How do you do MFP with your SO/family?

tradja
tradja Posts: 11
in Food and Nutrition
I've been doing T25 with some bonus Insanity workouts since December and seeing good results. I've always eaten well (vegetarian since 18yo) but wanted to get serious about logging data in order to get the maximum benefit from the workouts, so I started MFP about a week ago. I love having the data and I like the discipline of measuring and logging my intake. However...

My wife has been out of town for several weeks. When she gets back soon, I'm sure she won't want to weigh/measure every ingredient of everything she cooks (not the way we cook at all), and will quickly tire of me doing so and/or asking her about it. ("Hey, how much olive oil do you think you used in this dish? How much cheese?")

For those of you with significant others and/or families who are NOT doing MFP, how do you get the precise measurements required for this data to really matter? Do you just cook and eat separately? I've quickly realized that "eyeballing" or other estimating

Replies

  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
    You could do the cooking. :) I can't imagine not supporting my husband if he were the one using MFP, so I would bet your wife would be happy to tell you how much oil she used in a recipe and not bat an eye if you weigh out a portion. In my house my husband may eat more rice than I do at any given meal for example, or less vegetables. Or if we are having chili for instance, he will take a larger serving than I. Also, I figure if I'm doing the cookin' everyone else is going to eat what I cook!
  • Calfuray
    Calfuray Posts: 32 Member
    Yeah, I do the exact weighing and cook. If OH wants steak and chips for example, I'll make him that, and I'll have the smaller of the two steaks, boiled potatoes instead (or smaller chips!) and fill the rest of my plate with veggies: broccoli, asparagus, pepper, cucumber, sweetcorn, runner beans, etc.
  • JNettie73
    JNettie73 Posts: 1,211 Member
    I do the majority of cooking so it isn't much of an issue. I measure and scratch down my numbers on a magnetic note pad which I keep on the side of the fridge. While it's in the oven cooking I quickly add a recipe. On occasion my will husband cook meals. At first he would just throw stuff together and it stressed me out over calories. I did the best I could with logging. Now he sees how hard I have been working towards my goals and will measure out ingredients for me.

    I suggest you talk to your wife and tell her about your plans. I also suggest you offer to pitch in and do some of the cooking.

    Best of luck to you.
  • monicapatituccijones
    monicapatituccijones Posts: 68 Member
    I do the cooking, so that solves my problem. If your wife follows recipes, you could get the recipe and work it out yourself.
  • tradja
    tradja Posts: 11
    Thanks very much for the great ideas. Unfortunately, I work 12-15 hour days and just don't have time to cook, though I miss it a lot. We've both cooked professionally in the past and as such, we seldom use recipies and cook more by memory or instinct. Measuring ingredients was a paradigm shift for me, and would be for her too.

    It's really great to hear about spouses seeing the results and being supportive of the measuring.
  • DontEatTheCake3
    DontEatTheCake3 Posts: 19
    I ask that barcodes of anything be left out instead of thrown away so I can scan, and then I just measure most things by myself, like portions.
  • GlitterrMagpie
    GlitterrMagpie Posts: 302 Member
    I do most of the cooking but my husband makes the occasional meal. When I first asked him to weigh/measure everything and make a list as he went along he huffed a bit but over time he realised how important it was to me and how well it was working and now he does it without complaining.
  • ExpectantHope
    ExpectantHope Posts: 60 Member
    My boyfriend does the cooking in our house but he knows that I really want to lose the weight so I explained MFP to him and asked him to weigh the ingredients he puts in our food, which he kindly does for me so that I can work out an adequate portion size and calculate the calories :) He gets frustrated sometimes, for example if he forgets or just doesn't think to weigh something, but he understands that it's important to me.
  • Madame_Goldbricker
    Madame_Goldbricker Posts: 1,625 Member
    Could you prepare your own meals in advance for while your on shift? You'd then know the cal content/macros of those meals. As for the meals that you share and are prepared by your wife. You could just cut back on the percentage of calories you eat back from daily burns. That would enable you to have a decent buffer. Obviously it wouldn't be ideal but it should help somewhat.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    My husband does more of the cooking, but he is also on MFP so he totally gets it. In the past, when I was the only one using MFP, we were separated 4 days per week (he was living at his parents' Mon-Thurs to care for his terminally ill mother) so I was basically eating solo on those days...and on the weekends, guesstimating everything. Honestly I think I am fairly good with my guesses and it wasn't TOO obnoxious for him when I'd constantly ask how much of this or that went into something he cooked.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    When my husband cooks, he doesn't mind weighing everything for me.
  • RobertHButler
    RobertHButler Posts: 50
    I measure out my portion; and they take what they want.
  • tradja
    tradja Posts: 11
    These are some great perspectives. Thanks for the ideas! I think it will work out fine. I really like the "leave a buffer" idea. I can easily quantify my green-smoothie breakfast and my own lunch, which just leaves dinner.

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