Inputting calories a chore?
spurs_fan_7
Posts: 8 Member
Does anyone find inputting their calories to be a hard task on a daily basis?
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Replies
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No.2
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spurs_fan_7 wrote: »Does anyone find inputting their calories to be a hard task on a daily basis?
I know what's really a chore. A poor quality of overall health and wellbeing. Tracking data points is a choice not a chore.2 -
Log your meals the night before. It becomes routine and so much easier to manage your day.3
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No
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I've been on MFP a few weeks and am starting to see how meal prep and repeating the same few things for breakfast and lunch would make things easier. I'm contemplating making two different lunches X3 or x4 on the weekend to cover my lunches through the week. I know lots of other people do this. It would make data input easier as well as solving my daily issue of opening the fridge and thinking, hmm, what should I eat?0
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spurs_fan_7 wrote: »Does anyone find inputting their calories to be a hard task on a daily basis?
Yes. Definitely. I don’t do it everyday- just when I need to rein myself in. But definitely annoying.
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Not at all. Sometimes, it even helps me meal plan for the upcoming days! I actually get excited.3
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It's probably the best investment of 10 minutes that I make any day.
Yes, it took longer when I was new. After I got my recent/frequent list full of validated entries, added some meals and recipes, it has gone pretty fast most days. The time/effort - for me - is a small price to pay for staying at a healthy weight for going on 7 years now, after about 3 previous decades of overweight/obesity. The quality of life improvement is huge!
I admit, I don't log every single day now, but I still log most of 'em. I logged like it was religion every day while losing weight (just under a year) and in the first months of maintenance (until I pinned down a good maintenance calorie goal and routine). Now I skip some days where there'd be a lot of estimating anyway, or rare days that would be especially difficult.4 -
Until recently I would have answered no, tracking isn't a chore. However since they went and ruined the multi add feature, then yeah, it kinda is. Maybe not so much a chore but just unnecessarily annoying0
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I cook a lot from scratch, so yes, managing the input is a tad time consuming. That said, very often I simply jot food and weight on a piece of paper and transfer the data to the app when time permits. Play around and see what works for you.4
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More time consuming in the beginning, less when you've got a lot of foods in the Frequent list. Still time consuming, especially home-cooked meals and new foods, but that pales in comparison to the benefits of having a BMI of 22 versus 34 a few years ago.2
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As a military member, my meals are different every day. Often there is nothing in the database that matches the food available. So, in this case, yes, it is a chore. The saving grace is the barcode scan. When I can use it it is a real time saver. Unfortunately, that feature is going away in October so I will be deleting the app.2
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No, it only takes a very short moment during cutting. Like I cut my veggies and prepare the protein, throw briefly on scale. Log both while preparing them. Only takes a few seconds because most veggies show up in the commonly used list. Then I see how many calories these are. I know pretty much how much oil for cooking. I use standard entries I've created for myself for spices, so there I'm guessing a bit (entries for few and more spices. If it's a lot I weigh and log them separately). So then I know how much calories my meal has. Then I fill up the remaining calories with pasta, rice, couscous, bread, etc. Simples. I guess the whole logging process doesn't even take a minute.
When I cook a stew for several days I put in everything I want to put in and log while doing so. Then I decide whether to divide the meal into 3-5 portions and either keep as is, assuming a certain amount of rice/pasta I'll cook with it ever day. Or add more stuff still. Also just takes about a minute, and i have food for several days.0 -
I do it all in the morning over coffee based on what I have planned for the day.0
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To start with, yes. But once you have a bunch of regular meals saved, and you are eating the same things fairly consistently, it's pretty quick and easy. I enter my whole day in 2 minutes or less first thing in the morning, as I've always already planned exactly what I'll be eating, down to the snacks. If I eat anything extra - yes, I have to log in again and add it and make any adjustments, but again....2 minutes tops?0
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Just started using today, the app GUI (Graphical User Interface) is deplorable, website somewhat better but tracking on portable device is the preferred method. Macro Nutrient tracking (no Micro-nutrient, pre-biotic or probiotic tracking at all) is rudimentary to say the least, only vitamins A & C ? Give me a break. For $285 year/$89.99 discount and such a large enterprise I expect a lot better. If My Fitness Pal doesn't shape up someone will be eating their lunch. I will be resigning before my free trial runs out.1
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I tend to eat the same few things for breakfast and lunch which makes logging those meals in easier. For dinner, I take my tablet into the kitchen with me while I am prepping the meal and enter items as I go along. I am gradually entering my frequently used recipes into the recipe category. I've just been on this app for a few weeks but I find that it doesn't take much time at all. It just takes getting used to doing it.0
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I am the worst when it comes to logging my meals! I will be your biggest cheerleader, eat the way that I'm supposed, drink so much water that I'm peeing clear, but even if my life depended on it, I SUCK at logging those calories. LOL.
