Most of the recipes posted here are from Cooking Light or the Weight Watchers website and book, so it should come as no surprise that I try to watch what I eat. Weight Watchers and I have a long history and I really do think it’s the most sustainable of the diets lifestyle plans out there.
For me, tracking points is much easier than counting calories. I’ve been “doing” the program so long that I pretty much know what points are in the foods I eat. And because I have so many work functions that involve food, eye balling it just comes naturally; if it doesn’t, there’s always a handy dandy app where I can quickly look something up. There’s a scanner app for grocery shopping, too! The recipes I’ve tried are super flavorful, as well, and I’ve only had a couple of duds.
With all that said, my trainer and I have been talking about my plateau lately and she gave me target calories to shoot for. Because WW doesn’t work off of calories, I was hesitant to try her suggestion until one day I just got curious. I googled the calories of some of my go-to foods (like apples and bananas) and stumbled upon a really cool site called Calorie Count.
Calorie Count works similarly to WW. There’s a tracking function, as well as a scanner (yay – my fav!). You put in your food, exercise, water intake, and weight daily and it tracks your progress. You set it up with your target calorie consumption and it tracks your progress throughout the day. AND IT’S FREE!
My favorite part of the website, though, is that at the end of the day, it gives you an analysis to see if you’re on target for nutrients and the bad stuff. I was SHOCKED to learn that my diet is low on carbs, fiber, iron, and potassium and high on sodium. I never thought I had a sodium issue before, but I’ve learned that many of the processed foods I eat are chock full of them. What’s also great about the analysis is that when you’re off target in an area, it gives you food suggestions that are high or low in that item. Pretty cool and informative!
Trust me when I say, I’m not obsessive about this stuff. It’s really just so easy and useful that I’ve drawn to it like a new toy. I’m down about 3 pounds since finding it last week and I’ve even had a couple of cheat days. Tracking food, exercise, and the like is helping me become healthier. I’m already thinking about the vegetables that I can add to my regular diet and figuring out ways to avoid processed foods. It’s a pretty invaluable tool!
So, your turn…do you track your food?
how cool is that? i’m a little afraid to download it!
No, and I SHOULD! I just keep my running up and working on training for my next half. However, it would be beneficial for me to actually count calories and/or points to help with the weight loss in addition to the exercise.
I use the My Fitness Pal App and website on and off. It also has the scanner function and a pretty huge database for restaurant and branded foods, plus it’s pretty easy to enter your own recipes and get the end calories, or just enter the calories if your recipe gives them (useful for scratch-cooking). I’ve even entered cocktails in there!
Another App you might find useful is Fooducate (by the blog of the same name). The app lets you scan in a barcode and it’ll give you a letter grade of the product that represents how healthy it is in that category of food, warnings about hidden trans-fats or questionable preservatives, and higher-ranking alternatives when applicable.
i started using the app myfitnesspal…i had never known about calories before and really had an eye opening experience and lesson about the importance of portions! what really helped me is that i would get very low and feel out of control with eating…but once i had a little bit of knowledge it helped knowing i AM in control! also…with the fitness pal app you can track your workouts, which was helpful – but i like that your app really gets in to how nutritious your diet is…this week i would have gotten an “A” but last week was probably a big fat “F”…
I’m also a dedicated WW alum. It helped me lose all of my pregnancy weight and some, more than once. It’s always been my go to “diet”. But better than that because it really truly is a lifestyle change I know that even when I’m not “working the plan” I’m still sticking to the same kinds of things I used to go to while on the plan. So truly it is a lifestyle and has helped me to maintain the weight loss. I’m really trying to lose the last 10-15 pounds and have turned back to WW meetings. I’m really hoping with some renewed focus I can pass over this hump. I’m to a point that losing seems to be getting really hard. Tracking food though is key to all and any “diet’s” or lifestyle changes.
Great job Jen!
P.S. I was really interested about that gadget that your dad got you (xmas .. birthday?) but never saw anymore about it. Any update coming?
I started using My Fitness Pal after the baby was born and I tend to get a bit obsessive about it. Then I don’t sign in for three days just to give myself a break, ha. I’ve never tried WW but I’ve always heard good things about it. I’m a huge fan of calorie counting and love the ease of doing it on my phone now instead of in little notebooks tucked in my purse!
I just started tracking again using myfitnesspal – it sounds similar (and it is also free); and like you I was shocked at the nutritional information I learned- I am also heavy on the sodium! I use it on and off just to give myself a clue as to what is a healthy amount of calories… turns out I don’t know how to listen to my own stomach- so I need an ap for that!