food tracking

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2005
food tracking
14
Tue, 02-06-2007 - 7:44pm
What are some of you using to track your food intake? Considering that people listed in the National Weight Registry have found keeping a food diary helpful in losing and maintaining their weight loss, it must be beneficial to do.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-31-2006
Tue, 02-06-2007 - 8:01pm

I use the Mayo Clinic Food Pyramid. I have daily sheets to keep track and then weekly summary sheets where I can evaluate my goals. This works great, I keep it in a little blue school folder ... the ones with the three prongs. It's just easy to add new sheets each week and keep the weekly sheets as a record. I'm also using iVillages Total Health site as well, but that's more of a calorie check and it has reports where I can check the 'balance' of my diet overall. The Mayo Clinic Food Pyramid works great in that respect, you just measure the appropriate serving and keep track of the number of servings in the pyramid categories ... and it works out to be the right calories and the right mix of carbs, proteins and fats.

It works for me.

Colleen

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 02-07-2007 - 8:29am
I use FitDay.com which is a free on-line tool. Once in a while I can't find what I'm looking for, but most stuff is in there. You also are able to create your own custom foods so if there is something you eat or cook frequently you can pop you own item in. It allows you to track exercise, weight, and nutritional goals too. I loved it from the start, but once I started getting data in there it really blew me away! It even helps when I stray because when you put it all down in one place and see a 2500 calorie day after weeks of 1500 it's a real wake up call. Good luck finding something that works for you! Annie
A
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2006
Wed, 02-07-2007 - 9:33am
sparkpeople.com

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Angela

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2005
Wed, 02-07-2007 - 1:35pm
Thanks, Annie. But how can you make food decisions when you're not at your commputer? How do you know how many calories you can spend at a meal when you're at a restaurant? The problem with comuter programs, I believe, is that you end up by being reactive not proactive. All you can do is put in what you ate and find out whether it was too much for your day's allowance. Wouldn't you want something you could use when you're making an eating decision?
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2005
Wed, 02-07-2007 - 1:36pm
Thanks, Colleen. I'll have to check it out.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 02-07-2007 - 2:12pm
Since I try to follow WW, I have a spread sheet on my computer that I created that I put my food and points value in and it tracks it and lete me know how many points I have used and have left.
I find that I lose a lot more when I am accountable for what I eat.
A leader in a WW meeting once said "If you bite it, write it".
I think it works,
Karen
215/215/175
(weigh in tomorrow am-hopefully that middle number will change)

 Karen


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 02-07-2007 - 5:35pm
I appreciate your point, but for me I think of FitDay as a tracking method vs. a tool for checking if I'm allowed to have certain foods. A big part of my plan is practicing portion control and avoiding big helpings of foods that I know to be high in fat and calories. Often I am proactive by choosing in advance what I'll eat if I'm going to a restaurant. I also plan for 1/2 my plate to be fruits and/or veggies, so if I get a choice of two sides I'll pick green beans and broccoli, for instance, instead of cole slaw and fries. I know that Weight Watchers has a booklet for tracking points on certain foods that you can take along (Don't know what approach you're taking), but even that varies greatly from restaurant to restaurant. Hope you can find what your looking for!
Annie
A
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2003
Thu, 02-08-2007 - 12:45pm
I use fitday and love it. Sometimes I will put in my food the night before so that I know I am not overdoing it in what I take to work for meals and snacks. I find that the best way to control calories is to plan, plan, plan. I go to the grocery store once or twice a week to make sure I don't run out of produce and lean proteins. I also pack my meals/snacks everyday so that the cafeteria or vending machines do not tempt me. If I know I will be going to a restaurant, I try to choose one with nutritional info available and choose my meal and input in fitday beforehand. This has worked for me and I really feel in control of my eating. Exercise is another story........
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2005
Thu, 02-08-2007 - 4:33pm

Actually, as I was surfing the net, I found this really great food, exercise, and activity tracker called "Drawing the Line on Calories, Carbs, and Fat". If you want to check it out, go to www.advantagediets.com. All you do is draw a line between dots to track the food you eat. It actually gives you a sort of picture of what you're eating.

What's great is it has a pocket-sized food list that you can take with you and have when you make eating decisions. I think that is really an important part of losing weight.

It's so flexible that you can be on a balanced diet, a low-fat diet, or even a low-carb diet. And it's got so many other things you can do with it besides just tracking food. You can track calories that you burn up in exercise, note what your hunger level was when you started eating and when you stopped. If someone has diabetes, they can track blood glucose. It even has meal planning.

You should check it out. It looks like something one would have fun with and not get bored using. I ordered one today and can't wait to try it.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2005
Thu, 02-08-2007 - 4:38pm

Great line - It you bite it, write it.

I actually found a great system as I was surfing the net. The food, exercise, and activity tracker is called "Drawing the Line on Calories, Carbs, and Fat". You can see it at www.advantagediets.com. All you have to do is draw a line between dots, sort of creating a picture of what you eat. It looks really easy to do. What's nice is that you can use food label information to "draw the line", along with the food list booklet that comes with it.

Since I think it's really important to have the system with you when you make eating decisions, I bought "Drawing the Line" today. I can't wait to get it.

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