Logging Food

I've been trying to use the Nutrition Tracker offered here on Obesity Help.  I've noticed many people on the boards suggest to others to use "myfitnesspal.com" or "sparkpeople.com" for logging their foods.   Is there a reason that people don't use the nutrition tracker that is offered on this web site???  What is the best way that works for you to track/log your food during the day???  My surgery is Tuesday and I want to start off on the right foot.

I use myfitnesspal because it's convenient and almost any food's caloric content can be found on it. I have the app on my phone and tablet so I can update my tracker as I go. It's also great because you can add people as friends which (in my case) makes me more diligent in sticking to the plan. My "friends" on there are very supportive and I try to be the same.

Right after surgery, I tracked ounces of liquid and grams of protein.  I just wrote it on paper and added it up at the end of the day.  From time to time, now I track protein and calories, though not every day.  Again, I just track it on paper.  That's easiest for me.

I use myfitnesspal now because I can do it on computer, ipod and Fire,  However - early out - just write it down - trust me - you don't need the big tracking guns yet!!!!

I just use a notebook and write it all down and add it up at the end of the day. I track calories, protein, carbs, and fat. Really, all I care about is the calories and protein but since I have the room I add the other stuff. I also use it to track my meds, vits, and exercise. Helps me to see trends when I can just look back through my notebook. I've tried using myfitnesspal and other sites like it and they just frustrate me because I found myself having to customize almost every food choice I made. It's easier just to write it down.

 Exactly. Myfitnesspal is next to useless for me, and it has many errors in food values. Writing it all down is faster and more convenient, and hand writing it engraves it all into your brain better.

I think the difference is the wide number of foods available to pick from in the other programs.  Plus you can usually download an app to your phone.  Adding new foods is easy.  I use sparkpeople to track food, weight, exercise, measurements.

I use fitnesspal because I can use it on my desktop, laptop or telephone. Very handy! Also it has a lot of the foods I eat already listed. Quite nice because I don't live in the US.

For the first year at least I only tracked the amount of protein and liquid I was taking in.
That and getting used to my new body and was enough work by itself.

I did that manually using the free printouts on personal-nutrition-guide.com
Personally I like the "weekly food diary". I did not count calories whatsoever.

When I got around 15 pounds away from my goal and my weight hadn't moved for a while I started using sparkpeople.com.

In the beginning, I barely ate enough food to worry about tracking. I only kept track of my protein and water intake. At about a year out I started tracking. I've used a few different apps and I like myfitnesspal the best. It is easy to use, has most foods already there, you can track water and it syncs to my fitbit, so I know if I'm at a calorie deficit each day. It's good that you are thinking and preparing, but I don't think you need to worry about calorie tracking for some time.