Logging food is so tedious and awful...

abbyjcpc

Ive been logging my food off and on for almost a year now. Ive lost a considerable amount of weight (about 75lbs), but have hit the dreaded plateau. Ive made some significant changes in my diet, and have exercised 6 days a week since last March (so not much change there). I know I need to eat less, and with more nutrients, and I know the way to hold myself accountable is to actually LOOK at what Im eating. How do you make it easy, and less time consuming? I thought about just writing what I eat during the day on paper and logging it at the end of the day. What is the least time consuming way for you all? I still have about 130 lbs to lose, and Im certain these pounds aren't going to come off as easy as the first....thoughts?

JTick

Do you have a smartphone with the app? Honestly, I don't know how people do it without the app. When I'm cooking something complicated, it's nice to be able to scan the barcode and add the amounts as I go.

MoreBean13

Do you have the MFP phone app?

I really don't find it takes me much time at all. Do you eat really different foods everyday? Most people eat a lot of the same foods a lot of the time so the entries are mostly there in the recent list....I'm confused as to why it would take so much effort after a year.

33Freya

It's really a matter of just doing it. Once you make it a habit, it won't be so bad. I have taken to pre-logging my day and then adjusting as needed. Change your attitude from "this is awful" to "this isn't so bad" and finally "this is a happy norm."

You are obviously determined, now GO FOR IT

editorgrrl

Logging's a huge pain but I do it (like flossing) b/c it's good for me.

Try prelogging in the morning. It has the added benefit of giving you a roadmap to follow for the day. No chance for bad choices.

(You are using the frequent & recent lists, right? They speed things up a lot.)

ndj1979

i usually pre log my food the day before so I can see how my calorie and macros look.

Michellereducf

I log it as I go along.

970Mikaela1

I pre log a few days ahead.

QuietBloom

I eat the same things pretty much, so it goes quick for me. If you have the app on your smartphone, you can scan barcode labels. Makes it really quick and easy!

Ang108

Ive been logging my food off and on for almost a year now. Ive lost a considerable amount of weight (about 75lbs), but have hit the dreaded plateau. Ive made some significant changes in my diet, and have exercised 6 days a week since last March (so not much change there). I know I need to eat less, and with more nutrients, and I know the way to hold myself accountable is to actually LOOK at what Im eating. How do you make it easy, and less time consuming? I thought about just writing what I eat during the day on paper and logging it at the end of the day. What is the least time consuming way for you all? I still have about 130 lbs to lose, and Im certain these pounds aren't going to come off as easy as the first....thoughts?

I have been logging each day since April 10th, 2013. It has never bothered me and now is a 5-minute routine just like brushing my teeth, or washing my hair. No big deal, especially since it has kept me on the straight & narrow and I have lost 45 pounds so far. I don't have any apps and don't miss them....

GingerLolita

I pre-log my food, usually days in advance before I go food shopping, but sometimes in the morning. I usually make any changes on my app throughout the day. If you don't have access to the app, you can just make changes when you get home.

GEMMA_2014

Logging in food has worked for you so I would encourage you to keep it up. It is worth the effort.

Granville_Cocteau

I stopped logging after 6 mos. You get a feel for how much you can eat and what you need to burn. Most of my meals are quite similar and so I only use the app if I encounter something different.

Also, if you hit a plateau, and think you need to lose more, the most common cause is all that weight you lost lowered your TDEE. So you need to readjust.

Another trick is a day in which you deliberately exceed your tdee by a few hundred cals.

abbyjcpc

I do actually eat very different foods each day. I use the list of foods I regularly eat, yes. How do you log foods that are homemade? I made turkey chili today and know the ingredients, but really, I have no idea how much of each I ate. I spent 20 minutes online trying to figure out how many calories are in the recipe I used. I agree that I need to change my attitude around it. If its something I want to do from now on, I better start enjoying it. Just trying to figure out the tricks to get there. I like the pre logging each day. Ill try that!

BeachGingerOnTheRocks

Going to chime in on the app. Scanning barcodes is awesome.

You know, there's nothing wrong with taking a day or three off from logging. Just eat what you would eat if you were logging (portion as best as you can, estimate it in your head) and get back to it after your mini-vacation.

Don't quit, though. You got this!

rondaj05

Do you have a smartphone with the app? Honestly, I don't know how people do it without the app. When I'm cooking something complicated, it's nice to be able to scan the barcode and add the amounts as I go.

+1 The app is awesome and saves a lot of time! LOVE the bar code scanner when I'm cooking or eating something different. So much quicker/easier than the search function.

katieefranc0

I agree...I use the app, and it just drags me down. I stopped using it, and tried Calorie Count for a bit, and then got a new account on here. I hate it. I don't even know why I do it half the time. I lost weight and I was healthy before without the calorie counting crap. But every time I try to not log I get so guilty

melb_alex

Ive been logging my food off and on for almost a year now. Ive lost a considerable amount of weight (about 75lbs), but have hit the dreaded plateau. Ive made some significant changes in my diet, and have exercised 6 days a week since last March (so not much change there). I know I need to eat less, and with more nutrients, and I know the way to hold myself accountable is to actually LOOK at what Im eating. How do you make it easy, and less time consuming? I thought about just writing what I eat during the day on paper and logging it at the end of the day. What is the least time consuming way for you all? I still have about 130 lbs to lose, and Im certain these pounds aren't going to come off as easy as the first....thoughts?

use the app and multiselect. It also looks like you are consistent and habitual with your eating ways so the app has pre-recorded entries.

