Are people REALLY counting calories here?

macchiatto · April 2017

I agree that it's not that bad once you get the hang of it. I'm in maintenance now and still weighing/logging b/c I'd really like to stay at maintenance this time and not yoyo.

Eating out at restaurants that don't have nutrition info online (or at potlucks/other people's houses) can be more tricky but I try to build in a little buffer to account for that.

cerise_noir · April 2017

Being overweight is hard.
Calorie counting is hard (at first).

Pick your "hard".

edwill3456 · April 2017

It's easy now. I use to think it was kinda weird but I can't live without doing it now lol

quebot · April 2017

I'm sorry people aren't more encouraging. But you absolutely can do this. The hardest part is getting past yourself and changing your mentality. Once you absolutely 100% decide this is what you need to do to lose weight, it gets easier. Learn about how MFP works. Read around. Start logging. Start learning about nutrition. You don't have to do it all at once. It's a long process. It takes time and you can learn along the way. Everyone here is at a different point in the process.

ljmorgi · April 2017

Like others have said, it gets to be less work as you go. If you're eating out at chains, all those food items should be in the database. When you're at home, you can scan foods that have barcodes on the packages, and build recipes for things you eat a lot and then reuse them over and over. (I eat the same two things for breakfast 95% of the time, for example.) Once you've got some of those things entered as recipes or in your "frequent" foods list, that'll help speed things along.

And like everyone else on the site says--a good food scale will make logging MUCH more accurate and easy.

Good luck!

AlanahCFit · April 2017

Okay so just now for example i made my son a sandwich and took a bite then gave my daughter some souo and took a bite. How do i log my food when its on the fly like this?

PaulaWallaDingDong · April 2017

You really can't. Not accurately. You can guess some random amount of calories to try and make up for it and see how your progress goes.

Or you can stop doing that.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld · April 2017

It takes me 5 minutes a day to log my food and 5 minutes to shower.

Both are just part of my routine. I'd rather spend 5 minutes less on my hair than stop logging.

Theo166 · April 2017

If you are serious about your diet, maybe you should stop grazing on their food. It's a hidden source of calories that will keep you from hitting your goals.

This is an example of where logging everything builds self awareness.

crazyycatlady1 · April 2017

I don't eat other people's food, (and my kids know that if they touch my food the wrath of MOM will be upon them

). I don't take bites, lick bowls, grab extras etc that are not accounted for. Part of the learning process!

nrbutton · April 2017

Exactly!

If I'm not going to take the time to log it, then I shouldn't take the time to eat it.

stephmph16 · April 2017

The biggest negative in your diet is your attitude. You CAN do it, it's not impossible. As with anything, start doing it and eventually it'll become a habit if you are persistent enough.

Truly303 · April 2017

I started this before the scanner and before there was a lot of foods in the database. (That was a pain and all the different nutrition info I found just made my head spin) I quickly said forget this I'm done and I'll be happy fat! HAHAHAHA Yeah.............NOPE! I found my way back here and found it had changed and I'm having fun with this!!! It's more fun then any game app! I play with different foods and combos of foods to see if I want to use my calories for it. I'm still getting used to it. I'm still trying to learn which foods make me feel good and give me results in my vitamins and minerals and fiber!! I am getting the weight loss -happy dance- and seeing where I can get in my good nutrition!!! I am slowly getting the hang of this and it is so worth every min I spend logging. I have made it a game that I can win (or lose really) on multiple levels! From 282 to 244.8 so far and this is getting even more fun as I get into it!! You can do this!!!! You can play with different items of fast food and see which ones would fit with your goals! You can play with all that at night for a few min or just 5-10 mins of free time. Use this beginning stage as your play time. Play with your logging and figure out you goals. You've got this for sure!!! Have fun!

dutchandkiwi · April 2017

A number of ways:

Stop doing it - no need for logging. It is their food not yours
weigh out childs food and when you have taken a bite weigh it back - time intensive but maybe it will help to stop doing it.
If you know you do it log quick calories 250 cal every day. if it is just the occasional bite, but consistant

Logging honestly and being honest to yourself is just a mindset.

And nobody said you hade to be perfect form day one nor the best pupil in the MFP classs from day one - SO give yourself time, learn (and I mean learn) what the possibilities are within the program.
I know I was not perfect in logging (I am still not perfect). But I do know that I went in with a mindset that this was a tool to help me, not a goal in itself. I also did not beat myself up if I had a bad eating/;ogging day - Then I'd just add quick calories and log it as an over day. As long as that is an occaisonal thing so be it.

But what I did do was being honest to myself - If I ate somethig I would log something. I never found a valid reason not to log. Sometimes it may not be perfect but it was logged. Never an excuse. Not even when I was on a hike in Scotland and we had bad reception on the app. I logged and found a little spot where we did have reception.

Lounmoun · April 2017

You can alter your behavior or you can estimate and add calories to your log to account for it.
I'd say stopping bites and nibbles of your kid's food would be best though.

Machka9 · April 2017

As the others have said ... stop doing this.

My mother never did this when she made our meals. I never did this when I used to work in childcare. Probably just me and the way I was raised, but the idea that someone might have taken a bite out of my food just seems a bit .. ick.

extra_medium · April 2017

What are you finding hard about it? Open your app and log what you eat. Once it becomes a habit and your regular food choices pop up as options when you add meals it gets even easier. Logging everything also helps give you a second thought about what you're about to consume and whether you really need it or not.

Bry_Fitness70 · April 2017

A lot of people are here because they avoided doing things that were "crazy hard" and lapsed into an unsatisfactory level of fitness. Becoming overweight is crazy easy, eating bad food in huge quantities is crazy easy, skipping the gym is crazy easy, and no one needs an app or program to do any of that. Becoming and remaining fit requires a degree of effort, and if it was easy then no one would be overweight...

ConquerAndBloom · April 2017

Eating at restaurants was always my downfall, too. (Fried mozzarella sticks and their siren songs!) Now, if my boyfriend and I plan to go out to eat, I check online menus and plan ahead. We never just spontaneously go out to eat until I know exactly what I'm getting. It's really helped keep me accountable.

Are people REALLY counting calories here?

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