Tools of the Trade

One week in. Whew! We both decided to start tracking our calories and have been using a wonderful site. We found the site a couple of years ago and have used it sporadically but now we're both dedicated to using it consistently. Well....for now at least. The site is (drum roll please...) www.thedailyplate.com. It's run through livestrong.com and is hands down the most helpful tool that I've used.

How it works:
You start by signing up (FOR FREE) and setting your calorie goals. You enter your age, height, and weight and select a goal. You can aim to gain weight each week, maintain weight (what the Bobster is doing), or lose weight (my personal goal). Based on this information, they give you a "calorie goal" that tells you how many calories you need to consume each day to reach this goal. We know that this isn't exact because everyone's body is different and burns and stores fat differently, but it's a great starting point. One way it helps address this problem is by having you set your activity level. They range from sedentary to very active. I work in an office where I sit all day so I chose "Sedentary." Bobster works in an office and in a lab and is usually walking around somewhat and has to go to class throughout the week so he set his to "Light Activity."

Then what? You track your food. This is why we love this site so much, it makes tracking food INCREDIBLY easy. While we are aiming to eat more fresh, local product, we still go to the grocery store for the bulk of our product. Tonight we had kielbasa and rice. I type in polish kielbasa and have dozens of results to choose from. Unfortunately, we'd had this kielbasa waiting in our fridge a while so we didn't exactly know what brand it was, but if we did, we could have typed in the brand name and chances are you'll find the product you're looking for. It already has calories, carbs, protein, sodium, fat, you name it in most of the choices and if for some reason you can't find exactly what you're looking for, you can either enter calories manually or create your own product.

They also have tons of nutritional information from restaurant chains so you can search those right there, too! So that's it, you track what you eat, what meal you eat it for and it keeps a tally for you. You have a bar that fills up as you consume calories and it turns red (yeah it's done that a couple of times) when you go over for the day.

On top of all that, you can track your workouts on the fitness tab. Went swimming? Add it in. Did ab exercises? Add it in. Had a dance party? ADD. IT. IN. It subtracts the calories you've burned (an estimate based on your age, height, weight, etc.) from your running total so if you have a lower calorie allowance, you can make up for it by knowing exactly how many calories you need to burn. I may have done six minutes of jumping jacks so I could have the applesauce I was craving. And guess what, it was worth it.

So, whew! Long explanation, but a site that is totally worth it! Check it out and let us know how it works for you.

Coming next...fitness we love, small steps forward, and the recipe problem!