May 29 Weekly Challenge: If You Bite It, Write It
themedalist
Posts: 3,218 Member
Theme: Healthy Eating
Challenge: "If You Bite It, Write It"
Since we will be concentrating on the fundamentals in our healthy eating challenges, I thought it made sense to start with the most fundamental of the fundamentals: food logging. For most of us, the MFP food diary was the first tool we were introduced to when we joined MFP and it remains the main tool we use to track our daily food and nutrition intake. According to My Fitness Pal’s extensive database, 88% of MyFitnessPal users who log their food for more than 7 days in a row ultimately lose weight.
Unfortunately, over time the accuracy of our food diaries often slips and logging becomes too generalized and sporadic to keep us on track. Eyeballing and guesstimating replaces using a food scale, and we try to recall what we ate earlier in the day instead of recording it right away. As a result, we have no accurate record of what we ate that day and no way of knowing if we are on track to reach our MFP goals (such as losing weight, focusing on macro/micro nutrients, or something else) This week, let's recommit ourselves to tracking our food intake in a meaningful way that supports the goals that each of us have.
Although the MFP food diary is a useful and even essential tool for many, for some people meticulously logging everything they eat is stressful and counterproductive. This is particularly true for people who may have struggled with eating disorders in the past. If using the MFP food diary isn't helpful for you, food journaling may be a viable alternative. A food journal is a record of what you ate, and often how much you ate, and can include an estimate of the calories from that food. Food journaling can be done with pen and paper or using an online tool such as Penzu. If you use a food journal or decide to try one this week, it's helpful to also note what you are doing or feeling when you eat something. Journaling can help us see the patterns and connections in our eating habits that can give us insight into what we might do differently ("Had a bag of M&Ms and a pint of ice cream after work because I hate my job" is a useful first step in finding non-food stress reduction strategies)
This Week's Challenge: Track your food in a meaningful way that helps you see the patterns and connections in your eating habits and supports the goals that you have here on MFP. Food diaries and food journals are useful tools and there are likely other strategies. Use the tool that works best for you.
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Suggested Resources:
Your Top 7 Food Revelations from Logging with MyFitnessPal:
http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/your-top-7-food-revelations-from-logging-with-myfitnesspal/
4 Tips on How to Count Calories Without Losing Your Mind:
http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/4-tips-count-calories-without-losing-mind/
Logging Accurately..Step by Step Guide
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
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I look forward to hearing your logging updates throughout the week. Please share tips, suggestions, and resources that have made food logging easier for you with our group.
Make it a great week!
Challenge: "If You Bite It, Write It"
Since we will be concentrating on the fundamentals in our healthy eating challenges, I thought it made sense to start with the most fundamental of the fundamentals: food logging. For most of us, the MFP food diary was the first tool we were introduced to when we joined MFP and it remains the main tool we use to track our daily food and nutrition intake. According to My Fitness Pal’s extensive database, 88% of MyFitnessPal users who log their food for more than 7 days in a row ultimately lose weight.
Unfortunately, over time the accuracy of our food diaries often slips and logging becomes too generalized and sporadic to keep us on track. Eyeballing and guesstimating replaces using a food scale, and we try to recall what we ate earlier in the day instead of recording it right away. As a result, we have no accurate record of what we ate that day and no way of knowing if we are on track to reach our MFP goals (such as losing weight, focusing on macro/micro nutrients, or something else) This week, let's recommit ourselves to tracking our food intake in a meaningful way that supports the goals that each of us have.
Although the MFP food diary is a useful and even essential tool for many, for some people meticulously logging everything they eat is stressful and counterproductive. This is particularly true for people who may have struggled with eating disorders in the past. If using the MFP food diary isn't helpful for you, food journaling may be a viable alternative. A food journal is a record of what you ate, and often how much you ate, and can include an estimate of the calories from that food. Food journaling can be done with pen and paper or using an online tool such as Penzu. If you use a food journal or decide to try one this week, it's helpful to also note what you are doing or feeling when you eat something. Journaling can help us see the patterns and connections in our eating habits that can give us insight into what we might do differently ("Had a bag of M&Ms and a pint of ice cream after work because I hate my job" is a useful first step in finding non-food stress reduction strategies)
This Week's Challenge: Track your food in a meaningful way that helps you see the patterns and connections in your eating habits and supports the goals that you have here on MFP. Food diaries and food journals are useful tools and there are likely other strategies. Use the tool that works best for you.
