Are you using MFP to track macros or calories?

When I first started in 2007 it was all I could do to stay within calories.

I tried to keep eating the same way that had led to my being obese, and was surprised at how little protein and how much in carbs I was eating.

The journey to balanced macros was a long one for me. I changed the way I eat, but not without a struggle.

Now I try to hit my macros pretty closely, as I found I feel better if I do and it's easier to maintain my weight loss when I get enough protein, fat, and fiber. I just use the default macros.

calories only

lemurcat2 wrote: »

When I started in 2014, low carb (particularly super low carb/keto) was not nearly as hot as now, but counting macros was popular. I recall people talking about it and discussions about how to set macros (with a focus on protein, but I think there was more focus on fat and carbs being specific numbers/percentages than there is now among non low carbers).

^ This is how I remember things as well.

For me personally: I count calories for weight management, hit my protein, fat tends to take care of itself and carbs fall where they may (usually 150+).

I'm tracking everything that is free to track. Trying to get healthier, control my type 2 diabetes and lose weight. I also wanna see how what I'm eating is affecting my blood sugar. Low carb anything or high fat is indeed the new thing to do. I tried LCHF and keto because they were the new thing.

I feel like low carb was big long before 2013 (remember the Atkins craze?), but it seems to always go through cycles where it dies and then comes back to life in a new iteration. The last year or so, Keto has gotten really big, so there is more of that in the community now.

MFP always seems to strike an interesting balance, since calories in/calories out is its main thing, but it makes a lot of its money from selling people on premium memberships, where being able to set your own macros is a big benefit of it. So it has to also cater to those type of diets.

In terms of macros, I only pay attention to protein. I routinely get more than enough fiber, but if I didn’t, I’d keep an eye on that too. However, calories are still the top priority for managing weight.

MikePTY wrote: »

I feel like low carb was big long before 2013 (remember the Atkins craze?), but it seems to always go through cycles where it dies and then comes back to life in a new iteration. The last year or so, Keto has gotten really big, so there is more of that in the community now.

MFP always seems to strike an interesting balance, since calories in/calories out is its main thing, but it makes a lot of its money from selling people on premium memberships, where being able to set your own macros is a big benefit of it. So it has to also cater to those type of diets.

OK, but in what way do you see MFP (the entity that hosts the site and sells premium memberships) catering to particular types of diets? Any changes in the food database entries are crowd-sourced at this point. The community forum discussions are pretty much all crowd-sourced except for the occasional shutting down, cleaning up, or moving threads by moderators (who, as I understand it, are MFP-approved volunteers, not MFP employees). I don't see any big shifts in software features, much less any such changes that seem aimed at a particular diet. About the only place MFP could be catering to one diet or another would be in the MFP-created or curated blog posts. I can't make a judgment about them since I haven't read them for years and turned off the email delivery, because there was just way too much hooey in them for my tastes. ("Hooey" is the old folks' term for "woo.")

summery79 wrote: »

I haven't been on the message boards in awhile but it seems like the interest in low-carb has really exploded since I first joined MFP in 2013. It seemed like we were all mostly using the app for calorie tracking at that time. Have things changed with the increased interest in keto/LCHF/low-carb? Just curious. I have maintained my goal weight 5+ years so I plan to keep on keepin' on either way.

Both, because I've been assigned a per meal and daily carb limit to manage T2Dm

kimny72 wrote: »

Calories, protein, and fiber for me. Calories to lose weight, protein & fiber for satiety and health.

Ditto

I wasn't active on the forums back then, so I can't compare.

I believe I remember more IIFYM when I first joined, plus general low carb. Keto has exploded since.