Hate adding my Food Diary

gordond246699x

Anybody else think adding your daily food diary is not very enjoyable. You think you have been eating good all day, so you start adding your meals, then all of a sudden you have 200 calories left for your dinner or is that just me? I have had MFP for years, but after not inserting anything for months & months I feel I have to start doing my daily diary again, so I am not making alot of food mistakes!

KrissFlavored

Why are you waiting until the last min to put in your calories?

Preplanning your day as much as you can, surely you have some control over breakfast lunch or snacks? If you add that stuff in the night before you can make sure you dont have 200 calories left for supper

chrisd5004

Yes! That also happened to me when I first started keeping track again in January. I also saw that my fat intake was way too high. I input each meal after eating it and after a month of reviewing at the end of the day, I was able to see what my high calorie breakfast or lunch food items were and start decreasing the amounts to leave enough for dinner. If I have a bad day now, I go out and get some more exercise so I can eat dinner! (That sounds flippant but going for a walk or bike ride helped on those days.) I guess the main thing is to look at your diary and learn from it.

MaltedTea

Hmm, I haven't looked at "managing" my calories that way. Sometimes, I want a big breakfast or brunch and I'll eat whatever...even up to half my calories for the day.

Other times, I'm not so hungry so I'll have a light breakfast, decide to fast til dinnertime or just graze a bit and then have a bigger dinner.

And yet other days, I'll time food to better fuel whatever excercise/activity is in my day.

Unless, I'm doing a conscious refeed or a "scarf my face and it'll be whatever" day, my weekly average is within 200 calories higher of lower of MFPs suggestion (and that's not even dealing with the curious "excercise math" the app does).

Perhaps this is the intuitive eating I hear some folks writing about? 🤷🏿‍♀️

If you can manage a lighter dinner, then don't fret. But if you'd rather have your calories (and/or macros) more balanced throughout the day, then you may be better off logging more often during the day.

victorialeigh629

I pre-plan and log my meals the night before and it really helps.

eznowjo

I really enjoy adding my food on.. I add my food as I eat it so I know how many calories I'm eating.. I think you need to pre plan to get the best results.. Also once you have done this for a while you pretty much remember how many calories are in your usual portions or items you eat so that helps you stay on par or under your daily calorie intake.

Armygirlarmyof1

gordond246699x wrote: »

Anybody else think adding your daily food diary is not very enjoyable. You think you have been eating good all day, so you start adding your meals, then all of a sudden you have 200 calories left for your dinner or is that just me? I have had MFP for years, but after not inserting anything for months & months I feel I have to start doing my daily diary again, so I am not making alot of food mistakes!

I prelog my food each and every day. I see a nutritionist and this was a suggestion she gave me. Basically it gives me a chance to meal plan. And you can see a day ahead of time what you have to do to get a hold of the calories and anything else you're monitoring.

HeidiCooksSupper

Yes, doing the diary is a P.I.T.A. Being overweight is a P.I.T.A. Choose. If you were someone who naturally eats only enough to maintain a good weight, you'd be doing it. I am a person who, without the discipline of strict food measurement and the diary, eats twice what a person my height/age should. Therefore I weigh twice what I ought.

Use the food diary to plan your day and make choices. Then adjust it as the day goes on. This gives you choices. You can look at the mid-a.m. danish and decide whether it is worth it to give up your supper mashed potatoes and butter. You can decide to eat one, the other, or half a serving of each. It is all up to you. Make sure your calorie amount for the day is reasonable. If you never have room for half a danish or a small scoop of mashed potatoes with butter, analyze why that is. Make sure your calorie amount for the day is reasonable. Is there some calorie-heavy thing you do daily that you could skip like a full-sugar coke or a sweetened latte? Put your kitchen scale and measuring cups out where you will use them.

razaarifsyednew

I have a hack for this.

I eat the exact same stuff every single day. At the same time! So I already know my calculations. This works for me, and I have lost 14kgs in the last 3.5 months.
Just figure out a healthy balanced diet and repeat the same thing everyday.

If you really want it that bad, stop caring about taste and monotonousity!