Inputting calories a chore?

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spurs_fan_7
spurs_fan_7 Posts: 8 Member
edited August 2022 in Getting Started
Does anyone find inputting their calories to be a hard task on a daily basis?
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  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,646 Member
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    No.
  • Hiawassee88
    Hiawassee88 Posts: 35,754 Member
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    spurs_fan_7 wrote: »
    Does anyone find inputting their calories to be a hard task on a daily basis?


    I know what's really a chore. A poor quality of overall health and wellbeing. Tracking data points is a choice not a chore.
  • JaysFan82
    JaysFan82 Posts: 852 Member
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    Log your meals the night before. It becomes routine and so much easier to manage your day.
  • Back_4_more
    Back_4_more Posts: 92 Member
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    No
  • TicTacToo
    TicTacToo Posts: 76 Member
    edited August 2022
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    I've been on MFP a few weeks and am starting to see how meal prep and repeating the same few things for breakfast and lunch would make things easier. I'm contemplating making two different lunches X3 or x4 on the weekend to cover my lunches through the week. I know lots of other people do this. It would make data input easier as well as solving my daily issue of opening the fridge and thinking, hmm, what should I eat?
  • MissAtomicBomb238
    MissAtomicBomb238 Posts: 65 Member
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    spurs_fan_7 wrote: »
    Does anyone find inputting their calories to be a hard task on a daily basis?

    Yes. Definitely. I don’t do it everyday- just when I need to rein myself in. But definitely annoying.

  • BecomeAnAnimal
    BecomeAnAnimal Posts: 25 Member
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    Not at all. Sometimes, it even helps me meal plan for the upcoming days! I actually get excited.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,055 Member
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    It's probably the best investment of 10 minutes that I make any day.

    Yes, it took longer when I was new. After I got my recent/frequent list full of validated entries, added some meals and recipes, it has gone pretty fast most days. The time/effort - for me - is a small price to pay for staying at a healthy weight for going on 7 years now, after about 3 previous decades of overweight/obesity. The quality of life improvement is huge!

    I admit, I don't log every single day now, but I still log most of 'em. I logged like it was religion every day while losing weight (just under a year) and in the first months of maintenance (until I pinned down a good maintenance calorie goal and routine). Now I skip some days where there'd be a lot of estimating anyway, or rare days that would be especially difficult.
  • chunkyguthut23
    chunkyguthut23 Posts: 1 Member
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    Until recently I would have answered no, tracking isn't a chore. However since they went and ruined the multi add feature, then yeah, it kinda is. Maybe not so much a chore but just unnecessarily annoying
  • cinapanina64
    cinapanina64 Posts: 2 Member
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    I cook a lot from scratch, so yes, managing the input is a tad time consuming. That said, very often I simply jot food and weight on a piece of paper and transfer the data to the app when time permits. Play around and see what works for you.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,109 Member
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    More time consuming in the beginning, less when you've got a lot of foods in the Frequent list. Still time consuming, especially home-cooked meals and new foods, but that pales in comparison to the benefits of having a BMI of 22 versus 34 a few years ago.
  • Novanorm
    Novanorm Posts: 1 Member
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    As a military member, my meals are different every day. Often there is nothing in the database that matches the food available. So, in this case, yes, it is a chore. The saving grace is the barcode scan. When I can use it it is a real time saver. Unfortunately, that feature is going away in October so I will be deleting the app.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,389 Member
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    No, it only takes a very short moment during cutting. Like I cut my veggies and prepare the protein, throw briefly on scale. Log both while preparing them. Only takes a few seconds because most veggies show up in the commonly used list. Then I see how many calories these are. I know pretty much how much oil for cooking. I use standard entries I've created for myself for spices, so there I'm guessing a bit (entries for few and more spices. If it's a lot I weigh and log them separately). So then I know how much calories my meal has. Then I fill up the remaining calories with pasta, rice, couscous, bread, etc. Simples. I guess the whole logging process doesn't even take a minute.

    When I cook a stew for several days I put in everything I want to put in and log while doing so. Then I decide whether to divide the meal into 3-5 portions and either keep as is, assuming a certain amount of rice/pasta I'll cook with it ever day. Or add more stuff still. Also just takes about a minute, and i have food for several days.
  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 1,002 Member
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    I do it all in the morning over coffee based on what I have planned for the day.
  • Courtscan2
    Courtscan2 Posts: 498 Member
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    To start with, yes. But once you have a bunch of regular meals saved, and you are eating the same things fairly consistently, it's pretty quick and easy. I enter my whole day in 2 minutes or less first thing in the morning, as I've always already planned exactly what I'll be eating, down to the snacks. If I eat anything extra - yes, I have to log in again and add it and make any adjustments, but again....2 minutes tops?
  • kelterstuff
    kelterstuff Posts: 1 Member
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    Just started using today, the app GUI (Graphical User Interface) is deplorable, website somewhat better but tracking on portable device is the preferred method. Macro Nutrient tracking (no Micro-nutrient, pre-biotic or probiotic tracking at all) is rudimentary to say the least, only vitamins A & C ? Give me a break. For $285 year/$89.99 discount and such a large enterprise I expect a lot better. If My Fitness Pal doesn't shape up someone will be eating their lunch. I will be resigning before my free trial runs out.
  • Greytdaze
    Greytdaze Posts: 3 Member
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    I tend to eat the same few things for breakfast and lunch which makes logging those meals in easier. For dinner, I take my tablet into the kitchen with me while I am prepping the meal and enter items as I go along. I am gradually entering my frequently used recipes into the recipe category. I've just been on this app for a few weeks but I find that it doesn't take much time at all. It just takes getting used to doing it.
  • CatchMom11
    CatchMom11 Posts: 462 Member
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    I am the worst when it comes to logging my meals! I will be your biggest cheerleader, eat the way that I'm supposed, drink so much water that I'm peeing clear, but even if my life depended on it, I SUCK at logging those calories. LOL. :D:D
  • CatchMom11
    CatchMom11 Posts: 462 Member
    edited August 2022
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    Courtscan2 wrote: »
    To start with, yes. But once you have a bunch of regular meals saved, and you are eating the same things fairly consistently, it's pretty quick and easy. I enter my whole day in 2 minutes or less first thing in the morning, as I've always already planned exactly what I'll be eating, down to the snacks. If I eat anything extra - yes, I have to log in again and add it and make any adjustments, but again....2 minutes tops?

    Nope, I still suck at it. :D I literally have to set a reminder. I'm going to blame ADHD. I will literally pull out my phone to log it, and then end up on Facebook or Instagram.
  • CatchMom11
    CatchMom11 Posts: 462 Member
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    chunkyguthut23 wrote: »
    Until recently I would have answered no, tracking isn't a chore. However since they went and ruined the multi add feature, then yeah, it kinda is. Maybe not so much a chore but just unnecessarily annoying

    What'd they do?

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