CALORIES? CARBS? FAT? SUGAR? SODIUM? WHATS YOUR FOCUS?

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  • Time4achange77
    Time4achange77 Posts: 28
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    I am watching calories, fat, sugar, and sodium and carbs. I am always red on the Vitamin A and C.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    I try to keep my protein and fat high, while eating low-moderate carbs.
    I gave up on sodium.
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
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    calories but i try to eat over my protein and fiber and stay under on cholesterol
  • Slove009
    Slove009 Posts: 364 Member
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    I pay attention mostly to calories, sodium and fat. Sodium is one of the things I focus on a lot because it is in everything and sometims your daily amount of sodium can be all in one place if you're not careful!
  • Amberonamission
    Amberonamission Posts: 836 Member
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    Calories, sodium and potassium. I had not realized before MFP how deficient in Potassium I was.
  • junipearl
    junipearl Posts: 326 Member
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    I try to keep my sodium and sugar low
    my iron and protein high
    my calories even =)
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,136 Member
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    1. Sodium under 2300
    2. Calories at 2000

    I don't worry about carbs, fat, protein too much, but I hate seeing the red numbers.
  • harvo
    harvo Posts: 4,676 Member
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    Calories and carbs...Calories because my doc said to lose weight you have to burn more than you take in...Sugar because I am diabetic.
  • sarahharmintx
    sarahharmintx Posts: 868 Member
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    1. Calories
    2. Sodium
  • Rhia55
    Rhia55 Posts: 247
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    Mostly calories and fat, I try to make sure they're always in the green. I always go over on protein but I don't mind that due to strength training.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    1. Calories (to calculate...)
    2. Protein
    3. Fat
    4. Carbs

    If I get my protein and fat right, I'm all good. I don't worry about sodium or sugar, because I eat mostly veggies and other foods from raw. I eat as few processed foods as possible, so I get little unnatural sodium (there is sodium in everything we eat, just not in the form of salt). I also don't eat any refined sugar at all.

    I don't buy into the whole "too much sodium will make you gain weight/hold onto a lot of weight" deal. Two days in a row, I ate over 7000 mg of sodium (they were bad days) but I still lost weight during those three days. I feel carbs have a larger impact on water gains and losses than sodium does. That all depends on your glycogen stores.

    That being said, I do not suggest eating more than 1500mg every day.
  • sherrirb
    sherrirb Posts: 1,714 Member
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    Calories first and then sodium. High sodium days cause you to retain water and my legs swell up when I eat high sodium.
    I think this has also been a very big contributing factor to my need for medication to control HBP.

    Since January of this year when I got serious about my weight loss and using MFP, I've really been watching my sodium. At my last doctor's appt about a month and a half ago, my doctor has reduced my BP meds to less than half what I was taking before. She told me I continue to lose weight and control my sodium intake, I can probably be taken off the BP meds altogether. That is my goal right now!
    That was a huge NSV for me and why Sodium is priority.
  • shorty35565
    shorty35565 Posts: 1,425 Member
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    Most of the time I do go over on sugar, but the others are very easy to keep under for me. And I also try to eat 100g of protein or more.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    Calories for losing weight and protein for keeping/gaining muscle.
    Not too bothered by the rest.

    Some time I'm going to give it a go keeping my sodium intake low and see if it makes a difference, but generally done ok eating lots of high sodium foods. Don't have high blood pressure etc.
  • Aurorakitty
    Aurorakitty Posts: 57
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    Calories, Carbs and fat. Usually i'm under on carbs but over in fat. I watch sugar and sodium too.
  • rwhawkes
    rwhawkes Posts: 117 Member
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    Calories only; I figure that if I can keep the calories under control, and eating fairly clean, all the rest of it will naturally fall in line.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I posted this in another thread but still applies:

    Calories come from (3) MACRO-nutrients - Fat, Protein, and Carbs. Everything else (fiber, sugar, saturated fat, etc) is subset of these 3 main biggies - otherwise known as MICRO-nutrients. Set up your macronutrients so that you are eating at least 1 gram of protein for your LEAN body weight - it's a goal, sometimes I hit, sometimes I don't. Make the next highest percentage fat, and then carbs. NOTE, 1 gram of Fat = 9 calories, 1 gram of Protein = 4 calories, and 1 gram of carbs = 4 calories.

    NOTE: eating FAT does not make you FAT

    That's an interesting approach. I also do 1g of protein per LBM, but I can hit that with my protein set to 25% of calories. So I do fat for the other 25% then carbohydrates for half my calories. I am not sure why you want want more fat than carbs.

    The percentages and the "fat does not make you fat" slogan most likely means a Paleo/Primal diet.
  • Lisa760
    Lisa760 Posts: 113 Member
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    Calories
    Sugar
    Carbs
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Calories, sodium and potassium. I had not realized before MFP how deficient in Potassium I was.

    If you are using the MFP database to track potassium you may not be as deficient as you think. Many foods that contain potassium don't list it in the database.
  • vikdexkaykai
    vikdexkaykai Posts: 92 Member
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    Calories, Carbs and fat. Usually i'm under on carbs but over in fat. I watch sugar and sodium too.
    That's kinda what I'm doing at the moment.

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