A friend of mine used Myfitnesspal a few years ago and was successful in losing weight and keeping it off. I tried it since it is free but I had to manually enter just about every recipe I cooked so I gave up and joined Weightwatchers. If the recipes I make aren’t in their database already, and if I’m making a recipe I found online, I can import it - so convenient! So the only recipes I have to type in are the ones I found in my cookbooks. WW also assigns the points system which is easier for me to track. I have already gotten the hang of it so when I menu plan I pretty well know in advance which recipes will be high in points which is generally the really starchy ones specifically the rice and pasta based dishes. I will focus this year on reducing my portion sizes hoping to lose a little bit of weight then reducing the amount of points/calories I consume in one day.
This is a feature in MyFitnessPal now, too, just FYI. I don’t have the app anymore but I remember the import was within the recipe builder.
Thanks for letting me know. I was wondering after I typed my comment if one can import recipes into my fitness pal now. The last time I used it was maybe 15 or 20 years ago,
I just estimate my calories using other entries that are already in there. I rarely measure when making food, and I don’t measure my portions precisely, so entering recipes would not lead to precise results for me.
I have been eating and counting calories long enough that I can estimate whether a breakfast sandwich I make is a 300 calorie sandwich or an 800 calorie sandwich.
The main thing is that I’m tracking my weight, tracking when I’m eating (I do that with a glucose monitor now), and tracking when I’m off the rails eating too much of one thing. I sometimes keep notes to ask myself why I’m choosing to snack or overeat, or what factors made me decide to overeat.
I’d like to get to this place. When I manually enter recipes from my cookbooks I only add the dressing when I add salads for example since the vegetables are zero points. I’m getting a bit better at identifying foods that are higher in points. Starchy vegetables, pasta and rice are three high points foods I need to cut back on. And keeping track of why you snack or overeat is a great idea.
I really never considered whether I enjoyed the drivel or not. I just tried to keep whatever the point du jour was in mind as I cooked and ate. Most of what they shared was already known or just plain obvious. I guess what I have carried forward from the whole Noom experience was being more aware of what I was cooking and consuming in terms of nutritional value. I remember with both fondness and horror breakfasts of two eggs, hash-browns, bacon or sausage, toast, an eight ounce glass of juice, and coffee. Today was one egg scrambled with a bit of Mexican crema rather than cream, a buttered English muffins, about three or four ounces of juice, and nine gallons of coffee. It was delicious, sufficient, and satisfying. Ok, one more cup of coffee.
Which was my biggest pet peeve. And as mentioned previously, any half-educated woman my age having grown up with the beauty standard de rigeur — which still seems to be “the thinner the better, or at least 10lbs less than one’s current weight 
” is painfully familiar with calorie counts and nutritional values.
My weight is not a health issue for me, and I’m over the esthetic ‘expectations’ laid at our feet.
That said, I’m glad Noom taught you stuff you were unaware of heretofore. It’s a popular program for a reason.
We’ve been fairly successful in having at least a piece of chocolate or a scoop of ice cream every night in December, and are planning to continue this regimen throughout January.
I empathise with the HOs who don’t like logging numbers.
I have abandoned my fitness watch within a few days as I don’t like tracking numbers long term. I can now reliably tell on which days I have not walked enough steps etc.
I look at calorie counts listed on packaging and menus and use these to guide my choices but I don’t count calories I eat. At the moment my main goal with food is to try and avoid ultra processed foods and to be more plant based and include more fibre. I hope to reduce my alcohol intake but I feel that’s a bit of a losing battle at the moment.
I used Omada, for me a diabetes prevention app, for several years and enjoyed the classes and community support. It was sort of like HO at the time ( 2017-2021… ETA probably not that long). There was much less community over time. It was considered a program more than an app, and it wasn’t free, but sometimes covered by insurance.
I remember trying a few recipes.
