Most Important to you - Calories, Fat or Carbs???

I actually try to stay under on everything. Because I have been unfit for so long I have a few medical issues that are of concern. I did not try to do everything at once however, I did it a bit at a time, and this is what has worked for me (and hopefully continues to do so).

When I first started about a month ago I looked at calories only. I work in an office, so I bring my food with me every day, so I was able to map out the day before what I was bringing to work the next day.

Once I got the calories straightened out and felt comfortable I started working on the carbs. This was my next issue because I am a diabetic and I needed to limit how many I was taking in. I looked at what I was bringing to work, did some research, and started substituting low carb options for most things.

Next I moved on to Sodium because I have high blood pressure. This was perhaps the hardest one to achieve as everything has crap tons of sodium. My daily goal for Sodium is about 2300, but I noticed I was consistently getting about 4k-5k, over twice as much! So I started changing all my foods to low sodium options. One of the biggest offenders for me was my lunch, a nice sandwich that my lovely wife made for me every morning. I found that it had about 1700mg of sodium in it, almost my full daily allowance! Now I grill up chicken fillets in the morning when I make my breakfast and it is down to 520 mg now. Sadly, no more pickles.

Next, I noticed that I was over on cholesterol. That was a real easy fix, in the morning when I make breakfast I now have just scrambled egg whites instead of whole scrambled eggs.

Because I have made all of the above changes I found that my fat intake falls right into line. I did not have to adjust anything.
I am consistently below on how much protein that I want to take in (I want most of my calories to come from protein, just because). However, I am usually around 85-100g, so I am not too concerned.

What I like about my approach is that it gives me some consistency and stability, but also flexibility.

Calories, then protein, and I don't care after that. I have custom macros for more protein.

I actually try to stay under on everything. Because I have been unfit for so long I have a few medical issues that are of concern. I did not try to do everything at once however, I did it a bit at a time, and this is what has worked for me (and hopefully continues to do so).

When I first started about a month ago I looked at calories only. I work in an office, so I bring my food with me every day, so I was able to map out the day before what I was bringing to work the next day.

Once I got the calories straightened out and felt comfortable I started working on the carbs. This was my next issue because I am a diabetic and I needed to limit how many I was taking in. I looked at what I was bringing to work, did some research, and started substituting low carb options for most things.

Next I moved on to Sodium because I have high blood pressure. This was perhaps the hardest one to achieve as everything has crap tons of sodium. My daily goal for Sodium is about 2300, but I noticed I was consistently getting about 4k-5k, over twice as much! So I started changing all my foods to low sodium options. One of the biggest offenders for me was my lunch, a nice sandwich that my lovely wife made for me every morning. I found that it had about 1700mg of sodium in it, almost my full daily allowance! Now I grill up chicken fillets in the morning when I make my breakfast and it is down to 520 mg now. Sadly, no more pickles.

Next, I noticed that I was over on cholesterol. That was a real easy fix, in the morning when I make breakfast I now have just scrambled egg whites instead of whole scrambled eggs.

Because I have made all of the above changes I found that my fat intake falls right into line. I did not have to adjust anything.
I am consistently below on how much protein that I want to take in (I want most of my calories to come from protein, just because). However, I am usually around 85-100g, so I am not too concerned.

What I like about my approach is that it gives me some consistency and stability, but also flexibility.

I enjoyed reading this very much. Nice, sensible approach. I'd just like to add that for most people, my dietician said you'd need about 1g per inch of your height. Example, I'm 5'11 or 71 inches tall, that means 71g goal of protein per day. The USRDA is 50g per day..generically, but that's really low.

Kudos to you

I really only focus on calories, but do watch my carbs for moderation. Not for weight loss, but because I had gestational diabetes and have long been considered at risk for diabetes given weight and family history. Looking forward to having my A1C tested again and getting away from the at risk category.

Calories first. I am usually under on my carbs by a bit, just by the nature of foods I like to eat, and slightly over on my calorie goal even with the low carb #..

Anywho, calories, then protein, then sodium for me.

For me it's

Calories -> Protein -> Fat -> Carbs

Calories first, then fat. I try to keep my diet low fat (~10-25%) and high carb.

I count total calories. My main struggle is to get enough protein so I prioritise this. It seems when I make an effort to eat protein-rich food then all the other macros sort themselves out just fine.

I focus on calories - I don't let myself go over at all, so that's always my primary concern. Past that, I aim to eat enough fat, fiber, & protein to keep me feeling full and good. I also look at iron & calcium, because I'm quite anemic and my doctor has told me to make sure I'm getting a regular intake of calcium.

But calories are the only one I'm really anal about.

Calories trump all for me.

But once I'm in line with my calories… then I pay attention to percentages on my macros, more so than actual numbers because I'm usually under my goal… and I want to know how my current eating plan will transfer as my calorie count goes down and then as I move into maintenance.

From there, fiber and vitamin C is probably what I pay the closest attention to.