What is the easiest way to monitor my diet?

[BozzBanks]

I'm trying to hit at least 3,500 calories daily so I can gain some damn weight.. but I just find it very tedious to sit there and try to figure out how much I am eating and then to record it as well? Am I missing something.. what are some tips to more efficiently keep tabs on my diet!? help!

[Noles12]

Overtime i have just become accustomed to the values in food. I weigh just about everything i cook and know the macros from there. If i am eating something im not used to i look it up or look at the back and measure it accordingly. I really dont find it difficult keeping up with it, especially eating the same meals often.

[MR-FQ320]

Use a calorie counter such as myfitnesspal.com its totally custom, its got an iphone app which makes it real easy for keeping track.

[Dr Pepper]

Overtime i have just become accustomed to the values in food. I weigh just about everything i cook and know the macros from there. If i am eating something im not used to i look it up or look at the back and measure it accordingly. I really dont find it difficult keeping up with it, especially eating the same meals often.

You and I are very alike. I do exact the same

[Papiriqui]

You and I are very alike. I do exact the same

X2 here as well!!

I would say you only check macro split the first time when you design your diet after that is all weighing your food, unless you eat something completely off from your diet, in my case all i do is weight the food because is always the same thing

[jypoll]

make a plan for 3500cals with appropriate macros and make a few alternative meals then you dont even have to count what your eating because you already did the calculations... just eat what it says on your plan and you get your 3500 cals...

for me when im cooking for 20 mins i dont find it difficult to write down what im eating on paper.. takes 1 minute. and i eat the same food so i have memorized the macros... I dont weigh my food but i buy packages of 2 chicken breast and it says 384g or whatever on the package so i either take half per chicken or assign it proportionally to each chicken, and even if i am wrong about which chicken weighs what i eat that package in 1-2 days and will have counted all 384g by the time im finished.

i spend 2-3 hours a day eating and cooking and maybe 5 minutes calculating my macros/cals. all you need is a pen paper and calculator

[Papiriqui]

make a plan for 3500cals with appropriate macros and make a few alternative meals then you dont even have to count what your eating because you already did the calculations... just eat what it says on your plan and you get your 3500 cals...

for me when im cooking for 20 mins i dont find it difficult to write down what im eating on paper.. takes 1 minute. and i eat the same food so i have memorized the macros... I dont weigh my food but i buy packages of 2 chicken breast and it says 384g or whatever on the package so i either take half per chicken or assign it proportionally to each chicken, and even if i am wrong about which chicken weighs what i eat that package in 1-2 days and will have counted all 384g by the time im finished.

i spend 2-3 hours a day eating and cooking and maybe 5 minutes calculating my macros/cals. all you need is a pen paper and calculator

In my case i made a spreadsheet that did all calculations for me, all i had to do the first time was add macros accordingly to the weight of whatever i was inputing, now i cook and weight the same amount, always so i dont even know the macros by memory but since is always the same food i dont need to remember macros, i can go back to the spreadsheet and see it there

[JohnnyVegas]

I cannot deal with keeping track so I eat the same thing every day with few variations. I envy you guys that can eat different things and keep track of it all. I don't have the patience.

[JAB1]

Tedious yes but worth it. As the others have stated you will get used to it and not have to track everything if you eat the same stuff. My first 6 week cut I had spreadsheets and wrote down and added up daily. Now I just eat the same stuff daily and dont have to track. When Im bulking I revisit the math and up things where I need, and then cut out some to cut(carbs). I other than amounts the only thing I change is minor, meat source, sweet potato vs rice, etc, but I have it all in my head so its easy. Do the tedious work now and in time it will become second nature and much easier!!

[jypoll]

In my case i made a spreadsheet that did all calculations for me, all i had to do the first time was add macros accordingly to the weight of whatever i was inputing, now i cook and weight the same amount, always so i dont even know the macros by memory but since is always the same food i dont need to remember macros, i can go back to the spreadsheet and see it there

yea i dont count my cals i know i need a certain amounts of particular foods to meet my macros, sometime i do a rough calc of my protein just before bed to see if a scoop of protein is necessary

[JohnnyVegas]

Tedious yes but worth it. As the others have stated you will get used to it and not have to track everything if you eat the same stuff. My first 6 week cut I had spreadsheets and wrote down and added up daily. Now I just eat the same stuff daily and dont have to track. When Im bulking I revisit the math and up things where I need, and then cut out some to cut(carbs). I other than amounts the only thing I change is minor, meat source, sweet potato vs rice, etc, but I have it all in my head so its easy. Do the tedious work now and in time it will become second nature and much easier!!

I do the opposite. Rather than tracking what I eat and adding it up, I plan my diet based on macros and then eat that diet every day. Oops, it is 2:00pm, time for chicken and almonds.

[BozzBanks]

I guess now that I think about it I do end up eating a lot of the same foods over and over. So what I will do is I will put in the effort and calculate my meals precisely for the first week or so and then hopefully I will have memorized all the macros and it will become "second nature" to me. Thanks for all the input everyone!!