Daily Food Journals

[Hostess]

Over the years I have found that if I keep up with what I am eating throughout the day I do much better at choosing healthy foods to eat. I am a list maker by nature and love to list or check things off a list. Lately I have been using myfooddiary.com to keep up with calories and other nutritional data. I am always wanting to lose that "vanity 5" - those last few pounds that I just know will make me look great! :rolleyes:

I wanted to know if any of you use a food journal to watch what you eat? If so, are the online or on paper?

[LakeMartinGal]

When I can make myself journal, I use a Calorie King Food Diary app for my Palm treo. Not lately, though...:o

[generic]

I have done this on occasion when I'm trying to lose a few pounds. A food log helps me see why the pounds might not be coming off. I haven't done it in quite awhile, but I was actually thinking of starting again just yesterday. I have to do it on paper, because I have to have it with me to jot down right away so I can't fool myself or forget what I ate. I don't count calories or put down exact portions, as I'm mostly doing it for motivation and to see what I should be cutting out.

I find after a couple of weeks of doing it, though, that it tends to lose its effectiveness for me. I keep diligently writing everything down, but I stop paying attention to what I should add or take away from my diet. I guess the newness just wears off and I go back into habit mode.

[KristiB]

I'm pretty good about using spark People.

I like the nutritional analysis reports you can run at the end of the day. It really shows me where I'm lacking and where my calories are coming from.

[Hostess]

The myfooddiary site is pretty comprehensive and gives good information at the end of each day. It tells you "If every day were like today in 2 months you would weigh XXX" or it will tell you how long before you reach a weight goal. It also tells you what daily vitamins you are not getting from the foods you are eating. I especially like this part because it is more dedicated to health reasons for eating instead of weight loss reasons for the food you are eating. Pretty big lesson to learn for me.

[Robyn1007]

I use Livestrong.com (which absorbed thedailyplate.com) which I like better than SparkPeople now because it tends to focus more on the exercise portion and understanding that I cannot expect to function on 1500 calories a day while doing 1-4 hours of exercise 4-6 days a week which I found to be a major failing of SparkPeople.

Personally, I do not like the "If you eat like this every day for 2 months you will weigh XXX" types of quotes because I don't think they are very accurate and can set people up for lots of disappointment which as we all know is a huge set back for those trying to loose weight.

[Hostess]

I like the Livestrong site. I had not visited that one. I need to play around a bit more, but I think I will be canceling the myfooddiary subscription. That's why I love a message board! Thanks for sharing.

[catharine]

I use Livestrong.com (which absorbed thedailyplate.com) which I like better than SparkPeople now because it tends to focus more on the exercise portion and understanding that I cannot expect to function on 1500 calories a day while doing 1-4 hours of exercise 4-6 days a week which I found to be a major failing of SparkPeople.


I started using Livestrong at Robyn's suggestion and I have to agree that is superior to the other websites I've tried. I really like that they have a very extensive database.

The other feature that I love is that you can make a "meal". If I am eating a salad with beans, hard boiled egg, olive oil, etc. for lunch every day, I can create it as a meal so I don't have to individually enter each item every day.

I agree that it is much easier to make good choices when you're holding yourself accountable through journaling/logging.

[Hostess]

Livestrong will have to take some getting used to for me. I really like my food diary's site and think it is worth the $9 a month. :)

[KristiB]

Once I'm done with my challenges I'll try Livestrong and compare the two.

I tend to be an undereater so the calorie limitations of Spark don't annoy me. 1200 calories is a challenge to meet sometimes. I think I'm missing a hunger gene or something.

Anyway since I've increased my workouts I'm sure that will change.

[Robyn1007]

I started using Livestrong at Robyn's suggestion and I have to agree that is superior to the other websites I've tried. I really like that they have a very extensive database.

The other feature that I love is that you can make a "meal". If I am eating a salad with beans, hard boiled egg, olive oil, etc. for lunch every day, I can create it as a meal so I don't have to individually enter each item every day.

I agree that it is much easier to make good choices when you're holding yourself accountable through journaling/logging.

Do me a favor, remind yourself over the next 27 days that you must eat ENOUGH calories to fuel the little endeavor you doing on November 7th. ;) Oh, and enjoy your taper... :p

[catharine]

Do me a favor, remind yourself over the next 27 days that you must eat ENOUGH calories to fuel the little endeavor you doing on November 7th. ;) Oh, and enjoy your taper... :p

Thanks...I promise, Robyn. :) I'm not tracking calories right now so that I am not tempted to restrict myself. Wow, that sounds really strange. I'm making good choices, just not being compulsive about it. :)