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What should I keep track beside Calories on my Food Diary?

JennifercitaDEgomez
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I have a question on which are the most importan to keep track on my Food Diary beside CALORIES?? since the programm only allow us a few of them:

- Carbo
- Fat
- Protein
- Sugar
- Saturated Fat
- Sodium
- Fiber
- Trans Fat
- Potassium
- Vitamins
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Replies

  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    Calories, Protein, Fat, Carbs, Sodium seems like a good set

    *Note I mostly track sodium because of my high blood pressure
  • gaylynn35
    gaylynn35 Posts: 854 Member
    Calories, Protein, Fat, Carbs, Sodium seems like a good set

    *Note I mostly track sodium because of my high blood pressure


    These
  • ccarre81
    ccarre81 Posts: 134 Member
    carbs, fibre, sugar, protein, fat.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    Protein, Carbs, Fat, Calories.


    I would say that pretty much everyone should track the above. The rest would depend on individual needs.
  • I do Calories, Carbs, Fat, Protein, Fiber and Calcium. As a female I was shocked at how little calcium I get on a daily basis. And I'm someone that actually likes milk!
  • GURLEY_GIRL3
    GURLEY_GIRL3 Posts: 347 Member
    same but i do pottasium instead of fiber because mine runs low
  • FireBrand80
    FireBrand80 Posts: 378 Member
    Protein, Carbs, Fat, Calories.


    I would say that pretty much everyone should track the above. The rest would depend on individual needs.

    + fiber
  • danahake
    danahake Posts: 64 Member
    I do fat, sugar, carbs, fiber, and cals.. Those are important to me.
  • newcs
    newcs Posts: 717 Member
    I track: calories, carbs, fat, protein, sugar, sodium, fiber I believe. Track anything you think you'll want to check your progress and adjust to your goal (I have to make a conscious effort to keep my protein in line with my goals) or anything you want/need to work on (for me: sodium & fiber). I'm not actually sure why I track sugar. I'm pretty aware of how much sugar I use and am already minimizing the non-natural sugar so I don't really use that part of the report.
  • omgiacobbi
    omgiacobbi Posts: 88 Member
    I keep track of fiber, sodium, sugars, and protein. I don't get enough fiber and protein, and too much of the other two, so that's why I watch them.
  • Linda_Darlene
    Linda_Darlene Posts: 453 Member
    Calories, Protein, Fat, Carbs, Sodium seems like a good set

    *Note I mostly track sodium because of my high blood pressure

    This.
    And I track my calcium intake as well.

    All the other items can be also looked at if you go to the daily report.
  • denitraross
    denitraross Posts: 325 Member
    Calories, Protein, Fat, Carbs, Sodium seems like a good set

    *Note I mostly track sodium because of my high blood pressure


    These

    Echo this...you will discover sodium is the devil...and even when you excercise this number DOES NOT increase...once I started tracking this and staying under, much better results!!
  • SibylDiane
    SibylDiane Posts: 177 Member
    I track fiber (family history of cardiovascular problems, fiber helps), calcium, protein, fat, and sodium (high blood pressure). I guess it depends on what each person's health considerations are and what their beliefs are about how best to eat healthy or lose weight. For example, I think carbs are great and have no interest in limiting them, so I don't bother counting them. Lots of other people feel differently though. My plan is low: calorie, fat, sodium and high: fiber, protein. Let the carbs fall where they may.
  • Protein, Carbs, Fat, Calories.


    I would say that pretty much everyone should track the above. The rest would depend on individual needs.


    this is all you need! trust sidesteal, he's da man!
  • stlhrs
    stlhrs Posts: 67 Member
    Calories, Protein, Fat, Carbs, Sodium seems like a good set

    *Note I mostly track sodium because of my high blood pressure


    These

    Yep these. I also track the types of fat. Remember some types of fat are healthy (unsaturated) others are unhealthy (saturated, trans). Knowing how much of each you're consuming may help.
  • needamulligan
    needamulligan Posts: 558 Member
    Calories, Protein, Fat, Carbs, Sodium seems like a good set

