8 food tracking tips to improve your accuracy and meet your weight-loss goals

Learn these essential food tracking tips for a more accurate food diary, a proven weight-loss strategy.

Follow these eight dietitian-recommended food tracking tips

1. Log as soon as you eat

• Don’t let “calorie amnesia” set in. It is too easy to forget foods you’ve eaten throughout the day.
• Consider logging foods before you even eat them. This strategy can help you plan out your meals and stay on track. You can always adjust your entries if your plans change.
• Create recipes in MyNetDiary to quickly and easily track meals you eat regularly.

2. Log the correct food

• Use our barcode scanner for packaged foods. It quickly brings up the correct item.
• Use PhotoFood Service to enter a new food or request a correction to an existing packaged food.
• Learn how to enter and edit your own recipes.
• Make sure you choose the correct version of the food. Did you log cooked or raw foods?
• Double-check the nutrition information and ensure you’ve entered the right portion size. Do the calories look reasonable for the food you are logging?

3. Log the right portion

• Measure portions whenever possible. Unfortunately, most of us are not accurate at guessing.
• Use a digital kitchen scale if possible. It is inexpensive and the most accurate way to measure portion sizes.
• Use standard measuring spoons and cups to measure food volume.
• If you can’t measure, estimate portion size using a visual guide as described here. For example, a cup is about your fist’s size, and a tablespoon nears the size of a poker chip.

4. Log everything

• Record every bite. Even samples at the grocery store or food you nibble while cooking.
• Remember to account for condiments, dressing, creamer, and other add-ins in your calorie counting.
• Log all beverages, especially alcoholic and other caloric drinks.

5. Review and correct your logs

• If your calories seem low, check your log for missing meals, snacks, or drinks.
• Review your daily reports. Daily reports include full food names, so you can easily spot incorrect items logged (e.g., hamburger with bun vs. hamburger patty). On iPhone, from the app's Dashboard, tap View All Meals, tap the circle with three dots in the upper right hand corner, then tap Day Food Report. On Android devices, tap the three dots in the upper right corner, then tap Day Report.
• Correct errors as soon as possible, so they don't carry over to multiple days.

6. AI meal scanner

• Use MyNetDiary’s new AI photo food scanner to capture the calories, macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals of your meals. Open the MyNetDiary app, tap the “+” button at the bottom, then select AI Meal Scan, and snap a photo of your meal. Use the option menu at the top of the screen to switch between breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
• Good lighting and a neutral background make it easier for AI to focus on your meal.
• Include the entire meal in the photo and arrange food to show individual items. If weighing your food, include the scale in the photo to help AI with its nutrition analysis.
• Review the nutrition analysis and adjust if anything seems off.

7. Community forum

Weight loss and sticking with your health goals is easier with a community supporting you. Engage with other MyNetDiary users on the community forum to help each other stay motivated and build accountability.

8. Be honest with yourself

• Although it is tempting to omit splurges from your log, mastering these food tracking tips will help you learn what does and doesn't work to succeed in the future.
• Log the food, learn from it, and move on.

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Reviewed and updated by Amy Brownstein, MS, RDN

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