Tracking is a Pain in the @$$
Replies
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I actually kind of enjoy logging. I like breaking things down and trying to figure out how many calories things have. I totally wing it a lot of the time, though, and just pick something that's similar in the system, and it's worked for me. I often just guesstimate about how big something is and pick an entry based on how filling and calorie-filled it seems to be, and I've managed to lose 20 pounds still. There's really no need to stress yourself out over it.0
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This is just one of the reasons that I am now focusing more on intuitive eating than counting calories. Eating whole foods shouldn't be stressful! (Plus, this better addresses the reason I overeat in the first place.)
I have a LOT to say about this, but will reserve my comments to the following. If you are doing "intuitive eating" what need would you then have for being on a calorie counting website? I have always wondered this about people who do paleo, now this new thing you mention, as well as a number of other "all you can eat " type plans. I'm not saying they work, or dont' work. I did one in the past that worked well. However I did not count cals on it and thus had no need for using this tool. So my question remains why use this tool if you have no need for it? I'm confused?0 -
Now as to the answer for OP.
If you make certain foods repeatedly you can save the meal or the recipe both are options in the food diary. Try them both find which one works for you.
If you make certain dishes that mimic a popular dish you know MUST be in MFP's database start with that and then add or subtract whatever ingredients you added or subtracted to your dish.
For instance if I made a zuchinni lasagna I might find meat lasagna and add a piece of that to my daily log. Then I can subtract whatever amount of meat I thought was missing maybe an ounce or two. Then add in my zuchinni by logging them like this
ground beef 2 oz -130 cals (or whatever it says) (yes you can log negative calories in the food log)
zucchini +40 cals (or whatever the right amount is)
This saves the time of logging every single lasagna recipe ingredient and still is a nice estimate which won't kill your cal goals if this is not something you eat everyday but an estimate is good enough.
If it's something you are gonna have everyday, take the time to log it once as a "recipe" or "meal" and then use that one repeatedly in the future for fast logging.0 -
You can also click on the recipe, delete the item that has changed and add the item that has changed/been added/whatever. I do this when I cook sillet meals and the amount of meat used varies because my husband doesn't strive for accuracy when packaging the meat we buy in bulk :laugh:After you create your meal here in MyFitnessPal, you can save it, and then if you eat it again, you can pull it up, place a check mark by it to enter in easier.
I do find if the ingredients change just slightly, I will just use the closest recipe that I have saved. It might not be 100% correct but enough where I can figure out what I am high or low on for the day in the categories.0 -
You are right, to get around it, I started adding word raw or fresh in search, and that makes it easy instead of scrolling crazy0
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I hear you! I am taking a weight management class and this part stinks! I tend to eat the same thing and then get bored. I do my best to estimate. I did have a food scale and it broke so I now find it harder to track everything. We can do this! I know we can!. :bigsmile:0
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I just add up the calories for each component in my head, and then quick add.
Sure, I'm not seeing all the nutrient information, but in reality, as long as your diet is balanced, there's not much to worry about there.0 -
Yup it sure is a pain. Just do your best estimation.
I find entering recipes too time consuming because I've never made the same thing twice. I'll either enter wholes like I did today for my yogurt waffles or just go with something closest.0 -
Know what's an even worse pain in the @ss? Being too lazy to log what's in your meals, getting fat, and having to lose it all over again.
I'll stick to my logging, thanks.0 -
I don't mind putting a recipe in using the recipe tab but I do wish we could access each others recipes.0
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Okay, it's rant time. For those of us who stay away from packaged foods and make a variety of recipes, tracking on MFP is a total pain in the butt! Entering the whole recipe (and remembering what you put in it) every time you make dinner? Especially if I measured in cups and whoever else measured in grams, or vice versa? Blergh. Okay, I'm done now.
Couldn't agree more, along with the other folks on this thread who have pointed out how hard it can be to find whole raw ingredients. I use the Recipe calculator, and I track everything, and I am glad of the tool, but I do cook something new almost every night and it usually takes me an hour or two on the weekend to put together all of my recipes for the week in MFP. It would be so helpful if searching for something (like a potato) first brought up the raw item with all of the different measurements, before having to hunt through all of the frozen prepared potato dishes.
It would also be great if it were easier to adjust a recipe through the app and on the fly as you change things up. Even in a Recipe created within the Recipes tab, you can't adjust the amount of an ingredient, only add a new one and delete the old one. Could be a lot easier.0 -
I think the recipe builder on the site is marvelous, and very convenient. Sure, I'd like to be able to make adjustments to ingredient quantities without deleting and re-finding the ingredients, but other than that, it's very helpful.0
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I am curious why it is so hard in MFP to find raw, whole food. Like potato, put that in and you have to search for potato. Same with pineapple of other fruits, etc. The whole, raw version of the food should be the first thing that comes up, not a bunch of other crap that might have a potato in it. /rant
Totally wonder the same thing!
