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How is LOGGING a way of Life???

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Replies

  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    I've been logging for 120 days, and have lost weight every week, but I've never bothered to create any recipes.

    I just over-guesstimate when something isn't scannable or searchable by text. Scanning/searching only takes a few seconds.
  • irenehb
    irenehb Posts: 236 Member
    Recipe building on a phone, would drive me insane too. I use my PC for recipe building, so much faster. Logging become quicker and easier over time, since most people tend to have their favourites.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Leka1000 wrote: »
    I've been logging everything AND accurately for the last month! I went insane today because it literally took me about 30 min to enter a Naan Pizza recipe into MFP. A recipe that I want to easily use over and over again. I was so frustrated I actually threw my phone! How is this lifestyle sustainable? Seriously! Accuracy is KEY but what about staying sane? What about exercising during logging time? I don't know what to do? Please help!

    Insane is the last place anybody needs to be. :)

    If you use certain recipes often, it's a one time deal to weigh the ingredients and enter them into the recipe maker. What I do after is enter the recipe in My Foods according to the title, macros, calories, etc. so that I can enter my portions in grams.

    It took me awhile at first to enter foods into My Foods database, but I took the time because I weigh food in grams and I want the entries to be correct.

    I log every day, except for out of state or country vacations once a year, because it has become a way of life for me. It helps me stay on track and has just become part of my day.

    That said, logging is not for everyone, and there are some people who don't do it at all. You just need to figure out what's best for you.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    I don't use my laptop or desktop to log food, I use my tablet or my phone--for me the latter two devices are much easier.
  • 1msvandy
    1msvandy Posts: 5 Member
    I guess you have to decide what kind of pain or level of difficulty you want. The pain and difficulty in losing weight and logging food. Or the pain and difficulty in being over weight, unhealthy, and insecure. Either direction is A pain and difficult choose what difficult you want. I get frustrated too. But more frustrated when my pants are tight and I can't zip my dress up.
  • kiela64
    kiela64 Posts: 1,447 Member
    When it feels too much that day, I'll use a "generic" entry. Then I add a recipe I know I'll use a bunch of times later, with the book in front of me. It takes a while, but I only enter one recipe or one product that the database doesn't have in a day.

    I'm increasing accuracy over time, when I want to, as I see fit. For the longest time I just logged the lentil burgers we eat as a 1/4cup lentils and a 1/4 cup brown rice. I did not take into account the wheat germ or the spices. Yesterday I fixed that, and now have a more accurate reading.

    That makes me happier, but I'm not scouring the cookbook for the falafel recipe, the veggie stir fry recipe (that changes slightly every time anyway), and the bunch of others. I feel better when I do this on my own terms, so if I don't have the zip for it, I just won't. It's not perfect, but imo it's probably sustainable for me.
  • Leka1000
    Leka1000 Posts: 160 Member
    Thank you everybody. I will keep going! I dont wanna gain weight....i want my body to trim fat. Fat is ugly to me.
  • ForestFairy022
    ForestFairy022 Posts: 99 Member
    Well I have OCD and one of the things I like to do is plan and organize things like multiple times. But this may just be good planning for someone else:

    Once a week, I go grocery shopping. I plan the whole weeks meals ahead of time so I can buy the ingredients for all of them. Since they are already planned out, I then take some time to log the entire week on mfp. So then I just follow the menu for the rest of the week, maybe make small adjustments if things don't exactly go according to plan. :)

    But I like logging calories. Having ocd, you kinda like to count things...calories, the number of times you switch the lights on, the number of times you chew or stir your coffee... hahaha. I like counting EVERYTHING!
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    How is brushing teeth a way of life? At one point it was awkward, boring, almost never done right, and needed lots of fruit flavored toothpaste and incentives and nursery songs for motivation. Fast forward a few years, and it's nearly automatic. Just give yourself a bit of time and you will get used to it. It will barely take a few minutes a day and you will barely notice it. Stick to it long enough and it becomes automatic.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I don't do many recipes, to be honest, and often it's just one serving anyway so I don't have to deal with the recipe builder... which I hate (it's buggy for me and I can NEVER change the serving size on my computer).
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    I don't do many recipes, to be honest, and often it's just one serving anyway so I don't have to deal with the recipe builder... which I hate (it's buggy for me and I can NEVER change the serving size on my computer).

