First post is a rant please forgive me!

Psychgrrl

Larissa_NY wrote: »

I don't personally have a problem logging, but I see an awful lot of posts from people who do. And who is going to lie and say that the first time you try to enter a new food, it's not a royal pain in the *kitten* trying to find an accurate entry among the twenty-five wildly different listings for "banana"? If you're a new user, that's basically all you're going to be doing until you've built up your own database of trusted entries and don't have to venture into the culinary Trump rally that is the main database.

It does take time to build the database of trusted entries. I equate it to taking time to learn fitness moves. I wasn't an expert weight lifter my first time, nor could I do "crow pose" my first yoga class, and I didn't go on pointe the first time I took ballet. Time and effort went into all of those things and others--I still spend more time swimming than surfing when surfing. All totally worth it!

I like the recipe builder, too. The old one works for me.

Could the app be improved? Sure! So could my work hours, my bank account and my drawing skills (can't do a stick figure). Nothing's perfect. But effort and dedication can make it all worth it!

RUNucbar

I was losing and logging before ever reading the forums. It really isn't that difficult.

kgirlhart

synacious wrote: »

I'm the type of person who firmly believes that the results you get depend on the effort you put into what you're trying to achieve. I have never, ever had to use the USDA database to double check anything. I really do not find logging to be hard to do whatsoever. I'm absolutely with @elphie754 about users getting mad when they underestimate and don't lose.

If I make chicken breast, I will absolutely not search up "chicken breast" in the database and use that in my log. Instead, I use the recipe builder to input the raw weight, in grams, of the chicken I used according to the nutritional facts on the package. Then I add any spices, oil, etc I used as well. I also weigh/measure these. After I'm done cooking my chicken, I weigh the final product and divide that by the amount of portions I want to get out of it and I know that one serving will be that amount in grams. It takes me minimal time to do and I know I'm being as accurate as I possibly can. People who search up "lasagna" in the database when making their own recipe can't expect accuracy, especially if they go for the entry with the lowest calorie count.

If I'm eating out, I will search up food that is similar to what I'm eating if where I'm eating from doesn't have nutritional facts on their website. I will look at multiple entries and see what the average calorie amount is and go with one of the higher ones to account for errors. It hasn't steered me wrong since I started here.

If I'm eating a packaged item, a piece of fruit, or a vegetable I will still weigh it. Package weight can vary greatly from actual weight. If I scan a barcode I double check the entry to make sure it matches my package. If it doesn't, I create a new food item myself or search the database for the right version. Some people input protein bars with net carbs instead of the amount listed on the package and it drives me nuts. There is a reason people have an option not to share their created food with the database. I will never use things like "1 banana", "10 grapes", etc. For fruits and veggies, I weigh them in grams and search for them in the database with usda after the name. Example: I search "banana usda" and look at a few of the entries making sure they match up, then I pick one that has grams as a measurement and enter it accordingly.

I'm very thorough and detailed about how I log and, for some, it may seem like a long process but it really takes minimal time to do this. It's exactly why I've been successful with this website.

This is exactly what I do and it is working very well so far. I think MFP is really easy to use. I remember the days of trying to count calories before the Internet. It was a huge pain and not something I could ever stick to. MFP has really made calorie counting easy for me. Plus I eat a lot of the same things over and over so once I log something I usually use the same entries or my own recipes that I have already used.

kgirlhart

emmaling142 wrote: »

I was losing and logging before ever reading the forums. It really isn't that difficult.

Me too!

kgirlhart

kandeye wrote: »

It's not that difficult. It takes a little time at first just to verify entries, but really it's not that hard. I was at the thrift store yesterday browsing books. I found a book from 2001 called " Calorie Counting Made Easy". The cover advertised it included over 200 chain food entries, or something of that sort. I was so amused by it and thought how lucky I was that I have the easy peasy MFP system. Really, it's not that hard

I remember those days. I think that is part if the reason some people are so against the idea of counting calories. It used to be a huge PITA. It so nice now to have the Internet in your pocket.

hstoblish

I've found that because I don't eat a lot of pre packaged food, the logging can be slightly tedious. However, with a food scale and measuring spoons, it's really not that bad. I'd recommend it to my family members who can use technology but not to my grandmother who struggles with it. But maybe fif someone who struggles with technology, MFP isn't the right fit. And no amount of tweaking would really get it there.

Also, in a pinch, I've approximated calories using stuff like 1ounce chocolate chip cookie or whatever and have still lost weight on very rare occasions (like today, when I went to a workshop that offered lunch). I'm not entirely convinced that logging needs to be perfect. I've found that because I weigh and measure everything at home, if i have to approximate when I eat out every once in awhile, it doesn't impact my overall success

mkakids

Just type in......"raw boneless skinless chicken breast USDA'. Or 'raw green beans USDA' Then you get the USDA entry and dont have to cross check anything.

You can also add 'gram' to each search to get entries with gram options.

It took me about a week to have the learning curve taken care of. Since then, its been easy. It takes me *maybe* 10 minutes spread out throughout the day to weigh and log my food? Ita not much, considering the benefits.

Machka9

I've been logging food since the mid-1980s before any sort of computer apps were available. In those days I had to do research in the library to find out how many calories were in food and log it all on paper.

As programs appeared, I tried them, and found them all lacking ... difficult to use, limited food databases, etc.

Until MyFitnessPal.

MyFitnessPal is by far the easiest program I have ever used ... and it has the largest food database I've ever encountered. Sure, there are errors in the database, but it's not hard to figure out what's right and what's not.

-- First of all, I've been researching calories since the mid-1980s so I have a pretty good idea of approximately what the calories should be.

-- Secondly, between and while using the other programs, I've been referring to Nutrition Data for calorie amounts, so if I came across anything on the MFP database that didn't look quite right, I checked it against Nutrition Data: http://nutritiondata.self.com/

-- Thirdly, a lot of what I eat comes in packages and the packages must contain the calorie content. It's there in black and white, and it is not hard to match my package of food with something of the same name on the MFP database.

-- Fourthly, I've just downloaded the app on the phone and have discovered the barcode feature ... what could be easier!?!


Maybe users who are having difficulty should get into a library and start doing some reading. That sure helped me back in the day ... gave me a good basic understanding of calories, nutrition, etc. There are also classes people can take. For example, as a part of one of my degrees I had to take a "Kinesiology" class which was about 1/3 nutrition and about 2/3 about physical activity. I've also taken all the in-class courses toward being a fitness instructor, which also included about 1/3 nutrition and about 2/3 physical activity.

Educating ourselves is the way to go.

Machka9

mkakids wrote: »

Just type in......"raw boneless skinless chicken breast USDA'. Or 'raw green beans USDA' Then you get the USDA entry and dont have to cross check anything.

You can also add 'gram' to each search to get entries with gram options.

It took me about a week to have the learning curve taken care of. Since then, its been easy. It takes me *maybe* 10 minutes spread out throughout the day to weigh and log my food? Ita not much, considering the benefits.

And for me over here in Australia, I type the name of the food and AUS or Australia to get the Australian calorie content ... which is often different from the calorie content of food in the US, Canada, or the UK.

mitch16

Common sense isn't so common?

This is one of the problems with crowd-sourcing...

cmriverside

OP, I have to say it. Let your older relatives take care of their own needs. It's not your job to be their tech support. For that matter, it's not your job to even worry about it. Relax. Stay on your side of the street.