MFP Encourages "Convenience" Nutrition

Jenn842512
Jenn842512 Posts: 41 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Does anyone else fell like this site lends itself to prepackaged foods and/or commercial dining? It's easier to get nutritional information from those sources but you're really doing a disservice to your health!
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Replies

  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    I guess it is easier because all you have to do is scan a bar code or look up a chain restaurant's nutritional info. However, after using MFP's recipe tool for some time and building up my own database of recipes I keep in regular rotation, I find it just as easy as it would be to log a frozen meal. Cooking for yourself will always take more work, whether it is the actual prep or logging!
  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
    I don't feel that way, but I did feel that way about WW. That's why I quit WW and came over to MFP.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
    Is it MFP's fault, or is it the USDA's fault for not requiring nutrition info printed on all produce?
  • maz504
    maz504 Posts: 450
    That hasn't been my experience, but I'm only one person. I guess it's a tiny bit quicker to scan in, say, sabra hummus than it is to scan in a can of chickpeas and the jar of tahini and enter in some garlic and lemon but I think anyone in the right mindset doesn't mind taking those extra few seconds.
  • eganita
    eganita Posts: 501 Member
    I think that's just the nature of calorie counting in general, rather than this site specifically. I have been able to find a lot of recipes that I've made on various sites such as Skinny Taste, at least. I agree w/one of the other posters... I've started creating recipes for the dishes I make often, and that has definitely helped.
  • marsellient
    marsellient Posts: 591 Member
    I don't find this at all, quite the opposite. Searching for raw foods is easy. Put a dash, comma, or USDA after the name of the food and usually an item with multiple measurements comes up first. Also, as the previous poster said, the recipe tool (the old one) is useful.
  • EvanKeel
    EvanKeel Posts: 1,903 Member
    I think everyone's health is a very individual topic, and I'm not qualified to make statements about what is and is not a disservice to one's health--at least in this regard.

    I find hard to believe that anyone would feel that they have both the background and data to justify a such a claim for anyone here, let alone everyone.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Does anyone else fell like this site lends itself to prepackaged foods and/or commercial dining? It's easier to get nutritional information from those sources but you're really doing a disservice to your health!

    Unfortunately non packaged food doesn't usually come with a barcode.

    Keep in mind, the vast majority of food in the database is user entered. MFP has quite an extensive list of non packaged foods, although I do admit the search function is terrible. Once you learn how they are listed, its much easier. Hint, they are the same the ones listed at http://nutritiondata.self.com/, if you search the same term, you'll come up with it. They are listed without an * in this database. Even just using the word "raw" helps to find this products.

    I also don't believe that packaged food is necessarily doing a disservice to your health.
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    Hasn't been my experience. I eat less convenience/packaged food because of MFP.
  • bcf7683
    bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
    Not at all. MFP is what you make it. It all depends on the work you're willing to do for your health/weight loss goals. If you don't feel like taking the time to log individual foods/ingredients, that's on you. The bar code scanner is there for convenience, if you want it- I have personally never used it. There's no one here telling you to eat pre-packaged food rather than fresh. That's your decision.
  • crazymama2both
    crazymama2both Posts: 195 Member
    i think the benefits outweigh what youre saying...

    im also eating almost no prepackaged foods because of this place.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    Does anyone else fell like this site lends itself to prepackaged foods and/or commercial dining? It's easier to get nutritional information from those sources but you're really doing a disservice to your health!

    And that's what this whole weight loss thing is really about, isn't it? Doing what's easy.

    MFP doesn't encourage me to do anything. It's a tool. How you use the tool is up to you.
  • Jenn842512
    Jenn842512 Posts: 41 Member
    Is it MFP's fault, or is it the USDA's fault for not requiring nutrition info printed on all produce?

    Agree! Meat department would be helpful too.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    Does anyone else fell like this site lends itself to prepackaged foods and/or commercial dining? It's easier to get nutritional information from those sources but you're really doing a disservice to your health!

    No, I don't feel that way. Once you have your foods in your frequent meals, or customize your frequent foods into "meals" and "recipes" section, logging is very quick and easy.
  • vjohn04
    vjohn04 Posts: 2,276 Member
    You get what you put in.

    What you decide to get out of this tool is completely up to you.

    So, I disagree with your OP.

    Maybe you should reevaluate your use of the calorie counter and what you choose to put in your log.
  • runfatmanrun
    runfatmanrun Posts: 1,090 Member
    Pretty sure I have never heard that it was easy to get nutritional information for commercial dining on here. And lets be honest, if it's not easy people are more likely to give up. People already have a hard enough time logging their food or paying attention to what they eat. If reading food labels and recording intake based on that gets people to start paying attention then I say have at it.

    I will admit that fruit, veggies, and other items have more varied inputs on here likely due to having no food labels or barcodes to scan. But even with barcodes and labels, people still screw up entering them here.
  • carinthea
    carinthea Posts: 97 Member
    I will often use the barcode scanner to scan the individual ingredients for my recipes (e.g. the bag of lettuce or the package of chicken breasts...I find that the information from those is a little easier to use sometimes because there are so many individually input versions of things like potatoes, chicken, etc...I then use these individual items to make up a recipe.

