logging

On the website go to food and click ADD FOOD to your diary:

Okay.....this might be a really long one.....

First of all, welcome to MFP. So glad to see someone else trying to take control of his/her health.

I started this something like 2+ years ago. I had no idea how to read a label on the food containers. I had no idea what "one cup" was...or 1 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon. To be honest, I really did not know a dang thing about proteins, carbs and fats! I had no idea what food had what. So, 96/4 Ground Beef is roughly 22g of Protein and 4g of Fats per serving (which is 4 ounces or, more precisely, 113g of meat). Totally clueless. No, I can pretty much eyeball things and have a pretty good idea (I do not do that....but if I needed to do so, I could).

So, a good practice would be to start looking at the labels on the food items that you buy. When I first started, I would spend a huge amount to time just looking at labels when I was in the Grocery Store. People must have thought that I were crazy...and, maybe I am! Ask me how much I care about what other people think!

In the absence of food labels (for example, you are at your favorite dining location....) I like the following two web sites (for guidance as to the caloric and macro-nutrient values):

1. https://www.nutritionix.com
2. https://www.fatsecret.com

Since we are using the forums in MFP I would be remiss were I to not mention the Food Database here. For full disclosure, I do not use it. This is my experience and my choice. It consists of entries from all of us users and there are some crazy bad entries in here. I remember being very frustrated by this when I first started and decided not to trust the MFP Database. So, that is my experience. You may have very different experiences. I know that there are a lot of people here who use it and do well. Your choice.

Someone asked a really good question: app (smart phone) or web site? I have not tried via the app so I have no useful words there. I used to - when I first started - use the web site. For me, it was frustrating. But, I am not the sharpest tool in the shed so that could be me....forget the fact that I have worked in IT for 21 years. :-)

Another suggestion would be to purchase a food scale. Sure, you can use the cups and the spoons (they are super cheap and will likely do the job....they will be 'close enough') but getting an actual scale would be the best bet. You can get one on Amazon (or anywhere else, for that matter) for roughly $20.

Then, it is just a mater of practice. HUH? Practice? How hard can this be?

Well, everyone is pretty much horrible at this when they first start. Yes. You read that correctly. It takes practice. Funny....it is simple, but it is truly not easy.

Anyway, hopefully this helps you a little bit.

Just remember to be kind to yourself. You will likely (I speak from a LOT OF experience) make really silly mistakes. Just laugh at yourself and move on. Trust me when I tell you this. I could give you 100 example of the silly things that I did when I was first starting.....and of the things that others whom I was helping did. You could think that lots of things would be 'common sense'! Not so much.....

And, on that note, I will close this. Feel free to ask any questions that you might have.