Logging food

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thirdjteacher
thirdjteacher Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Does anyone else on here have troubles with logging your food? Sometimes I feel it is difficult.

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  • mnbvcxzlkjhgfdsa12
    mnbvcxzlkjhgfdsa12 Posts: 204 Member
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    Do you mean you find it hard to log because you don’t know how, or because psychologically you find it hard to accept what you ate?

    I find it hard to log if I eat away from home as the guessing seems like it will be wrong regardless. So if I eat out I try to pick somewhere that puts calories on the menu, I also don’t eat out much. I don’t find it hard to log when I prepare my own food - I just weigh and log everything based on grams.

    Good luck on your journey.
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
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    I found it difficult for the first two weeks. Once I confirmed a lot of food items through the USDA website, my food list grew to the point that I can fill out the food diary a few days in advance fairly easily.

    It doesn't help that so many of the database entries are incorrect. Use a boatload of common sense filling out your diary.

    Good luck!
  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
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    Feeling is not reality - I just do it: every evening, takes me less than 5 minutes. Voila!
  • OldHobo
    OldHobo Posts: 647 Member
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    thirdjteacher wrote: »
    Does anyone else on here have troubles with logging your food? Sometimes I feel it is difficult.

    At first, I found it ridiculously hard. I remember complaining that it took longer to log my food than it did to shop for it, cook it, eat it, and clean up afterward. But it's like everything else, the more you do it, the better you get at it. But it's been some years now and I'm still learning, not just about logging but diet and nutrition as well.

    So don't be discouraged! Stick with it and avoid shortcuts that undermine the accuracy of what you're logging. I don't know about logging a whole day in 5 minutes. If you cook with very many ingredients that may not be possible but it certainly does get easier. Often I can log the meal while the meat's resting or I'm waiting for something to come to boil, or soften in a sauté pan.

    Congratulations on your first post. Welcome to the conversation.
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
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    I was talking to my mom recently about how it has a pretty learning curve at the beginning, along with it just being harder because you haven't built up your personal database of staples yet. It became much easier once I got a few weeks of food entered. It's why I'll often recommend just logging food first without worrying about hitting a deficit. It gets you used to logging without the worry and effort of having to be in a deficit too.
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,467 Member
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    I had all kinds of trouble when I was new. Mostly easy now. But there are still exceptions. Yesterday was really hard and took a while. There were some very wrong entries in the database. It was hard to figure out. But after a while, it’s the exception, not the rule. As far as just making the effort-no. Pen and paper by the scales on kitchen counter. Write it down while I weigh it. Just habit.
  • xSanoura
    xSanoura Posts: 40 Member
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    It can be fun but also addicting in a bad way. I get very anxious when I get close to 1000 calories. I’m learning to eat past 1200, and eat mindful but gotta be careful of these habits lol
  • teresa19622015
    teresa19622015 Posts: 34 Member
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    I’m struggling with making up meals so I don’t have to go through a huge list multi add. I’ve done it before but can’t remember how or how to name them. I’ve got things like ‘dinner from Sept 26’ which I can remember was chilli. Other meals I have to go through ten multi adds!
    But as for general logging it’s a breeze and I forward plan a few days ahead as more likely to stick to it.

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