Is the food diary hard to anyone else???

mymuvee
mymuvee Posts: 10
edited September 30 in Health and Weight Loss
I find it hard to track how many ounces or cups of food ive eaten, and also like today i had some flatbread and hummas and just some pieces of chicken, but i cant find that on the food search. anyone else hqave a hard time with the food diary or am i the only way?

Replies

  • deenanna
    deenanna Posts: 39
    Track the ingredients individually. Like my breakfast shake: I track the mix and THEN the milk. It makes it a little easier.
  • alienblonde1
    alienblonde1 Posts: 749 Member
    Usually I go to database and do a general search like hummus and if you click on each one it shows you right there on that page whats in it. Then I copy what it says for that one and go to food diary pick which meal and paste it there.
  • _Sonia_
    _Sonia_ Posts: 40
    I keep measuring cups/spoons handy, but I'm getting pretty good at eyeballing quantities now that I've been doing it for a few weeks. It's a hassle at first measuring everything, but it gets MUCH easier quickly! I have a food scale, but haven't dug it out yet!

    And yes, tracking stuff separately helps. I do that a lot in my daily diary.

    Good luck!
  • izerop
    izerop Posts: 69 Member
    I track everything individually. Also I search google to make sure I spelled the food right. ;) hummus Not picking... I am a bad speller.
  • ilikejam33
    ilikejam33 Posts: 252 Member
    i got a small digital kitchen scale for 10$ at walmart, chenged my life, most people really underestimate the ammount they are eating. Also if there are combinations of foods you eat frequently you can create a meal in your tracker then it will always be there. Another tip as most of the entries are made by people here i often only find things spelled differently so try different spellings.
  • kappyblu
    kappyblu Posts: 654 Member
    The best thing to do is measure everything. If it is not a pre-measured serving, measure it. When I first started, I went out and bought a couple of good sets of measuring cups and spoons. I also bought a digital kitchen scale eventually. These are a lifesaver. You can get a great one for about $20 at Wal-Mart. The "tare" function is great! This is just something I had to get in the habit of doing, and now...I do. As far as pieces of chicken, if you measure or weigh them, you can figure out how much you had. Then go to the database. If you had 4 oz. of chicken breast, and the database has a listing for an 8 oz. breast, enter .5 in the serving size. Good luck!! :smile:
  • MissMaryMac33
    MissMaryMac33 Posts: 1,433 Member
    I actually have a scale so I weight a lot of things to determine ounces... I also tend to eat out of containers (like 1 cup tupperware) that are a specific size when I'm lazy.... or you just read the package....and track the ounces etc. If you start to measure you'll probably be shocked at how much you were OVER eating :) I know I was... I have to measure.
  • pauljsolie
    pauljsolie Posts: 1,024 Member
    When you find items, save each item in your recipes, then next time you just add however many portions out of your recipe index. Makes life way easier. You can even save single items in your recipes or add to your foods list.
  • kwest_4_fitness
    kwest_4_fitness Posts: 820 Member
    If portion size, like cups and TBSP, has you going crazy, try getting a little food scale and tote it round with you and use ounces/grams instead.
  • need2lose51
    need2lose51 Posts: 5
    Oh - the dreaded food diary!!! YES, it is a huge problem for me. I do it for a few days and then get behind, or have a bad day and decide to do better next week. My best friend has lost almost 50 pounds since she started keeping her journal; from past years, I know that it works so decided to give it another try. I did it - for the past week I kep the journal and lost 4 pounds. Certainly a good motivator to do it again!

    I think there is a way we can share our diary with others, so maybe we could do that and see if it is of mutual benefit. My week starts on Thursdays as I have a regular weigh-in on Wednesday evenings.
  • calimari
    calimari Posts: 202 Member
    I've shown my sister how to do this, and I've explained it to her over the phone, but she still can't get it right because she searches for "coffee with 2 tablespoons of cream and 1 packet of equal" or something to that effect. Her daughter is on here & doing great, so maybe she can teach her mom how to to do it. Some things ARE hard to search for. Or, today, I had baked potato, so I search for that and I get a million kinds of baked potato chips. SO that is frustrating to sort thru.
  • ams3286
    ams3286 Posts: 8
    Yes I also have a hard time .... but will be putting some of these ideas to good use!
  • Kelly_Wilson1990
    Kelly_Wilson1990 Posts: 3,245 Member
    I use a digital scale to weigh things like cheese and meats.
  • anneisaloser
    anneisaloser Posts: 2
    I find it easier if I estimate whether the food will fit in a shot glass (2 Tbsp) or one of my measuring cups. Try to get familiar with what 1/2 cup looks like and go up or down from there. Also, I have found that when you search for a food it comes in different measuresments, whether it be ounces, cups or grams. Look until you find one that you can visualize. Also, if you like to snack on the flatbread and hummus, once you find it make it "your meal" then you can add it quickly to your diary. (I do this with cottage cheese and pineapple which I eat almost every morning.) It does take a a few days to familiarize yourself with the website and get your foods into your "my foods" tab for easier selection. Stick with it!
  • Shishkeberry
    Shishkeberry Posts: 95 Member
    I really need to get a digital scale. I keep looking at them when I see them at walmart but I have a hard time spending money on myself so I keep talking myself out of it. I'm pretty sure I'm underestimating on how much my meat weighs.
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