    I use a different recipe builder and just add a "new food" with the readily generated nutrition label from that builder. If you like I could you pm you the link.
  • Tahlia68
    Tahlia68 Posts: 204 Member
    It's much easier on a pc. I use my mobile when I'm in a hurry and get frustrated at times because it's a lot slower. You will get used to it in time. Stress less lol :smile:
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    As with anything you do in life, you can expect some moments of frustration on your weight loss journey. If you can accept that as part of the process, you're well on your way.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    I usually build new recipes or find new ingredients using the computer. Existing recipes and foods I use are easier to find on the app, for me. I'm also someone to save a meal or copy a meal from a similar one I ate last week, just changing to the exact new quantities.

    Most things in life worth doing and making habits of are, not surprisingly, not easy to do at first.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    It becomes a routine. After 3+ years I don't think about whether to do it or not. I don't build recipes, though, I look for foods in the database that are similar and don't worry too much about it. I enter components of a sandwich instead of worrying about the specific sandwich, for example.

  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
    I am with the use the PC for logging crowd. I will sometimes add food with my phone but only things that are already in the database. Yesterday I had trouble trying to log some exercise through the phone to and just waited until I got home and used my laptop.

    I only do things like add recipes when I at home on my PC when have time for that. This site does sometimes respond very slowly and time out on me which can be frustrating. But nothing worth doing is easy. And this is totally worth doing.
  • rjan91
    rjan91 Posts: 194 Member
    I log on a desktop computer - much faster. Because I am near a computer all day I log as I eat. I only use my phone when I'm out or on vacation. I think if you could get to a laptop/desktop it would be so much easier. It does not take me long at all.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,216 Member
    Can't speak about phones, have never logged on one.

    But I find it easy on my tablet.

    It's a way of life for me, have done it for over 2 years.

    But I admit I don't stress the minutiae of it - not sure if this is a popular mindset - but I think you can stress too much about being too accurate and doing it too perfectly.
    Log accurately enough for it to work but loosely enough for it to be user friendly and thus sustainable long term.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    Pinnacle_IAO wrote: »
    Leka1000 wrote: »
    I've been logging everything AND accurately for the last month! I went insane today because it literally took me about 30 min to enter a Naan Pizza recipe into MFP. A recipe that I want to easily use over and over again. I was so frustrated I actually threw my phone! How is this lifestyle sustainable? Seriously! Accuracy is KEY but what about staying sane? What about exercising during logging time? I don't know what to do? Please help!
    I logged for 2 years losing 100 pounds, and for an additional year maintaining weight. Logging became so natural that I have developed the ability to track by feel.

    I just look at any food and know it's calorie content and macro breakdown.
    When I exercise, I just know the calorie burn.

    I stopped logging almost 2 years ago and have maintained weight all this time.
    It's sub-conscience now, and totally a way of life.

    Logging seems to be a pain for some of us and is something we are not willing to do for life. In fact I know it is not sustainable in my case but I also know there is NO way to learn how to lose/maintain if one is clueless of the number of calories one is consuming.

    @Pinnacle_IAO story about his experience with counting is helpful for some of us that struggle with counting apps. His success at losing then the hardest part which is maintaining is evidence that one has to be aware of calories being consumed/burned where the tracking is on paper, on a computer or in the head. I think all of us are working to stop the 'dieting' mindset promoted by the media and make our eating a subconscious event and totally a way of life.

    Maybe it is due to my age but I find jumping on the scales each morning takes no more than 10 seconds and is the best way for me to track the results of my eating. Yes I have to go back and count again when the numbers are not as expected. :)

    This time around of losing weight I decided to do nothing or eat nothing that I could/would not do or eat for for the rest of my life. Yo yo dieting had about killed me literally.

    @Leka1000 there is hope in your case but you do need to fully learn and track your calories over time and that will happen I am sure. When I counted I realized I was living on mainly carbs and when I tried different macros I found the weight gain/loss would change in most cases. A macro that may work well for one may be very wrong for another person. Learning the macro that works best for one takes time and can actually change as we age as it did in my case. Best of luck. The first year of learning has not been easy for me but I had my annual physical yesterday and was down 40 pounds. Just losing 1/2 pound a week on average is still 26 pounds a year. When we start eating and moving correctly time is on our side when it comes to weight loss.

  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,145 Member
    ogmomma2012 wrote: »
    How does it take 30min to make a recipe? With the new layout on PC it's much easier. If you want to guesstimate, by all means guesstimate.
    It can take long because MFP probably doesn't have the items you're using in recipe in the database, so you have to add those first, then go back through and add them to the recipe. Gods forbid you've gotten everything but the last item entered and find out MFP doesn't have it in the database so you have to enter it yourself and oh look, you've got to redo the whole recipe AGAIN.

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