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

2

Replies

  • elprincipito
    elprincipito Posts: 1,200 Member
    protein, cause not eating enough will make me lose what little muscle i barely have.
  • Sailorwind
    Sailorwind Posts: 158 Member
    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
    EmilyJaneRigali Posts: 59
    i dont track sodium but i track fiber!

    sodium is a really important one to track
  • wahmx3
    wahmx3 Posts: 633 Member
    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
    MogwaisGrandma Posts: 195 Member
    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
    fizzletto Posts: 252 Member
    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
    sannsk Posts: 203 Member
    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
    sarahharmintx Posts: 868 Member
    Calories. Sodium. Sugar.
  • PeaceCorpsKat
    PeaceCorpsKat Posts: 335 Member
    I am dangerously anemic from surgery and I have another surgery coming up so iron.
  • Ph4lanx
    Ph4lanx Posts: 213 Member
    Carbs, Fat, Protein - I don't bother with other stuff.
  • Debbe2
    Debbe2 Posts: 2,071 Member
    The food you eat. Calories, carbs, fat, protein.
  • DexterDarko
    DexterDarko Posts: 235
    I track...

    Carbs
    Sodium
    Fiber
    Protein
    Vit C (don't ask why, cus I dunno XD.)
  • 12skipafew99100
    12skipafew99100 Posts: 1,669 Member
    Calories
  • dallen388
    dallen388 Posts: 22
    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. :)

    Our bodies process ALL sugars the same regardless of whether or not it comes from a snickers bar or loads of fruit. Too much sugary fruit CAN be a bad thing during weight loss, however, 100 grapes def have more nutrients than say a snickers bar ;-) Food for thought...
  • TeamNoExcuses
    TeamNoExcuses Posts: 66
    Everything!! I didn't think I had to but since I started tracking it all I noticed that I have to eliminate simple carbs, and cut back on sodium and sugar. I don't drink anything but water but I was surprised to learn that certain canned vegetables have added sodium. It definitely has made an organic food shopper out of me. There are so many harmful and unnecessary additives in every day things that should be healthy! I hesitate to shop at mega markets now for that reason.
  • rachelrb85
    rachelrb85 Posts: 579 Member
    Everything as you except I gave up on sugar and tracked fiber instead. I was always over on sugar because I love coffee, fruit, and yogurt. So I decided fiber was more important to track.
  • Sahara0815
    Sahara0815 Posts: 55
    Calories (obsessively) - everything I put in my mouth counts! I try to keep carbs/fat/protein in balance and lately have been looking at the sodium count which I noticed is awful and an area I can definitely improve on.
  • sarahmoo12
    sarahmoo12 Posts: 756 Member
    I track Calories, Carbs, Fat, Protein, Iron, Calcium im always low on the last 2 which is why I track them. I sometimes change it to sodium and back track a few days see how I get on with it but im always lows on it too!
    Works for me find what you are low on maybe and track it?
  • HoneyIShrunktheMom
    HoneyIShrunktheMom Posts: 76
    I track:
    Calories
    Fat
    Protein
    Fiber
    Sodium
    The only thing that I am extremely specific about keeping in check is calories, but I keep a good balance on everything else for the most part. I go over on sodium occasionally but I don't want to go waaaaay overboard on that and end up with bloating (especially near weigh-in day!)
  • cbrrabbit25
    cbrrabbit25 Posts: 384 Member
    i wish there was one more spot on that chart. i do the same as you but fiber instead of sugar.

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