Over the years I’ve tracked my diet on and off. I originally used Evernote (basically just making bullet points) and MyFitnessPal but was never able to get the habit to stick. The biggest problem was that was too much of a chore.
In 2020 I realized the actual interface I would love is to be able to just take a photo and tag that. Luckily there was an app, BiteSnap that did just that.
Taking photos reduced the logging burden for me since I wouldn’t need to log right and it was much easier to recall what I ate. I also found “relaxing” the need for 100% accuracy made it significantly easier to be 100% consistent with logging. Combining this idea with taking photos is especially useful when eating out. I can do family style KBBQ with friends, take a photo of the table, and then log the calorically significant items later. This makes it possible to log while enjoying normal social occasions. Every now and then I declare “logging bankruptcy” (for example I caught a strong cold last December and just had zero desire to do anything) but that’s a rare exception and not the norm.
If you’re curious, you can see my first logs here. I have my logs publicly up until February 20th. I’ve still been logging but recently switched away from BiteSnap to Consistent and need to update my public site to use my Consistent data. I switched to Consistent because in addition to logging my diet, I can log my exercise, energy, stress, sleep, and upload progress photos. Consistent is the app I always wanted to manage my fitness and, full disclaimer, it was built by my cofounder and I.
I’ve always found myself to be more on top of fitness when I log, and now I’ve been able to keep up with it for almost two years. My fitness has definitely improved since logging, it’s especially been helpful for preventing things from going off the rails.
If anyone else logs their diet, would love to hear what you use / like.