How do you track EVERYTHING??

13

Replies

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    OhMsDiva wrote: »
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    My attitude is that there is enough margin for error in both food calories and exercise calories to simply ignore some things. That may mean that MFP gets it wrong on how much I'll weigh in five weeks, but I figure I can adjust things based on the bathroom scale.

    That part. I dont even log the milk and creamer I put in my coffee twice a day or my salad dressing. I know I will get blasted but I pretty much know how many calories I am using when I consume those things. I know I have a deficit every day and every week, so if I have an extra 200 calories each week then I am ok. I have actually tried weighing creamer and milk and salad dressing and I end up using more because I am trying to get to 1 serving.
    That is just what works for me. To answer your question, I actually try not to nibble off stuff unless I really want it and if I do I don't log it. Have at it

    The only way you'll get blasted is if you say that after starting a thread where you are complaining that you aren't losing weight and can't imagine what's wrong :wink:

    It's true though, some people can get away with being more lax and some people can't. So probably the best answer is to not worry about it, but if you're not losing as much as you expect to then the nibbling should be the first place you look!
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    OhMsDiva wrote: »
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    My attitude is that there is enough margin for error in both food calories and exercise calories to simply ignore some things. That may mean that MFP gets it wrong on how much I'll weigh in five weeks, but I figure I can adjust things based on the bathroom scale.

    That part. I dont even log the milk and creamer I put in my coffee twice a day or my salad dressing. I know I will get blasted but I pretty much know how many calories I am using when I consume those things. I know I have a deficit every day and every week, so if I have an extra 200 calories each week then I am ok. I have actually tried weighing creamer and milk and salad dressing and I end up using more because I am trying to get to 1 serving.
    That is just what works for me. To answer your question, I actually try not to nibble off stuff unless I really want it and if I do I don't log it. Have at it

    The only way you'll get blasted is if you say that after starting a thread where you are complaining that you aren't losing weight and can't imagine what's wrong :wink:

    It's true though, some people can get away with being more lax and some people can't. So probably the best answer is to not worry about it, but if you're not losing as much as you expect to then the nibbling should be the first place you look!

    This.

    There's a spectrum of ways to use logging on MFP from meticulously to not at all. People may move across that spectrum at will depending upon their current needs. There's no wrong way.

    The only time a problem crops up is when someone wants help figuring out why they aren't losing weight at the rate they expect but they haven't logged meticulously. No one here is a mind reader. We can't help with troubleshooting if the data isn't available.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,136 Member
    And that is why no counting exercise calories came handy, including in maintenance. :)
  • cmcollins001
    cmcollins001 Posts: 3,472 Member
    I think the goal is more about tracking 90% +/- so that you are aware of how many calories you're taking in each day. A decent walk, 15 minutes on a treadmill or elliptical, or some other exercise should negate those calories. We're talking 50ish calories give or take...it's not worth worrying about. However, if you had a whole milkshake and half a bag of pretzels, then we're talking more serious calorie intake.

    As previously stated, if you take 2 sips here and a pretzel there all day to where you have a full servings worth of "just a bite", then you're taking in more calories than you probably should. This, of course, is completely subjective to your goals.

    I wouldn't stress about a couple of sips and a couple of pretzels personally. It's just not worth the headache.
    • Set some goals and stick to goals as much as possible.
    • Allow yourself to occasionally stretch these goals for sanity sake. (Key word being occasionally. Going over a couple hundred every once in a while isn't going to make or break you, it's when it becomes the rule instead of the exception that trouble starts).
    • Exercise doing what you like, be that the gym, hiking, walks, running, bowling, swimming...whatever you know you will do on a regular basis.
    • If you're going to eat back your exercise calories, don't eat all the calories you log. Eat half to 75%ish. It's hard to get an accurate count of calories burned, even with fitness trackers or heart rate monitors. Nothing is going to be 100% accurate so be mindful of that.

    Don't expect miracles overnight, but you're as honest with yourself as you can be, you'll start seeing results before you know it.
  • Trishous
    Trishous Posts: 16 Member
    Several things come to mind in reading this. 1) You can be trying to be too perfect and that will cause more stress and could stop any momentum of your progress to your goals. 2) Bits, sips and nibbles can add up. I had a lady do that one day and showed how much hers added up in a day. It was a full sandwich bag of nothing nutritional and it was a lot of calories. Sometimes they can add up. The ones you mentioned don't sound this extreme. 3) The whole point that matters is getting healthy. If you are getting there or this is your way to keep from going overboard then don't sweat the small stuff. I binge every now and then so recording will stop me from doing it more often.

