Why Use MFP?
SuggaD
Posts: 1,369 Member
For those who are on "diets" of any type, why do you use MFP? This has been a question in my mind for some time. I get the debate about food quality, etc. for those just counting calories, but I don't understand why those following the X, Y, or Z diet use MFP at all. Interested in your honest answers.
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So they can tell us all how much better they are then we are?0
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I'm here for shenanigans only.0
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I used it for tracking my calories and got me here
I still use it to maintain0 -
_dracarys_ wrote: »I'm here for shenanigans only.
Pretty much this. I didn't use MFP when I was in my active weight loss phase. Stumbled upon it during my transition into maintenance and I keep coming back, mostly for the entertainment value of the forums
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I'm not on a "special" diet, so I'm guessing, but what if they're on MFP for similar reasons as other people - track calories/macros, support, motivation, information, random dumpster fires, and kitteh/puppeh gifs?
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Solid._dracarys_ wrote: »I'm here for shenanigans only.
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I don't use it so much to log anymore, but the recipe builder has been great. I have a ton of recipes stored on here.0
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If you don't mind paraphrasing, are you really asking "those who continously say CICO doesn't work, and that XYZ foods are the way to lose weight, then why are you on a calorie counting website?" (I've been wondering the same thing...I assume they don't actually use MFP, and are just in the discussion sections).0
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I don't do the "special" diets. I just eat what I want in moderation, so I use mfp for the typical reasons. But I've often wondered why the "special dieters" are here too. It seems that most of them like to post about how wonderful their paleo and herbalife is and how it's far more superior then counting calories, so I've often thought then why the heck are you on this site???? But I'm guessing it's likely because they know that their fad diet won't work in the long run so they stick around for when it fails.0
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If you don't mind paraphrasing, are you really asking "those who continously say CICO doesn't work, and that XYZ foods are the way to lose weight, then why are you on a calorie counting website?" (I've been wondering the same thing...I assume they don't actually use MFP, and are just in the discussion sections).
Yes. That's what I'm talking about. The low carbers (they annoy me most of all), paleo, military dieter, Whole30, etc. They are maddening.0 -
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If you don't mind paraphrasing, are you really asking "those who continously say CICO doesn't work, and that XYZ foods are the way to lose weight, then why are you on a calorie counting website?" (I've been wondering the same thing...I assume they don't actually use MFP, and are just in the discussion sections).
Yes. That's what I'm talking about. The low carbers (they annoy me most of all), paleo, military dieter, Whole30, etc. They are maddening.
Gotcha. They are either combining quality and quantity efforts (which could work well), but I highly suspect they're not logging at all and just writing in the forums.
I'm a CICO logger myself, but I am conscientious about eating a lot of fruit, veggies, whole grains, and lean protein. I guess I try to "eat clean" most of the day and avoid a lot of processed food. That's for health reasons but also because I get to eat a lot more volume when I eat most natural food. And I like to eat a high volume!
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If you don't mind paraphrasing, are you really asking "those who continously say CICO doesn't work, and that XYZ foods are the way to lose weight, then why are you on a calorie counting website?" (I've been wondering the same thing...I assume they don't actually use MFP, and are just in the discussion sections).
Yes. That's what I'm talking about. The low carbers (they annoy me most of all), paleo, military dieter, Whole30, etc. They are maddening.
Maybe they use it to track their carb intake??0 -
I like the barcode option when logging food on my diary and them looking at all the nutrients I have consumed during the day and whether I'm having the right amount of everything. I also like the stories on the forums and why other people are on here. Everyone has their own unique journey.0
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What else would I do with my 8 hour workday?0
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Cant. Stop. Watching.asflatasapancake wrote: »I use it for the gifs, of course.
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Regardless of the diet you follow, tracking your input is critical . There's an old project management adage that says "what gets measured gets done" and I think it applies to weight loss too. If you don't track and record you food you tend to eat more than you realize. The act of recording keeps you mindful0
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If you don't mind paraphrasing, are you really asking "those who continously say CICO doesn't work, and that XYZ foods are the way to lose weight, then why are you on a calorie counting website?" (I've been wondering the same thing...I assume they don't actually use MFP, and are just in the discussion sections).
Yes. That's what I'm talking about. The low carbers (they annoy me most of all), paleo, military dieter, Whole30, etc. They are maddening.
