If at first you don't succeed.....................

Disneyfan05

I tried this site many years ago. I've done weight watchers more times than I can count. I recently did a medically supervised weight loss program that involved drinking shakes, broth and meal replacement bars. I lost 66 pounds but the end result was thinning hair and the loss of my gallbladder. Now my weight had increased and I need to get it back down to where I was when I felt healthier, lighter and better about myself.
I noticed when I try to use the barcode scanner and such on my phone it tries to get me to upgrade to premium and I can't seem to bypass it to log my food.
Also when logging food on my laptop, I don't understand why there are so many various calorie counts for everything. For example...I just want to log a cup of green grapes. I see 70, 100, various totals. How do I know which one to choose?
I'm really hoping to get in the habit of tracking my meals and portions and having long term habits and success.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Any advice or tips are appreciated.

yirara

The thing is that everyone can add things to the database. Thus the cup of grapes can be anything from whatever the official definition is if a cup to a tea mug filled with grapes. You need to find database entries that fit what you have. The best way to do this is to weight everything that has calories in grams and find a database entry because a gram is a gram while anything involving volume, service, whatever could be everything the person that entered the info had.

And yes, the barcode scanner is premium only. But to be honest, it just brings you to the same database you get by searching what you have. And it could be wrong, and then you need to search again, or exactly what you have.

Disneyfan05

Thank you! The barcode used to be free, so glad to know. How do I create a list of the foods I eat? I see frequent and recent, but how do I make a my foods list? I'd like to list everything I have in my cupboards and refrigerator, but not sure how to go about it.

Pearl4686

I don't have premium and use the barcode scanner on my android phone all the time. Just press the X in the right top corner to close the advert...
And agree with previous poster, use listings by weight to avoid ambiguous measurements.

yirara

Pearl4686 wrote: »

I don't have premium and use the barcode scanner on my android phone all the time. Just press the X in the right top corner to close the advert...
And agree with previous poster, use listings by weight to avoid ambiguous measurements.

Doesn't work. If you happen to not have updated the app you might still have the scanner, but someone who just downloaded it won't.

AnnPT77

Disneyfan05 wrote: »

Thank you! The barcode used to be free, so glad to know. How do I create a list of the foods I eat? I see frequent and recent, but how do I make a my foods list? I'd like to list everything I have in my cupboards and refrigerator, but not sure how to go about it.

I believe "my foods" is just the foods you've added to the database yourself.

Usually it's going to be more efficient to use an existing database entry, but the trick is to find an accurate one.

If you simply start logging what you eat, when you eat it, the foods you eat routinely will populate the "recent/frequent" foods list, and come up first when you go to add a food. (This works particularly well in the phone/tablet app, IMO.)

It's a good idea to check carefully to find an accurate database entry the first time you log a food - that's an investment in making recent/frequent foods accurate. If your food has a label, comparing to the label is the quickest way to find an accurate one. Green-checked ones aren't guaranteed, BTW.

I agree with folks above that weighing food is more accurate, but it's also quicker and easier, once you learn some tricks. (Example: Put peanut butter jar on scale. Zero scale. Scoop out blob of PB with your knife. Negative number appears on the scale - that's how much you took out. Log that as a positive number. Quick, easy, no measuring stuff to wash.)

I guess this is a personal view thing, but for me it seemed easier to log foods as I ate them, and use them from recent/frequent the next time, vs. the somewhat daunting-to-me idea of adding everything in my cupboard all at once.

I get that using MFP is challenging at first: There's definitely a learning curve. Once you find a routine that works for you, it's IME not very time-consuming at all.

Best wishes!