Is calories the most important to keep track of.....

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tianabarfly
tianabarfly Posts: 17 Member
edited March 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I need some advice about calories, fat, fiber, protein etc. I currently keep track of calories, carbs, fat, protein, fiber and sugar. I definitely try to stay within my allowed calories but my protein is usually way over and my fiber is way under. Should I always be close to what I am allowed for my daily limits or is it just calories I should be focused on. TIA to any help!!

Replies

  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,647 Member
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    I would like to know, too. I'm very often over on fat, don't meet the protein guides, but stay under calories. Good, bad or indifferent?
  • Angierae75
    Angierae75 Posts: 417 Member
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    If you're just starting out, yes, calories is the most important number you should be looking at. However, fiber can help you feel full longer, so you might want to find ways to incorporate more of it into your diet.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
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    If your goal is weight management (loss etc...) then focus on calories to begin with as the other things (macro and micro nutrients) are certainly important to health and fitness it is not required for weight management to track those. Protein, Fat, Carbs (and fiber) are all important.
  • sgthaggard
    sgthaggard Posts: 581 Member
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    For me, calories first, protein second, fibre third. The rest? Whatever.
  • tianabarfly
    tianabarfly Posts: 17 Member
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    I did MFP before and just started again a couple months ago. It seems like my weight loss is very slow. I try to keep track of everything I eat and I exercise regularly. I thought maybe I wasn't getting enough carbs, fiber, fat etc. But I don't want to increase my intake if I don't need to
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    Angierae75 wrote: »
    If you're just starting out, yes, calories is the most important number you should be looking at. However, fiber can help you feel full longer, so you might want to find ways to incorporate more of it into your diet.

    I agree. Start out with portion control and as you get used to eating better you can tweak to get closer to your macros. You can also start seeing what types foods leave you fuller longer and adjust your macros accordingly.

  • tianabarfly
    tianabarfly Posts: 17 Member
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    So having too much protein or too little fiber, carbs, fat wont keep me from losing weight?
  • Tubbs216
    Tubbs216 Posts: 6,597 Member
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    earlnabby wrote: »
    Angierae75 wrote: »
    If you're just starting out, yes, calories is the most important number you should be looking at. However, fiber can help you feel full longer, so you might want to find ways to incorporate more of it into your diet.

    I agree. Start out with portion control and as you get used to eating better you can tweak to get closer to your macros. You can also start seeing what types foods leave you fuller longer and adjust your macros accordingly.
    I third this. I'm 20lbs down just from watching calories. I'm getting to the point of paying more attention to my macros, and see that keeping the protein and fat up definitely help with keeping me satisfied and not wanting to eat the curtains.

  • PeachyPlum
    PeachyPlum Posts: 1,243 Member
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    tianabarfly wrote: »
    So having too much protein or too little fiber, carbs, fat wont keep me from losing weight?

    It won't keep you from losing body fat. But way too much protein and not enough fiber can make you really constipated, so you wouldn't see weight loss on the scale until you... took care of that little problem.
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
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    I totally disregard macro targets. They're mostly useless for most people.
    tianabarfly wrote: »
    So having too much protein or too little fiber, carbs, fat wont keep me from losing weight?

    Other than adding up to too many calories, they're *absolutely* useless for raw weight loss purposes. If you're under on calories, regardless of where thy come from and what the macro ratios/details are - if you're under, you'll lose weight.

  • tianabarfly
    tianabarfly Posts: 17 Member
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    Perfect, thanks for all your comments :)
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
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    The calories are related to the weight loss. The other things may relate to how you feel during the weight loss.
  • harmar21
    harmar21 Posts: 215 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Calories most important, protein second to help prevent the loss of muscle mass while losing weight.

    I dont think fibre matters at all unless of course for some reason you want to poop more (and of course you will be getting some anyways from veggies). I used to take flax seed or psyllium husks, but dont bother anymore. Looking at recent logs I seem to go around 5-15g per day ( I dont eat near the amount of veggies I should be eating).
  • breezy0906
    breezy0906 Posts: 164 Member
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    vivmom2014 wrote: »
    I would like to know, too. I'm very often over on fat, don't meet the protein guides, but stay under calories. Good, bad or indifferent?

    I'm always over the fat. and cholesterol because i love eggs. I shoot for more protein but that often puts me over my sugar. I keep track of Calories and Sugar the most. Fat I often look at but you need to take into consideration how what kind of fat you are consuming. Are you eating snickers bars or avocados? both had fat but one is good fat the other not so much. I track my sugar becuase diabetes runs in my family. and calories because I am trying to loose weight. Hope that helps.
  • sgthaggard
    sgthaggard Posts: 581 Member
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    harmar21 wrote: »
    Calories most important, protein second to help prevent the loss of muscle mass while losing weight.

    I dont think fibre matters at all unless of course for some reason you want to poop more (and of course you will be getting some anyways from veggies). I used to take flax seed or psyllium husks, but dont bother anymore. Looking at recent logs I seem to go around 5-15g per day ( I dont eat near the amount of veggies I should be eating).
    The more I up my protein, the more important fibre becomes.

  • harmar21
    harmar21 Posts: 215 Member
    edited March 2015
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    sgthaggard wrote: »
    harmar21 wrote: »
    Calories most important, protein second to help prevent the loss of muscle mass while losing weight.

    I dont think fibre matters at all unless of course for some reason you want to poop more (and of course you will be getting some anyways from veggies). I used to take flax seed or psyllium husks, but dont bother anymore. Looking at recent logs I seem to go around 5-15g per day ( I dont eat near the amount of veggies I should be eating).
    The more I up my protein, the more important fibre becomes.
    How much protein you eating? I eat between 150-170g of protein a day with zero issues. I have an easy bowel movement maybe once every 3-4 days. A nice side benefit is I save some money on toilet paper and water, since I am not bulking it up with carbs/fibre.
  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,647 Member
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    breezy0906 wrote: »
    vivmom2014 wrote: »
    I would like to know, too. I'm very often over on fat, don't meet the protein guides, but stay under calories. Good, bad or indifferent?

    I'm always over the fat. and cholesterol because i love eggs. I shoot for more protein but that often puts me over my sugar. I keep track of Calories and Sugar the most. Fat I often look at but you need to take into consideration how what kind of fat you are consuming. Are you eating snickers bars or avocados? both had fat but one is good fat the other not so much. I track my sugar becuase diabetes runs in my family. and calories because I am trying to loose weight. Hope that helps.

    Thanks, Breezy. Truth be told, it's a whole lotta chocolate driving up the fat counts for me.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    It would depend on your goals. If weight loss is your goal, then yes calories are most important. Protein, I look at as a minimum and I also like to watch my fiber intake.

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