I also think tracking is a pain in the *kitten*! Since February I'm back and haven't been counting my calories except for the past week because my knee hurts and haven't exercised so I want to make sure I'm on track....
Yes the recipe calculator comes in handy but I've been cooking a different recipe everyday to keep things interesting...so yeah Eben with that, it is work and time comsuming. I wish we could scan everything lol0 -
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I have a CSA and buy most of my meat from the farmers market. Which means I cook by the seat of my pants a lot and the same recipe is never exactly the same.
My diary is full of random branded foods because I have no Idea why my favorite small farmers "hot italian chicken sausage" actually counts as.
With home cooked meals from whole foods, I will look at what used for dinner for the four of us and divide by four and put that in my journal. But a l lot of things are approximations. I try to be really conservative and go for the larger calories if there are multiple versions of something I'm looking for an equivalent for.0 -
I am curious why it is so hard in MFP to find raw, whole food. Like potato, put that in and you have to search for potato. Same with pineapple of other fruits, etc. The whole, raw version of the food should be the first thing that comes up, not a bunch of other crap that might have a potato in it. /rant
I am not sure what your needs are, but I just checked under " potatoes " ( and not " potato " )and there were 25 options of steamed, boiled and baked yellow, red and normal potatoes. I did not bother to count the scalloped, mashed, triple fried or otherwise prepared ones. I do find 25 options quite a lot.0 -
I am curious why it is so hard in MFP to find raw, whole food. Like potato, put that in and you have to search for potato. Same with pineapple of other fruits, etc. The whole, raw version of the food should be the first thing that comes up, not a bunch of other crap that might have a potato in it. /rant
Agree! And why are there 50 different entries for a potato? 1 for 50g, one for 75g, one for a cup, another for half a cup, yet another for a slice, etc etc etc. I'd love them all to be in one place called raw potato.
joining in the rant! this is my 1st one yall. lol.
I agree w/ this ranting here - which goes with kinda the op rant.
that's the one off-putting thing of the website - is that there are 50 different versions of the ONE thing i need to register. pineapple, potatoes, etc.
or even for the fast food listings - there are at least 7 different zaxby's fries on the list...different grams...different oz...etc. how does this data base get 'made' anyways?
arrrrg!
okay rant over
lol
Adding raw helps. Like if I was going to put in an egg, I'd search for "whole egg, raw." Choose the one with no asterisk that has options for cups and grams. That's the one that is not user entered and has been checked against the USDA database.
Good to know. Thanks!0 -
I am curious why it is so hard in MFP to find raw, whole food. Like potato, put that in and you have to search for potato. Same with pineapple of other fruits, etc. The whole, raw version of the food should be the first thing that comes up, not a bunch of other crap that might have a potato in it. /rant
Agree! And why are there 50 different entries for a potato? 1 for 50g, one for 75g, one for a cup, another for half a cup, yet another for a slice, etc etc etc. I'd love them all to be in one place called raw potato.
joining in the rant! this is my 1st one yall. lol.
I agree w/ this ranting here - which goes with kinda the op rant.
that's the one off-putting thing of the website - is that there are 50 different versions of the ONE thing i need to register. pineapple, potatoes, etc.
or even for the fast food listings - there are at least 7 different zaxby's fries on the list...different grams...different oz...etc. how does this data base get 'made' anyways?
arrrrg!
okay rant over lol
Look for the entries with out asterisks. These are USDA values I believe. Problem solved.
i just want to motorboat your bacon avatar right now!0 -
I really like the tracking, it helps me a lot to know exactly what I'm eating. Then I have the recipe logged so if I make the same dish again it is already in there.0
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I don't often use the recipe builder, because I don't always make things the exact same way. For those recipes I do have saved, and might make a little different each time, I just figure, "Eh, close enough."
Mostly, I just have the raw ingredients saved on my diary, so it's just a matter of going through the checklist. Easy peasy.0 -
I really like the tracking, it helps me a lot to know exactly what I'm eating. Then I have the recipe logged so if I make the same dish again it is already in there.
And here I thought I was just about alone, I love tracking. It really helps me to see what's going into my body and how I can adjust amounts to feel better about my decisions. I use the recipe builder everyday because I love to cook and I do NOT trust my judgement when it comes to calories. I'd rather know the exact amount and eat less than to just guess and be SO far off and back track.0 -
Okay, it's rant time. For those of us who stay away from packaged foods and make a variety of recipes, tracking on MFP is a total pain in the butt! Entering the whole recipe (and remembering what you put in it) every time you make dinner? Especially if I measured in cups and whoever else measured in grams, or vice versa? Blergh. Okay, I'm done now.
maybe you should go back to eating packaged foods. they are easier to log.0 -
That is the downside of letting people enter their own foods. The upside is that most stuff is there already. I agree though that the raw, plain food should be listed first when you are sorting by relevance. I wonder if anyone has made that a feature request.0
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