🎉Celebrate🎉~ Logging Your Foods and Beverages~✍⌨📱
Please share your thoughts and ideas about Food and Beverage Logging here.
@Catwmncat Please share the information you shared on the Leader's Board. Thanks!
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I think that "Food and Beverage logging" would be very time consuming. This is not just writing down everything since we are asked to analyze our reasons for eating and drinking as well as the nutrients. This sounds overwhelming to me. I can see this would be good at times, but I am afraid it is too much for me now. I do try to cook well balanced meals, but I do eat when I am no longer hungry, which doesn't help me. I also tend to have trouble finding time for exercise, which I really need. I don't want to lose flexibility or mobility by sitting too much.
I think I will try harder to think "why" when I am eating, but not write it down or get points.
I did this one time and discovered that I eat food sometimes to please the person who served it to me. But generally, I cook my own meals, so this should not often come up. It is more often the case that I eat too much because it tastes good or I am watching TV and should maybe "knit" while watching instead.
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Even if you think "That's not for me", do it anyway. Tracking food will provide solid evidence for what you eat, how much you eat, how often you eat, and when you eat. I found that just the act of writing it down is enough to get me to reconsider my choices for the better. And the information that the food diary yields will give you a foundation for making dietary changes that will ultimately get you to your goal. Everyone hates tracking. But it's the most fundamental tool in the toolkit. Studies have shown that people who log their food lose twice as much weight as people who don't. Track your food even when it's ugly. I always tell myself that I can eat anything I want, as long as I track it. Log everything with as much honesty and accuracy as possible. If you bite it, write it!
I get it that logging all the time can feel tedious. But to me it makes no sense to throw out the system that got me to my goal weight. So I have every intention of continuing to plan my meals and eating according to the plan. When I eat off plan, track every bite. There's no magic at the end of the rainbow. You get to your goal weight, and you keep on living it day by day. For life.
-Mica
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I think it's a great idea!
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@luv2dns2 The requirement for the points is to log your food and drinks any way you can/want to. The other information included in the post is just that, information that allows people to explore further if they choose to.
I appreciate your thoughts. I am the same. I hate tracking, but I need a shake-up, and maybe this is it. I started handwriting a food diary in the late 80s, and even when I would try something else, I would always go back to what was easy.
@micaroo4 Thank you for sharing! If I remember correctly, you have maintained for many years. It's always good to hear what has worked for our members.
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I am a big believer in logging food and drinks because when I first lost the weight I needed, that helped tremendously. It is time consuming but worth it. I also found that logging as quickly as possible after a meal helps cut the time down. Another thing I will do is take a picture if I know I can't log until later so I don't leave anything out.
I still log every day and have maintained my weight for quite a few years already.
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I log my food and drinks, including water, everyday and have for easily over 35 years. It is just what I do- of course I am pretty liberal with it when traveling on vacation but it is the only way to keep an honest record of what I am eating. I have given up judgement and embarrassment with myself because it is only seen by me. I have basically weighed within 5 lbs of my goal weight for all this time. It changed my life.
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I have sort of stopped logging but this will push me back. Have been logging most days for 14+ years.
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Logging my food is now second hand. Like, if I am in a hurry (or out to eat, which I still do quite a bit, though I've learned to bring some home for later helps me a lot), to take a picture. Recently, I put a can of soda (or a glass) also in that picture because that helps me with the size of how much I ate.
I've mostly been at the same weight within 10 lbs for several years, but why am I not regaining the weight back? Many do! Because tracking my food keeps me on top of things. I know I'll be writing it down. I do not do it "for the points," though it does benefit the team, I do it for MYSELF.
On Thurs, I attended a 3 course meal put on by the local college. The names of the foods I'd of never remember. I also took a picture of the menu in order to be accurate about what I ate. It was super good, and within my calorie allowance easily. I should do this more often!1 -
and @DNjoys
Thanks for explaining the challenge to me. I will try to write my food and beverages down starting tomorrow. That shouldn't be as hard as I thought. Getting exercise in and fresh air sometimes seems like a challenge, too, but I am trying.
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As per @Ceriusly1 request...
MyNetDiary, Cronometer, and MyFitnessPal are all popular food tracking apps, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. MyNetDiary is known for its user-friendly interface and ability to handle custom recipes. Cronometer prioritizes accuracy with verified food entries and in-depth nutritional analysis. MyFitnessPal boasts a vast database of foods, particularly helpful for those who eat out often. Here's a more detailed comparison:MyNetDiary:Pros: Easy to use interface, good for rapid data entry, well-suited for custom recipes.Cons: Some users have reported calorie discrepancies compared to other apps.Best for: Beginners and those who want a simple, intuitive experience.Cronometer:Pros: Highly accurate food database with verified entries, detailed nutritional analysis, excellent for tracking micronutrients.Cons: May have a smaller database of foods, particularly outside of North America.Best for: Those who want precise tracking and in-depth nutritional information.MyFitnessPal:Pros: Extensive food database, helpful for tracking restaurant meals, user-friendly interface.Cons: Accuracy of user-submitted entries can be variable, some users find it less precise than Cronometer.Best for: People who eat out frequently and want a large selection of foods.In summary: If accuracy and detail are your priority, Cronometer is a strong choice. If you want a user-friendly experience and a large food database, MyNetDiary or MyFitnessPal might be better suited for you.I used MyNetDiary for several months prior to SparkPeople closing and found it to be the easiest of all three. Stopped using it only because
There was not a community to speak of and I need the interaction.
The 5% decided to use MFP
I found it too much work to use multiple sites. One for tracking and one for community, i.e., 5% Challenges
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I love the MFP tracker; more so now that it has the voice log, scanner and "scan a meal" photo options. The scanner has been invaluable for me when I can't find something already in the database and just when I don't feel like doing the database search and it's more accurate as well. I have been logging all of my meals for well over a year now. It's helpful also that I don't have to track my macros manually since the MFP app automatically does it for me so I can see where I might be short on protein or over on fats each day. I did try Cronometer and Eat this Much briefly, but decided it would be too time consuming to get my recipes and other foods into their systems and why bother when I already have MFP set up for most of the foods I eat. It's less time consuming when most of my foods are in the database or in my diary already because it's faster to add them or repeat a meal.
MFP also shows how many extra calories you have "earned" when tracking your exercise in the app as well. I usually use those calories in my deficit rather than eating more just because I have earned them.
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It has helped me to start tracking again this week!
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I love, Love, LOVE all of these comments ~ the good, the bad, the undecided.
At the beginning of 2025, I 'got my head in the game' and got back to basics (much like what we are/have been practicing within the Seasonal Challenges). I began logging my nutritional/water intake (the good, the bad, the ugly) and made a spreadsheet to make notes every day about what I have done. WELL - these steps have been helping tremendously.
Now I'm roughly 16 lbs. lighter and I think that logging/tracking is the single most important tool that we can utilize. If you eat it; write it down. If I can't find the exact thing that I ate, I try to log something that is similar.
The act of writing it down because it happened is important and it DOES become a bit easier over time.
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