Recording Food = Stressful. Help?

My answer won't really help you because I love to record and log all my cals, in and out as well. I find it especially helpful with tracking the cals I need to eat back after exercising. I was shocked to see that after some crazy workouts, my net calorie intake was as low as 800-900, and this is really not enough to lose fat fast and steady, whitout losing some muscle in the process. Anyway, my best advice would be: just do it. Don't care about later or anything. It is somewhat stressful to see that you go over, but it's equally rewarding to see that you reach your calorie goal most of the time.

It's not so bad I think one thing that helps me is that I generally eat the same or similar things for breakfast & lunch each day. I'll have toast some days for breakfast, and eggs on other days, but it is generally just those two things, maybe prepared differently so I don't get bored. The thing is that when you start keeping a record, you get to know the calorie costs of things. For example I know the calorie costs of eggs and toast, pretty much

It also keeps track of your 'favourite' things or most used items so most of the time, I just see the list and tick off what I had that day rather than searching for it.

I don't sit down and do it all of my entry at once either, I'll normally input my breakfast in the morning, along with what I plan on having for lunch & snacks that day (I pack my lunch) At night, I enter my dinner and then delete any of my lunch that I didn't eat, add my exercise and then complete Sometimes I'll complete it the morning after instead if I've run out of time

It's just getting into the habits again. I don't think you will have many problems after using the program for a while because you will realise what the proper portion sizes are, and what foods you shoudl avoid

Recording makes things so much easier, but once you're at your goal weight and maintaining you won't have to record as much. I log everything just now to be super-accurate, but I know roughly calories etc. looking at portion sizes, so you do start to get a feel for things after a while

I think recording is completely worth it.
Without my food diary I am willing to bet that I'd still be gaining weight instead of loosing it.
Does it suck to really see what's in a pint of ben and jerry's?
Absolutely.
But it took me seeing that to realize that it's NOT worth it, and that was my favorite food EVER.

The more you log your food, the easier it gets. It's just a tool, and a tool that can make things easier and LESS stressful.

After you've been logging for a while, all your favorite and most commonly used foods are going to be in your diary already. It's just a matter of clicking checkboxes to add them. For me, that makes meal planning a snap. After I have breakfast and lunch, I look at what's left, both in calories as well as macros (protein, fat, carbs) and see what I'm missing for the day. Then I start checking off the food items I've used and currently have at my disposal, and I can plan a great dinner that will help me reach my goals.

EDIT/ADD: And for those of you who have recorded to lose weight and have reached your maintain stage, do you ever stop recording? I fear I'll have to record my whole life and that doesn't sound appealing to me. Or do we naturally adjust to how much we are intaking once we reach our goals?

I've been maintaining for well over a year. I don't *always* log, but I come back to it. I don't like the idea of logging forever and ever. I don't log on weekends or holidays. I know I could skip a few weeks of not logging without any major effect. But this wasn't a "diet" that I started and stopped. Diets are temporary, and so are the results. This is just how I eat and exercise now. Maintaining isn't any different than losing, but there's a bit more wiggle room in the calorie department. I still need to monitor what I eat and still need to exercise just as hard as ever. It's just part of my daily routine now, like brushing my teeth or showering. If logging my food ~5 days a week keeps my body healthy and strong, it's worth it. Just like how it's worth the time I take shaving my legs to have silky smooth legs.

Oh come on, just do it!

Sounds harsh... but I agree. It is SO easy to log. Ask ANY Dr, nutritionist, dietitian w/e. This is the way to lose weight. Don't wait, just do it. Once you do you'll see how/ why it is so important.

Having a positive attitude makes such a difference! Especially with things that are not measurable. If you tell yourself logging food is stressful, you will feel it to be stressful. You will believe yourself when you say it.

If you think of something as fun, or as something that you enjoy doing, then it won't be stressful any more...try to think of the fun part of logging in to MFP! Here are some of the things that I like: You have friends, you can check out what others are having for lunch, you can see their progress, you can see that others are sometimes going through the same difficulties as you are so you can give and get support. When you look for a food to log, the way it's presented is so friendly - you can choose portion size to be one spoon or one small slice - I personally have no clue whatsoever how many grams of butter are in one spoon or in one medium-sized apple, so for me this is very helpful.

Plus, I also realized that I can't really tell exactly how much I'm eating...Sometimes I think I haven't had much, but it turns out I'm way off, other times I think I was pigging out but I was on track. It seems like it should be more obvious...but for me at least it isn't. So keeping track just helps me have an idea of what's going on.

So...try to stay positive! Good luck

I usually give up on logging (experiences on other websites) very quickly because it was such a PITA, but I like MFP's set up so much that I've stuck with it for a month now. That's a long time for me! What I like about logging is what it's teaching me. I learn a lot about foods, their nutrional values, their serving sizes, etc. I like seeing that when I choose less calorie dense foods it lets me eat more throughout the day. I like seeing that I am (or aren't) getting enough protein, calcium, etc. MFP makes it so much easier to keep up with too with the barcode scanner, phone/iPad apps, recipe and meal tools, etc. So what I'm saying is, instead of looking at logging as a chore, look at it as an fantastic empowerment tool. It gives you the knowledge you need to make your life a healthier one!

I like recording...it gives me something to do. I'm an obsessive person, though.

The idea is you should be able to learn to eat healthy and get a good gauge of portion size, so you shouldn't have to record the rest of your life if you take the lesson with you.