logging whole foods takes FOREVER.

AverageAngel
AverageAngel Posts: 123 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Ok. I love MFP. But I am getting irritated about logging. 98% of my food is NOT packaged, and does NOT have a label. Logging vegetables, and whole foods is starting to feel like a chore. I would like to, at times, use the quick add feature, but I don't just count calories. Not having the carb/ fat option sucks. Ok I am done whining. Anyone else feel this way?
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Replies

  • Gramps251
    Gramps251 Posts: 738 Member
    I can only speak for myself. Nope, no problem logging here.
  • amateurdude
    amateurdude Posts: 44 Member
    Nope.
  • aproc
    aproc Posts: 1,033 Member
    I find it relatively easy.. Maybe if it's giving you trouble, then just find a chart with the vegetable, fruite, meat, etc macros and log in a notebook?
  • Chrissie_R
    Chrissie_R Posts: 224 Member
    :/ i love logging my food but i tend to eat the same stuff week in so it's much quicker for me
  • derekj222
    derekj222 Posts: 370 Member
    just sounds like another EXCUSE
  • Madholm
    Madholm Posts: 167
    I don't have an issue with it; the more you log them the more it starts to speed up.
  • Nix143
    Nix143 Posts: 522 Member
    Once you've found them once then they should show up in your recent/most used list - and I've always been able to find individual whole foods.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    Once you start using the same ones over, they appear in your "recent" foods making it even easier. I eat hardly any packaged foods and logging daily takes me no longer than a minute or two.
  • 126siany
    126siany Posts: 1,386 Member
    The only way I could see this even remotely being problematic is if you don't have a food scale, as you'd be guessing on portions.

    What part of logging whole foods is cumbersome for you? Maybe we can help if we understand the problem.
  • bokodasu
    bokodasu Posts: 629 Member
    It is a pain in the butt - I eat the same fresh stuff, so it's in the recent/frequent lists, but dag, one spaghetti sauce takes longer to log than to cook.

    That said, the options are: use the recipe/meals feature, use a bunch of time logging, or don't log. Option 3 is not a good one, don't do that. I alternate between 1 & 2 - I have a lot of recipes that have a consistent base, so I make the base the "recipe" and then add the variables manually.

    Oh, and I don't log lettuce. Forget you, lettuce leaf, you take more calories to log than you have.
  • katflap10
    katflap10 Posts: 8 Member
    I completely understand as I felt the same when I was making a meal and weighing everything that I was going to eat and logging it all - life is too short, I got to the point where I was cooking two meals, one for me all weighed out and one for other half! I cook from scratch too but have found a huge help but using the recipe tool or the "my meals" tools which saves everything as a meal so all you do it click on it.

    If you make a meal, for example Spag bol, you can either save in my meals then simply add when you eat it again or create a recipe which you can change if you add/take away something from what you put in. It is easier as you dont need to weigh your individual portion as you simply put in all your ingredients and add in how many people it will serve and job done. It is much quicker and doesnt take a huge amount of time to set up - you only need to do it once. Been a huge help for me.
  • babzog
    babzog Posts: 19
    What I find annoying is that, sometimes I'll enter a food (say, brocolli) and it pulls up 2-3 entries for brocolli. none of which are consistent in their numbers, plus another 60 or so recipes with brocolli in them. Then, once I find the one I'm after, it's measured in weight, not volume - I have no idea how much space 45g brocolli fills , but I know I had approximately 1 cup. Lots of googling to make the translations.

    So, yes, it's a bit of a pain - which is NOT an excuse for those in the peanut gallery who are itching to chime in thusly. It's an annoyance of the TOOL, not the logging exercise itself. There is room for improvement in the search / catalog tool
  • kenazfehu
    kenazfehu Posts: 1,188 Member
    I log a lot of whole foods, too. I find it pretty quick and convenient.
  • AmberJo1984
    AmberJo1984 Posts: 1,067 Member
    Speaking for myself.... It doesn't feel like a chore to me. I'm enjoying seeing the levels, and what I'm doing. It's really opened my eyes to a lot of things. My mom, though, hates it. She uses the quick add calories all the time.
  • MissNations
    MissNations Posts: 513 Member
    Once you've found them once then they should show up in your recent/most used list - and I've always been able to find individual whole foods.

