I don't think I'll mess with logging online

HMMMM, Ok. Don't want to sound harsh, but there are alot more benefits that go along with loging in your cals. For instance reports. Which I didn't think i would ever use until now 4 months later looking into trends. The bottom line is, does anyone like to have to log their cals anywhere? No.....but if your gonna use a system such as MFP, why do it half *kitten* ya know?

Try it for like 2 weeks. Just take what is in your notebook and plug it in in the evening........see what happens.

:flowerforyou:

I set my food log to not only keep track of my caloric intake, but to know the nutrition I am putting into my body. While I am currently in fitness training, it's important that I monitor what, when and how much I put in my body at all times. it's a pain, I agree, but if you keep a little pad with you and write it all down and sit down at night and enter it, it's worth it. Right now, it's 4:20 in the afternoon and I had a 20 minute break before running another errand and I input what I did so far.

FYI, I'm also a very picky eater and will eat almost the same thing "Veganish", so MFP stores you food and all you really have to do is click to add the same food. This avoids the hassle of looking it all up!

Good Luck!

:drinker:

Once you get going on it, the task isn't as daunting. I also kept a notebook - and still kind of do. I switched to a 3 ring binder and put my daily reports in it. As you get stuff entered in and it starts appearing on your frequently used list - entering isn't difficult. It's easier than writing it down, really! Just takes some time in the beginning, and if you have something different or not in the system, but once you enter it, it's there! Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Even if you don't use the logging function - you can still hang with us :smokin:

as long as you're being accurate and consistent, you can do it that way if you prefer. I usually sit down in the morning first thing and plan out all my meals, so I almost never eat spontaneously. I'd go nuts if I had to run to the computer and search the database everytime I took a bite of something.

Of course, do whatever works for you, but I'm surprised. Now that I have several of my regular foods listed in my Frequent Foods List (or whatever it's called) I find it faster than even writing things down. Most of my meals are just a few clicks, and I get all the nutritional info along with it.

Good luck.

I think if I relied on putting my entire meals in here that I will give up soon. It seems like a task, and it's just easier to write everything down in my notebook and do some quick math as I go along. I know it sounds lazy, but if I don't like doing it I'm not going to stick with it.

Thats what I used to do before I came to MFP- I set myself up on 1500 calories and wrote everything down on post-its and became more active and dropped 26lbs- I like MFP because I don't have to do math- I don't follow MFP's plan though

I think if I relied on putting my entire meals in here that I will give up soon. It seems like a task, and it's just easier to write everything down in my notebook and do some quick math as I go along. I know it sounds lazy, but if I don't like doing it I'm not going to stick with it.

I started losing weight by keeping a food diary, like what you are saying.
Either way works. It's all about visualizing the calories you are eating, staying below those upper limits.
Good luck!! :flowerforyou: