• Guest, the forum is undergoing some upgrades and so the usual themes will be unavailable for a few days. In the meantime, you can use the forum like normal. We'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Using MyFitnessPal for carb logging...

4ratbags said:
I like MFP but if you are after exact results it isnt 100% accurate. I found if I put in something that was 1.3 g carbs it would round it down to 1g carbs which doesnt dound like much but over a day it could add up
Click to expand...
But it will add it in if you have two or three of the same item.

Also, if you see a green check mark beside the entry it means the entry has been confirmed by MFP.
 
Last edited:
Bluetit1802 said:
Yes, do be extra careful when using MFP. There are glaring errors and not so glaring errors. Most of the users are only concerned with calories, and many are from our cousins abroad with different food labelling, and different nutrients in the same foods (more added sugar etc)
Click to expand...
As a test; I ran together MyFitnessPal and "The Carbs and Cals book" (using the pictures) for 2 weeks and found the "Carbs and Cals book" gave me 35% less carbs. I did double check MyFitnessPal entry's against the labels on the food packets and corrected any dodgy entry's
 
lucylocket61 said:
Just a heads up that I have often had to double check the carbs amounts put into MyFitnessPal as they are not often accurate.
Click to expand...
I’ll second that, I’ve noticed some really jubious carb amounts that are really off compared to the packing. Common sense and a little background knowledge of general carb amounts of certain foods goes along way in this incidence.

On the milk front, ditch it for 15ml of double cream. No effect on blood sugars for me at all. Surely 100ml nearly makes it a latte!! Bad skills there as that will certainly ramp up your blood sugars.
 
Key_master_ said:
I’ll second that, I’ve noticed some really jubious carb amounts that are really off compared to the packing.
Click to expand...
A common issue on MyFitnessPal is some entry's are user submitted and are not from MyFitnessPal (it does say when item is picked). Because some people are only calorie counting they never fill in the rest on a new entry apart from calories.
The entry for Sodium is joke because people enter the mg amount as grams from a packet and Sodium amount as salt amount (salt is only 40% Sodium!!) again from packet.
Ive found it is possible to double check an entry as carbs are 4 cal a gram, protein also 4 cal a gram and fat 9 cal a gram. So is if you know the calories then the carbs, protein and fat should add to the same (near enough)
 
rmz80 said:
A common issue on MyFitnessPal is some entry's are user submitted and are not from MyFitnessPal (it does say when item is picked). Because some people are only calorie counting they never fill in the rest on a new entry apart from calories.
The entry for Sodium is joke because people enter the mg amount as grams from a packet and Sodium amount as salt amount (salt is only 40% Sodium!!) again from packet.
Ive found it is possible to double check an entry as carbs are 4 cal a gram, protein also 4 cal a gram and fat 9 cal a gram. So is if you know the calories then the carbs, protein and fat should add to the same (near enough)
Click to expand...
thank you, I wondered why my salt intake is high, but couldnt quite work it out. I will go and double check the imput in future.
 
lucylocket61 said:
thank you, I wondered why my salt intake is high, but couldnt quite work it out. I will go and double check the imput in future.
Click to expand...
I think they list Sodium rather than salt content is there are other ingredients that have Sodium such as Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) which is that stuff they put on Pringles so you eat the whole packet! MSG is 12% Sodium (by weight)
 
Another thing with MFP are the entries for vitamins and minerals (in the cases where they were actually recorded - which isn't often) Measurement units of some of these are different in different countries, but people ignore this and just enter the amount they seem on the nutrition label - which often is not the one used by MFP and not necessarily the ones we use in the UK.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Another thing with MFP are the entries for vitamins and minerals (in the cases where they were actually recorded - which isn't often) Measurement units of some of these are different in different countries, but people ignore this and just enter the amount they seem on the nutrition label - which often is not the one used by MFP and not necessarily the ones we use in the UK.
Click to expand...
Its also possible to choose the correct product but the sizes have changed since entry on the database. Also different countries have different sizes and different ingredients.
I was totally confused on checking which sweetener was in Diet Coke as they changed this in USA but not UK.
I just stick to products i've checked. I tweeted Lidl last week as they no longer stock instant mash and i'll have find a new source but it means having to check the new addition.
 
I found the best way to use MFP was to work out all the nutrients of my food from nutrition labels and the internet (UK supermarkets, manufacturers, growers etc. and my Carbs & Cals book) Then I would enter these myself rather than rely on other member entries. I gave up with it eventually.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
I found the best way to use MFP was to work out all the nutrients of my food from nutrition labels and the internet (UK supermarkets, manufacturers, growers etc. and my Carbs & Cals book) Then I would enter these myself rather than rely on other member entries. I gave up with it eventually.
Click to expand...

I don’t use mfp at all now, got my meals that I need to choose from so I know them inside out. I did find I was referring to labels a lot and using supermarket websites for info also with the dodgy inputs from users. A lot of my food is cooked from scratch so notch up all the ingredients and get my counts from the labels and make a note for futur next to the recipe. Simple as that. ;)
 
Key_master_ said:
I don’t use mfp at all now, got my meals that I need to choose from so I know them inside out. I did find I was referring to labels a lot and using supermarket websites for info also with the dodgy inputs from users. A lot of my food is cooked from scratch so notch up all the ingredients and get my counts from the labels and make a note for futur next to the recipe. Simple as that. ;)
Click to expand...
With MyFitnessPal I installed on my desktop computer an option so I can print the food reports not to paper but to a PDF file. I use these pdf's as pre calculated meal plans. It has the advantage you can search the pdf for old meals (even from months ago) that are worked out correctly.
 
Thanks all and yes I tend to scan my own stuff to use it or check the numbers if something looks a little off. I had an ... interesting ... debate with someone who dismissed drinks whereas I always include them for my carb intake... so good to know that they ought to get included.

Now if only I could get MFP to stop freaking out at my low calories! Ok well I suppose I could PAY for the premium version... but I am too tight!
 
rmz80 said:
With MyFitnessPal I installed on my desktop computer an option so I can print the food reports not to paper but to a PDF file. I use these pdf's as pre calculated meal plans. It has the advantage you can search the pdf for old meals (even from months ago) that are worked out correctly.
Click to expand...

Ooh how did you do this? I tend to print out the latest month to brandish under the doctor’s snout along with my LibreView data...
 
Back
Top