IIFYM tracking micro-nutrients

tgh1914

I've been thinking about this for a while now. I think those who do IIFYM understand that the difficulty is not in keeping up with the macros, but in the 'micros' & fiber.

So what micro-nutrients do you track & how? Do you actually monitor intake by grams/mcgrms? # of servings? Or do you simply make sure your carb intake is made up of a certain amount of fruits & veggies?

And if you track micros, what standard do you use? USRDA?

Sarauk2sf

I only track fiber. I feel that as long as you are getting a balanced diet with fruits and veggies, the micros take care of themselves.

Chief_Rocka

plug a typical day's diet into the tracker at nutritiondata.com It's not nearly as user friendly as MFP, but it will give you the breakdown of every micronutrient you can think of, along with several you probably haven't heard of.

ArroganceInStep

plug a typical day's diet into the tracker at nutritiondata.com It's not nearly as user friendly as MFP, but it will give you the breakdown of every micronutrient you can think of, along with several you probably haven't heard of.

This assumes relatively constant meal choices though, no? I can handle that sort of thing in my diet easily, but my wife for example would go nuts. She needs a lot more variety. Thoughts in that regard?

DaniH826

I personally track fiber and calcium.

From what I understand RDA was developed during WWII and provides a minimum to adhere to in times of food rationing? So I don't really use that for anything since I eat well to begin with and am not on a restricted/lopsided diet.

I also get a physical once a year with lab work and make sure my numbers are good. Which they always were even before I joined MFP and actually started tracking my intake, so I'm not about to "fix" anything that's not broken.

Like Sarah I try to focus on balance. I take a multivitamin to make up for any (probably mostly perceived rather than actual) gaps and also supplement with fish oil and calcium when I remember to (usually several times a week).

Hope that helps.

sunsnstatheart

The daily breakdown on MFP's iphone app gives me potassium, vitamins A and C, calcium, iron and fiber. I figure if I hit those in a reasonably well balanced diet then I'm okay. I really only use it as a double check to make sure I'm not cheating too much and am honestly eating a well balanced diet.

SideSteel

I only track fiber. I feel that as long as you are getting a balanced diet with fruits and veggies, the micros take care of themselves.

^ I do this.

HeidiMightyRawr

I only track fiber. I feel that as long as you are getting a balanced diet with fruits and veggies, the micros take care of themselves.

This!

Martucha123

Fiber and calcium. But I'm not really concerned if I don't hit my fiber goal as long as I'm regular.
Calcium becuase it's too low in my case.
I also make sure to get 4 servings of veggies on average

Chief_Rocka

plug a typical day's diet into the tracker at nutritiondata.com It's not nearly as user friendly as MFP, but it will give you the breakdown of every micronutrient you can think of, along with several you probably haven't heard of.

This assumes relatively constant meal choices though, no? I can handle that sort of thing in my diet easily, but my wife for example would go nuts. She needs a lot more variety. Thoughts in that regard?

I don't think you need to be too strict with it, even if your diet does have a lot of variation. I would use it more to get an feel for how much "clean" stuff you need before you feel comfortable hitting the pop tarts.

I used to think I ate plenty of vegetables, but looking at my diet on that site caused me to double my veggie intake. I also started eating a lot more fruit.