Logging

Log Your Dining Hall Food in Seconds

By Fletcher Stobaugh and Simon Bertolino, co-founders of Caf Coach · Published October 29, 2026

Tracking only works if you actually do it, and the step where people drop off is almost always logging. Finding the food, picking the right entry, and setting the amount can take minutes per meal. The Log tab in Caf Coach is built around giving you several fast ways in, so you can pick whichever fits the food in front of you.

What is the Log tab?

The Log tab shows one day at a time. At the top are the same four rings you see on the Meal tab (calories, protein, carbs, fat), and below them are your meals with everything you have logged. You can move to any other day to look back or fill something in. Everything you log counts toward the day's totals right away.

What are the ways to log a food?

• Search with real portions. Type a food and give an amount the way you would say it: "1 medium banana," "2 slices," "150 g," or "4 oz."
• Describe it. Type a sentence like "2 eggs and toast" and Caf Coach estimates it for you. Search also ends with a one-tap option to estimate whatever you typed.
• Barcode. Point the camera at a package, use a photo of the barcode, or type the digits.
• Plate photo. Take a picture of your plate to get an estimate of what is on it.
• The caf menu. Tick off items from a list of everything your dining hall is serving that day. They log to the meal you are viewing.
• Quick add. Enter bare calories and macros when you already know them.
• Your own foods. Save a food you eat often, and fill it in from a photo of its label.

Which one should I use?

1. Eating at the dining hall: use the caf menu list. It is the fastest, and the items are the ones being served today.
2. Packaged snack or drink: scan the barcode.
3. Something homemade or off-menu: describe it in a sentence.
4. No time at all: log a plate photo or a quick add now and fix it later.

How do I log repeat meals faster?

Most days look a lot like the day before. Caf Coach keeps recents and saved foods for the things you eat often. It also has "same as yesterday" for a single meal, and you can copy the whole previous day. If you make a mistake, any entry can be edited or removed, and Undo brings it back.

How accurate is logging?

Dining hall nutrition data comes from the menu itself and can be imprecise, and estimates from a sentence or a photo are just that, estimates. They are close enough to guide your day, and you can correct an entry any time. If you would rather not see the numbers at all, there is a setting to hide macro numbers.

Common questions

Do I have to log every meal?

No. Log as much as is useful for you. Even partial logs give you a better picture than none.

What if I forget to log a meal?

You can add it afterward, on today or on a past day, and the totals update.

Try it yourself

Caf Coach is free to use. See how Caf Coach works or read the full walkthrough.

Sources

• Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids, 2005.

How this guide was written: this guide was drafted with AI writing tools and edited by Fletcher Stobaugh and Simon Bertolino, co-founders of Caf Coach. It is general information, not medical or dietary advice. Questions or corrections: hello@cafcoach.org.