[foresmewithlove]

Hello Calorie Counters!

So I guess I have always been a "calorie counter" however, throughout the day my counting tends to stop and get sloppy. But I have hit a plateau and decided that I am going to have to be very serious and detailed about the calories I put into my mouth!

I signed up for www.myfooddiary.com to do the 7 day trial and then hopefully longer if I like it. I've tried the other free sites but found them to be not as user friendly as I would like. I think counting on the computer will work best for me because I sit in front of one at work for 8 hours a day.

For those of you who are super diligent, how did you stick with it when you first started? I am sure it's habit by now, but how did you make it into a habit?

Any advice would be wonderful I am excited to join you guys on this!

[missyRxOx]

I used to calorie count, and after a while forget to add something in.. or just started getting sloppy, like you said you did.

But when I hit 200lbs, where i HAVE NEVER been before, I got down to business. I don't do the online thing anymore, because i don't have time to always go on my computer and type things in, so I have a small notebook I carry around, and I plan things out the day before.. I have BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER & SNACKS and write the food, and the calories. I also have a "GOAL" written on the top page of how many calories I am trying to stay under for that day. Then, as I go along in the day, what I've eaten, I put a checkmark next to it! Sometimes I don't even end up eating the food.. but yeah, I have a lot of willpower when I want to, so I've been sticking to it lately!!

[missyRxOx]

Oh, forgot to mention, before I used to use fitday.com ... it's a good site, but like I mention before, I don't have time to always go online and type up what I ate!

[PeanutsMom704]

I think that for anyone who has been wanting a smartphone, being able to calorie count as you go is a good justification! lol! I know there are some specific apps for the iphone. I have an android and there aren't any calorie counting apps for that yet (at least not that I've found) but I can still just go to the Fitday website. Since most of my food is something I've had before, it's very easy to just use the "recent foods" section and plug in something that is already there.

[Shmead]

I also have a rule that if I can't count it, I can't eat it. If I go out to eat with friends and there's nothing on the menu that I think I can make a fair approximation about, I have coffee and swing through a drive through after for something I have counted. The first few times I did this I thought I'd have to give some complicated explanation about why I wasn't eating, but it turns out that people really don't care--they are more focused on themselves: "I had a big lunch" or "I am planning a big dinner" work fine.

That said, figuring out 2-3 things you can eat out is really important, because there will be times when you leave your lunch at home or ending up having to work very late. Sit down at a time when you are not starving and go to various websites for favorite places and figure out the numbers for a standard meal at each--I have a "drive through" meal (plain grilled chicken sandwich), a "cheap sit down meal" (stripped down Chipotle), and a "decent sit-down meal" (the chicken broth soup--it's usually tortilla). It also helps to have some breakfast place meal pre-figured as well. This way, when you end up trapped somewhere you don't have to make a choice by guessing, nor do you have to pour over all those delicious choices.