Gotcha. They are either combining quality and quantity efforts (which could work well), but I highly suspect they're not logging at all and just writing in the forums.
I'm a CICO logger myself, but I am conscientious about eating a lot of fruit, veggies, whole grains, and lean protein. I guess I try to "eat clean" most of the day and avoid a lot of processed food. That's for health reasons but also because I get to eat a lot more volume when I eat most natural food. And I like to eat a high volume!
Macro tracking. It's not just about CICO - CICO is the sum total of all macros eaten throughout the day. Further, the application allows one to track micro nutrients as well.
Which is more maddening, questioning the honest efforts of those who are on specific diet plans by using an application as it's been intended to use for a variety of tracking purposes - or just using it to track how many calories eaten in a day?
I would think the madness is not understanding what you are eating and its contribution to the overall intake rather than some total calorie number created out of thin air.
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I am firm believer in accountability. If I log my food and exercise accurately every single day, I am informed about my CICO and can track my macros. If I go too high in one area and don't like it, at least I can backtrack and see who the culprit was. Like sodium content for example. Where did I go wrong? Make the necessary adjustments and move on. Accountability.
MFP is a tool to be used to meet a goal or maintain the course. Everyone has the right to keep track of what they eat in spite of their dietary preferences - paleo, military, atkins, Whole30, etc. I would assume they use it the same as those who are doing their own thing, trying to eat well, be active and find that sweet spot where they are accomplishing what they have set out to accomplish. After all, isn't that what this site is for? Oh and shennanigans, of course!
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tedboosalis7 wrote: »If you don't mind paraphrasing, are you really asking "those who continously say CICO doesn't work, and that XYZ foods are the way to lose weight, then why are you on a calorie counting website?" (I've been wondering the same thing...I assume they don't actually use MFP, and are just in the discussion sections).
Yes. That's what I'm talking about. The low carbers (they annoy me most of all), paleo, military dieter, Whole30, etc. They are maddening.
Gotcha. They are either combining quality and quantity efforts (which could work well), but I highly suspect they're not logging at all and just writing in the forums.
I'm a CICO logger myself, but I am conscientious about eating a lot of fruit, veggies, whole grains, and lean protein. I guess I try to "eat clean" most of the day and avoid a lot of processed food. That's for health reasons but also because I get to eat a lot more volume when I eat most natural food. And I like to eat a high volume!
Macro tracking. It's not just about CICO - CICO is the sum total of all macros eaten throughout the day. Further, the application allows one to track micro nutrients as well.
Which is more maddening, questioning the honest efforts of those who are on specific diet plans by using an application as it's been intended to use for a variety of tracking purposes - or just using it to track how many calories eaten in a day?
I would think the madness is not understanding what you are eating and its contribution to the overall intake rather than some total calorie number created out of thin air.
I think you forgot to add your favorite completely unrelated catch phrase to that post.0 -
HA legit.ceoverturf wrote: »tedboosalis7 wrote: »If you don't mind paraphrasing, are you really asking "those who continously say CICO doesn't work, and that XYZ foods are the way to lose weight, then why are you on a calorie counting website?" (I've been wondering the same thing...I assume they don't actually use MFP, and are just in the discussion sections).
Yes. That's what I'm talking about. The low carbers (they annoy me most of all), paleo, military dieter, Whole30, etc. They are maddening.
Gotcha. They are either combining quality and quantity efforts (which could work well), but I highly suspect they're not logging at all and just writing in the forums.
I'm a CICO logger myself, but I am conscientious about eating a lot of fruit, veggies, whole grains, and lean protein. I guess I try to "eat clean" most of the day and avoid a lot of processed food. That's for health reasons but also because I get to eat a lot more volume when I eat most natural food. And I like to eat a high volume!
Macro tracking. It's not just about CICO - CICO is the sum total of all macros eaten throughout the day. Further, the application allows one to track micro nutrients as well.
Which is more maddening, questioning the honest efforts of those who are on specific diet plans by using an application as it's been intended to use for a variety of tracking purposes - or just using it to track how many calories eaten in a day?
I would think the madness is not understanding what you are eating and its contribution to the overall intake rather than some total calorie number created out of thin air.
I think you forgot to add your favorite completely unrelated catch phrase to that post.