...................................................................................................................................................
Suggested Resources:
Your Top 7 Food Revelations from Logging with MyFitnessPal:
http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/your-top-7-food-revelations-from-logging-with-myfitnesspal/
4 Tips on How to Count Calories Without Losing Your Mind:
http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/4-tips-count-calories-without-losing-mind/
Logging Accurately..Step by Step Guide
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
....................................................................................................................................................
I look forward to hearing your logging updates throughout the week. Please share tips, suggestions, and resources that have made food logging easier for you with our group.
Make it a great week!
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Replies
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For those of you who want to measure your food intake as accurately as possible, check out this 3 minute video on the importance of weighing your food. It's very easy to eat more calories than you think if you are only using measuring cups. Get a digital scale.
Click on the image below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY 4 -
Ok..started today May 29.... I plan to post starting tomorrow how I did logging for the day.5
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I've mostly got the food-logging thing down. I've discovered that I don't do nearly as well if I don't log; I'm not one of those people who can naturally estimate and get it right. I need the guidance, and I'm not sure that's ever going to change. I prefer to pre-log whenever I can. It helps me with meal prep and decreasing food spoilage, and I find it way easier to function knowing what I'm going to eat for the week. Of course, I do adjust as needed if there are surprises along the way, but I find it gives me a great starting off point that I usually stick with.
I *do* go with the TDEE method of tracking my energy expending and build some wiggle room into my day for inaccuracies. (I aim to eat X calories, but I realise that's probably actually X + 200/300 on any given day). I use a food scale for some but not all of my food, and I know there are definitely inaccuracies in using a measuring cup. Mostly, it seems to balance out that way.4 -
I do log my food in every day, and generally weigh it all out, but I can see where I can use some improvement. Over the past 6 months I have gained back a bit of weight - I believe I know where I have gone wrong, but food tracking can not only help you keep within calories but also you can watch trends. I am at the low end of calories - 1200 may be too much for me, but I will see.
For my suppers I tend to weigh things as I add them to my plate, and I put them on a post-it note as I do it, then transfer it to my log. Other meals, not so much.
However I tend to not log my food into MFP until the next morning - so I log my calories, but I do not watch how they add up as the day progresses, so I still can go over so I will work more on logging as I eat. Plus sometimes I have forgotten what I ate.
Something I have also tried is to not take a full portion - if a serving is 125 grams, I may only weigh out 100 - or half a portion if it's some kind of treat. For me I often just want the taste.
Another thing I do if I want a snack and it's something already in my food base, I might log in several snacks, and see which one is more calorie-friendly - so it helps me decide which to eat, and then I delete the ones I don't eat.
Logging can have many benefits - and personally, I see myself doing it for life.3 -
@fitphoenix and @hollyhock1009 thank you for sharing your tips, ideas, and how you you approach logging with our group. We can all learn a lot from each other.
When I was in my active weight loss phase (2011-2012) I wondered if I'd be able to stop logging my food when I reached maintenance. Over the last five years the answer is pretty clear: No. I don't have to log everyday but when I get too far away from logging (not logging for a couple of weeks) my weight invariably trends up. There's just something about not logging that triggers my brain to think "Oh this food is free!" It's ridiculous, of course. Our bodies keep an accurate record of what we eat no matter what we write down.
I need to log my foods at least on most days to keep on eye on what I'm eating and for the accountability to myself. And really...logging takes only a few minutes a day. It's a good investment of my time.
Please keep the comments coming!5 -
This is my first week here on MyFitnessPal. I'm not going to be weighing my food just yet, for me the challenge is more just recording it at all, so I'm going to be focusing on recording what I eat, as this stops me from overdoing it.4
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Wow! That video is really insightful. To be honest, I had no idea that if a serving size said 1/4c. that it would make that much difference, so I have not been weighing things like that. I do weigh portions of meat and other things that are hard to "measure".
My goal this week will be to carry a journal and write down what I eat, what time it is when I eat it and my mindset when I eat it (hungry vs craving, bad day, celebration, etc.). I've been logging a long time and have gotten kind of lazy about it. I will enter what I write into my MFP food for each day also, but right now I need to figure out what I'm doing that is making me gain instead of lose.
