Do any of you keep a food diary..?

2

Replies

  • scrapper3131
    scrapper3131 Posts: 9
    Nope. This works great for me. I'm motivated.
  • cersela
    cersela Posts: 160 Member
    I keep a photo food journal, it really helps me be accountable. http://consumingdepression.blogspot.com/ I also love this site and try to log everything here first.
  • missmaxwell91
    missmaxwell91 Posts: 1
    I use MFP as my diary as well. I have it on my phone which I always have on me. It definitely makes me think twice because I log what I want and it makes me think about whether I really need whatever it is. It's helped me alot.
  • shaianna
    shaianna Posts: 13 Member
    I keep a paper diary I write my food down when I don't have time to log in. Also, I'm learning the calorie count of what I eat and I can kinda calculate when i'm not to sure
  • MichelleLaree13
    MichelleLaree13 Posts: 865 Member
    I think paper is easier in a way. The first time a dropped maybe 10 lbs doing it like that. I am pretty sure I wasnt eating nearly enough calories because I didnt know better. The weight seemed to fall off. I always seem to do better if I have a cute notebook to write in. Apparently it didnt work long term because here I am again :sad:
  • MyM0wM0w
    MyM0wM0w Posts: 2,008 Member
    I use MFP as my food diary. Every bite of food goes into my food log on here.

    I find that it dissuades me better than anything else. I type in what I WANT to eat and when it pulls the numbers and I see my totals jump at the bottom it usually freaks me out and I put it down. :wink:
  • Love_flowers
    Love_flowers Posts: 365 Member
    Thank you all for replying, I really appreciate your feedback :flowerforyou:
  • maril101
    maril101 Posts: 12 Member
    I keep a journal - food diary in addition to logging in and keeping track with MFP. I keep track of time of day I eat, how I feel, any great "aha" moments - I find it very useful, particularly when I work with my trainer because the phone is too small to easily show sometimes what it is I have questions about. Another thing I like to do is to print out posts that seem particularly good and useful and scrapbook them into the journal. That way, I don't have to sift through a lot of material to find something I especially liked - and I've found the keeping of all of this information so that I can view trends, see how I felt physically when things happened along the line and adjust when it's apparent that's the thing to do to be another tool to help me find my way. Of course, as many people say, I could probably do this from the phone, I just find it more convenient to have my journal as well and I do love to keep track of things..
  • AnninStPaul
    AnninStPaul Posts: 1,372 Member
    I do better with mfp online/on my phone than I ever did with an analog food diary
  • Love_flowers
    Love_flowers Posts: 365 Member
    I keep a journal - food diary in addition to logging in and keeping track with MFP. I keep track of time of day I eat, how I feel, any great "aha" moments - I find it very useful, particularly when I work with my trainer because the phone is too small to easily show sometimes what it is I have questions about. Another thing I like to do is to print out posts that seem particularly good and useful and scrapbook them into the journal. That way, I don't have to sift through a lot of material to find something I especially liked - and I've found the keeping of all of this information so that I can view trends, see how I felt physically when things happened along the line and adjust when it's apparent that's the thing to do to be another tool to help me find my way. Of course, as many people say, I could probably do this from the phone, I just find it more convenient to have my journal as well and I do love to keep track of things..

    Very inspirational, well done and thanks for sharing, thats some great ideas :flowerforyou:
  • Love_flowers
    Love_flowers Posts: 365 Member
    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
    i just log on my phone as i eat. better than a written diary.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    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
    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
    ipod+comp here. tried written, lost intrest before the end of day 1
  • Elif84
    Elif84 Posts: 287 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    YES, i write mine down on anything I have then when I get home I input it in MFP.
  • RuthSweetTooth
    RuthSweetTooth Posts: 461 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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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