After hitting my initial goal of losing 100 pounds I became depressed and floundering!

parkdad73 · January 2015

In an attempt to get motivated again and take off an additional 35 pounds I signed up here based on a recommendation from my gym. This site will have me doing things I hadn't done with my initial weight loss, like keeping a record of what I eat, calorie counting, and keeping track of how much exercise.

After a couple of days, it has me more pumped, but what tricks to the app do I need to know about to make it quicker to load it all in? I'm not finding exactly the foods I am eating so I'm concerned I am "fooling" myself in the data recording with false numbers.

parkdad73 · February 2015

Nothing? Wonder why.

Bukeelaka · February 2015

If you don't already have a kitchen scale, get one so you know how many grams or ounces you are consuming of certain foods that require those kinds of measurements. Also, what foods are you not finding? If you can give a few examples, it will be easier to point you in the right direction.

TheVirgoddess · February 2015

Use the barcode scanner as often as you can - that's usually going to be your most accurate entry.

Don't use entries for recipes that aren't yours. So if you make your own spaghetti sauce, use the recipe builder - not a generic entry in the database.

Like mentioned above, a food scale is a good idea. It's going to give you the most accurate results. You should weigh every solid food and measure every liquid.

If you eat a certain meal frequently, save it as a "meal" for future logging ease.

Try to stay away from * entries in the database - those are user entered and have the potential to be inaccurate.

I'd also swap out tracking sugar for tracking something like fiber. Personal preference.

You can adjust your diary headings to suit your actual eating habits. For example mine is: Breakfast, 11-4, Dinner, Dessert and Supplements.

When searching for things, trying searching like this: apple, raw, egg, fried, chicken breast (raw or cooked). Those will net you better results, in my experience.

Let me know if you have any specific questions, and congratulations on your loss so far.

janerfitnesspal145 · February 2015

I've been logging here for the past two years, so here's my two cents worth. My husband and sister both use the phone app, so they both scan in bar codes of food. My mom and I both use the web version (from our laptops), so we actually key foods in. Over the years I found that a lot of the foods in the database have errors, because most of the foods are keyed by users, and people don't always take the time to double check things (i.e., they'll key the calories, but no other macro items, or key sodium of 200 as 2,000). Also, sometimes when you scan a bar code, what comes up isn't what you're actually scanning, so always verify. When I add a new food, I always double check what shows up against my packaging. If what's in the database is not correct, you can edit it. If there's nothing there that matches what you have, add it yourself. After a while, your own food list will grow and grow, so it'll be easier every day. You can also save meals, copy from one meal to another, copy from one day to another, copy from other peoples diaries, etc.

beastmode_kitty · February 2015

Always check and verify everything. Scanning in a barcode doesn't always mean it will give you the right number. Use a kitchen scale too. Need to be as accurate as you can.

ellie0213 · February 2015

Happy to help -- but yeah specific examples of the problems you are having would help. I will send a friend request and then you can PM me.

tlblood · February 2015

Agreeing with previous posters. Barcode scanner is a great time saver WHEN IT'S RIGHT. That being said, I scan the barcode on my milk and it comes up 10 calories higher than the label right there on the jug. Also, as handy as it is, I am trying to cut back on the prepackaged (and barcoded) items in favor for more fresh foods when I can.

Whenever I search for a food item, I ALWAYS hit the 'nutritional info' button/link to be sure that what is entered for that particular item is what matches my nutritional label. If it is correct, you can say YES, and if it isn't you can say NO and then EDIT it. Often the ones with the most confirmations you can be confident are correct.

As mentioned previously, the more you log, the easier and faster it gets because the foods you eat often show up in the "recent" list. The sandwich I just ate, for instance, was comprised of ingredients that were all already in my list. All I had to do was change the grams on the lettuce I had this time, everything else was already entered with the amount I used last time (and again this time, so no other changes were needed).

lynn1982 · February 2015

If you're worried about accuracy, get a kitchen scale. I found it useful for things such as nuts, nut butters, pasta (dry), and even meat. And remember that the database is member driven. If something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

parkdad73 · February 2015

Thanks everyone. Some examples would be that I could find mozzarella cheese low fat but not regular, or I couldn't find Oscar Meyer all beef hot dogs but just about every other brand of beef ones.

What is the best way to search item? Do you start with the restaurant's or brand name first or put it at the end?

I tried the barcode scanner for the first time and really like it. I will certainly verify what it calls up.

Overall, I don't plan on being to the micronutrient in my recording. I lost 100 pounds not doing it that way, but I do like the new challenge of comparing today with yesterday.

Another area is entering exercise. I didn't find just "treadmill" but something that looked like a generic "elliptical, treadmill,stairclimber" type thing. I guess that isn't as important because i change the calorie burned to what the Machine says instead.

There is also weight training in the cardiovascular section but I feel the values given for that is low because I do supersets and work out harder that way than on the treadmill. I don't want to log in each thing I do, so is there an easier way? Is logging it in easier the more you repeat exercises like the food log with repeating?

One last thing. Can you group a single meal that you have often (chicken with peas, potatoes and orange juice)

Thanks.

Bukeelaka · February 2015

I'll try to answer some of these. I use the web version & this is based on what works for me:
when searching for a food item I usually enter the brand first but not always. It's kind of like doing a google search-sometimes you have to play around with the wording. Sucks, but once you get the hang of it, no problem.

I don't weigh my food anymore but at first it helped with getting a visual on what 4 oz of meat or 1 oz of cheese, nuts, etc looked like. But yeah, you obviously have had great success so you may not need this unless you reach a point where more accuracy makes a difference.

Can't help you with the exercise thing, it's really a rough estimate so I don't use it. In the past when I did, I just used common sense to select the best possible representation of what I wanted to log. Yes, it does get easier because it saves your previous entries like the food. There is an easier way, I am actually using the TDEE method and don't log my exercise at all. It's working well for me.

Regarding the weight training, that is one of the reasons I decided to use TDEE.

Last question: Yes you can group entire meals and save them with the quick tools button, choose remember meal.

Hope that was helpful, anyone else can cover what I may have missed…..please?

After hitting my initial goal of losing 100 pounds I became depressed and floundering!

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