Logging every single morsel

I make my food mostly from scratch and pre prepare it wth some minimally processed ingredients and a few simple packaged foods that are easy to track. I use a food scale and make sure I have my food made before I go out but this really isn’t super practical for everyone. I think inn the beginning it can be important to be super diligent so you get a good idea but then if you’re losing at the right pace with smart guessing, I wouldn’t worry about it

I guess it kind of depends what your goals are. When I was actively losing weight, I did log every single thing and tried to be as exact as possible. I enjoyed logging and entering new recipes to see how many calories were in things. I knew it would take for me to lose weight so I did it. Now I estimate more often because I kind of gathered a feel of how much I can eat to stay in a certain weight range.

flippy1234 wrote: »

This is really hard to do. Some things cannot be measured decently. What do you do? Sometimes I add quick calories or something...I am also trying to eat the same things a lot so then I don't have to worry about logging everything in a new recipe, etc...How do you guys handle it. I am trying to be accurate when logging but it really is hard.

What foods are you having difficulty with measuring? I just keep in mind that when I eat away from home it will be a best guess on calories. The recipe builder is great for homemade meals and doesn't take very long to enter ingredients.

I seldom weight and measure most foods and I often eat food prepared by others. It makes it hard to log exactly what I eat. It's taken some trial and error and definitely lots of patience, but I know this is the way I will eat for the long term, so I committed to learning to do it this way from the start. I do log every day to keep track of what I've eaten and estimate the calories as best as I can.

I use a weight trending program to keep an eye on my progress and if the results are off, I make adjustments where I need to. I'm also fairly active and find that helps tremendously as it give me more wiggle room.

I admit it takes longer to lose this way but I feel confident in my skills and know that I will be able to sustain a healthier weight and diet for the rest of my life. That's always been my ultimate goal.

A side effect is that I've never felt like I was particularly deprived or hungry beyond what occurs normally before my next meal.

It's not sexy and certainly not fast, but it is very effective and sustainable.

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

flippy1234 wrote: »

Salads are hard. I like to just throw what I have on hand in there. I try to be as accurate as I can but I do use the quick calories of 100 now and then just in case.

salads are the easiest thing to weigh!

put your plate on. zero scale. throw in lettuce- write down weight. zero scale. toss in next item. write down weight. zero scale. wash rinse repeat

then save it as a meal and every time you have a salad you only have to log it and change the weights of the ingredients

Honestly anything you consume you can accurately track if you really take the time to do it. I did it for over a year and nothing including vitamins went into my body without tracking it. If you find something you can't track quick add will work but estimate high so you don't unknowingly go over your calorie limit. A lot of people underestimate even when tracking and then they get frustrated when they don't see the results they want. Unfortunately I left MFP for awhile and gained back 50 lbs, now I'm on a new account and back to logging, hoping it helps keep me accountable.

I just try to roll with it as best as possible. I try to estimate as needed, and I just try not to do that often if I can help it. I stick to a pretty good deficit so if I have a day or a meal that is unknown I don't sweat it, I'll end up making up for it

flippy1234 wrote: »

Salads are hard. I like to just throw what I have on hand in there. I try to be as accurate as I can but I do use the quick calories of 100 now and then just in case.

I don't feel a big need to be precise over salad greens or vegetables that are extremely low calorie. Additions like meat, cheese, nuts or seeds, croutons, eggs or salad dressing are a different story.
Use a food scale for easier logging.
If you make your salad with the same ingredients each time put it in and save it as a meal or enter it as a recipe. Just use the same stuff next time.

At first logging can be time consuming and harder but the more you log the more foods will be in your frequent foods list, more meals or recipes entered. It won't always take as long.

If you want to estimate and use the quick add that might work for you. If you stop losing at the rate you want improve your accuracy logging.

I log everything. I cook a lot with spices and herbs, and many of them have a surprisingly high number of calories. A single dish just for me might easily have 50-100kcal in spices. The only thing I slack a big is oil. I put the bottle on the scale, tar, use, put back on. This way I overestimate oil a little bit as oil is slightly lighter than water, thus 10gr of oil has slightly less calories than 10ml, and then I log in ml (I don't think there are any weight entries anyway).

Some barriers I have run into and my solutions:

Problem: Logging treats that someone brings into work.

Solution: Don't eat it (just kidding, kind of). Bring the treat or cookie home to weigh it. This helps me see what an ounce of fudge looks like or what 30 grams of almond bark looks like. I also will ask coworkers for the recpies of their treats. I tell them that it was delcious and I want to make it at home. Then I go home and enter the recipe into MFP database to log.

Problem: Logging foods at resaturants that aren't in the database.

Solution: Use a different restaurant that has something similar. If I am doing Mexican and they bring chips to the table, I will take a small handful of chips, quickly count how many chips I took, and then make sure to log that later. I also do this at parties if I take M+M's, jelly beans, hersey kisses, etc. Just take a few seconds to be mindful and remember what you ate.

Problem: Logging a "bite" of something.

Solution: Log as 0.25 or 0.33 or whatever of the serving.

It isn't always going to be prefect, so I also weigh myself several times a week. If I notice I am creeping up, I cut back. It I am maintaining or losing, I continue doing what I doing.

yirara wrote: »

I log everything. I cook a lot with spices and herbs, and many of them have a surprisingly high number of calories. A single dish just for me might easily have 50-100kcal in spices. The only thing I slack a big is oil. I put the bottle on the scale, tar, use, put back on. This way I overestimate oil a little bit as oil is slightly lighter than water, thus 10gr of oil has slightly less calories than 10ml, and then I log in ml (I don't think there are any weight entries anyway).

What spices and herbs are you using that are high calorie? Or how much do you add to a single serving?

I've found most spices and herbs to be fairly low calorie for a couple of grams of something spread over 6 servings of food which is typical for most recipes.
http://calorielab.com/foods/herbs-and-spices/49