Tracking calories and macros

[Cian]

Just wondering if I should be tracking calories. I'm still new enough to strength training, squat is currently 70kg and deadlift is 100kg. Second time running SS.
I'm a 22 year old, 5' 10'' male and am fairly fat and pudgey. My question is, if I get enough protein in my diet do I need to use apps like my fitness pal to track everything I eat?
My bodyfat % is in the upper twenties and I really really don't want to acquire much more, but I also think it's important to be able to squat in the 120kgs at least. What should I do/ aim for? I'm well prepared to just eat like 5000 calories a day and train hard, but I really don't want to get fatter

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Cian, given your concerns about BF but relative novice training experience, I'd suggest using an app like MyFitnessPal to track your protein and fiber levels initially to make sure you get 200g of protein and 40g fiber per day. To know "if you're doing it right" your waist measurement should be trending down every week and your weight should slowly decrease/stay the same (so one week it might go down 0.25kg and one week it might stay the same or increase by 0.1).

You probably don't need to eat 5000 kcal or gain weight unless you weigh <90kg right now.

[teebob21]

+1 for MyFitnessPal food tracking. Food logging is a bitch at first, but after doing it for four weeks, I can't pour myself a glass of milk without whipping out my phone and scanning the barcode on the jug. It's a good habit to get into, and you learn things about your diet. For example, I now know that even when I eat clean, my diet is woefully deficient in potassium.

[Dave Hahn]

You might check that the entries you're logging actually have a correct number for potassium.

For example, the USDA says roasted chicken breast, meat only, has something like 250mg of potassium per 100g. Most entries of chicken breast on MFP don't have that entered.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Potassium isn't worth logging from dietary sources IMO.

[Bolson32]

You might check that the entries you're logging actually have a correct number for potassium.

It might not be worth logging Potassium as Jordan stated, but it is worth checking the database entries for accurate Macro profiles. You'd be surprised at how many don't add up appropriately or have incorrect values. Scanning as teebob said usually provides the right entry, but if you search by name you'll find a number of entries and a lot of them can be wrong. They don't audit and it's mostly user entries and since a lot of users only track calories, they don't care about accurate macros.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

It might not be worth logging Potassium as Jordan stated, but it is worth checking the database entries for accurate Macro profiles. You'd be surprised at how many don't add up appropriately or have incorrect values. Scanning as teebob said usually provides the right entry, but if you search by name you'll find a number of entries and a lot of them can be wrong. They don't audit and it's mostly user entries and since a lot of users only track calories, they don't care about accurate macros.

^^^This.

[David Clark]

I use MyNetDiary to track. One of its options is to turn off entries from other users.

[jayshort21]

Best way I have found to get the correct macros for something you can't scan on myfitnesspal is to search the name of the item you're looking for followed by USDA. For example banana USDA will give you much better options that just searching banana. Same thing for all cuts of meat etc.

Also, when selecting a meat entry make sure you are using either Raw or cooked weight. Macro profiles for 8oz of chicken raw vs cooked are pretty different.

[Dave Hahn]

It might not be worth logging Potassium as Jordan stated, but it is worth checking the database entries for accurate Macro profiles. You'd be surprised at how many don't add up appropriately or have incorrect values. Scanning as teebob said usually provides the right entry, but if you search by name you'll find a number of entries and a lot of them can be wrong. They don't audit and it's mostly user entries and since a lot of users only track calories, they don't care about accurate macros.

Absolutely. Ive been tracking with MFP for some time now and I've seen some rather dumb things in that DB! Even scanning results in incorrect values sometimes. I'm not sure how they determine what version of a food item gets retrieved for a given barcode.

Thanks for the input on potassium Jordan. I paid attention to those entries this week just to see what my potassium intake is. Turns out there is plenty when you eat mostly simple foods..