Is there a guide to macro and calorie tracking in Taiwan for non Chinese speakers?

Life Health & Fitness
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Basically I’ve tried tracking my calories in my fitness pal but it’s been really difficult because I can’t read the labels on the nutritional information or know how to type the Chinese characters for foods here. I do eat at home most of the time but my wife likes to buy things from outside as well. It’d be easier to track if I there was some kind of food lists where there were English translations next to Chinese characters for common foods. I guess it probably wouldn’t be super accurate because who really knows what restaurants or food stalls really throw in the food but at least it could give me a better idea overall.

I’ve been really trying to get back into shape after I weighed myself and realized I’m a full 20 kg heavier than when I left the military 10 years ago! I’ve been trying to get back in shape for a while now but keep yoyoing. For most of my post military life I’ve been able to keep it under control but after the great COVID event it’s been much more difficult. (COVID plus a heavy Wisconsin weather and a bout of unemployment hit hard). I still haven’t recovered but I really want to. I recently even picked up a fancy schmantzy Garmin watch to help me improve my runs. My first goal is to finish a half marathon (which I had been training for the Marine Corps half marathon in my last year of military service before I got injured and didn’t get the chance to run).

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I would recommend to track calories above macros. Macros are important, but by focusing on calories you will find it easier to achieve your goal of weight-loss. Just do not do anything weird (like no carbs or no fat). And try to eat much the same (or similar things, or a set of things) every day. That way you do not need to spend too much time calculating. And for random outside meals just guesstimate the calories. Like, beef-noodle soup maybe 600 calories. Are you doing regular exercise? Some intensive exercise three times per week is very helpful.

By the way, I realize this is not an answer to your question. Sorry about that. I hope you still find this helpful.

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It’s ok I’m just not that good at guessing the calories :joy::joy::joy:

Yeah I run 3 times a week and I strength train 3 times a week and one week I take off. I’ve had difficulties with consistency though especially when work/course loads get too heavy. For example I just went an entire month with no workouts (ok actually I did two but that’s basically useless if it’s not consistent) because I had such extensive deadlines I basically had no time left for anything or was just exhausted (which I know it’s an excuse. I could have squeezed some in even if it was like 30 minutes. I’m trying to be better about it now that things have cooled down though).

I usually run for an hour (usually about 10 k but it depends on the day and what I’m working on) and do 1 hour if gym (because of the stupid 1 hour time limit at the public gyms. I hate that time limit)

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Sounds like you would do really well if you could keep consistent with counting calories and workouts. I have the same problem :sweat_smile:

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Do you use the Android or iOS version of MyFitnessPal? The Android version lets you scan the barcode for free, so it’s easier to log items with labels in Chinese. Another alternative is using Google Lens to get the text in the package, and then copy and paste the name of the food in MyFitnessPal’s search bar.

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I’m on Android but it doesn’t seem to be free anymore. I tried using it recently and it prompts me to pay. In the past it worked free

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The lens thing is a good idea

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I use the free Android version of My Fitness Pal and it still allows me to to use the barcode feature. Hmm :thinking:
But yeah, using Google Lens to copy and paste Chinese characters is a good idea.

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The button exists for me but when I click it an ad asking me to sign up pops up. If I close it, it just goes back to the home page

Maybe you kissed an update

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That’s strange. I just now tried it and it worked for me

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I haven’t been prompted to update anything, but I guess I’d better not. Could it be a heritage account kind of thing? I mean, if you’ve had the app for a number of years then you’re exempt from the fee? I have no idea…

EDIT: Another thought, did you download the app from outside of Taiwan? I’m guessing that because of the currency figures in your image. I got the app while in Taiwan, so maybe that makes a difference somehow? Just a guess.

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Ah yeah I downloaded it in America long before I came to Taiwan. Might explain it

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Counting calories are a dead end because you can’t accurately track calories, and nutritional labels in Taiwan are not all that informative (for example dietary fiber is not listed at all).

What I find works is intermittent fasting in conjunction with high intensity exercise.

