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

Presleyforpresident
Presleyforpresident Posts: 172
in Food and Nutrition
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.
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Replies

  • mommyrox05
    mommyrox05 Posts: 238
    I am tracking all of the things same things that you are tracking ;)
  • FiercelyBeautiful
    FiercelyBeautiful Posts: 590 Member
    EVERYTHING that goes into your mouth!
  • toriaenator
    toriaenator Posts: 423 Member
    i dont track sodium but i track fiber!
  • DonnaLeeCattes
    DonnaLeeCattes Posts: 492 Member
    I don't take sodium either, but I do fiber
  • Articeluvsmemphis
    Articeluvsmemphis Posts: 1,987 Member
    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
    strbryt Posts: 488 Member
    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
    wait_loss Posts: 117 Member
    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
    jdennisj Posts: 53
    I track cholesterol instead of sugar.
  • katevarner
    katevarner Posts: 884 Member
    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
    leeanneowens Posts: 319 Member
    I track calories, carbs, fat, protien, and calcium.
  • bahacca
    bahacca Posts: 878 Member
    Depends on your goals, but I STRONGLY suggest that women especially add calcium to their tracking. Or be sure to take a supplement.
  • cblevitron
    cblevitron Posts: 243
    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
    sonny368 Posts: 61
    I mostly track proteins, carbs and my supplements, proteins are very important in order for me to recovery fine from the workouts!!
  • Dead_Darling
    Dead_Darling Posts: 478 Member
    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
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    Carbs under 50g a day, eat real food, let the rest work itself out.
  • Lyssa62
    Lyssa62 Posts: 930 Member
    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
    pa_jorg Posts: 4,404 Member
    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
    MsNewBooty83 Posts: 985 Member
    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
    brevislux Posts: 1,093 Member
    Depends on your diet, I also track iron and calcium because I'm vegan.
  • SairahRose
    SairahRose Posts: 412 Member
    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
    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.

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