Tracking

ready2losew8 · December 2010

Hi everyone! I'm new to MFP. I am wondering how much time it takes those who track their food intake on here and how you go about it. I'm terrible at measurements and multiple ingredient dishes. What types of things do you eat? Do you plan meals weekly? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

findingbalance2012 · December 2010

I usually add it as I am cooking it .. easy and makes me really aware of what I am eating . I love the reciepe feature...you can make curry quinoa( may favorite) for the whole week and just add one serving with all the ingredinets included for your meal.. makes it soo easy to keep track .BYT ... I track my food, but not my weight , just mesaurements:) Good luck !!!!!

polido54 · December 2010

I too try to add it as I'm cooking. I use the measuring cups a lot to know what I'm putting in my body. The recipe maker in the best because you can make things and see exactly how many calories you are consuming. I just started last week and have been really impressed with this program.

roland72 · December 2010

ive only joined last week and one of the things i love is the tracking and how easy it is. I've downloaded the iphone app for my phone and add data if and when I eat / excercise. it is really easy and quick. especially since the app remembers your foods as well.

I've found this method of tracking a lot easier and quicker than keeping lists in books or scraps of paper which you tend to lose or forget and which aren't as accurate.

I love the fact that when I'm in a shop i can check how many calories I've got left and if I can afford that chocolate bar or packet of crisps.

leslielove · December 2010

I've started adding my next day's food and exercise in before I go to bed at night. That way I can base what I eat on if/when I need to go to work or class and what kind of workout I'm going to do. It also helps me make sure I'm prepared so I can plan on defrosting meat etc. and I can work my meals around what I currently have in the house. That way I'm not scrambling at 8 am to figure out what I'm going to eat all day. It also helps me stay motivated because I build my exercise in to my calories and if I don't work out I have to re-do my entire meal plan - total pain in the *kitten* so I stick to what I set up for myself. The whole thing takes me maybe 10 minutes a night and if I need to tweak the next day, its a lot easier than rooting around the whole database with no idea what I want.

I do measure things because I'm a TERRIBLY eyeballer and I tend to stick to simple meals that don't require a zillion steps. I eat an egg, greens, black beans, and some kind of fruit every morning for breakfast, occasionally subbing the beans out with oatmeal if its cold and I want something that will stick to my ribs. Lunch and dinner tend to be a meat, veg, grain/carb and I almost always eat cottage cheese at some point in my day for a snack. It cuts down on tedious entering 1/8 of a teaspoon of some weird thing and they're easy, relatively cheap (especially if you stock up on meat on sale), whole foods that I enjoy eating. It DEFINITELY took some getting used to and retraining my palette but its so much easier now that I have a system.

Give yourself some time to get a method down for yourself and you'll be surprised at how easy it is to fall into a routine

Good luck!

mariapuhl · December 2010

Since I don't eat a ton of different foods (since I live by myself), it's easy for me to track.

But for recipes, if it's something you make a lot, I'd just make it in "my recipes" so then it's there for every other time you make it. I've done that with the few things I make all the time and it makes logging them SO easy.

mapinkerton · December 2010

I have only been at this since Wednesday. I have been measuring and weighing every thing. That has done TWO things for me. I now can pretty much eyeball specific amounts and measuring has let me know how much I was overeating before and makes me aware of how much I am putting in my mouth.

Good Luck!

Mary

cardbucfan · December 2010

Hi and welcome. I have found the tracking feature to be an excellent tool. It is work and if I didn't have the app on my phone, I'm not sure if I would have stuck it out. I'm not really obsessed with measuring precisely, I eyeball it for the most part using the old deck of cards, palm of your hand etc. rules I use the recipe feature to enter the foods I make so I can get an idea of how many calories are in homemade stuff. I plan my meals for the week and make my grocery list at that time. You will find that you eat pretty much the same few things for breakfast and lunch and that dinner will have the most variety. Even then, unless you are a serious cook, you will likely make things over and over. It is a challenge at first to build up your personal database of foods and to make certain you select the item in the database that both most closely represents what you ate but that is also correct. Remember, it's a FREE member created database and there are errors in there. ONe think I found once I started tracking and getting a sense of how many calories were in things, I discovered that some foods are just not calorie worthy. Somebody on here said it best, your calories are like money and it's up to you to spend them wisely. Blow them all at lunch, and dinner looks a little bleak-just like if you buy that great pair of shoes, you now have no money to go out and show them off! My diary is open but the last couple of weeks have been pretty bad with the holidays and my son having surgery (especially today-Outback is terribly fattening!!!). Feel free to check out October and November for ideas on things to eat and how many calories are in things.

shellydd · December 2010

this web site has an incredible database of different foods. i generally over estimate, on purpose because of the theory, people tend to under estimate. it's not precise but works for me. Good luck.

Tracking

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