Anyone else get frustrated logging? Tips??

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hazzaram
hazzaram Posts: 77 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I love this site, don't get me wrong. I think the community is amazing and it's a really important tool in living a healthy lifestyle. That being said, I find logging to be very frustrating! Especially when it comes to meat. When trying to log any type of meat, I get really flustered because of all the different options and every option has different numbers even though it says it's the same thing! I understand that everything is mostly user-inputted but it makes it really hard to log and I get frustrated. Any tips? :(

Replies

  • not_my_first_rodeo
    not_my_first_rodeo Posts: 311 Member
    edited January 2017
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    Bookmarking, because I also have a hard time with this.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
    edited January 2017
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    I try to use the USDA database for most things, especially meats. They have raw and cooked entries:

    https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/

    edited because I can't seem to type today.
  • JenHuedy
    JenHuedy Posts: 611 Member
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    For meats, look for USDA entries, and make sure you choose cooked/uncooked accordingly. After you have logged a few weeks it gets much easier, because you will be able to choose from your most recently used options and won't have to search through the whole library every time.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Yup...for meat as well as many other whole foods I searched for USDA entries...
  • hazzaram
    hazzaram Posts: 77 Member
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    This might be a REALLY stupid question but would looking at the USDA entries work since I'm in Canada? Would it be the same? Also, how do you do that? Do you just type in 'USDA' first?
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    hazzaram wrote: »
    This might be a REALLY stupid question but would looking at the USDA entries work since I'm in Canada? Would it be the same? Also, how do you do that? Do you just type in 'USDA' first?

    If you're searching on MFP, you can type in USDA along with your food. Otherwise, you can create your own entry or compare entries by viewing the USDA database: https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/

    The values will the the same. If you're using a package food, go off it's nutrition label.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
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    Here are tips I just posted today in an earlier thread. Using these formats to search the MFP Food Database should bring up the green checked items that MFP originally imported/entered from the USDA database.


    Here are some tips on searching for whole foods in the MFP Food Database to find most whole food items originally entered by MFP staff many years ago.

    Note: some of the "verified" entries may have been modified (or are just plain wrong), so always double check them with the USDA database.

    Search for eggs in the format "eggs whole"

    Search for egg whites in the format "eggs white"

    Search for vegetables in the format "vegetable raw" or "vegetables raw" depending on type of vegetable(s)

    Search for fruit in the format "fruit raw" or "fruits raw" depending on type of fruit(s)

    Search for chicken raw in the format "chicken broilers raw"

    Search for chicken cooked in the format "chicken broilers roasted" [Options: fried/boiled/stewed/etc.]

    Search for most meats in the format "beef meat raw" or "beef meat cooked" [Options: lamb, veal, turkey]

    Search for pork in the format "pork raw" or "pork cooked"

    You can also add USDA to the search, but those items are user-entered and could be inaccurate.

    To verify nutrient information for whole foods, see the USDA National Nutrient Database Standard Reference at this link...

    https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list?ds=Standard+Reference
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    once youve logged awhile the stuff you eat/use regularly is easy to find in your list of recent foods.

    almost all my stuff (especially dinners) are recipes ive inputted over the years. they may vary slightly each time, but not enough for me to worry about
  • hazzaram
    hazzaram Posts: 77 Member
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    Thank you! I'm definitely going to use these suggestions <3
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,160 Member
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    hazzaram wrote: »
    This might be a REALLY stupid question but would looking at the USDA entries work since I'm in Canada? Would it be the same? Also, how do you do that? Do you just type in 'USDA' first?

    Yes, USDA numbers would be the same as Health Canada numbers. What USDA number help with is that they generally come from a reliable database so assuming when they were entered no errors were made, then they would be the more accurate numbers. Often I find products in Canada scan in and come up with the Canadian entry.
  • sugaraddict4321
    sugaraddict4321 Posts: 15,735 MFP Moderator
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    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    once youve logged awhile the stuff you eat/use regularly is easy to find in your list of recent foods

    ^This. I also have modified my diary so that two of my meal categories are snacks and beverages. It seemed silly to keep entering the same foods in more than one category all day long. Now that my most frequently eaten foods/beverages are set up in the categories, logging is a breeze.

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