    I guess it's what you make of it - there is some 'convenience' involved in putting in ingredients using the barcode scanner but it doesn't only have to be used for pre-packaged convenience foods like pizza, lean cuisine etc.
  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
    Disagreed. The recipe calculator, once you get the hang of it, is very easy to use, especially on an iPhone (so you can edit an ingredient's weight when you make the recipe a subsequent time). The database has everything I eat on a regular basis - chicken, vegetables, fruits, etc. I eat foods with labels too, but I cook my own meals from scratch 99% of the time and though it takes a couple minutes, that's well worth it. this FREE tool has helped me lose a lot of weight and keep it off, never once logging a frozen burrito or Lean Cuisine.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    I guess it is easier because all you have to do is scan a bar code or look up a chain restaurant's nutritional info. However, after using MFP's recipe tool for some time and building up my own database of recipes I keep in regular rotation, I find it just as easy as it would be to log a frozen meal. Cooking for yourself will always take more work, whether it is the actual prep or logging!

    I agree with this.

    I don't use a smartphone, so the bar code scanning thing is out for me. I am also among the minority it seems, that I don't have too much problem with guessing, eye-balling, etc, when I dine out in local (non chain) restaurants or with friends at their home. I feel like it would only be a problem if I was eating 2 meals every day that had to be "guesstimated".
  • thisdeluxelife
    thisdeluxelife Posts: 2
    I don't feel that way. I'm glad to have the information for when I do dine out but I eat most of my meals (Breakfast Lunch and Dinner) from things that I have prepared. I scan the bar codes of the items on my ingredients list that have them and look up the rest in the database. I build recipes and calculate portions. I think it's a great service. It's a lot of work to do that but tracking calories is not easy, in general. And I get the added benefit of tracking sodium, fat, sugar, etc. Once my main food are in there, it's a lot easier.
  • laurie04427
    laurie04427 Posts: 421 Member
    I kind of feel the oppisite. The site is making me aware when I go through my diary that the pre-packaged stuff is where most of my sodium and sugar comes from so I start looking for non-processed alternatives.
  • Jenn842512
    Jenn842512 Posts: 41 Member
    Does anyone else fell like this site lends itself to prepackaged foods and/or commercial dining? It's easier to get nutritional information from those sources but you're really doing a disservice to your health!

    And that's what this whole weight loss thing is really about, isn't it? Doing what's easy.

    MFP doesn't encourage me to do anything. It's a tool. How you use the tool is up to you.

    Silly to quote the main topic. Of course that's what you're replying to.
  • lar4290
    lar4290 Posts: 55 Member
    I don't have any problems logging the calories that I make. I have a kitchen scale and I weigh most things and measure by weight. It's really easy when it's part of your routine. I also make recipes quite often.

    What's more difficult is eating out at non-chain restaurants, which aren't required by law to post recipes or nutrition. But that would be a problem with any calorie-based method, whether on this site or another. Luckily because the database is so large, I'm often able to guestimate off of foods at other restaurants, or I look up an indulgent recipe on Bon Appetit and enter it to calculate my own guestimate for restaurant dining.
  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member
    You get what you put in.

    What you decide to get out of this tool is completely up to you.

    So, I disagree with your OP.

    Maybe you should reevaluate your use of the calorie counter and what you choose to put in your log.

    Excellent post & I agree 100%
  • bcf7683
    bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
    Does anyone else fell like this site lends itself to prepackaged foods and/or commercial dining? It's easier to get nutritional information from those sources but you're really doing a disservice to your health!

    And that's what this whole weight loss thing is really about, isn't it? Doing what's easy.

    MFP doesn't encourage me to do anything. It's a tool. How you use the tool is up to you.

    Silly to quote the main topic. Of course that's what you're replying to.

    Silly to reply and completely ignore the people who are answering (challenging) the OP
  • Jenn842512
    Jenn842512 Posts: 41 Member
    I kind of feel the oppisite. The site is making me aware when I go through my diary that the pre-packaged stuff is where most of my sodium and sugar comes from so I start looking for non-processed alternatives.

    That's kind of what I was getting at. I eat almost nothing prepackaged. Which makes my numerical diary totals feel a little "guessish" (yes, I just made that word up) but a couple years ago when I started using MFP, I noticed big spikes in sodium, sugar, etc.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Does anyone else fell like this site lends itself to prepackaged foods and/or commercial dining? It's easier to get nutritional information from those sources but you're really doing a disservice to your health!

    Yes, "convenience" food is easier. By definition.
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    *looks at grapefruit she's having for a snack*

    Well. I suppose it was convenient. Just had to peel it, weigh it, and head out to the porch to nom.



    Which is to say, no. The recipe maker is easy to use. Finding the proper foods is easy ('Grapefruit pink raw' brings me the usda entry with no issue) But finding restaurants in the datebase, hoping what you ordered is there, trusting that the portions are accurate and that no one added extra oil or butter or that the spoonful of potatoes isn't a little hefty that day...? That's some iffy stuff.

    Logging food is, by far, the easiest part of the whole thing.
  • Jenn842512
    Jenn842512 Posts: 41 Member
    That hasn't been my experience, but I'm only one person. I guess it's a tiny bit quicker to scan in, say, sabra hummus than it is to scan in a can of chickpeas and the jar of tahini and enter in some garlic and lemon but I think anyone in the right mindset doesn't mind taking those extra few seconds.

    I suppose I feel like it affects my day to day in a way I'm not comfortable with. I'm a bit of a Free-love-hippie girl deep down and tallying every molecule feels obsessive, like I could better exert those energies elsewhere?
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    I have had zero issues finding the nutritional information that I need. And MFP has not encouraged any one food over another.

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