To achieve results you need to shock your body considerably not be monotonous with your routine.

rondaj05

I do actually eat very different foods each day. I use the list of foods I regularly eat, yes. How do you log foods that are homemade? I made turkey chili today and know the ingredients, but really, I have no idea how much of each I ate. I spent 20 minutes online trying to figure out how many calories are in the recipe I used. I agree that I need to change my attitude around it. If its something I want to do from now on, I better start enjoying it. Just trying to figure out the tricks to get there. I like the pre logging each day. Ill try that!

Since I've been logging I'm a little pickier about the recipes I cook from. I like to use recipes from skinnytaste.com bc they have all nutrition information with the recipe. AND... I'm clearly not the only one who likes their recipes, I've already found several already in MFP's database.

NerdyTXChick

I prelog and prepare my food the day before. I find if I have everything ready to go, snacks measured and bagged, meals ready to heat up, I'm much more likely to stick to it. If I have to prepare my meal when I'm already hungry for it, I'm bound to overdue it.

Misty2024

I log my breakfast when I'm resting and drinking my water from my morning workout..my lunch I either enter in while I'm making it or when I'm sitting down eating it..dinner I log as I'm making it...or if I'm going out to eat I look up the menu online and enter it before I even go to the restaurant. It's all habit more you do the easier it is...good luck

editorgrrl

How do you log foods that are homemade? I made turkey chili today and know the ingredients, but really, I have no idea how much of each I ate. I spent 20 minutes online trying to figure out how many calories are in the recipe I used.

That's what the recipe feature is for. In the app, it's under settings > my food & exercise > my recipes. Scan the ingredients, then input the total number of servings.

albertine58

I log the night before! I often prep several days' lunches at the same time, so I just copy the lunch from Monday of that week. I tend to get on breakfast kicks, so often I'll eat eggs all week because I'm really into eggs. So again, I'm just copying the same breakfast every day and making changes as needed. If it's already logged, it's so easy & quick to adjust the amounts (say I used 25g ketchup instead of 17g, or I was super hungry so I added an extra egg).

I don't force myself to eat what I pre-logged if I decide I'm craving else for breakfast or dinner (lunch is already packed so I'm stuck with it!). But prelogging gives me a framework and makes me feel in control all day- like I've already been successful that day. If I get home and decide I want to change my dinner, who cares!

bethyv1030

It's not too hard if you have the app. I find I need to log as I eat, otherwise I will probably go over because I will forget what I ate. The scanner is the best feature because it adds it in quickly with the serving size and what not. Good luck!

vjohn04

it only takes a few minutes for me.

Granville_Cocteau

I just estimate if it's homemade. For instance, I've made turkey chili before, so I knew the cals in the beans and turkey. I estimated a half tbsp of olive oil to cook with (60cals), and added in another 60 cals for the pepper and onion. I then estimated how much of the total I ate (25 perc) and just logged it using the quickadd calorie feature. Maybe I'm off by 50 cals...but saves me a lot of anguish in logging each ingredient separately. Point being: logging is an art not a science.

determinedbutlazy

Do you use the app on your phone? It takes me less than five minutes total a day.

albertine58

I do actually eat very different foods each day. I use the list of foods I regularly eat, yes. How do you log foods that are homemade? I made turkey chili today and know the ingredients, but really, I have no idea how much of each I ate. I spent 20 minutes online trying to figure out how many calories are in the recipe I used. I agree that I need to change my attitude around it. If its something I want to do from now on, I better start enjoying it. Just trying to figure out the tricks to get there. I like the pre logging each day. Ill try that!

Weigh all the ingredients as you add them to your recipe, enter each in the MFP recipe builder, then weigh entire final recipe (might need to weigh baking dish/container before cooking so you can subtract). I enter the weight of the whole final recipe divided by 100 in the "number of servings" field. So if my entire pan of spaghetti weighed 1352g, I'd enter "13.52 servings". Then when I serve myself, if I take a 123g portion, I'll track it as "1.23 servings."

You could enter "1352 servings" and not divide by 100, but I think MFP does some rounding of very small fractions so it won't be as accurate- that's why I do the 100g method.

Sounds like a pain but I think it's kind of fun, and it encourages me to find fun ways to lighten up recipes! It takes like 5 extra seconds to weigh each thing, and saves you from washing a bunch of measuring cups & spoons too. I just scribble the numbers on a scrap of paper in the kitchen as I'm cooking. If you're not using a food scale already, get one!!! When I estimated portions, I did NOT lose consistently and kept giving up out of frustration, for years- until I started measuring like this. Otherwise you truly have no idea how much (or how little!) you're eating.

Rage_Phish

i usually pre log my food the day before so I can see how my calorie and macros look.

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and sincei eat much of the same stuff frequently its super easy. just take s afew minutes a day to log everything

bleep

Most of the time for me while I'm making a meal I just add the calories together in my head as I go along, and then when I'm done making the meal I enter it into the MFP app on my phone under Quick Add Calories. Then I eat! Obviously I'm only worried about calories though.

GingerLolita

When I cook, I portion out the entire meal into the desired number of portions so I can get accurate nutrition information. You can enter each item separately (total used divided by number of servings) or use the recipe builder tool.