MFP SUCKS!!!!’

I take notes on a small whiteboard or the notes app on my phone.

This app helped me lose 70+lbs. Sure, it can be buggy and the database has a lot of wrong entries to sift through, but overall still a very positive balance for me.

If you ask, people will give you good tips about how to weigh things easily. And how to memorize favorite meals…

You should be able to add recipes that you've entered starting from the diary and clicking on add food -- maybe the parentheses are somehow throwing the search off? You could try just searching for BBQ Tofu. The search will look in your own history and your created and edited foods, meals, and recipes first, and only look in the broader database when you click on the magnifying glass (in the Android app -- I don't know about iOS).

But you can also search and add starting from More > My Meals, Recipes & Foods, so you could try that.

For peanut butter, I would look for an entry that matches what's on the label. People may use 2 Tbsp as the serving size when they create an entry, but the label on your jar should tell you the equivalent in grams. The brand I use says a serving is 2 Tbsp (32 grams). So I put the open jar on the scale, tare it to zero, take out however much I'm going to use, and see how much the scale says I've used (it will be a negative number). Let's say it says -36. That's 1.125 servings (36/32), and that's what I log. (I weigh the jar and not the bread or whatever I'm putting the peanut butter on or in because I'm going to lick the spoon. If it's mayo, which I am definitely not going to lick off the spoon, I weigh the bread or whatever to see how much I've added.)

I definitely do not accept the first green mark. That only indicates some unknown number of other users have said it's a good entry or maybe just that a certain number of users have used it. I always check the nutrition information against the package label. If I'm in a situation where I don't have the package (maybe I'm trying to deconstruct a recipe from a non-chain restaurant or something prepared and served by someone else), I look at the nutrition information for several or more of the returns I get, looking for something that seems reasonable -- after 10 years of logging my food, there's very little that I don't have some idea of what the nutrition information should be, at least as far as calories. And if the entry for something I know has protein or fiber or whatever in it shows zero, I tend to discard that as showing it wasn't created by someone who was careful.

I think being consistent about logging is a big factor in getting the most out of the app. If you can use a food scale in your own kitchen, I think that's a big help in getting reasonably accurate about how much you're actually eating (and hence how much protein and carbs you're getting in your case). I would say checking the nutrition information on the entries you use is even more important if your interest in more in the macros than the overall calories, because some people only bother with the calorie information when they create an entry.

I've never used the premium version, and I've never used the scanner, so I don't have anything to say about that other than the scanner links to the same crowd-sourced database as typing the name of the food.

Yeah the app is definitely poorly designed in certain areas and has bugs. However, in terms of any other apps like it, they simply don’t compare. The barcode scanner, water tracker, integrations with apple health, macronutrient tracker, plans, recipes, it really has a lot.

I must admit, being a newbie, (Been on MFP for a number of years but just got into logging food). I am not going to the lengths others seem to be going. Is it a good fit in terms of food? I'll use that. Is it about right in terms of weight? I'll adjust the portion size. My biggest issue is I cook a lot from scratch so it's about adding ingredients or making recipes. My only worry with a recipe is I often use invention when cooking and rarely cook the same again. Cooking is about what's to hand.

I've lost a stone in a month. It works for me and I can use the scanner in the supermarket to get an idea of what a food is like. My biggest problem is portion size. I've used my scales three times to get an idea of what a slice of bread weighs or what 40g of cereal looks like in the bowl.

I enjoy eating and making food, I won't let the app take over my life but will adapt it's use to suit me. As long as I am losing weight, what else really matters?

If you enter recipes ahead of time, but don't log them, or you haven't logged them recently, they won't come up when you type in the name in the diary's food search box (in the phone/tablet app).

Notice that when you search, the "All" option is selected. (It's right under the search box). That's misleading, because it's really searching things you've recently logged, not all things. Your recipe will only come up if you've logged it recently.

To find one of your own recipes from there, change the selection from "All" to recipes by clicking on "My Recipes" right under the search box. That will search all your recipes for any character string that's in the search box. It doesn't need to be the full or exact name.

If you search this way, there's no need to put your initials in the recipe name.