Way to quick look up calorie options....

jbs555
jbs555 Posts: 4 Member
edited December 1 in Health and Weight Loss
I think the reason I struggle so much with MFP is because the calorie/nutrition "look-up" is just not intuitive for me. I've tried numerous times over the past few years and it is burdensome. I would like to pull up a page with my usual foods and their calories listed so I can make better choices, but it seems I have to look up each one individually or try to add it to a meal. It would help if I could make choices ahead of time instead of coming up with a snack, look up the calories, then look for something else within the range until I find it. I tried weight watchers in the past and I had a written record of each food and it's points which made it easier. At a glance I could pick out what I needed. I need to lose just 10 pounds but am making no progress because I don't keep track close enough. If it was quicker and easier to track I think it would be a great way to lose!

Am I missing something? I probably won't keep going unless I find a way to simplify it.

Thanks.

Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    MFP's app and website both give you the choice to look at your favorite foods (those you pick most often) and recent foods. If you start using the app regularly those lists populate themselves. Plus once you've used it for awhile, when you pick a food on the app, you are given a list of foods commonly eaten with that food and you can use the check box to add those foods too.
  • Cindy01Louisiana
    Cindy01Louisiana Posts: 302 Member
    Are you saying that you try to make your food choices based on the food database here? If that is the case, I understand your frustration, as that probably won't work very well. I would politely suggest that you Google things like "healthy breakfast ideas," "high-protein snacks," "foods with high calcium" or whatever the situation is at that moment for you. Print out what you find or make a list on paper or in a list app. Then, when you actually do eat, or plan to eat that food, log it here.
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
    Cindy01Louisiana wrote: »
    Are you saying that you try to make your food choices based on the food database here? If that is the case, I understand your frustration, as that probably won't work very well. I would politely suggest that you Google things like "healthy breakfast ideas," "high-protein snacks," "foods with high calcium" or whatever the situation is at that moment for you. Print out what you find or make a list on paper or in a list app. Then, when you actually do eat, or plan to eat that food, log it here.

    Great idea
    I would say add the foods yourself too rather than using the database as the info isn't always inputted right by people or they miss thing out.

  • jbs555
    jbs555 Posts: 4 Member
    When you say add the foods yourself where does it go to? The data base? Then I have to scroll thru to find my entry. My "my foods" tab does not have anything listed in it. I do have some listed in the "meals" tab but they are not individual foods. And I have to click on each one to see the calories. So it sounds like, Cindy01Louis, you are not using just MFP for your list, but making a separate one on paper or a list app? Basically, you are using MFP to record foods, not research calories and such?

    I have tried this so many times, I am bound and determined to find a way to simplify it. I really appreciate any input on how others are entering foods such as: do you look it up each time in your frequent foods list? It's frustrating that the calories are not listed there without entering them. It seems like it's backwards. I'd like to make the choices first, then enter them after I've made wise choices for the day. Need more protein or less carbs......choose accordingly.

    I'm sure I'm making this too complicated. Thanks for your ideas!
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide?hl=Logging+accurately

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    jbs555 wrote: »
    When you say add the foods yourself where does it go to? The data base? Then I have to scroll thru to find my entry. My "my foods" tab does not have anything listed in it. I do have some listed in the "meals" tab but they are not individual foods. And I have to click on each one to see the calories. So it sounds like, Cindy01Louis, you are not using just MFP for your list, but making a separate one on paper or a list app? Basically, you are using MFP to record foods, not research calories and such?

    I have tried this so many times, I am bound and determined to find a way to simplify it. I really appreciate any input on how others are entering foods such as: do you look it up each time in your frequent foods list? It's frustrating that the calories are not listed there without entering them. It seems like it's backwards. I'd like to make the choices first, then enter them after I've made wise choices for the day. Need more protein or less carbs......choose accordingly.

    I'm sure I'm making this too complicated. Thanks for your ideas!

    How long have you actually used the app? I mean how many days, weeks, etc. in a row? Because using it for a week and then dropping it and then picking it up three months later is going to mean that anything on your recent list (if it even had time to populate) will have fallen off. Losing weight is about being consistent and taking advantage of what the MFP tool and website have to offer also requires consistency. Put in the effort to do things right and it will work for you. Give up because it's too hard or too time consuming at the beginning and it's not going to work.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    edited May 2016
    I prelog what I think I want to eat for the whole day every morning. If it is too many calories or not enough protein then I change the item or the portion size. It takes just a few minutes. I have been doing this awhile but it didn't take many weeks of eating and logging to learn about how many calories are in a banana or my serving of yogurt.
    I have a lot of foods in my frequent foods list and a lot of recipes entered. It gets faster the more you log.
    There is nothing stopping you from spending a day looking up all the foods you commonly eat and making a list with their serving size and calorie count if you can not remember.
    You can seach the internet for lists of 100 calorie snacks or 300 calorie lunches or whatever you need.
    You can also go back to a previous day in your diary and view the foods you logged before and use quick tools to add that food to the current day.
  • spamanda53
    spamanda53 Posts: 86 Member
    I am interpreting your original post as wanting a list of some sort that you can quickly glance at in order to find a snack that has a certain number of calories.

    Could you go "old school" and make up a list of your most commonly eaten things and stick it to the fridge or make it a note in your phone?
    For example:

    100g Strawberries: 32cal
    1 Large egg: 70cal (white only - 17cal)
    28g Trader Joe's Reduced Fat Mozzarella: 45cal

    And so on. I just picked three things that I knew off the top of my head. But you could compile a list of your most favorite things and then either list them by calorie count or by food type or whatever. It might take some time to get the list going but should be easy to add things to as you find new snacks and such.
  • Kaeleana
    Kaeleana Posts: 10 Member
    I am new to this but I find just adding 1 item under Meals works pretty well if I pair it with something else regularly, for example creamo in my coffee. It may not be a meal but it saves it & I can find it easily. Then I pair the meal together IE: tea, creamo & packet of sugar & call it Mug O'Tea for instance as I have that at least once a day. If this makes sense to ya..helped me a lot
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