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I think one of the reasons that many people struggle with their weight is that they lose track of the two most important things regarding weight control–exercise and caloric intake. Unless you’re a nutrition scientist, you probably don’t know off the top of your head how many calories are in that Big Mac you had for lunch. Similarly, if you’re not an exercise physiologist or a certified personal trainer, you don’t know how many minutes on the treadmill it takes to burn off those Big Mac calories.
Fortunately, there are lots of easy, free, online tools for those of us who are trying to solve the weight loss conundrum. Below is a list (definitely not an all-inclusive one) of several websites that I have either used, or might use in the future that are designed to help us tip the scale in our favor.
FitDay–Weight Loss and Diet Journal
I’ve used fitday off and on during the past year. It was the first diet and exercise journaling site that I found. It has some nice features such as–public and private journaling options, easy goal setting options, nice weight loss and exercise tracking features, and a fairly easy to use nutritional database that can easily be modified if you are so inclined. Here’s a link to my (opens in a new window)public fitday diary.
I’ve never actually used the USDA pyramid tracker, but from playing around on the site, I think I might like it a little better than fitday. It has similar nutrition and exercise input abilities, but I really like the fact that it breaks down your food intake into the USDA categories of milk, meat and beans, vegetables, fruits, and grains instead of the simple protein, carbohydrate, fat categories that fitday uses. It even tells me how much of each category I’m supposed to have each day (in ounces, not calories) to help me “gradually achieve and maintain a healthy weight.” I think Fitday is a little easier to navigate, but i actually think that the tools at USDA are a little more powerful. I’m definitely going to play with it a little bit more.
The Daily Plate–Calorie Counter, Diet Tracking, Food Journal, Nutrition Facts
The Daily Plate (TDP) is a sleek version of fitday that I’ve recently been experimenting with. Honestly, I can’t find a fault with TDP. It’s easier to use than USDA, and has everything that fitday has to offer plus more. There’s even a forums and groups section where you can find people near you trying to lose weight, talk about whatever diet you’re trying, get exercise tips, or just look for someone to give you some support. TDP is the only site I’ve looked at that has different membership levels. The free one is fine for me, but there is an option to upgrade your account to the “gold” level–which gets you several other features that might be useful. I like TDP a lot and I think I might start using it instead of fitday..
Of course there are other online diet and exercise tracking websites. There are also software packages that you can buy to do the same thing. I’m happy using what I’ve found and talked about here, but I’m definitely interested in what others are using as well. Please don’t hesitate to send me and email or leave a comment if there’s something out there that you think is better than what I’m using.
J.D.
10 responses so far ↓
1 Don J // Nov 12, 2007 at 11:53 am
I mentioned this in a comment on the Introduction post, but for readers who don’t see it there: I use tools from http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/hackdiet.html and http://physicsdiet.com/ and am VERY pleased with the results.
The big benefit for me is weighing myself daily but then using statistical methods to extract a trend from the weighings, so I can see real progress instead of getting upset about the daily fluctuations. The Hacker’s Diet book (free) has a great discussion of why this is important!
2 James // Nov 12, 2007 at 5:37 pm
I also like the training log on nikerunning.com
3 Alissa // Nov 13, 2007 at 11:47 am
Try sparkpeople.com as well. If you don’t mind paying a bit, for $9 a month you can use myfooddiary.com and you get a really complete food diary with exercise, and it even does your math for you. For me, it’s worth it! If you’re prioritizing costs, then you can definitely get what you need out of the free onces.
4 Lazy Man and Health // Nov 20, 2007 at 5:08 pm
I’m neither a nutritional scientist nor certified trainer, yet I can estimate both answers to the Big Mac and treadmill questions fairly well off the top of my head. Like anything else, it’s the result just a small amount of study.
If you’ve spent time on the treadmill, you know how many calories you can burn in a half hour. I can typically burn around 230 calories. Everyone is different since they weigh differently and exercise differently on a treadmill.
