MFP Encourages "Convenience" Nutrition

Options
24567…11

Replies

  • laurie04427
    laurie04427 Posts: 421 Member
    Options
    I kind of feel the oppisite. The site is making me aware when I go through my diary that the pre-packaged stuff is where most of my sodium and sugar comes from so I start looking for non-processed alternatives.
  • Jenn842512
    Jenn842512 Posts: 41 Member
    Options
    Does anyone else fell like this site lends itself to prepackaged foods and/or commercial dining? It's easier to get nutritional information from those sources but you're really doing a disservice to your health!

    And that's what this whole weight loss thing is really about, isn't it? Doing what's easy.

    MFP doesn't encourage me to do anything. It's a tool. How you use the tool is up to you.

    Silly to quote the main topic. Of course that's what you're replying to.
  • lar4290
    lar4290 Posts: 55 Member
    Options
    I don't have any problems logging the calories that I make. I have a kitchen scale and I weigh most things and measure by weight. It's really easy when it's part of your routine. I also make recipes quite often.

    What's more difficult is eating out at non-chain restaurants, which aren't required by law to post recipes or nutrition. But that would be a problem with any calorie-based method, whether on this site or another. Luckily because the database is so large, I'm often able to guestimate off of foods at other restaurants, or I look up an indulgent recipe on Bon Appetit and enter it to calculate my own guestimate for restaurant dining.
  • DamePiglet
    DamePiglet Posts: 3,730 Member
    Options
    You get what you put in.

    What you decide to get out of this tool is completely up to you.

    So, I disagree with your OP.

    Maybe you should reevaluate your use of the calorie counter and what you choose to put in your log.

    Excellent post & I agree 100%
  • bcf7683
    bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
    Options
    Does anyone else fell like this site lends itself to prepackaged foods and/or commercial dining? It's easier to get nutritional information from those sources but you're really doing a disservice to your health!

    And that's what this whole weight loss thing is really about, isn't it? Doing what's easy.

    MFP doesn't encourage me to do anything. It's a tool. How you use the tool is up to you.

    Silly to quote the main topic. Of course that's what you're replying to.

    Silly to reply and completely ignore the people who are answering (challenging) the OP
  • Jenn842512
    Jenn842512 Posts: 41 Member
    Options
    I kind of feel the oppisite. The site is making me aware when I go through my diary that the pre-packaged stuff is where most of my sodium and sugar comes from so I start looking for non-processed alternatives.

    That's kind of what I was getting at. I eat almost nothing prepackaged. Which makes my numerical diary totals feel a little "guessish" (yes, I just made that word up) but a couple years ago when I started using MFP, I noticed big spikes in sodium, sugar, etc.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Options
    Does anyone else fell like this site lends itself to prepackaged foods and/or commercial dining? It's easier to get nutritional information from those sources but you're really doing a disservice to your health!

    Yes, "convenience" food is easier. By definition.
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    Options
    *looks at grapefruit she's having for a snack*

    Well. I suppose it was convenient. Just had to peel it, weigh it, and head out to the porch to nom.



    Which is to say, no. The recipe maker is easy to use. Finding the proper foods is easy ('Grapefruit pink raw' brings me the usda entry with no issue) But finding restaurants in the datebase, hoping what you ordered is there, trusting that the portions are accurate and that no one added extra oil or butter or that the spoonful of potatoes isn't a little hefty that day...? That's some iffy stuff.

    Logging food is, by far, the easiest part of the whole thing.
  • Jenn842512
    Jenn842512 Posts: 41 Member
    Options
    That hasn't been my experience, but I'm only one person. I guess it's a tiny bit quicker to scan in, say, sabra hummus than it is to scan in a can of chickpeas and the jar of tahini and enter in some garlic and lemon but I think anyone in the right mindset doesn't mind taking those extra few seconds.

    I suppose I feel like it affects my day to day in a way I'm not comfortable with. I'm a bit of a Free-love-hippie girl deep down and tallying every molecule feels obsessive, like I could better exert those energies elsewhere?
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    Options
    I have had zero issues finding the nutritional information that I need. And MFP has not encouraged any one food over another.
  • bcf7683
    bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
    Options
    I kind of feel the oppisite. The site is making me aware when I go through my diary that the pre-packaged stuff is where most of my sodium and sugar comes from so I start looking for non-processed alternatives.

    That's kind of what I was getting at. I eat almost nothing prepackaged. Which makes my numerical diary totals feel a little "guessish" (yes, I just made that word up) but a couple years ago when I started using MFP, I noticed big spikes in sodium, sugar, etc.

    It shouldn't be "guessish" if you weigh your food. You eat a potato? Weigh it and log the info for the allotted amount of ounces or grams of said potato. What's there to guess?

