Keeping track

How many of you journal your food intake each day? Do you count calories, protein, carbs, water - all of the above? Do you use a website to track? If so, which one do you like? Cost? I am embarrassed to admit it, but I don't really have a good handle on the amount of calories that I'm consuming per day. As I get further out and find that I can eat more, I am concerned that I will start overdoing it. I know I should start journaling, but don't have a lot of time. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi Marilyn: I use fitday.com to track my daily food intake and it is a free site. It tracks, calories, protein, carbs and fat. I can also set it up to track other items. There is another site out there too that I have not used but Suz posted it the other day. Its myfitnesspal.com. It seems cooler than fitday and it is free too. I just have not had time to play with it. Happy tracking!

Thanks Stephanie, I'll check them out!

No problem!! Hope you find one you like!

I use Sparkpeople.com, it helps you track everything you want(calories, protien, fat, carbs, ect) it also helps you track your exercise and the amount of calories you are burning. It has message boards too. It can also help you set up meal plans.

Hi Marilyn... I use myfitnesspal.com to track calories, protein, water intake, exercise (cardio and strength training), and weight. It generates graphs to help you see an over view of how you are doing with different aspects. You can ask the program to track and measure whatever is important to you...it could be any combination of criteria. Also, it keeps a running count of your intake and how many usable calories you have left for the day after eating and exercise. Anyway, I really like it and it is completely free. It also has a message board...but I haven't used it and probably won't since it seems to be very much geared toward standard weight loss efforts. As for the time aspect...it does take a few minutes to log your meals each day, but if you tend to eat the same things most of the time (I do), it gets quicker as time goes on because it saves everything that you input, so you can use the listing for subsequent logs. You can search their inventory of foods or you can input custom info. I find it to be completely worth the time, even if I don't get to it every day....helps to keep me on track. ~Suz

Don't be embarassed. I know you aren't the only one. I recently started using fitday. I opted for the purchased program so I don't have to navigate through any thing or log on. It was $29 and I am finding it very useful and easy to use. I can get all sorts of data on protein, calories, nutrients, etc. It has useful graphs and charts and I don't have to be online to use it...although, I stay online all the time whether I am here or not. I keep a bit of an eye on the calories but I am really watching to make sure I get all my protein in and potassium since that has been low on my recentl blood work. Let us know what you decide on and how you like it. Katy B

I started using the My Fitness Pal yesterday. I posted my results on my page for both days. I like the program so far. I have tried to be extra careful and it really does help to see how things add up. In the beginning it was so easy to know that I was eating right because that's all that I could manage to get down. Now that I can eat more I just want to be sure that I'm not exceeding my calorie guidelines. The exercise helps too! Thanks for everyone's input.

I guess I am old fashioned... I write everything down, STILL! I have a journal that I carry around with me. I use fitday to find out information, but I just copy it into my journal. I keep track of fat and protein only. I am going to start adding carbs I think also.. I am a slow loser....