Correct chronology in your calorie counting?

scrapjen
scrapjen Posts: 387 Member
in Food and Nutrition
How strict is everyone with putting foods in correct chronological order as you actually eat them? If you skip breakfast, but then have breakfast type items a little later in the day, do you put them as "breakfast" or "lunch"? Sometimes I'll snack on some tortilla chips early, but I always log them as lunch, just because they are near the top of my "lunch" items and easy to find there. As far as snacks ... I made a "Completely Empty Calories" section and I put all junk food there, regardless of when I eat it.

Just wondering how many feel like timing is important (I can see it probably it to some people) and how many feel a little more flexible (a calorie is a calorie, as long as you record it, it doesn't matter which meal section it is in).

Replies

  • MzManiak
    MzManiak Posts: 1,361 Member
    I'm kinda OCD about it. :laugh: Even if I already have something logged as a morning snack, but I don't eat it until the afternoon, I will move it. Mainly, just because it bugs me... but also, I like to be able to look through my days and see what times I was hungrier, when I was craving carbs or chocolate or whatever... that way I can better plan my days in the future. :wink:

    ETA: I don't feel like timing is important when it comes to weight loss itself (eg. must not eat after 7pm or whatever).. I just think working around your body's natural hunger times makes it easier to stick to the plan.
  • julianadelbosque
    julianadelbosque Posts: 84
    I actually just added a morning snack, afternoon snack, and dessert/other category so that I can see better how my food is spread out throughout the day. That's for my own purposes, because I'm still trying to figure out the best way for me to eat to keep blood sugar levels stabilized and to feel satisfied but not overfull. I like seeing the calorie distribution.

    However, a calorie is still a calorie. I don't think it's important for logging purposes, but it's useful for me right now.
  • micheleb15
    micheleb15 Posts: 1,418 Member
    I am in the a calorie is a calorie boat. I pre-log my day except for dinner, but if I eat my apple that I logged for my morning snack in the afternoon, I don't go out of my way to move it. Unless you are doing intermittent fasting, I never pay attention to the timing.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    If I'm eating something that is on my list of recent/frequent foods, it's getting logged under whatever meal section it is recent/frequent for (eg if I have oatmeal for lunch, I'm still logging it under breakfast because that's where it's recent/frequent). I realize it's like 4 whole key strokes to change it, but I really don't care. It's all logged, it's 99% under the "right" meal, does it really matter that much? Not to me.
  • chell53
    chell53 Posts: 352 Member
    If I don't have breakfast and have Brunch instead then I log under Lunch.....figure as long as I log what I have eaten then that's all that matter.
  • JustAnotherGirlSuzanne
    JustAnotherGirlSuzanne Posts: 932 Member
    If I eat my lunch leftovers for breakfast the following day I will put it in the lunch category because all the information is already there. I'm lazy like that. As long as I log it, right?
  • crysmiss86
    crysmiss86 Posts: 67 Member
    The only reason I put things where they are is because they are on the top of certian lists and it annoys me to try and find them or recreate them. I use the App more than the internet to log my food, so knowing that grilled chicken is always close to the top of my lunch lists helps me find it, even if I eat it for breakfast.
  • JazminGowdy
    JazminGowdy Posts: 31
    Most of the time I'll eat foods according to the time of day, but not always. Just this morning I made a cheesy garlic bagel because I didn't want pancakes. Sometimes I will eat cereal for lunch or dinner. I do not really believe it matters. Food is food and calories are calories no matter what time of the day it is.
  • Confuzzled4ever
    Confuzzled4ever Posts: 2,860 Member
    I do. just so I can see when I am hungry and if something is different I can try to see why. Like I discovered I am hungrier in the morning and generally skip my afternoon snack. don't know if it's because I eat everything prior to lunch and have nothing left to munch on or if I'm actually hungrier int he morning. I'm considering adding my workout times to my exercise journal too. Just so I can try to see if there is a correlation to food/workout.
  • KMasz
    KMasz Posts: 2,721 Member
    If you want to do what other people have said and keep track of which times of the day you seem to be hungier, or want to eat at certain times (the people who eat every 2-3 hours), or make sure certain meals have a certain calorie (or nutrient/macro) content then putting your foods under the proper catagories is what you should do. Other than that, it doesn't matter. It's not like if you eat pizza for breakfast but log it under something else it'll have a different calorie content. See what works best for you, if you have ocd or need something more structured, then chronology would be good for you. If all you care about is that you hit your calorie goal (or nutrients/macros) for the day, then don't worry about it.
  • gramarye
    gramarye Posts: 586 Member
    I got so frustrated by this issue that I just changed my meals to times: 8am - 12pm, 12pm - 6pm, 6pm - 12am, 12am - 8am.

