what things are the most important to track in your diary?

Presleyforpresident

i'm tracking
1) calories (obviously)
2) carbs
3) fat
4) protein
5) sugar
6) sodium

should i be tracking something else? what and why? what are you tracking?
i'm 18, if my age matters at all.

mommyrox05

I am tracking all of the things same things that you are tracking

FiercelyBeautiful

EVERYTHING that goes into your mouth!

toriaenator

i dont track sodium but i track fiber!

DonnaLeeCattes

I don't take sodium either, but I do fiber

Articeluvsmemphis

I only track calories, carbs, protein. everything else, I don't care too much about since I'm not on any meds/no health concerns, and i try to make somewhat decent choices as far as food goes, but that's subjective. as long as i keep losing, and have a fruit/some fruits and something green(veggies) i feel i've done my duty, haha

strbryt

I track: Fat, protein, carbs, fiber, and sodium. I try to go over in fiber and protein everyday. I watch my sodium because I have high blood pressure. Salt tends to stick to me like white on rice lol.

wait_loss

i'm tracking
1) calories (obviously)
2) carbs
3) fat
4) protein
5) sugar
6) sodium

should i be tracking something else? what and why? what are you tracking?
i'm 18, if my age matters at all.

Seems you are doing fine although at may age I track fiber as it lowers glycemic index load. And I need to be regular although since I have been dieting regular does not seem to happen. lol

jdennisj

I track cholesterol instead of sugar.

katevarner

Depends on what your problems are. I track calories, carbs, fat, protein, fiber, potassium. You probably don't need to track fiber unless you have constipation issues because you are young, bit it's important and gets more important as you get older. If you eat a lot of processed food or eat out a lot, need to track sodium, because too much can wreak havoc on your weight loss. If sugar is one of your problems, or again processed stuff or eating out, then you should keep tracking it. If you eat clean, probably don't need to track sugar.

leeanneowens

I track calories, carbs, fat, protien, and calcium.

bahacca

Depends on your goals, but I STRONGLY suggest that women especially add calcium to their tracking. Or be sure to take a supplement.

cblevitron

I think tracking fiber is really important for anyone. Americans don't get near the fiber we need and it's a very important part of a well balanced diet.

sonny368

I mostly track proteins, carbs and my supplements, proteins are very important in order for me to recovery fine from the workouts!!

Dead_Darling

I track calories, carbs, fat, sat fat, iron and fibre

My iron levels are generally low so I need to keep an eye on it every so often

TheVimFuego

Carbs under 50g a day, eat real food, let the rest work itself out.

Lyssa62

i'm tracking
1) calories (obviously)
2) carbs
3) fat
4) protein
5) sugar
6) sodium

I'm 50 and those are the exact things I'm tracking but about to ditch sugar because I eat grapes all d*mn day and that throws me over and yet I know that's good sugar so I don't want to be taunted with that number.

pa_jorg

Calories, protein and fiber are my big 3.

I find focusing on the positive (which I consider protein and fiber) helps me mentally more than focusing on what can feel negative (fat, sodium, etc.). Doesn't mean they aren't all important, just that when I purposefully eat an extra veggie to get in more fiber, chances are I'm not increasing my fat intake...make sense? For me it's just a mental game.

MsNewBooty83

calories, carbs, protien are my main 3 that i really concentrate on...then iron and fiber. i JUST took sugar off my list, i was obsesssing about it and it was sucj BS cause all the sugar i eat now is from fruits, mostly..and the odd chocolate! lol. but i found the les i look at it, the less i eat of it. also i noticed alot of the ladies that look amazing enough for me to creep theur diaries, do not track sugars. so done with that!

brevislux

Depends on your diet, I also track iron and calcium because I'm vegan.

SairahRose

I track Cals, Carbs, Fat, Protein, Fibre and Iron. I feel those things are items I need to work on to make sure I'm eating right - although I'm more concerned with fat, protein and iron than the rest, to be honest.

elprincipito

protein, cause not eating enough will make me lose what little muscle i barely have.

Sailorwind

I track calories, carbs, protein, fiber, fat and saturated fat. I like to be able to tell how much of my fat is saturated vs. unsaturated. And I always aim to go over on my fiber and protein, which I have manually changed my goals for as MFP is too low in my opinion.. I'm usually success in the fiber, but not so much in the protein.

EmilyJaneRigali

i dont track sodium but i track fiber!

sodium is a really important one to track

wahmx3

I no longer track sugar for the same reason.... sugar in fruits is perfectly fine unless you have a health condition that says otherwise. I track fiber which is important for everyone. I don't have a blood pressure issue but when my sodium gets high, I always have a gain the next day, no matter how much water I have had.

i'm tracking
1) calories (obviously)
2) carbs
3) fat
4) protein
5) sugar
6) sodium

I'm 50 and those are the exact things I'm tracking but about to ditch sugar because I eat grapes all d*mn day and that throws me over and yet I know that's good sugar so I don't want to be taunted with that number.

MogwaisGrandma

I also took sugar off due to being sick of seeing it over due to the fruit I was eating.

I track cals, protein, carbs, fibre and fat. I always eat over in my fibre and protein and always under in my carbs. Fat will work itself out and I pray like hell that I can keep under the cals.

fizzletto

I track:

Calories (duh), carbs, fat, saturated fat, protein, fibre and water.

Carbs are what cause you to gain weight. It's not fat that makes you fat, it's carbs. I adore food rich in carbs so if I don't watch myself I'll eat 2x the proper amount per day.

It's very important to track fat and saturated fat because too much can cause health problems like heart complications. Tracking saturated fat is equally, if not more important than just fat, because whilst some fats can be healthy for you, saturated fat is never good for you so it's important to make sure you don't go over.

I track protein because whilst you're losing weight you risk losing muscle as well as fat if you don't get enough protein. Also I am a vegetarian so it's harder for me to naturally meet my goal.

I also track fibre because studies show that although the recommended daily intake of fibre is 24g per day, most people only eat around 15g per day. Not getting enough fibre can contribute to problems with the intestines and constipation, and nobody wants that! Also, eating fibre-rich foods helps you feel fuller for longer, stopping you from wanting to snack.

Water is especially important to track when losing weight because if you don't get enough water, your body retains it, thinking that water is scarce. Then your weigh-in is affected by all the excess water you're carrying. Water is really important for flushing out the body and helping you not get injured when exercising, too.

I do not track sodium; this is because I did track it for a while and found that I absolutely never went over my goal without even trying so there wasn't much point keeping an eye on it. I don't track sugar because I personally think that the sugar goals that MyFitnessPal sets are unrealistically and unhealthily low, especially as the site doesn't take into account natural vs refined sugars, and I found it absolutely impossible to stay under the goals that the site set for me. Even if I ate nothing 'sugary' or artificial all day, I was still over due to all the veg I eat. So I changed my daily sugar goal to 90g (the guideline daily amount for a woman) and I never go over that, so I'm sorted.

sannsk

I tried tracking Iron once, because I'm a vegetarian and i was concerned about it. It turns out, 90% of the foods in the MFP database don't have their iron level filled in, because, it's not standard nutricional infornation given on food labels. So I was always, always under it. I skipped that, and than statred to track sugar :laugh: not a good idea. I'm a fruit eater, so it's virtually impossible to stay under the set level.

I mostly look at my saturated fat now, carbs, calories, and water.

sarahharmintx

Calories. Sodium. Sugar.

PeaceCorpsKat

I am dangerously anemic from surgery and I have another surgery coming up so iron.

Ph4lanx

Carbs, Fat, Protein - I don't bother with other stuff.