    And if you feel that the energy to log your food is wasted, then don't do it. Just don't wonder (and ask everyone here) why you aren't hitting your goals when it comes down to it. Simple solution, really. You admittedly aren't utilizing the tool correctly- doesn't mean that there's something wrong with the way it's constructed.
  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
    Options
    Does anyone else fell like this site lends itself to prepackaged foods and/or commercial dining? It's easier to get nutritional information from those sources but you're really doing a disservice to your health!

    And that's what this whole weight loss thing is really about, isn't it? Doing what's easy.

    MFP doesn't encourage me to do anything. It's a tool. How you use the tool is up to you.

    Silly to quote the main topic. Of course that's what you're replying to.

    I'm confused. Were we supposed to answer a mystery question that isn't visible?

    And no, to your main topic question that is visible.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    Options
    That hasn't been my experience, but I'm only one person. I guess it's a tiny bit quicker to scan in, say, sabra hummus than it is to scan in a can of chickpeas and the jar of tahini and enter in some garlic and lemon but I think anyone in the right mindset doesn't mind taking those extra few seconds.

    I suppose I feel like it affects my day to day in a way I'm not comfortable with. I'm a bit of a Free-love-hippie girl deep down and tallying every molecule feels obsessive, like I could better exert those energies elsewhere?

    Why are you blaming the tool? You are admitting here that it is -you- who is not comfortable utilizing it.
  • Pirate_chick
    Pirate_chick Posts: 1,216 Member
    Options
    I guess it is easier because all you have to do is scan a bar code or look up a chain restaurant's nutritional info. However, after using MFP's recipe tool for some time and building up my own database of recipes I keep in regular rotation, I find it just as easy as it would be to log a frozen meal. Cooking for yourself will always take more work, whether it is the actual prep or logging!


    Ditto.
  • Jenn842512
    Jenn842512 Posts: 41 Member
    Options
    *looks at grapefruit she's having for a snack*

    Well. I suppose it was convenient. Just had to peel it, weigh it, and head out to the porch to nom.



    Which is to say, no. The recipe maker is easy to use. Finding the proper foods is easy ('Grapefruit pink raw' brings me the usda entry with no issue) But finding restaurants in the datebase, hoping what you ordered is there, trusting that the portions are accurate and that no one added extra oil or butter or that the spoonful of potatoes isn't a little hefty that day...? That's some iffy stuff.

    Logging food is, by far, the easiest part of the whole thing.

    First can I just say "smokin" to your before and after.

    And yeah produce is a breeze. I've not messed with the recipe creator too much. Tedious.
  • fannyfrost
    fannyfrost Posts: 756 Member
    Options
    I don't feel it encourages convenience or natural either way. It is a database to find nutrition. You can find nutrition of most fresh items somewhere either in the data base or out on the net.

    personally I am eating more convenience foods than I would like, but that has to do with where I am in my life. I am working longer hours, getting home later, my husband gets home earlier and it is just hard to cook right now. I know terrible, but I am lucky I am keeping up with other things. But my overall health is really good, I just weigh too much. I know it is not optimal, but if I when not using convenience food, then I end up eating wrong. I try to opt for the healthiest options, lower sodium and add veggies to my meals.

    Life and diet are what you make of it and you do the best you can for your overall health. Life can't always be perfect. I really find all the diet databases I have used to work for both. Its just eating raw, healthy and creating your own recipes in the database take a little more work, at least at first.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Options
    Does anyone else fell like this site lends itself to prepackaged foods and/or commercial dining? It's easier to get nutritional information from those sources but you're really doing a disservice to your health!

    No
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    Options
    That hasn't been my experience, but I'm only one person. I guess it's a tiny bit quicker to scan in, say, sabra hummus than it is to scan in a can of chickpeas and the jar of tahini and enter in some garlic and lemon but I think anyone in the right mindset doesn't mind taking those extra few seconds.

    I suppose I feel like it affects my day to day in a way I'm not comfortable with. I'm a bit of a Free-love-hippie girl deep down and tallying every molecule feels obsessive, like I could better exert those energies elsewhere?

    IDK, I spend about ten minutes actually logging food. Prep and cook time aren't much longer than they've always been (I chop/skin/whatever things and put them on a dish/pan already placed on the scale as I go then jot the number on a piece of paper for later logging, so the only extra time is going 'ah, 120 grams, *write*.I've always bought meat and bulk and broke it into serving sized amounts then froze it, so that's the same.') and off I go.


    Edit: And thank you. :smile:
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,022 Member
    Options
    Does anyone else fell like this site lends itself to prepackaged foods and/or commercial dining? It's easier to get nutritional information from those sources but you're really doing a disservice to your health!

    And that's what this whole weight loss thing is really about, isn't it? Doing what's easy.

    MFP doesn't encourage me to do anything. It's a tool. How you use the tool is up to you.

    Silly to quote the main topic. Of course that's what you're replying to.

    I was trying to make it easier for you.

Categories