As far as the Big Mac, that’s pretty easy to determine. You can easily look it up at McDonalds’ website. You could alternatively estimate two beef patties and Thousand Island dressing and realize that it’s not going to win health food of the year.
That doesn’t mean these tools aren’t helpful, they are very helpful. It’s just that the average person should be able to estimate these things on their own.
5 Brooke // Dec 9, 2007 at 8:22 am
I’ve been using fitday on and off for about 4-5 months now. I love its simplicity.
I tried SparkPeople, but it was just too much. It was overwhelming.
6 Brooke // Dec 9, 2007 at 8:26 am
Oops. submitted my comment too soon. I also wanted to say that I’ve been dropping about a half a pound a week since I started using Fitday. I’ve lost about 11 pounds so far!
It’s truly “Get fit slowly” and I think it’s much better than dropping a lot of weight at one time. I feel more confident that my weight will stay off, rather than yo-yoing.
7 lc2846 // Dec 9, 2007 at 11:31 am
I paid $40 for CalorieKing (dotcom) and tracked everything that went into my mouth for three months. The software has a huge database of foods with drag and drop capabilities, and it outputs your ratio of carbs-to-fats-to-protein in a bar graph. Sure, you can do all this manually with free software, but I didn’t want my weight loss project to vacuum up large tracts of my life just monitoring it. Instead, I put in that time on the treadmill and in the weight room at the YMCA.
Results: went from 136 to 118 pounds in three months and have stayed in that neighborhood. Occasionally I creep up toward 121, but increasing my exercise holds it in check. I quit tracking every piece of food I ate once my weight had stabilized, but if I go above 122, I’ll start again.
YMMV, of course.
8 Lizabelle // Dec 9, 2007 at 5:39 pm
I second the Spark People suggestion. You can use it as much or as little as you like, but they have lots of different features: nutrition and water tracking, exercise tracking, nutrition and exercise plans, weight/measurement monitoring, health and fitness articles, blogging, “teams” where you can get together with people who have similar goals or interests - and, most importantly (I think), a community offering constant encouragement.
Good luck, guys!
9 JoeyBrill // Dec 10, 2007 at 4:26 am
I’m starting this program with you.
I lost 80 pounds twenty years ago. I keep it off, but it creeps up and my exercise routine falters every 5 years or so. I’ve just hit 40 and now is one of those creepy times. I’m 15 pounds off my target weight and my muscle tone is way down. My pants fit, but there is lard hanging over the top.
Some things I’ve found that work for me:
I don’t scare my body. I start with weight exercise every other day, but I don’t start the serious fun food withdrawal until month 2. My body and mind do not have the attention span needed for both strict diet and strict exercise at this point.
By month 2, I see just enough real or imagined results that I’m eager to reduce calorie intake by restricting fast food. It starts a fun cycle where I eat better so that I can see more results. The habit bleeds into food choices as well.
By month 4, I usually enter OCD mode with daily exercise that has to be more varied and challenging each time - normal people shouldn’t pay any attention to this month. I usually over do it and become convinced I’ve broken my back. After a week’s rest and a lot of guilt, I go back to a workable program that allows me to workout each day - just as automatic by now as getting out of bed - and live life.
I’d like to review some food basics.
Foods that are less processed (outside aisles of the store) are cheaper in price and have less calories than foods found in a box, can, wrapper, or container. It’s cheaper to eat better food. Faster prep times can be found for any substance you buy. You’re a grownup; you can cook.
Foods you hate will die in your fridge. Think of the poor vegetable. Don’t waste money killing him.
Establishing a ‘dining out night’ once a week gives you something to look forward to with less deprivation. Restaurant food (fast food, too!) tastes the best when you give it a week-long break.
My tap water in a sippy cup is much cheaper than bottled water and I don’t have to deal with another empty.
Beer is for fratboys who vomit on the cat. Quit. Yeah, just like that.
10 Wednesday Weekly Weigh-In #1 // Dec 12, 2007 at 3:21 pm
[…] my review of the online diet and exercise calculators, I’ve decided that I’m going to continue to […]
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