The Food diary is surprising or I need a *lot* of practice.

Hi,

I eat 'healthily' - love veg and lean meat and fish so always wondered how come my weight had crept up so high. When I put in my meals for the day, they were perfect - just the right amount of calories. Then when I added my snacks, which were eaten with very little thought, they often came to a whopping 600 extra calories. It's that careless snacking that puts the weight on in an otherwise healthy diet.

Good luck, and don't forget to drink water. Often we snack when actually we're thirsty.

The thing is, those "snacky" type things are generally extremely calorie dense processed foods...so a little tends to go a looooonnnnnggggg way.

I used to drink around 3 sodas per day...often more...right there is right around 500 calories per day just with a few sodas that I never thought about. Then grabbing little candies out of the numerous candy bowls around the office...going out to eat a couple of times per day where your standard entree is going to be in the neighborhood of 800 - 1000 calories, etc.

When I started logging, it was more of an eye oppener.

^^^ Agree, make sure you use a food scale. Most people do not have a good idea of real portion sizes.

When I first began logging, I was eating not a lot of volume of food but a lot of stuff that was high in calorie processed foods. I didn't feel like I was eating very much. Now I eat a lot more volume of food, but lower in calorie foods.

When I first started logging I was floored by the how many calories I was eating in snacks! Seriously, sometimes 600 to 800 calories just in snacks! Just cutting out that part alone could be enough to put you in a position to be at your goal. Just depends on what kind of snacks you were having.

Also, make sure your proportions are accurate. I found I was way underestimating what I 'thought' was the right amount of X.

Second the recommendation to get a food scale. I was surprised that my glass of milk was 2 servings, my yogurt was 2 servings, my ice cream was 2 servings. Basically, I underestimated everything by half.

Same. My unmeasured pasta was 1.5-2 servings. I'm now finding ways to cut back on calories but still enjoy foods I like, by checking what a serving is and trying to stay accurate.

Are you tracking your coffee creamer and the olive oil you use to cook - the butter on your toast? and every little bite you take? a nibble here and nibble there tends to add up.

Another problem for a lot of us is "weekend eating". You can be cruising along all week, at or below your daily calorie goal, and then go to one BBQ or birthday party (or both) and eat waaaaaay over the deficit (or balance) you so carefully crafted all week long in about.. 30 minutes. I think this is a huge factor in weight creep for those that think they eat well "most" of the time.

I found that by logging everything it made me much more aware of all the little 'extras' that used to sneak past my lips!

Portion control has always been a problem too, now I'm pretty much OK visualising a portion size, although I do still use my scales most of the time to make sure I've got it right.

Still trying to educate hubby re portion control when he cooks though, he came from a family that served huge portions, and the plate had to be cleared before you left the table.

I can still have the occasional treat, just a smaller portion, and MFP also helps identify the 'weekend wandering' and stress days when I may not have been 100%.

I've also learnt that there are lots of lower calorie alternatives.

At the end of the day, MFP only works if you are honest with yourself and truthfully log

Sometimes I think that too, but then I realize how much I changed my eating habits once I started logging. When I look back now, only a few months in, it shocks me. Cuz it's totally true, you stop eating certain things just because you don't want to track it, etc. I initially started this journey with no real intention of totally overhauling my diet, but it's something that happened naturally because I wanted to be able to eat more but still be under my calorie goal. I eat PB2, FF half & half, egg whites, & greek yogurt ranch now - just to name a few. Those are things I NEVER ate before I started tracking my food, but as time went on I'd be like 'hmm, I really like xyz but it's super high calorie, I wonder if there's a lower calorie option out there?' & start trying things. I also eat WAY more veggies now. I've discovered so many veggies the last few months that I had no idea I actually liked - like sweet peppers & green onions! WHO KNEW?

Logging has also made me think twice about going out to eat or going to things with free-for-all food [like potlucks, BBQ's, etc] where there is absolutely no way I'm going to be able to track my calories. Thankfully, those things are few & far between, so I can usually allow those days to be cheat days & enjoy it without feeling bad. But generally, part of why I think I've grown to love logging so much is that I never used to be so conscious of everything I put in my body, and it's so nice to actually care!