Terri R - question about Sparkpeople

I know you mentioned you use them instead of FitDay, what do you like better about it? I had stopped FitDay when I joined WW because I was counting points, and when I switched to Core I even stopped counting points. I log my exercise by hand in a journal. It's about that time for me to mix things up again, so I'm just thinking of what to try next;) Thanks in advance. xosm

I really like sparkpeople.com for several reasons. First, it allows you to search for foods that other people have entered manually. I've only found a very few things that I had to add myself. Almost everything is in there. Second, it allows you to set goals and give you points for meeting those goals. Like one of my goals is to drink at least 96 oz of water each day. Third, it lets you set long term goals like to loose X amount of pounds by x date. It will calculate recommended calories/exercise based on your current weight and exercise plan. Not only does it give calories, it gives recommended fat, protein, and carbs. You can adjust those amounts manually as well. I've been logging my food and exercise for almost a month now. I've noticed that my intake is right where it should be. If I go over, I'll know right away. I know that I'm getting my recommended exercise (plus some!!). I just like it much better.

That's funny, I haven't done the online FitDay since about a month out, I bought the home version for 20 bucks and it does every thing you mention except search other people's entries and give you points for meeting your goals [what are the points FOR, anyway?]. Once I did it for a few weeks, it was a rare occasion I'd actually have to enter a new food. I tried Sparkpeople today and I just didn't like the format. Too many ads for one, and in FitDay it tracks your fluids by your food entried, it seems like in Sparkpeople I have to enter that seperately? Since my main focus is protein, fluids and to a lesser extent fat and carbs, I thought FitDay [home version] did a better job. I certainly WAS able to make long and short term goals for X amt of pounds by X date, and calculate the recommended calorie [with breakdowns for fat, protein etc]. I didn't log my exercise as much back then [I did FitDay daily up until I joined WW], because I wasn't doing much But I still use it to track my weight and inches. I think I will probably go back to using FitDay for a while to see how I am doing - but thanks for sharing! I just wondered what was so much better about Sparkpeople. I am guessing that it IS better than the FitDay on line version, but since I already paid for the FitDay software, I think it seems to do the same thing. On one hand, I don't want to go back to compulsively logging everything again daily, on the other, I think I'd like to see where I am at right now and what, if anything, I need to change. I am certain I'm making my water targets since that's easy to do in my head, and pretty sure I make my protein targets because I know my supplements alone are almost 50 grams; however, I suspect I could stand to adjust some other things like fat and carbs. Thanks again!

I've never tried the download version. I guess I'm too cheap and don't mind the ads. And, OMG! I was CONSTANTLY entering foods into fitday.com. Maybe I eat unusual things. But, I couldn't type in slimfast low carb and have it pull it up. I couldn't type in South Beach Diet Meal Replacement bar, lunchable, trader joe's soy & flax seed tortilla chips, EAS coffee house drink, or many other thing I have almost every single day. Heck, it even had mission low carb tortillas! I do log everything every day. It only takes a few minutes and I like to see if I'm on track. I'm not sure I'll continue to log every day. Then again, I do have a compulsive personality and if it helps me stay on track, maybe I will. I weigh myself every day too. I don't freak out if I'm up a pound or two. I know it's jus****er. I use the daily weigh as another tool. If I'm retaining water, I drink even more water and watch the salt intake. See? I am compulsive!!!

I am super compulsive, but OTOH, when I decide to NOT do something [like weigh every day] then I am compulsive about NOT DOING IT LOL. I don't remember having to add a lot of stuff, the protein bars, yeah, I guess I don't eat many other pre-packaged stuff. When I went to Sparkpeople today and tried to enter my Champion Pure Whey it wasn't there and I had to do it by hand. Also, am I right that you have to track your own water in a separate section? It's been really nice the past month NOT logging everything that goes into my mouth, and I lost a ton of weight this month, too, so that's an odd bonus. But I do think I probably need to check on my self from time to time to make sure I am still on track. xosm

That's funny. I use Fitday and I never use their food data base-just the journal and goal weight section because it takes FOREVER to use the calorie thing. I just track them myself in the journal. I am going to look at the other one Terri.

Grouchetta: WWW.dietfacts.com Has all sorts of info that is not in the fitday and the nice thing is if you log into fitday then dietfacts and find the item that you want it will enter it into your fiday for you. It aslo lists the WW points. Doug.