    This. ^^
  • Rachlmale
    Rachlmale Posts: 640 Member
    Nope once you've added them once and if you eat them regularly they're already there ready to go :)
  • Amanda82691
    Amanda82691 Posts: 298 Member
    Ok. I love MFP. But I am getting irritated about logging. 98% of my food is NOT packaged, and does NOT have a label. Logging vegetables, and whole foods is starting to feel like a chore. I would like to, at times, use the quick add feature, but I don't just count calories. Not having the carb/ fat option sucks. Ok I am done whining. Anyone else feel this way?

    In the food then recipies section of MFP is has a meal calculator where you can add up the cals and other nutrition of your most common meals and then save them to your foods. That way you just add the one item rather then all of them.
  • ChrissyLpwe
    ChrissyLpwe Posts: 22 Member
    This is whta makes MFP easy also you can "copy" meals to the nest day you can also create a meal and save it.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
    Once you start using the same ones over, they appear in your "recent" foods making it even easier. I eat hardly any packaged foods and logging daily takes me no longer than a minute or two.

    This. And I often eat the same salad I make myself for lunch, so I made it a meal and now I can quickly just add the meal.
  • prairiedawg2014
    prairiedawg2014 Posts: 367
    im ok with it....once you log them first time they should be in your database for quick reference
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    The only issue I have is with the recipe feature. If I want to change the amount of an ingredient, I have to look up the item all over again. It would be nice to edit the amounts within the recipe builder.
  • misfitswayoflife
    misfitswayoflife Posts: 134 Member
    I think it can be annoying because when I cook I put A MILLION THINGS IN IT. like i sneak quinoa and grounded flaxseed in everything. sofiguring out how much of everythingis in my two cups of soup can be obnoxious but you get used to it. and its easier when you start eating the same things
  • slackerwoman
    slackerwoman Posts: 261 Member
    I don't have an issue with it; the more you log them the more it starts to speed up.

    agreed...and if you eat the same things just look in your recent foods
  • KittieLea
    KittieLea Posts: 1,156 Member
    No complaints here.
  • Anna800
    Anna800 Posts: 639 Member
    Once you start using the same ones over, they appear in your "recent" foods making it even easier. I eat hardly any packaged foods and logging daily takes me no longer than a minute or two.
    Yep I just look through my frequently used foods list.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    Difficult compared to what? This is a lot easier than keeping a log book and adding everything up manually. I don't have a smart phone, so I don't have the option of bar-code scanning. But really - that wouldn't make much difference, as a lot of the stuff I eat wouldn't have a bar code.

    If you eat the same whole foods in a meal frequently, you can save that list under 'my meals'. That way, the next time you have it, the list is already populated.
  • nyrjasmine
    nyrjasmine Posts: 7
    I agree to some extent. I learned that if you just type "raw" for anything fresh, it pops up. Ex. raw strawberries, raw celery, etc. That is the only thing that works for me w/o making me want to throw my phone across the room :smile:
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
    Yeah it takes me quite a while - my meals vary a lot and are mostly cooked from scratch. All part of the process...
  • bokodasu
    bokodasu Posts: 629 Member
    What I find annoying is that, sometimes I'll enter a food (say, brocolli) and it pulls up 2-3 entries for brocolli. none of which are consistent in their numbers, plus another 60 or so recipes with brocolli in them.

    Tip on this one - always put the word "raw" in with your vegetables (so "broccoli raw" not "broccoli") and look for the entry without the *, that'll be the one from the USDA database.

    And yes, really you should be weighing your food if you want to be accurate, but the "official" entry usually has both 100g and a variety of volume measures.
  • yannuzzi
    yannuzzi Posts: 35
    My food diary is calories/carbs/fat/protein/fiber and sodium. Check your settings. I count calories/carbs and protein!!! Mine does great and you can google nutrition for most anything and come close, then just pick one closest to your estimate on MFP. I have no probs. I put my whole day in over my first cup of coffee in the AM, maybe a 5 minute ordeal. Happy Wednesday!!

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