    It helps me better see my eating trends and binging habits. (The 12 to 6 time gets me a lot when I have breakfast, I have no idea why. But it's consistent.)
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
    a calorie is a calorie, as long as you record it, it doesn't matter which meal section it is in
  • qtgonewild
    qtgonewild Posts: 1,930 Member
    i put mine in the right spot as well.
  • doIlhands
    doIlhands Posts: 349 Member
    I've changed all of my titles to times like 8-11, 11-2 ect ect because i never eat at the 'right' time. I like it better this way.
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,783 Member
    I have my titles changed to

    Breakfast
    Brunch/AM snack
    Lunch
    Late Lunch/PM snack
    Dinner
    After 8:00pm
  • teamAmelia
    teamAmelia Posts: 1,247 Member
    I'm kinda OCD about it. :laugh: Even if I already have something logged as a morning snack, but I don't eat it until the afternoon, I will move it. Mainly, just because it bugs me... but also, I like to be able to look through my days and see what times I was hungrier, when I was craving carbs or chocolate or whatever... that way I can better plan my days in the future. :wink:
    ...

    Me, too! That annoys me. I wish that they had a feature that will let us move them easier.

    I use all of the slots, too, but let's say that for my 10a-1p slot, I have 2 oranges, water, and then I change how many oranges I have, MFP will add the orange to the bottom and IT'S NOT ACCURATE!!! :mad: :laugh: I didn't eat in that order, so I have to go edit until everything is in the right order. Normally, I have multiple entries, especially when I'm actually cooking something that has multiple ingredients.
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    I try to log in order of when I eat things, but sometimes it's just easier to add them to a time when they're already on my list. If I have something for "breakfast" then a couple hours later have a bit more of it I have been known to just go to the breakfast entry and change the quantity instead of searching for it again.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    How strict is everyone with putting foods in correct chronological order as you actually eat them?

    I'm strict enough that I created custom meals (brunch, lupper, etc) so that I could more accurately place things in the right order and at the right time.
  • jayrudq
    jayrudq Posts: 475 Member
    OMG, I don't have the time or the inclination! I just make sure it gets in there and as the day goes on, I move down the list. And worse, I am getting to the point where I just use my quick calories instead of finding each item on the list. I am compulsive about counting and knowing: not so much about reflecting it on my log.

    I am at 263 to the calorie for the day right now.
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    If I'm eating something that is on my list of recent/frequent foods, it's getting logged under whatever meal section it is recent/frequent for (eg if I have oatmeal for lunch, I'm still logging it under breakfast because that's where it's recent/frequent). I realize it's like 4 whole key strokes to change it, but I really don't care. It's all logged, it's 99% under the "right" meal, does it really matter that much? Not to me.

    This is how I am. If I decide to have pancakes for lunch they may get logged as breakfast because that's where I can find them the fastest.
  • Kadje
    Kadje Posts: 50 Member
    I log them according to which meal or snack they are closest to. I don't look back at previous days for patterns. I just care that the totals are correct. But now you have me thinking about it and I don't feel as content as I did with my system, lol.

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