When I first started the blog and the Flat Belly Diet, I was posting my food log on their website. I received *three months free* on the Flat Belly Diet website for ordering the book.
That was a good experience for several reasons, primarily because they also have a planner that would recomment gluten and dairy free recipes for me (and you could set other options, too). In the long run, I don’t want to continue logging my food with them because I don’t want to pay a monthly fee and I don’t get that much out of their website.
So, I started looking a few weeks ago for a new online place to log my food. The first requirement was that it be a *free* site. Second, that it didn’t take eons to log my food (hence the look at how well the search engine worked for me). Third, that I could happily log a meal and repeat it without having to re-type it. Anything above these would be - as they say - gravy.
I tried fitday - and it about left me *fit to be tied.* So many of my foods (admittedly, some are unusual) weren’t in their database and I found their search option archaic. WAY too much work. I just don’t have that much time to spend on it.
I also tried nutritiondata.com which has a great look. If they go ahead and develop that site, I really expect good things out of it. But, again, by far most of my foods weren’t in their database and the search option wasn’t working that great for me either. I think they track glycemic and inflammatory impact.
I tried SparkPeople because I had heard good things about the site, and read the book when it came out. Based on good stuff! I was a nice site and they are building a nice community, but I really wasn’t prepared for them to suggest my diet (which is a little complicated). Looks like a great site, but I just wanted a place where I could log my food, so moved on.
I also tried FatSecret which had a tremendous amount of fast food in their database, all by name, but I just couldn’t get past the site name. I’m sure some people swear by it, didn’t look bad.
So, I tried the daily plate, which is now part of livestrong.com, part of Lance Armstrong’s outreach. I found livestrong to be a very fast growing site with lots of helpful info, a real community on the grow. Their database is by far the largest and most of my foods (even name brand gluten-free cereals, etc.) are in their database! Also, the search seems to turn up good options almost every time, it is by far the most effective online food log I’ve used. It also has the ability to track foods by meal or time, and save menus for a meal (or, for a day, I guess). This is a very helpful feature because you can repeat a favorite menu without re-typing the whole thing.
I’ve been using the daily plate at livestrong.com now for 10 days or so, and expect this is it for me, at least until my tracking needs change or get more complex.
More than you wanted to know? LOL Well, if you are interested in what I’m eating, check this out:
You will be able to see almost all the good, the bad, and the ugly - almost as it happens! I’m only sorry you can’t see it broken into meals. I usually eat 3 meals and a good (substantial) snack every day (usually afternoon).
AND, I just realized today that I no longer get the munchies at night! How cool is that??? Thank you, Flat Belly Diet!
Stay tuned for more food/diet changes. I’m on the move!
