How do you log accurately?

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

I only track my calories and protein. So i only make sure those are 100% right. Which, so far, i've not had any problems with.

drummondk wrote: »

helenrosec1 wrote: »

I add all my own foods rather than using the database and add them privately so no one can change them.

How do you do that?

You can add them under "My Foods." That way nobody can mess with them and you know they're right.

foxygirl14 wrote: »

Or you can account for the 20-25% inaccuracy and add quick calories to your daily allowance that you don't actually eat. That's what I do. So if your allowance is 1200 then eat 960 and quick add 240 cal (25% of 960) you don't eat and it will come out to 1200.

The risk with this is if you *are* getting accurate entries that day, you are only going to be eating 960 calories. Over time, this could make it really hard to stay on plan and it could result in not getting what you need nutritionally.

I'd rather take the time to ensure my entries were accurate than regularly eat 25% fewer calories than I could.

1. Take advantage of your recent foods list, your favorite foods list, the "copy to date" function, the "copy from date" function to make sure that the foods you eat on the regular are logged consistently.
2. When you log a food that you know you haven't eaten before or recently (i.e., aren't in your recent foods list), take a moment to review the nutrition data, compare it to a label if you've got one, use your judgement if not, before logging it down. It takes all of a minute. I've got a minute here and there. With a little experience logging, you can tell at a glance if an entry is crazy wrong. There are red flags: macros left blank was a big one when I was staring out 3 years ago. Almost anything that doesn't have at least 1 mg of sodium lol -- if it isn't fruit or the blandest vegetable on earth that's almost sure to be wrong. (Fresh greens are full of sodium). Macros that don't add up. Anything that looks too good to be true. (Hot tip: Slice of cake < 200 calories, probably too good to be true).
4. I try to log accurately, but I'm not gonna sweat it too much if once in a while I'm careless and log a 70 calorie piece of cheese with the wrong entry and only take down 60 calories, or get a gram or two of protein wrong. It all works out in the end. I'm sure it happens a couple of times a week. Mis-logging 50 calories over the course of the week isn't going to make a difference in my plan.

Prayer.

I do a Google search of the same wording that I put into MFP and usually the usda info pops up so I compare there.

Like last night we had bacon and I had to verify the entry, first one I found was way off but when I compared usda to the list on MFP it became obvious which one was correct. Then I over logged it by 10g to make extra sure. The extra steps are really worth it to me!

In addition to that, I have started adding 1.1 or 2.2 for any packaged items. I generally eat a packaged item to avoid weighing it but I know they're not all perfect accurate. By doing this I hope I account for at least some of the errors in caloric representation on the label.

That said don't weigh absolutely everything. Had to use a tablespoon for mayo today and felt a little icky about it. But I did my best with what I had!

I agree with a lot of what was said above, And I too tend to err on the side of upping the calories a bit if I'm not sure. I'd rather be a bit more under than over without knowing.