I will also start using my digital scale!!!3 -
P.S. Love Penzu. Just installed it. Thanks again1
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OConnell5483 wrote: »P.S. Love Penzu. Just installed it. Thanks again
Penzu was recommended by my friend Jen. She's a certified health coach and certified personal trainer. Jen has graciously agreed to craft many of our exercise challenges and give me input on many of our other challenges as well. I'll give a full introduction to Jen in an upcoming July post, but for now I wanted to credit her with the Penzu suggestion and let you all know that we are very fortunate to have Jen as a resource!3 -
I saw this video a few years ago, and it totally convinced me to weigh things - especially the peanut butter. I have a postage scale that I can toggle between ounces and grams and zero out (tare button) to eliminate the plate or bowl in the weight of the food. I actually enjoy playing with my scale, and my whole family likes to use it, too. (We are nerdy like that). I find it is great for portioning out equal servings of a dish for the family so no one gets "the biggest half."
Logging is so important. When I am good with my logging, things just work. When I get sloppy, I tend to log breakfast and lunch, and then stop. I've said before that I'm a lifer when it comes to logging, and I need to remind myself of that from time to time.
@_xCaitlinx , just getting started logging is magical. I didn't get my scale until after my initial weight loss here on MFP, but the scale helped once I got to the tricky time approaching maintenance.4 -
That video was eye opening! I have a digital scale but the battery died so I've been measuring with spoons and eyeballing some things. Guess it's time to replace the battery.4
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Ok didn't see this til today but I'm in. I"m usually pretty meticulous about logging, but have slacked off the past week and can feel the difference. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my food scale. Best few bucks I've spent on myself next to my running shoes and FitBit lol. It helps me to be super accurate. I even use that in place of cups sometimes.4
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@fitphoenix, I like pre-logging too. Especially when I am unsure of how much exercise I'll be getting during the day. (I eat back my calories rather than do the TDEE thingy). I find it especially important to pre-log my snacks so that I know what I can fit in or need to skip.4
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During my previous active weight loss time on MFP I discovered the scale and how much of a difference it makes. I always weigh instead of measure rice or oatmeal, for example, even if I'm making it for someone else. I actually like using my scale.
I'm just returning back to MFP after a long absence while being a caretaker for a family member. I already decided that for now I was not going to 'log' on MFP for a while but focus on what foods I am eating and and when I am eating, and getting back into exercise and finding a new healthier normal for myself.
However, after considering this challenge, I decided I wanted to start to write down my food again. So I purchased a smaller notebook last week and wrote down whatever I ate when I ate it. I want to see my patterns of when and how I eat. I can flip through the notebook easily and see a visual now.
Before I discovered MFP I lost some weight and inches by using a paper and pencil journal of what I ate. It was a food and exercise journal I found at a store. It also had room for writing insights down. I want to do something similar to that now with my notebook. I also like the feel of using pencil and paper and the ease of looking back. I still journal on paper my exercises.
:flowerforyou:1 -
texasgardnr wrote: »During my previous active weight loss time on MFP I discovered the scale and how much of a difference it makes. I always weigh instead of measure rice or oatmeal, for example, even if I'm making it for someone else. I actually like using my scale.
I'm just returning back to MFP after a long absence while being a caretaker for a family member. I already decided that for now I was not going to 'log' on MFP for a while but focus on what foods I am eating and and when I am eating, and getting back into exercise and finding a new healthier normal for myself.
However, after considering this challenge, I decided I wanted to start to write down my food again. So I purchased a smaller notebook last week and wrote down whatever I ate when I ate it. I want to see my patterns of when and how I eat. I can flip through the notebook easily and see a visual now.
Before I discovered MFP I lost some weight and inches by using a paper and pencil journal of what I ate. It was a food and exercise journal I found at a store. It also had room for writing insights down. I want to do something similar to that now with my notebook. I also like the feel of using pencil and paper and the ease of looking back. I still journal on paper my exercises.
:flowerforyou:
@texasgardnr, I think food journaling with pencil and paper can be just as effective as an online food diary (and a better fit for some people). You can easily see patterns in your eating habits. Also, I think writing things down yourself makes them "stickier" and more memorable. I'm glad it's working out for you!3
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