Step 1: Downloading a food tracker app. The app I use and love is MyNetDiary. I use the free version and have always been satisfied with that. Set up the app according to your goals. It will ask you your goal, height, weight, age and activity level. Enter your activity level accurately. If you sit 8 hours a day, choose ‘sedentary.’ If you are a lumber jack, choose ‘very active.’
Step 2: For the most accurate results buy a food scale.
Step 3: Log everything as accurately as you can
Get the portion right and log everything you consume. People tend to avoid logging the following: liquid calories, alcoholic beverages, coffee creamer, the oil you cook with and the little snacks they think are unnecessary to log.
Pay attention to whether your food is cooked or raw. This matters most with things like pasta and meat because cooking them will change their mass. Just pay attention to what you log it as.
Estimate when you have to. I understand you have a life and sometimes you’ll be at a restaurant or having dinner at a friend’s house. I don’t want you to be a slave to your food log, that’s disordered eating. Do your best to log your food. MyNetDiary has a portion guide that will help you estimate your serving size.
Different cuts of meat have differently calories counts. For example pay attention to weather you are logging chicken breast or thighs.
Use the scanner when you can.
Pro Food Logger Tips:
Set goals you can adhere to. The best diet is the one you can stick to long term.
Eat enough. There is no need to take you calories under 1200. I think that’s even too low. That being said, if you’re in a true caloric deficit, being slightly hungry at the end of the day is normal. If you’re experiencing hunger pains, feeling extremely fatigued or light headed you need to up your calories.
Stick to a daily calorie amount and do not make adjustments based on exercise calorie burn.
You will not always be right on the dot with your calories. If you go over here or there that’s okay. The goal should be consistency not perfection.
Holidays (what I do): I do not log calories on holidays. I already know I’m going way over on my calories and the food log become unnecessary. I do however have a system for maintaining control:
I allow myself one small plate of appetizers, one full plate of food, and one small plate of desserts. This keeps my mind at peace. My eating disorder has ruined far too many holidays for me. This system allows me to enjoy the perfect amount of indulgence.
Helpful Resources:
Precision Nutrition Ultimate Macro Calculator
Proteins, Carbs, Fats (the best and not so best choices)
Now here are some tips on making MyNetDiary a breeze to use.
You can enter the recipes you make on a regular basis and it will give you a serving size in weight and give you the nutrition facts.
How to create recipes:
Click the + button at the bottom of the homepage.
Choose your category: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snack.
On the top menu bar slide over to recipes.
From there select +create new recipe or +import from web
If you create a new recipe add in all the ingredients and the amount. For the most accurate food log you’ll want to enter the weighted amount of each ingredient using a food scale. Here’s an example with spaghetti w/ meat sauce:
enter: weight of pasta dry
enter: water weight (weight of cooked pasta - weight of dry pasta)
enter: sauce weight or volume (cups)
enter: weight of meat added
Weigh your final recipe weight (It may be different than MyNetDiary anticipates because moisture may have been cooked off by meats and veggies).
enter the serving # (How many people could this likely feed?)
Press save
Now add in the weighted amount you served yourself.
It’s important to know when you remake this recipe in the future try to use the same ingredient ratio.
If you eat the same meal everyday with the same portions save it as a meal and name it. It will make logging that meal zero hassle.
Use the portion guide when you have to estimate. Don’t rely on the portion guide for everything.