Even if you aren’t actually losing weight, your health will improve.

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You probably don’t want to hear this, but at best you’re just adding pointless busywork to your efforts to get back in shape. At worst, you’re going be distracted from things that really matter by the ‘important task’ of entering data into your app, and you’re at risk of doing counterproductive things like calorie counting and “controlling your portions”. If you’re really unlucky, this sort of thing can snowball into actual eating disorders.

Focus on the content of your diet and your workout quality. Eat meat, vegetables, and dairy. Avoid stodge and sweets. Eat until you’re full. Your body knows how many calories you need, so “tracking” how many you consume isn’t going to give you any useful information. Your “muscle memory” from your military background will do the rest as long as you put in the effort.

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Wut?

Ignore.

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Well fine, you can probably just weight every food and drink you consume and know how much calories you consume. That information doesn’t work though because your body knows how much it needs and trying to reduce it by say 200 calorie is a herculean task (and if you eat just 4 more oreos, it will wipe that out instantly).

Your body will survive on how much calorie it needs and any attempt to reduce it will cause your body to go into “low power mode” meaning it won’t result in weight loss, it will however result in you feeling like crap.

Imagine if you got a phone that cannot shut off, cannot reboot, and if the battery runs out the phone dies permanently. What will you do if you were that phone? You’d probably stay only within range of a power socket, and you’d make sure it has extra external batteries, or make your battery bigger (without shutting it off). That’s how your body works.

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Yeah, OK. I’ve done this conversation enough times that anyone who is interested can refer to other threads (or follow up on other authoritative sources - the Internet is available). So I won’t hijack this thread for another rant. I just hope the OP gets bored with the tracker app before it wastes too much of his time.

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I tried tracking calories a few years ago. My conclusion is trying to track calories of anything you eat outside is pointless. It will not be accurate, and you will be taking away from the eating out experience.

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I’ve used the same app for years in the US to track my weight, but lately they’ve been giving me the premium prompt in Mandarin and the amount is in TWD :man_shrugging:

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I tried counting calories several times, it is an exercise in frustration, TBH. So I quit.

Calories Burned
Instead, I decided to count calories burned. I worked out my BMR, then recorded my weight at a starting point. Since I was already exercising and had lost a bit of weight, I was able to determine how much weight I’d lost with a simple formula in calorific terms.

So if my starting weight is 100kgs, and my BMR is 1975 (assuming height is 1.75m), then losing 10kgs means I burned about 77000 calories more than I consumed. Over a 100 days, that means I’d have a total energy output of about 2745 calories per day estimated or approx. 770 calories more per day.

If I’d lost less than that, I’d know that I was consuming more than my BMR. The numbers will never be exact, but it’s informative enough to know if one’s eating right.

Portion Control
In terms of food, anything that is highly processed is likely stuffed with calories: fried, preserved, iced, fatty… it doesn’t matter. You will learn to tell pretty much just by looking whether something is high calorie or not. If you need a yardstick, just look at the lunch boxes in 7-11. They typically range around 500~600 calories, though sometimes more. Salad boxes are typically around 200 calories (inc. dressing). Sandwiches range from 200~300 calories, occasionally more.

If you’re going to eat high calorie foods, then portion control will become essential. Realize what portion sizes means here, and you’ll realize that bento boxes from small stores can easily top 1,000 calories for a meal. Add in egg roll and soybean milk for breakfast, and an iced milk tea with boba during the day… that’ll be approaching 3,000 calories a day. Easily.

Calories in Chinese
While many products have nutritional details on the back of the box, learning to read them is a pain. However, Google is at hand. Take a photo of it with your phone, then run it through Google Lens >>> Translate. You’ll be able to get the basics that way, and you’ll become familiar slowly with the characters for the nutrition you want.

Often, though restaurants do not provide nutritional estimates… so the best you can do is familiarize yourself with the products in the supermarket that equate to the restaurant food you’re eating and study those nutritional labels.

Good luck.

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