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Courtscan2 wrote: »To start with, yes. But once you have a bunch of regular meals saved, and you are eating the same things fairly consistently, it's pretty quick and easy. I enter my whole day in 2 minutes or less first thing in the morning, as I've always already planned exactly what I'll be eating, down to the snacks. If I eat anything extra - yes, I have to log in again and add it and make any adjustments, but again....2 minutes tops?
Nope, I still suck at it. I literally have to set a reminder. I'm going to blame ADHD. I will literally pull out my phone to log it, and then end up on Facebook or Instagram. 0 -
chunkyguthut23 wrote: »Until recently I would have answered no, tracking isn't a chore. However since they went and ruined the multi add feature, then yeah, it kinda is. Maybe not so much a chore but just unnecessarily annoying
What'd they do?0 -
Yes it's a chore when I'm cooking a meal to have to measure/weigh/track every little ingredient that goes in and then figure up servings etc. Gets easier with time. Creating commonly eaten meals and recipes helps and makes things easier.0
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I haven't logged anything in ages, but when I first started it was a chore for sure, but it got a lot easier with experience. After a month or so I had a ton of recipes built in the recipe builder and most of my routine foods were in my favorites so I'd only have to go search if I was eating something completely new.0
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I don’t look at it that way…it’s a routine rather than a chore, just like showering or brushing your teeth it’s something I need to do to maintain my health.
As others have said, the more you do it, the easier it gets. You populate the ‘Recents’ list (though I wish that were longer since I eat a huge variety of food so stuff does tend to drop off that list)…you create Recipes and update exact amounts as you go along…it does get easier.
Either way, it’s a choice. Take the few minutes to track your calories or guess and freestyle your intake 🤷♀️. For me, as an older, very short, petite female tracking is the easiest (only) way to keep on top of my weight control.2 -
It's only a chore if you're not that serious about doing it. Gotta change your train of thought.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Yes. I am fortunate that I eat the same food many days which probably helps somewhat (I use the Lifesum app). It is a chore, I find myself doing it at the end of the day usually. I'm about 600 days in a row which probably means although it's a chore it's something I consider worth doing.0
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No - on the days I meal prep or make something from scratch, I MIGHT - MAYBE - AT MOST - spend a whopping 5 minutes plugging in everything (all ingredients/weights/etc).
On the other days, thanks to being able to just copy a food/meal/whatever, it MIGHT be a minute's worth of thumbing on my phone.1 -
I’ve always found logging on the computer a chore. It reminds me of being at work. So I log with pen and paper. When in losing mode (I’m maintaining right now) my food diary stays out on the counter next to my food scale. I do use the computer to do research but the recording is done by hand. My logging is just a bunch of crude lists with numbers. Only takes minutes.0
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Inputting calories 10 minutes or so a day, versus the hundred extra pounds I lugged around 24/7.
You picks your poisons. 🤷🏻♀️
You’ve got many tools available, so don’t *kitten* about the other once you do. Otherwise, what’s the point of being on a calorie counting website in the first place?
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Not so much a chore but I do forget sometimes. Now that we can scan, when I pack my lunch for work I will also scan it then too. Just keep at it, if you miss a day or two here and there and can’t add it for one reason or another, don’t sweat it. Just continue the journey.0
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no not now initially but it gets easier as you add more over time.0
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