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tedboosalis7 wrote: »If you don't mind paraphrasing, are you really asking "those who continously say CICO doesn't work, and that XYZ foods are the way to lose weight, then why are you on a calorie counting website?" (I've been wondering the same thing...I assume they don't actually use MFP, and are just in the discussion sections).
Yes. That's what I'm talking about. The low carbers (they annoy me most of all), paleo, military dieter, Whole30, etc. They are maddening.
Gotcha. They are either combining quality and quantity efforts (which could work well), but I highly suspect they're not logging at all and just writing in the forums.
I'm a CICO logger myself, but I am conscientious about eating a lot of fruit, veggies, whole grains, and lean protein. I guess I try to "eat clean" most of the day and avoid a lot of processed food. That's for health reasons but also because I get to eat a lot more volume when I eat most natural food. And I like to eat a high volume!
Macro tracking. It's not just about CICO - CICO is the sum total of all macros eaten throughout the day. Further, the application allows one to track micro nutrients as well.
Which is more maddening, questioning the honest efforts of those who are on specific diet plans by using an application as it's been intended to use for a variety of tracking purposes - or just using it to track how many calories eaten in a day?
I would think the madness is not understanding what you are eating and its contribution to the overall intake rather than some total calorie number created out of thin air.
Fyi, you quoted me, but I'm not the OP who said it was maddening
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If you don't mind paraphrasing, are you really asking "those who continously say CICO doesn't work, and that XYZ foods are the way to lose weight, then why are you on a calorie counting website?" (I've been wondering the same thing...I assume they don't actually use MFP, and are just in the discussion sections).
Yes. That's what I'm talking about. The low carbers (they annoy me most of all), paleo, military dieter, Whole30, etc. They are maddening.
why are you "annoyed" by other people's dietary choices that literally have no effect on your life in the slightest?0 -
This content has been removed.
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If you don't mind paraphrasing, are you really asking "those who continously say CICO doesn't work, and that XYZ foods are the way to lose weight, then why are you on a calorie counting website?" (I've been wondering the same thing...I assume they don't actually use MFP, and are just in the discussion sections).
Yes. That's what I'm talking about. The low carbers (they annoy me most of all), paleo, military dieter, Whole30, etc. They are maddening.
A good detox cleanse would help you clear out some of that "maddening" energy.
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Just because someone try's out a special diet dose not mean that person should not be able to track Calories. Or use the app. I find that a lot of the users are very fast to negatively judge others on here. The community was set up for support not to be looked down on, regardless of your own personal weigh loss journey. Who hasent tried out a new "fad" diet or work out routine just to see if it might work out for them.0
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I don't think it's the special/fad diet that OP is referring to, but rather the daily threads where people question CICO...on a calorie counting site.0
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If you call it a calorie counting site, someone will tell you "NO, IT'S A FITNESS SITE."
If you call it a fitness site, someone will tell you "NO, IT's A CALORIE COUNTING WEBSITE."
You really can't win, so it's best to just stick to nudes and cat gifs. *shrug*0 -
At least some of those do use MFP to count carbs, presumably. What I find weirder (although granted, I don't really care) are those who ask about fad diets that include specific menus and food choices. If you are going to do one of those (and they all sound horrible), why would you use MFP? You are not making a decision about what to eat and presumably have no need to track calories (it's dictated by the preplanned menus).
But I honestly don't get anyone choosing to do some plan where they are told precisely what to eat.
Beyond that, a great many people choosing to do a diet where you eliminate foods vs. counting calories explain that they don't want to count calories, think counting calories is weird or burdensome, so in that case why MFP is a fair question.
That said, I may stop logging regularly (I'm taking a break now, although I do plan to start up again) and would probably continue to hang out here, since I enjoy the community/forum, the community support/feed, and like being able to run calorie counts and log exercise and look up the calories and nutrients in various food items. Off and on before I found MFP I would occasionally log on Livestrong and I never kept it up, I think because it didn't have the same kind of community, which is for me helpful in staying motivated.
For someone doing a fad diet, maybe wanting to tell everyone they are WRONG, WRONG about how the GM diet doesn't work (or whatever) provides motivation to keep going. ;-)0 -
Because all special dieters like low carb and paleo think their way of eating excludes CICO, right?
Not possible they eat a certain way because of satiation, or how their body responds to certain macros.0
This discussion has been closed.
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