What metrics do you like to track other than calories?

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I like to check daily AM glucose and daily total protein, fiber and Sodium.

These generally help me to steer food decisions in a helpful way and indirectly reduce over consumption.

It's also nice to be able to hit one or two daily goals instead of calling the day a wash when it goes off the rails.

What works for you?

Replies

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,290 Member
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    You mean regarding food intake, or broader than that?

    I keep track of a lot of metrics, in a spreadsheet:
    - weight: daily weigh-ins +averages over several periods
    - calories: daily intake (MFP), daily TDEE according to my fitness tracker, average TDEE calculated based on my weight trend, daily calorie deficit/surplus
    - daily step count
    - exercise (type and duration)
    - VO2max according to my watch and Runalyze
    - measurements and estimated bodyfat based on those measurements according to several calculators (not a daily thing, every few months)
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,517 Member
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    Weight, calorie intake and basically just carbs because I feel miserable if I don't have enough. Plus my sports watch tracks a lot of interesting stuff. The most interesting for me is heart rate variation as it's a great metric when coming down with a cold/covid/other stuff before actually feeling sick, and a great metric for showing how I heal after accident or surgery.
  • greenoaks1
    greenoaks1 Posts: 2 Member
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    Carbs, protein and fat. Less carbs helped me shed 15 pounds since March. Also blood glucose, which dropped by 30.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,741 Member
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    I have daily minimums for protein grams, fat grams, and fruit/veggie servings (I'm OK with the rare off day, but aim to hit those on the overwhelming majority of days. I don't "track them", other than logging as I go through the day and striving to hit/exceed them. I try to make sure I get MUFA and PUFA, not just saturated fats, but don't have a numeric goal.

    I weigh myself every morning (unless away from home), and log my weight and estimated body fat percent in Libra.

    I use a Garmin tracker to record my workouts, and log workouts in MFP (not necessarily using the Garmin's calorie estimate, if I have a better one). Sometimes I run reports in Garmin Connect to look at long-term exercise totals and trends, but I care more about how my body feels and performs than about the numbers or how I look.

    I don't track it in the sense of recording it in some structured way, but I watch my on-water rowing splits (time per 500 meters) on speed/power pieces and strive for progress. I log some stats about my machine rowing in a notebook. When I strength train (seasonal at best, not consistent), I write my exercises, sets, weight and sometimes other notes in a notebook.

    I like data, but I don't usually have goals about the numbers, other than wanting to keep my weight in a certain range. The data is there to serve my real-life goals, like being healthy, improving technically in my sport(s), and things like that. The data for it's own sake? Not really.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 1,821 Member
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    Protein only along with weekly calories. Everything else is what it is. I eat very little high processed food.