Do any of you keep a food diary..?

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13

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  • Love_flowers
    Love_flowers Posts: 365 Member
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    I do better with mfp online/on my phone than I ever did with an analog food diary

    To each his own :D thanks for your feedback
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
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    i just log on my phone as i eat. better than a written diary.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    When I am out, I write down what I eat in a notebook and then log it later (easier for me that way).
  • airangel59
    airangel59 Posts: 1,887 Member
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    My food diary is logging here, makes no sense (to me) to write it longhand ...I can get reports etc online and can view my account just about anyplace. I too put some notes in the diary and at times will use the blog feature here.
  • rextcat
    rextcat Posts: 1,408 Member
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    ipod+comp here. tried written, lost intrest before the end of day 1
  • Elif84
    Elif84 Posts: 287 Member
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    I have had a written food journal and it worked for me. But I've been using MFP ever since and it works the same :-)
  • kimnaaron4ever
    kimnaaron4ever Posts: 61
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    I do both and it really helps me! I keep my written journal in plain view so I always see it and it reminds me of what kind of day (food wise) I've had. And recently I took to actually writing a little about what went on in my day after journaling all my food. This kind of helps me because I'm an emotinal binge eater, and if I know what happened to trigger one of those binges, I can kind of try to do something about it next time. I know it's probably not for everyone and it may seem like you are double working yourself, but I find both MFP and written journal to be very helpful in maintaining my weightloss!
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
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    I use MFP, not a written one. If I did both, food would become too important and I know for me if I start to focus too much on food, bad habits creep in.

    I can understand the journalling of thoughts along with what is eaten. I just use the note box at the bottom of the entry is there is something noteworthy. But I am not an emotional eater.
  • yeahforme
    yeahforme Posts: 18 Member
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    I keep a journal and write in it every time I weigh. I use it to write notes of encouragement to myself and as a reference guide - for instance, if I had a particularly stressful day and gained or did not lose weight, I can look back and be reminded of the negative impact stress has on my body.

    So...I use is not so much to record what I eat, but more for my feelings and the impact that has on both my weight and overall eating habits.

    Hope this helps
  • Jill_newimprovedversion
    Jill_newimprovedversion Posts: 988 Member
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    I love being able to keep track of other things, including sodium-
    which is a HUGE factor for me now.

    And although I don't always log everything anymore ( I've been @ maintenance since Dec. 2011)

    From the time I joined till I made my goal,
    I did log EVERYthing....It was quite an education to realize those *hidden* calories, and made me more aware of
    stuff I can do without-
    and reading labels for lower am't of sodium, sugar, etc.

    Had I not tracked it, I'd have never paid attention.

    I also like to peruse other people's diaries- and get some ideas of what else to try.

    Another bonus feature of MFP tools, besides the food diary:

    being able to calculate my own recipes.
    What a GREAT TOOL that is!!
  • mishelerenee
    mishelerenee Posts: 14 Member
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    I count MFP too, as I also have an iPOD and log everything in real time. It's working for me too - 19lbs in one month.

    ~M
  • vynnette26
    vynnette26 Posts: 58 Member
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    YES, i write mine down on anything I have then when I get home I input it in MFP.
  • RuthSweetTooth
    RuthSweetTooth Posts: 461 Member
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    There is a little place for notes here at the bottom of the tracker page, you could use that as your diary.
  • dlbinin
    dlbinin Posts: 66 Member
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    I like that I can just log everything immediately with MFP on my iPhone. Actually, the other day I thought about eating a chocolate chip cookie, so I logged it on my diary and was so disgusted by how many cals/fat were in it that I didn't eat it!!

    ^^^this
  • icimani
    icimani Posts: 1,454 Member
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    I do both MFP and a written journal. The only reason I use a written diary is that my nutritionist wants to see what times I've eaten and there's no way to do that on MFP. At least not that I can see. The written journal gives my nutritionist the info she needs, and the MFP journal helps me keep better track of calories and macros.
  • Punchabear
    Punchabear Posts: 42
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    Yes but that still leaves the possibility of cheating, does it ever happen to you?

    I think I will give it one last chance

    Well, that's entirely up to you :)
    You can choose to omit in either method, it comes down to self-discipline.
  • crmason88
    crmason88 Posts: 40
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    Along with logging food on here I also log what I eat at what time in a diary. I don't bother with calories or anything for the diary, I let MFP take care of that. It really helps me keep tabs on my eating. If I get a craving I'll look at the last time I ate and go "no I don't need anything right now I just ate an hour ago!" or if it's been a busy day I'll look in the diary and go "oh wow, I haven't eaten in four hours, I really should have something."

    Anyway yeah, works for me.
  • KarensCanDoIt
    KarensCanDoIt Posts: 190 Member
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    i count logging food into MFP as my food diary. i have an iphone so i have the app so before i put a morsel of food in my mouth i log it. so same thing as paper i guess because i always have it right there with me.

    That's exactly what I was going to say. :flowerforyou:
  • nis75p06
    nis75p06 Posts: 114
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    I'm just using MFP as a food diary - the app on my iphone and the website on my laptop. I log breakfast after I eat it and log lunch as I pack it (I brown bag every day). If I don't eat something at lunch, I just delete it from MFP. This lets me know what kind of dinner I'm having - if I have enough calories left to splurge at Starbucks on the way home or if I just need to go home and eat a healthy dinner like a good girl :)

    I have MFP set for 6 meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner, morning snack, afternoon snack, evening snack... So this also gives me a place to record sorta when I eat too.

    Being able to instantly log my food, and instantly look up calories, has really changed the way I eat.
  • apocalypsepwnie
    apocalypsepwnie Posts: 373
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    The math of writing things down is a pain for me. Because I forget to write it down or forget what I eat I lose track.
    MFP also gives me the instant feedback of what I'm eating which is the most important part for me. I pre-log which is kind of, to me anyway, like packing a lunch box. It helps me pick better things for all day or to fit in things I want to eat/do depending on where I'll be at the time.
    I use the notes section sometimes but I've got a pretty keen memory for the way food makes me feel. I get migraines and allergies alot so I have to pay attention to that part. Numbers stick in my head really well so it's been a quick learning process for me.

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