Calories or everything??

shortvixen09
shortvixen09 Posts: 38 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Just curious to see if people only track calories or all nutrients. I keep an eye on them all but I only see people talk about calories. What do you do?
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Replies

  • BENEDICTUS5
    BENEDICTUS5 Posts: 3 Member
    Both
  • eringrace95_
    eringrace95_ Posts: 296 Member
    For purely weight loss reasons I look at my calories but I look at macros just to make sure they're in check too
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I keep track of both. They are equally important imo.
  • Zella_11
    Zella_11 Posts: 161 Member
    Both :)
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    I lost a bunch of weight just tracking calories, but having the info in the app has made me more conscious of it now and I make some effort to meet the nutritional goals.
  • Zipp237
    Zipp237 Posts: 255 Member
    Almost everything. I don't track sugar alcohols and a couple other minor things, but I track vitamins and minerals, including the carotenes. Those things are important.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,170 Member
    I mostly track calories, but I do try to make sure I hit my protein goal and I look at fiber too.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,093 Member
    Calories to make sure I'm not getting too many; and protein, fiber, fat and micronutrients to make sure I'm getting enough. I don't worry about carbs or sugar one way or the other, and I don't worry about the different categories of fat other than to take notice if something pops up with trans fat so I can decide whether I want to avoid that particular product in the future (some stuff is just too good to give up entirely over trans fat, but I can at least make informed decisions). I suppose if I noticed I was getting nearly all my fat as saturated fat, I'd do something about it, since the essential fatty acids are in polyunsaturated fats, but I'm usually more in the 25% to 30% range for sat fats as a percentage of all fats.
  • dlkfox
    dlkfox Posts: 463 Member
    I track both. Calories for my weight loss goal. Macros, fiber, calcium, vitamins for my nutritional goal.
  • MissusMoon
    MissusMoon Posts: 1,900 Member
    Calories first because my primary goal is weight loss. I've found within my calorie limits it's difficult not to get good nutrition. However, I like to see if I'm going high on sugars or salt, low on protein, things like that. Having that information at a glance really helps overall nutrition and I like it.
  • Etsar73
    Etsar73 Posts: 260 Member
    Only calories for me.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,630 Member
    Just calories.
  • zugunruhey
    zugunruhey Posts: 31 Member
    I focus mainly on calories but I do use it as a guide to keep my fat intake down, since high fat foods tend to make my IBS worse. Whenever I feel like my diet is in a place where I'm happy with it I look at what needs improvement and go from there.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited June 2016
    Mainly what MissusMoon said (ETA: I think, lol)- to be able to stick to calorie goal without going insane, most people have to pay some attention to nutrition. When I logged in my diary, I tracked all three macros, and sometimes fiber. As long as you stick to a varied diet including a lot of fresh and "natural", home cooked food, and have a balanced macro split, and feel healthy, satisfied and energetic, you're most likely getting all the nutrients you need.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Calories. Then macros for satiety.
  • bekim123
    bekim123 Posts: 391 Member
    Mostly calories at this point, but I do pay attention to the others to try to tweak what I'm eating to get better numbers.
  • KorvapuustiPossu
    KorvapuustiPossu Posts: 434 Member
    Mostly calories and protein (because I tend to not get enough of it)... I usually hit my goal for fat easily and don't pay much attention to carbs and sugar. I've lost weight fine this way (though I was never that big to begin with BMI 27ish- now at 23)
  • shrcpr
    shrcpr Posts: 885 Member
    Calories and protein only. Getting a certain amount of protein helps me feel satisfied.
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    edited June 2016
    Primarily calories because weight loss is my main goal just now, but I do note if I've eaten less protein than mfp recommends as that may result in be being hungry. For general health I concentrate more on maximising fruit and veg intake than on macros, as it seems to me the human body can adapt to most macro balances, and I believe "plenty of fruit and veg" is the only eating advice that never gets old!
  • shortvixen09
    shortvixen09 Posts: 38 Member
    Sounds great guys!
  • amyk0202
    amyk0202 Posts: 666 Member
    Kind of both. I watch my calories very strictly because I am most interested in maintaining my weight since I just went back on maintenance after a re-gain/re-lose. I try to make sure I get at least 80g of protein a day because that's what my surgeon told me I needed after my WLS. I noticed a couple months ago that I tend to eat really low fat. Probably because it's lower calorie. Now that I've moved my calories up some, I have been making an effort to get enough fat in my day. I take a hand-full of various vitamins to make sure I'm meeting any other nutritional deficiencies. I'm an extremely picky eater & have my vitamin panels checked every 3 months.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    Both although to begin with I only was concerned about calories...then when I got closer to goal and loss slowed off I realised that macros actually did make a difference.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    Control calories for weight loss. Control sodium for scale consistency. Care about carbs, protein, fat as necessary for various health and fitness goals.
  • tryett
    tryett Posts: 530 Member
    Both but mainly calories and carbs.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    Both...
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  • cbeau1991
    cbeau1991 Posts: 19 Member
    I track calories, and also vitamin C and iron because I'm anemic and I don't love feeling constantly tired.
  • cinnag4225
    cinnag4225 Posts: 126 Member
    shortvixen09 wrote: »
    Just curious to see if people only track calories or all nutrients. I keep an eye on them all but I only see people talk about calories. What do you do?

    When I started I was focusing primarily on calories, but the last few days I've been keeping a close eye on my sodium and sugar. The sodium because I like my salty snacks and still eat fast food from time to time, so it's a serious concern, and sugars because although I've been able to maintain excellent sugar levels for years despite my weight, diabetes runs in my family and I'd rather be safe than sorry. I need to start keeping an eye on my iron again though, as it's been a problem since I was 12-13.
  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,120 Member
    Calories for weight maintenance
    Carbs and fiber to calculate my insulin doses.
    Protein and fat for satiety (and partially for my insulin doses if I take additional insulin to cover for protein raising BG or extending how long my insulin is infused to account for fat delaying carb digestion and absorption).

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