Calories or overall nutrition? What to worry about?

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Mellzxo
Mellzxo Posts: 17 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello everyone. I’m still fairly new even tho I’ve been logging my calories for 40+ days now. Do you guys just try to not go over your calories? Or worry about your overall nutrition besides caories? It’s not live tho if you think about it cause if we work out or we are moving a lot at work and can’t have our phones then it’s not tracking the steps.

What are your thoughts about this? I’ve been obsessing over everything and it’s getting overwhelming. But I have a friend who only worries about her calories and Still looses weight. I’m so confused and just could use some help.

TIA! ~Mellz

Replies

  • Mellzxo
    Mellzxo Posts: 17 Member
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    Also feel free to add me as a friend!
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    Hi. It's up to you, really. Eat what you like, trying to stay within your calorie budget. You either already do know or will learn what foods help you stay satisfied and feeling good while meeting your calorie budget.

    Are you concerned about measuring and eating back exercise calories?
  • Kgerber777
    Kgerber777 Posts: 105 Member
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    Hi there! Really it's what works best for you :-) personally I worry about calories, sugar, and sodium. And some days I only worry about the calories because... that's life!
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Personally, I watch my calories and I watch my protein because it's generally too low and keeping it in line tends to keep the rest of my macros in the right area. Beyond that, I might keep an eye out for trends or deficiencies, but I don't stress about it. Trying to manage more than that sounds overwhelming.
  • Mellzxo
    Mellzxo Posts: 17 Member
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    Thank you everyone! I feel better about what I’m doing. I’ve been trying to eat between 1400-1500 calories a day but sometimes I eat 1,700 while working. But don’t go beyond that.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Calories for weight loss, nutrition for health/satiety/body composition
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
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    This depends on your goals.

    Calories are the only thing that matters for weight-related goals. If you want to lose weight, you must make sure that you are consistently eating fewer calories than you burn. Your friend is in a calorie deficit. The number of calories you can eat is dependent on your stats and activity, so 1700 may or may not produce a deficit for you.

    Macros are not directly related to weight loss. They may be indirectly related if you find that different macro ratios make you feel better or more satisfied, but this is a personal preference matter. Macros are also important for various other health and fitness goals, like building muscle.

    If your daily routine involves a lot of physical activity that you can't easily track, then you can account for this by changing your activity level in your MFP settings. You may be "lightly active" or "active" depending on what you normally do. If you do this, just make sure that you aren't double counting your exercise.
  • Jason112779
    Jason112779 Posts: 2 Member
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    I’m in the beginning stages myself. I’ve have found it helpful to log my calories. It lets me know where I stand for the day. It has been surprising to see how fast calories add up when you are not paying attention.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    edited July 2018
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    I did initially only worry about calories but now I'm mindful to also get adequate micronutrients. I have a pretty high maintenance since I'm very active so I manage to have a decent amount of discretionary calories. I follow the 80/20 rule but admittedly there are days where it's 80/20 lol
    ETA: I'd add you as a friend but I use Cronometer to track so I wouldn't be very useful haha
  • Mellzxo
    Mellzxo Posts: 17 Member
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    I just don’t have any motivation to exercise after working 9 hours a day. I stand on my feet on a cement floor all day long and it’s brutal. Especially this time of the year when it’s warm.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    To lose weight, you just have to eat in a calorie deficit. But you also have to do it consistently and for a long time.
    So to be able to do that, you most likely have to pay some attention to nutrition.
    But to be able to do that, consistently and for a long time, you have to avoid getting overwhelmed, so you have to work on not obsessing and worrying.

    You have to understand that the big picture is what's important, and that the picture is made up of tiny pixels. (Or you can think about the ocean, which is made up of drops of water. Whatever floats your boat :D ) Every little decision you make, will take you closer to or further from your goal, but one decision is not going to make you or stop you from reaching your goal.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    Obsessing is tiring. It can make things harder than they really are and at some point you may feel all this effort isn't worth it. Start with focusing on calories, then later you may feel like you want to make little additions here and there, like an extra serving or two of vegetables, making subtle additions to your meals to bump up protein if it looks low...etc. Nothing drastic and nothing obsessive. Even if you end up having the odd day where your nutrition is subpar, it doesn't matter. Nutrition happens over time, it doesn't reset at midnight. In fact, just introducing some variety to your diet, regardless of food source, is more than half the battle won.
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
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    My main focus is my calories, but I do try to make choices that will hit my nutrients for the day when I can.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
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    Personally, I started worrying only about calories and then made small steps towards better nutrition as time went on. I think I would have given up if I changed too much too quickly and I would have been more likely to make unstatainable changes. I am also aware that I need to make room for treats occasionally. Balance and moderation are key for my long term health. However, I am more than aware that what has worked best for me will not be best for everyone.
  • fb47
    fb47 Posts: 1,058 Member
    edited July 2018
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    These are my priorities in order of importance, 1 being very important:
    1: Hitting my calories
    2: Hitting my minimum protein. Protein at 0.8g+ / lbs of body weight
    3: Hitting my fiber and micronutrients
    4: Making sure my fats are not too low
    5: Just fill the rest of my diet with foods I like regardless if they're "healthy" or not.

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