    *Note I mostly track sodium because of my high blood pressure

    These. But as a woman, you might want to keep tabs on iron and calcium. I tend towards anemia (as most women can be) and discovered that I don't get anywhere near my daily requirements through diet. Truthfully, I don't know why people track sugar. It's summed up by your carb total. Also, sodium plays a big role in water retention. If you are one to live and die by the scale you might want to keep this low for vanity as well as health.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    I track calories, carbs, protein, fiber, and sodium. Since I don't eat much in the way of processed foods or sweets, I decided not to worry about sugar. If you are diabetic or have a sweet tooth, tracking sugar may be more important to you than some of the other headings.
  • DesignGuy
    DesignGuy Posts: 457 Member
    I also do cals, carbs, protein, fiber and sodium.
  • MummaSue
    MummaSue Posts: 242 Member
    In addition to calories, I track protein, fat, carbs, sodium and calcium.
    I know I often have a hard time getting all my calcium, but I now have a protein shake with light soya milk that seems to be helping, and sodium because it's evil what it can do to your weight!
    But, imho, it really is a case of Fat, Protein and Carbs for sure, the rest is up to you!
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
    They're all on your full report anyway, and you can look back over different reporting periods to see if there are any persistent unders or overs - it depends what your main aims and concerns are. My top four are calories (maximum goal), fibre, protein, calcium (minimum goals so aiming for numbers a little in the red). I also keep and eye on fat intake.

    Carbs are on my daily macros at the moment although I don't really know why, thinking about it, as I'm not really interested - in any case I don't think they've ever been over! I don't eat much processed food andvery little junk, so I don't bother with sodium, and I'm not a sweets-and-cakes type so I don't have sugar on there, but I do look back at the longer terms reports on both of these to make sure I'm happy with the averages.
  • PetulantOne
    PetulantOne Posts: 2,131 Member
    I track carbs, fat, protein, sodium, and chol. I always wonder though if the levels MFP sets are the levels I should be at?
  • DoomCakes
    DoomCakes Posts: 806 Member
    I track Calories, Carbs, Protein, Sat Fat (because my cholesterol was running a little high and this is a contributor to it as well as this is a bad fat), Cholesterol (as stated before), and Sugar, since Sugar is usually high for me in the past and everything else runs fine. However, note with my sugar I don't count the natural sugar that is found in fruit. I basically am looking at where did I add sugar or what was added processed sugar.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    I track Cals, carb, fat, protein, fibre and sodium. I was tracking calcium, to get an idea of how I was doing with that, and saw that I consistently get over the 100 mark daily, so I switched to tracking sodium (since there's a history of high blood pressure in my family). That was an eye-opener. I have to track fibre because I noticed I feel awful when I don't get enough.
  • bluebird321
    bluebird321 Posts: 733 Member
    I track fat, protein, sugar, carbs and potassium. I sweat a great deal doing my workouts (hot yoga and kettlebells), so i'm usually worried about potassium levels; therefore, I track it. My personal choice is to keep sugar very low, so I track that also. It just depends on what your preference is:)
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    Calories of course, Protein, Fat, Carbs, Fiber... I track sugar and potassium just for the hell of it.
  • gramacanada
    gramacanada Posts: 557 Member
    If you're not eating a lot of processed foods. You won't be getting a lot of sugar, fat or salt. And you will be getting most of your other nutrients on a proportional basis. MFP is weird with fiber and protein listings. They seem very low. The fruit sugar argument is going to come up here. Decide for yourself. I have 5 listed. I change them up often just because, that way I keep a rotating check on nutrients that might need correcting. 3500 mgs of salt is a teaspoon. 5 grams of sugar is a teaspoon. I've never seen another health that Gives you a daily allowable measure for sugar consumption.
  • supplemama
    supplemama Posts: 1,956 Member
    I do calories, carbs, protein, fat, fiber, sodium
  • I do cals, carbs, protein, fat, fibre and sugar.

    Definitely track sugar!
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    I keep it simple and track:

    Calories
    Protein
    Carbs
    Fat

    I drink 125 oz. of water a day and have never tracked a gram of sodium or sugar in my entire weightloss journey... Best of Luck...
  • Dad_of_3
    Dad_of_3 Posts: 517 Member
    These, plus fiber:
    Calories, Protein, Fat, Carbs, Sodium seems like a good set
This discussion has been closed.