calories and that I get enough protein and potassium. I'm taking Tums, a multivitamin, a B complex with C, and occasional additional vitamin D (I've got osteoporosis), so I'm generally ok for calcium and vitamins. It's hard to track potassium, since most foods don't include it. If I eat something a lot, I'll look it up on the USDA database and edit the MFP database. But mostly I have to be satisfied having more potassium than sodium.

    I don't worry about fat, which is usually extremely low for me anyway. I don't worry about sugar, as most of my calories are carbs by default.

    I try to track vitamin K on my own, as that isn't listed on food labels and the amount in multivitamins is less than half the RDA.
  • almondgirl00
    almondgirl00 Posts: 29
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    For me it's calories, obviously, but one that I'm finding super useful is calcium. A week of tracking has shown me that my calcium intake is woefully inadequate. I think all women should take note of their calcium consumption so they can adjust their diet/supplement as needed.
  • Virginia90
    Virginia90 Posts: 317 Member
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    Other than fats, carbs, and protein, I track my sodium because I have a tendency to go over, and I track my calcium, because I don't always get enough, and I NEED to get enough because I'm breastfeeding and it totally saps all my calcium!

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