Intro and frustrated

d31984v · July 2019

Hi Everyone,

I am new to using myfitnesspal for tracking my food I used to use the WW app/program to track my food. I find I am getting frustrated when I search the food guide to log my food. There are so many options that come up for the same food and they all have different numbers. How have others handled this? I can see the green shield but it there a way to filter out everything else but the green shield. Is using the ones that have the green shield the best option? I feel like I have to go out and double check all of the numbers and that is going to make me stop using the app. suggestions?

Janet

giancarlov1191 · July 2019

Hi Janet, your best bet will probably be to do some research online to fine the closest match.

MollyJE19 · July 2019

I had to be patient with MFP in the beginning. I ate a lot of food that had the nutrition info on the package and often double-checked it against MFP's numbers. I also checked a lot of stuff against the USDA food database. It will feel like you're wasting time in the beginning but it will get easier, like learning anything new.

After awhile I got a good feel for what most calorie counts were for most of what I eat. Again, it's a learning process. Don't give up. Learning anything new is a challenge in the beginning but I've reached a point where I can usually add up the 11 different things I had for breakfast and lunch in my head and be very close.

Panini911 · July 2019

it`s frustrating until you've gone thru a few weeks and picked your entries. Then you can just go back and pick from history or save those items as meals or whatnot. But yes there is a fair amount of double checking done at first/for new foods.

if it's a scanned items with info you can do a quick comparison to the details on package.

i use calorie king for stuff like fruit/veg/protein.

you can also do this gradually. so each day or week pick a meal you'll look at closely and weed thru entries and select things a bit more quickly for now on the other meals and get to those later. years ago my dietician recommended logging one meal for this reason. then adding another meal the next week.

kmfeig87 · July 2019

It can be a bit of a pain at first, but after you've logged, you can choose things from your own history, so it gets easier. Also....I honestly found it so much easier than having to look up everything by hand to paper log it, as I had done in the past!
So not easy....but in my opinion, easier! Good luck!

giancarlov1191 · July 2019

I agree with all of the above, give it time!

mollyluvender · July 2019

There is a way to see only “shield” items when you search food. After you type your search and hit enter there will be a ‘✅ only’ option at the top of the food list directly across from “search results.” Also using the barcode scanning option is super easy for prepackaged items.

gottswald · July 2019

I've had bar codes come back with the wrong product and just because it's "verified" doesn't mean it's accurate, especially for anything processed which will go through reformulation and be manufactured in a different manner and even possibly a different company depending on your country.

d31984v · July 2019

Thanks everyone

spence13e · July 2019

Probably not the most terribly helpful, but when there's a discrepancy, I try and err toward the entries with a higher calorie count, at least when they're relatively close. It definitely has gotten easier as I don't tend to have a *huge* variety in the stuff that I buy.

Intro and frustrated

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