sparkpeople alternative

[Brenna]

I love the idea of sparkpeople but its really hard to do. I like the idea of tracking my food and my exercise. but also sometimes the forums on sparkpeople can be pretty harsh. they're very anti- therapeutic eating and they're just too mainstream.

so i was wondering if anyone knew of a cool planner that I could record my stuff in during the week.

[Donnella]

I've been using MyFoodDiary.com for over a year. It's $9 per month but so worth it and it's also available on your mobile phone.

[MoTappin]

Livestrong.com's Daily Plate. It's free and there are forums but I don't participate in those. I just use it to track. The database is HUGE and you can add your own recipes too, so you can track your nutrition in those as well.

[Brenna]

I'll check it out. thanx. but I was actually thinking of more of a pen and paper type of system.

[MargieK]

prevention.com has a "health tracker," that you can use track your food intake as well as exercise (it doesn't have T-Tapp, but if you're not interested in tracking exercise, perhaps that doesn't matter). I've never used it, but it might be another option to look into. There are a lot of forums there (I happen to be one of their senior "hosts"), covering a wide range of health, exercise & fitness, and weight loss forum topics -- some mainstream and some "alternative."

I keep track of my food, fiber and exercise by hand, using a plain old Excel spreadsheet. Works for me and doesn't cost anything. Occasionally I'll look up the nutritional profile of a food via the internet, but most of the time what I need is on the label or is something I've eaten before and already know.

[Brenna]

wow. thanx. looks like there splently of alernatives out there. I'll just have to weed them all out now.

[schoonma]

Hi There

fitday.com is also a good site to manage what you eat, what exercises you are doing and how much is being burned (calories)

I know it is computer based but it is very helpful.

Mary Ann

[Brenna]

thanx all. i'll check into the alternatives after my kids go down for bed. just 3.5 hrs. yeah.

[momto8jewels]

When I was pregnant with my 8th, my midwives just had me write down whatever I put in my mouth.

Later when I found a nutritionist, he gave me a form that had blanks for breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner, snack, beverages, etc. That would be easy to duplicate.

Even later still when I was not losing weight and my food intake was good, I started using my palm as my measuring tool. I figured if I was eating all the right foods and still not losing, perhaps it was portion control as I realized I was eating when not hungry. So....I now use my palm as my "serving" size.

If it is too complicated I will not do it. If I have to write down in a notebook what I am eating, then I think twice about if I really want it. Because as I wrote down what I ate and how I felt, it became VERY clear to me certain foods did not agree with me. Eating basically vegies and protein I started to FEEL SO much better that the sugar lost its appeal.

All that to say that keeping track does not have to be complicated. Just writing on a piece of paper or notebook would be better because then you can look back and see how you ate for a week and where you might want to change.

IT IS A JOURNEY! For me it has been a wonderful way for me to let go of foods I thought I really did not want to do without. Once I figured out how much better I felt without them, I do not miss it becuase I enjoy better health more.

Hope this helps.
Blessings,
Shawna

[Brenna]

thanx so much shawna.