    In the end you are only accountable to yourself and if you are reaching your goals then do it the way that works for you. There are days I forget all that went into my mouth and I am choosing to not stress about it any longer. There is no one to judge me on it but me and I choose not to judge myself. Ok off the soap box enjoy your life no matter what.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    Agree -- quick add is your friend!
  • LessCookiess
    LessCookiess Posts: 538 Member
    Good question sounds stressful!! I personally don't track every little thing.
  • HGarcia1527
    HGarcia1527 Posts: 69 Member
    I track everything. If I have a few on my kids French fries I up it and say I had 1/8 of whatever size it was just so it gets calculated. If I have a sip of a milkshake I said I had 1 ounce. That way I'm counting everything and actually counting it slightly over just in case
  • AgidGirl
    AgidGirl Posts: 138 Member
    I am definitely a grazer! It has taken some real discipline for me to stop wandering into the kitchen and grabbing a handful of crackers or a spoon of ice cream while dishing some out for my kids. For the instance I used as an example I know it was exactly two pretzels and two sips of milkshake. Last night my hubby's friend brought dinner over for the kids and they were eating fries and burgers. I carefully measured out 2 ounces of fries and half an ounce of fry sauce. It was worth it to me to know EXACTLY how much I was consuming. P.S. 2 ounces of fries was NOT worth the calories wasted LOL
  • crooked_left_hook
    crooked_left_hook Posts: 364 Member
    I just log 25 or 50 calories (depending on the food) for every bite/taste/lick. It's a guesstimate but better than nothing.
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    I just find an entry in the database that lists how many pretzels are in 1 serving and log the appropriate fraction of a serving. Otherwise, I make a good guess at the weight in grams and log about 5 calories/gram of something similar. (I find 5 calories/gram to be a good estimate for cakes/cookies/chips/etc.. It would be too high for a milkshake since that has more water.)

    Also, proxies are helpful. The other day, I logged 4 chocolate chip cookies - two to cover the cookie dough I ate while baking and two that I ate post-baking. No way was I making a separate entry for the cookie dough when I know exactly how big of a ball = one cookie.
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
    ahoy_m8 wrote: »
    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    I don't do BLTs.... Simples! It makes it easier when we have no kids and my husband tracks his food too - if we ate any of each others we'd probably be stabbed with a fork.

    Hahaha... the posts where someone has meticulously weighed and assembled a meal they have been looking forward to all week and then along comes a heartless SO who takes a big bite out of their burger or whatever.... those posts pain me. I want to stab the SO with a fork!

    Silver lining to this is...it's an extra deficit?

    If you weighed and logged 100g of popcorn and your SO comes and grabs a handful...you can keep the logged amount but you ultimately consumed less.
  • GemstoneofHeart
    GemstoneofHeart Posts: 865 Member
    Sometimes when I take a little bite or two of something, I do like 5 min of jumping jacks, planks, squats, etc to burn some calories and then don't log that either. It helps me keep things balanced. It's not perfect but it's something
  • FreyasRebirth
    FreyasRebirth Posts: 514 Member
    sammyliftsandeats wrote: »
    ahoy_m8 wrote: »
    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    I don't do BLTs.... Simples! It makes it easier when we have no kids and my husband tracks his food too - if we ate any of each others we'd probably be stabbed with a fork.

    Hahaha... the posts where someone has meticulously weighed and assembled a meal they have been looking forward to all week and then along comes a heartless SO who takes a big bite out of their burger or whatever.... those posts pain me. I want to stab the SO with a fork!

    Silver lining to this is...it's an extra deficit?

    If you weighed and logged 100g of popcorn and your SO comes and grabs a handful...you can keep the logged amount but you ultimately consumed less.

    Children too. I get the 100 calorie bags and the little one is always begging for some.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,136 Member
    nrbutton wrote: »
    If I can't measure it, I don't eat/drink it

    So what do you do when you go to a friend's or relative's house for a meal? It seems that you only go to chain restaurants or fast food places, because small local eateries (sometimes are the best) they usually don't have nutritional information listed in their menu or websites.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    It depends - a little taste of some things adds up really quickly, while others, not so much.

    If I steal nuts from the cup of nuts I measure out for a recipe, that can easily be a hundred or more calories. A scoop of chocolate chips while I'm making cookies - again, could be several hundred calories. I had to start tracking the half-and-half in my work coffees because it adds up enough to make a difference.

    Other things? A couple of pretzels, a cracker or two, one Dorito from my kid's snack bag? I don't generally worry about.
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
    Gisel2015 wrote: »
    nrbutton wrote: »
    If I can't measure it, I don't eat/drink it

    So what do you do when you go to a friend's or relative's house for a meal? It seems that you only go to chain restaurants or fast food places, because small local eateries (sometimes are the best) they usually don't have nutritional information listed in their menu or websites.

    Some of them bring a scale along whenever they go. Office, restaurant, relative's, friend's and inquire the host about the food if necessary.

    I used to cringe when I first heard this but after some reevaluation I think it makes sense. Wt loss is too tough and health is too important. I'm all for whatever necessary to succeed.

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