Do you pay much attention to individual macros beyond calories and maybe carbs?

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lessismoreohio
lessismoreohio Posts: 910 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Wow. I started to look closely at my macros. In the past week, I've done good with staying below my calorie and carb limit, but I see my sodium intake is (way) too high. Must work on that.

Do you pay much attention to individual macros beyond calories and maybe carbs?
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  • wolfsbayne
    wolfsbayne Posts: 3,116 Member
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    Carbs, Protein, and fats. Other than that, no.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    I try to make sure I hit or exceed my protein, fiber, and fat goals. I don't pay attention to carbs (they'll fall into place if I'm hitting my calorie target). I try to watch my micros, too, but not as carefully.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    to an extent...when I logged I viewed my macros as a general guideline for eating a well balanced diet but I never tried to be bang on with them or anything.

    for what it's worth, you macros are carbs/protein/fat. sodium is a micro...i also watched sodium because I'm hypertensive...basically eat more whole foods and less processed foods.
  • slaite1
    slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
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    Macros are carbs, protein and fat. I try to reach my protein goal and don't worry about the other two as I have no problem eating plenty of fats and carbs :-)

    I don't believe sodium is usually a big deal unless you have high blood pressure. There are general recommendations, but if it's not something you need to worry about for medical reasons I wouldn't bother thinking about it.

    I watch calcium and keep an eye on my iron bc it's usually low. But mostly I worry about calories. As long as I'm near goal I don't overly stress about the rest, for now.
  • lessismoreohio
    lessismoreohio Posts: 910 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    to an extent...when I logged I viewed my macros as a general guideline for eating a well balanced diet but I never tried to be bang on with them or anything.

    for what it's worth, you macros are carbs/protein/fat. sodium is a micro...i also watched sodium because I'm hypertensive...basically eat more whole foods and less processed foods.

    Thank you for educating me; I'm still learning:)
  • Jgasmic
    Jgasmic Posts: 219 Member
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    I watch my protein because I want to keep as much muscle as I can while I lose weight. And I watch fat and fiber because I like pooping regularly.
  • flitterfoot
    flitterfoot Posts: 54 Member
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    Other than calories I look at fat, protein and iron because I'm anaemic so I'm trying to get more iron in my diet so I can get off iron tablets.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    Protein and fat I watch to make sure I get enough. Carbs are irrelevant to me.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    lessismoreohio wrote: »
    Wow. I started to look closely at my macros. In the past week, I've done good with staying below my calorie and carb limit, but I see my sodium intake is (way) too high. Must work on that.

    Do you pay much attention to individual macros beyond calories and maybe carbs?

    You are asking about nutrients in general, not just macros, right?

    I actually pay the least attention to carbs. I focus on staying below my calories, hitting a particular level of protein, hitting my fiber goals, and that's really all I specifically monitor, although I look at sugar and sat fat and potassium sometimes. If I were ever that low on fat I'd watch to make sure I got a minimum, but I tend to hit within my preferred fat range without trying, and if protein and fat are on target and calories are, carbs are as well. (Basically I let my amounts of carbs and fat fluctuate some day to day though they tend to average out at about the same place.)

    I do care about overall micronutrients, but deal with that through food choice, as I'd drive myself crazy trying to do it through logging and the entries don't cover everything and I think there's more to health and balance than just hitting specific numbers.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I pay attention to calories and protein to be sure I am getting enough. I kind of eyeball my fat to be sure I am getting enough but don't worry about going over. My carbs land where ever they land.

    Lately I am paying a bit more attention to sodium. We recently switched from eating out a lot to eating out infrequently so I am interested in seeing how the reduction in sodium intake affects me.

    Other than that, I don't pay attention to any other micros, vitamins, etc.
  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,123 Member
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    I really have to pay attention to my macros. Carbs and fiber determine how much insulin I need to take, while fat and protein help me determine when I need to take my mealtime insulin (Do I need to take my insulin a half hour before eating? Do I need to administer a wave bolus? Etc.).
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,459 Member
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    Protein, fat, carbs, fiber, and iron. I watch my Vit C and calcium targets as well, in the Nutrition view.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,926 Member
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    flitterfoot wrote: »
    Other than calories I look at fat, protein and iron because I'm anaemic so I'm trying to get more iron in my diet so I can get off iron tablets.

    I'm anemic and take Iron Bisglycinate - no side effects except increased iron levels!
  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,671 Member
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    I pay attention to calories only. I'm too lazy to pay attention to anything else. I keep telling myself that now that I've been on MFP for a year, I should have the hang of it and should be paying more attention but....nah. Calories have been working for me.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    diannethegeek wrote: »
    I try to make sure I hit or exceed my protein, fiber, and fat goals. I don't pay attention to carbs (they'll fall into place if I'm hitting my calorie target). I try to watch my micros, too, but not as carefully.

    This^

    Protein and fat are the macros I focus on. I've always had decent fiber....carbs are whatever.
  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
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    Obviously I'm out of the norm but why wouldn't you look at it and try to hit those goals as well? I'm 45 years old now and I've noticed things in life eventually catch up to you. So as I reduced my calories I started noticing I was falling short in other vitamins and nutrients. So I started taking a One A Day multi-vitamin. I try and eat foods that help me reach my potassium or fiber goals. Again I ask...why wouldn't you make those a priority as well? Aren't we trying to be healthier individuals as well as lose weight?
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    Carbs and protein are pretty much it - fat comes on it's own.

    As far as the micros such as salt - as long as you don't have a medical condition or any of the percursors to a medical condition just ignore it.
  • lauries8888
    lauries8888 Posts: 70 Member
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    I had blood work done and found out that one liver test was off (can be caused by too little protein in the diet) and sodium was too high. I had only paid attention to calories on MFP before this but when I went back and checked macros/micros for 6 months, I saw that I really was consistently too low on protein and much too high on sodium. So I watch these now.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    lessismoreohio wrote: »
    Wow. I started to look closely at my macros. In the past week, I've done good with staying below my calorie and carb limit, but I see my sodium intake is (way) too high. Must work on that.

    Do you pay much attention to individual macros beyond calories and maybe carbs?

    I look at calories first then protein and fiber to make sure I am getting enough. I might look at fat intake but I don't stress about going over a bit.
    I do look at my sodium intake. I try to keep from going too far over sodium because I personally feel better that way. If I go over by 500 I still feel okay. If I go over by 1,000+ I start to feel less okay.
    I rarely look at carbs or sugar. I don't have a medical issue that requires me to monitor or limit those things but generally I am close to the goal without trying. If you are meeting your other goals I imagine it just works out.

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